Page 37 of Cherishing Happily Ever After

“Don’t worry, Steph,” Faith said. “We’ll make sure you’re not alone out there that long. What about your helicopter? We can—”

“She’s not alone.” Logan’s voice jumped in.

Steph heard the meaning in his voice as he added, “She’s got Travis. I just spoke with him.”

He had?But she didn’t have time to ask, because Logan added, “Maybe they don’t want to be rescued.”

She blushed, even though she was alone in the cabin. Logan wasn’t wrong. At least, as far as she was concerned.

“Is that right, Steph?” Hope interrupted her thoughts. “Are you and Travis…”

“We’re fine,” she finished for her sister. “We should have enough food for a while and like I said, we’re safe. Don’t send the helicopter or anything, but yes,” she added with the slightest bit of disappointment, “I guess we will have to get the bridge sorted out sooner rather than later.”

“Don’t worry, sis.” Logan was practically laughing. “We’ll get you out of there. But not too quickly.”

She couldn’t help but laugh when Faith yelled his name, and no doubt gave him a playful smack. She really did love her family.

“I just wanted to let you guys know what was up. But we’re fine. We’ll stay in touch, okay?”

“Of course,” Faith said. “And Steph? Remember what we said the other day...about you and Trav—”

“We’re fine.” She cut her sister off. “I promise we’ll let you know if we need anything.”

They finished up the call as Steph saw the lights of Travis’s truck cut through the rain that was still coming down hard. When, a few minutes later, Travis appeared in the doorway looking a little waterlogged, the puppy at his feet, completely soaked, Stephanie was waiting with two towels.

She handed one to Travis and bent to scrub some of the mud and water off Tinker Bell. “How are things out there?”

“Not as good as they are in here.”

She looked up to see him grinning at her and a warmth spread through her body.

“But not bad,” he added after giving her a wink. “I was right. It was just a tree on the fence. I moved it off and when things dry out a bit, we can take another look. Where the bridge was is a mess. The river has completely spilled its banks and the road is a wreck, too. The creek isn’t too bad, though. It’s still a long way from the door of the cabin here, and the main lodge should be okay. I think our sandbags will hold even if it gets much higher.”

Steph nodded despite the fact that none of that sounded good at all.

“I brought over the generator from the storage shed just in case the power goes out.”

“Do you think it will?” She straightened up and took the towel from him. “What if it does? Will we—”

“We’ll be fine.”

Was it just her imagination, or was there more meaning in his words than just talking about the power?

She stared at him for a moment as a shiver ran through her. “I was just talking to my sisters, and Logan said he’d heard from you.”

Travis still hadn’t looked away from her. His gaze only grew more intense as he nodded slowly. “I wanted to check in with him and…” He shook his head as if he needed to clear his head before he took a step toward her. “I wanted to talk to you about something that’s on my mind.”

She blinked in confusion at the sudden change in topic. “About—”

“About playing games.”

He reached out and touched her arm so lightly, if she hadn’t been watching, she might not have felt it.

“You were right,” he continued. “With games, there’s always going to be a winner and a loser.”

She swallowed hard, but didn’t speak.

“And that’s exactly why I’m not playing,” he continued as he took another step toward her. “And I’mnotplaying, Stephanie. I need you to hear that and understand it. Completely.”

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