Page 57 of Willow Vale

He breathed a sigh of relief as he kissed the top of my head. “Thank you.”

When I woke up again,it was to the sound of laughter.

One I knew like the back of my hand. Followed by another low, deep chuckle. I could barely hear his words, but River’s was impossible to miss.

“Right. We got to stay quiet for Lila,” River half-whispered from somewhere in the room. My eyelids felt heavy asI opened them slowly, squinting when the glare of the sun filtering between the drawn curtains hit my face. It took me a moment to realize I was sleeping on my couch. Then it all came crashing into me.

Travis drove us to the hospital so I could get looked checked up. Apparently, I’d come down with a pretty bad flu that was going around town. When we finished and I got a prescription for antibiotics, I’d expected Travis to merely drop me off at the apartment again after we picked up my medication from the pharmacy. But he insisted on coming up with us.

I must have dozed off as soon as Travis barked orders at me to go lie down, reassuring me that he’d watch River for me while I got some rest. The last thing I remembered was hearing River talking Travis’s ear off about the different breeds of horses they had on Silver Hill.

The smell of freshly brewed coffee and bacon reached my nose. I licked my dried lips, grimacing when my throat ached at the slightest movement. My head felt heavy as I lifted my head to look around, spotting the time on the clock on the wall. When we got home it had to have been early in the evening and the fact that it was morning now could only mean I’d slept through the night.

I couldn’t remember the last time I’d slept this long.

River’s giggle caught my attention, and my eyes instantly searched for him. Standing up, I followed the sound of his voice coming from our kitchen.

My heart skipped a beat when I found him in Travis’s arms, watching intently as he flipped a pancake on the sizzling pan. Travis said something to my little brother, but I couldn’t pay attention to his words when I was too taken aback by the way he was…smiling.

A genuine, wide smile that showed off a dimple in hisstubbled cheek. He listened to River intently as he spoke, only making his blue eyes shine with amusement. And my little brother, usually so shy, was beaming up at Travis as if he’d hung the moon.

As if they’d done this a hundred times before. As if it was the most natural thing in the world for them to be cooking breakfast together in the kitchen.

All I could do was watch them.

How many times had I wished Travis could have been there during the hardest months of our lives? How many times had I reached for my cellphone just to hear his voice on the nights when River wouldn’t stop crying? To tell me that no matter how lost I felt, I could do this?

How many times had I regretted breaking up with him because I was scared of messing everything up?

Countless times.

As if he sensed me, River’s head whipped to the side and his eyes met mine.

“Lila!” He squirmed in Travis’s arm until he set him down so that he could run over to me. I picked him up before he engulfed me in a tight hug. “Are you feeling better now?”

I managed a smile. “Much better. How are you, buddy?”

“Good! I helped Travis make pancakes with blueberries and maple syrup. I made you some too! Do you want to try them?”

“You made me breakfast?”

“Yeah, Travis said it’s so you’ll feel better faster.” He gave me a little shrug, resting his head against my chest as he held onto me.

“I’d love nothing more than to have the breakfast you made for me.” I ran my fingers through his hair right as movement in the corner of my eye made me glance up.

Travis was watching us with a soft smile as he took a sip of black coffee. “Morning.”

“Good morning.” I set River down so that he could run off to play.

“How’re you feeling?”

I nodded. “Better than I was yesterday.” I paused as I watched him closely before saying, “You stayed.”

“Of course I did.” Travis turned to grab three plates out of the cupboards, already seeming to know his way around my kitchen. “Mom called to tell me that she was sending Finn over with some soup she made for you. But until then, you got my mediocre cooking.”

I didn’t know what to say. He’d taken care of me last night then watched over River without having to be asked. He’d stayed the night, all because I was too sick to do anything other than pass out on the couch. All because he simply wanted to be here. And even his family was trying to take care of me.

Before he could walk past me to set the plates on the table, I reached for his arm. He stopped, looking down at me with a waiting gaze.

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