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That alone would be enough to make him decide that he didn’t want to go. Except... He knew it would be for the best.
“Travis?”
“Hmm?”
“I’m going to miss you. A lot. Not just because you come save me every time I need you.”
He allowed her words to settle deep inside, filling all the spots that longed to stay, to take her hand, to tell her that he loved her and wanted her to wait for him. He couldn’t do that. It wasn’t right. Although he would wait for her. Faithfully.
“I’m gonna miss you too. I... I know I already said I wouldn’t be going if I didn’t think it was the right thing to do.”
“I know.” She didn’t say anything more, and they ate in silence. He ate slower than he should have. Because of the storm. He should have hurried, getting out before the snow got any deeper, but he couldn’t make himself do that. It was an hour before he pushed away from the counter, their dishes long since washed by Ellen, and stood.
“I better go. Should have left a while ago.”
“Be careful.” She didn’t mention the storm specifically, and he figured that she meant she wanted him to be careful in general, not just tonight.
“I’m always careful.”
He gave her a jaunty smile, but she shook her head.
“I mean it. You know I care about you. Please. Be careful.”
“For you. I’ll be careful.” And faithful. “You take care of those pups. I want to see them grown up and trained when I come back.”
“They’ll be trained and sold before you get back,” she said, although the sadness in her voice was covered by a fake happiness she tried to project. But she wasn’t fooling anyone, least of all him.
“You be good. I’ll see you around,” he said, and he smiled at her before he turned around and walked out.
Chapter 4
I’m sorry, I’m not going to make it for the auction.
Ellen looked down at her phone as she parked her car, and sighed. She hadn’t seen Travis for five years. He’d gone to Brazil and never come back. During that time, she’d sent him letters, they’d had phone calls and texts, but his job had been very demanding.
Not that she’d been idle, and they hadn’t lost touch, they just...hadn’t been in contact nearly as much as what she wanted.
But he was on his way home. She thought he was going to make it to the annual Sweet Water spring festival, but he got held up with business. He was tying up all of his loose ends and coming home to stay.
She couldn’t wait. Not that Travis was her only friend, even her only good friend. And she didn’t expect that things hadn’t changed at all. Maybe he’d be bringing a wife home, although if he got married, he’d never told her.
“Are we going in?” her sister Maeve said from the front seat.
Tadgh and Ashley were already in, hanging up decorations and getting things started. They had left Ellen at home to put together a lunch bucket for herself and one for Maeve so they could sell them at the auction.
It was the old-fashioned, buy the bucket and eat with the girl kind of auction. Of course, Tadgh was planning on buying Maeve’s bucket. Although Maeve didn’t know.
They’d talked about allowing her brother to buy it, and Ellen wasn’t entirely sure what they had decided about that other than they thought perhaps Maeve would be disappointed. She had been so excited about getting to put a lunch bucket in the auction.
It was her first auction, and she had made the cookies and the fried apple pies that were in the buckets herself.
Ellen had made country-fried steak again, hoping that it would summon Travis home. Of course, for the last five years, every time she made it she thought of him, but he’d never come. Not that she expected him to, but country-fried steak always made her think of him and long for him to be with her.
Still, the spring festival was one of Ellen’s favorites, and she was determined to have a good time. Even if Travis wasn’t there to buy her bucket. She would have loved to have been able to sit and catch up with her old friend, but she wasn’t going to allow that to spoil the evening for her.
“We sure are, pumpkin,” she said to her sister, giving her a smile and sharing an excited look. Maeve wasn’t at the age where she was too mature to be called by the nickname that Ellen had given her at birth.
Ellen felt blessed to be able to spend so much time with her sister. Even though she was an adult, with several businesses that she ran on her own, her parents welcomed her, actually wanted her, to continue to live with them. She had never felt like she was in the way or that they were trying to push her out. On the contrary, she felt like they enjoyed her company and wanted her to stay. She loved her family, loved the sense of safety and community that she felt with them, and loved the fact that she had extra years to develop a relationship with her sister.
