Page 12 of Cherishing Happily Ever After

“Logan and I were thinking that the house was starting to get a bit crowded and…well, we’re thinking we might build a place of our own.”

Hope visibly relaxed. “Build? Where?”

Faith shrugged and pointed in the direction of the river. “We kind of have a special spot we were thinking and…anyway, we’re just thinking about it. We still need to figure out some plans and find a builder. Oh.” She spun in Stephanie’s direction. “Do you think Travis would do it?”

Steph took a step back and shook her head. “Why are you asking me? I have no idea what he’s doing these days.” That wasn’t totally true. “And I really don’t care.” Okay, that partreallywasn’t true. She hated that she did, but she did. She cared.

“I should get going.” She gave her sisters one last hug, despite the fact they’d be seeing each other the following day at a regular meeting of their friends for ladies’ night. “I want to stop at…well, I should go.” She didn’t bother finishing with the excuse.

Because the truth was, she wanted to get out to Lynx Creek in the daylight, get her cabin organized, and make sure the alarm system was set properly before the sun set. Travis had offered to come by and help her with it, but she’d refused his offer. It was just an app on her phone. He’d sent the instructions via email and she’d gone over them a few times. It couldn’t betoohard. Besides, having Travis in close proximity, in her cabin, alone…it wasn’t a good idea.

She knew what she’d said. She was done with him. But she also knew how she felt.

And it was definitely easier to resist all of those feelings if he just kept his distance.

Travis had spent most of the day marking out the lines for where his new house would sit. Right on the river’s edge. Far enough back that it wouldn’t be affected by the spring runoff when the snow melt in the mountains had the river running fast and high, but close enough that he could sit out on his deck and listen to the gentle burble of the water over the rocks in the evening as the sun set. It was perfect. He’d worked hard to make sure the location of his new house wouldn’t affect the privacy and views of Stephanie’s cabins on the other side of the river. He wanted to be a good neighbor, after all.

He wanted to be more than that.

Dammit.

He needed to shut down those feelings. And fast. Because he didn’t want to be more than that.

Sure, he wantedher.He couldn’t even pretend to deny that. Not even to himself. The need to have her in his arms, her sweet mouth on his…yes. That was real.

But Stephanie wasn’t the type of woman to agree to his terms for a relationship, or lack thereof. She’d more or less already said so. And he wasn’t the type of man to give her what she wanted. Which was why it was just easier to stay away.

Far away.

Well, maybe not too far.

Travis grabbed a beer from the cooler in his camper and sank into the lawn chair he’d set up by the river to watch the sun set behind the mountains.

Stephanie was over there right now. He wanted to be there when she arrived, but she’d made it perfectly clear that she didn’t want him there. Was it because she was making a show of independence? Or was it him?

Probably a bit of both.

He popped the top of the can and took a deep pull, hoping the cold liquid would help calm the turmoil within. What had Georgia said? That he should tell Stephanie how he felt?

No. Fucking. Way.

Tinker Bell dropped a stick at Travis’s feet, and he tossed it away so the pup could run after it. She wasn’t much for playing fetch, and sure enough, a moment later, Tink was distracted by a squirrel in the tree. She sat and barked at it until Travis called her off. “Quite the guard dog, aren’t you?” He scratched the puppy’s head as a reward for coming when he called. “What do you think? Should we tell Steph that we…” He trailed off, feeling stupid for talking to a dog about his relationship issues, and also having no idea how to finish the sentence.

Even if he was going to tell Stephanie how he felt, he’d have to know himself first. And it was just easier not to think about it.

Travis watched as the sun sank and drank another beer. He headed into his camper to reheat a can of soup before falling into a restless sleep, where a certain redhead played a starring role in his dreams.

Sometime later, Travis sat straight up in bed when the sharp ring of his cell phone jarred him into consciousness.

It was dark in the camper, only the slight glow of the quarter moon outside slipping through the thin curtains. He reached for his cell phone to silence it without looking at the caller ID. No one ever called him. It had to be a wrong number.

But when he saw Stephanie’s sweet, smiling face—a photo he’d snapped months earlier when putting her contact information in—on the screen, Travis immediately pressed the button to accept the call. “Steph? What’s—”

“Travis?” He could barely hear her over the blaring of the alarm in the background. “It’s the alarm. It’s going off...someone’s here. I don’t know what to—”

He was already out of bed, Tink right behind him. “I’m on my way. Don’t move.”

Travis knew the trails of the woods well. Even in the dark, it didn’t take him long to move through the forest and across the downed log on the creek that acted as a bridge, and onto Steph’s property. He used the gate in the fence he’d put there for just that purpose, and didn’t worry about the settings of the alarm system. If it had already been tripped, it would be a moot point.

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