Page 6 of Second Chance at Mountain Creek Ranch
“Yep.” I sigh under my breath. “Perfect.”
I grab my plate and take it into the kitchen, scraping the food into the trash with more force than is necessary. I feel him behind me before I hear him. He clears his throat, and I turn to face him.
“Are you going to tell me why you need to go into town?”
“I told you—”
"Business, right, you said. But what your siblings haven’t learned, even after a lifetime with you, is that when you aren’t telling the truth, you pucker your lips like you just taken a bite of a lemon.”
I consciously try to unpucker my lips. "It's nothing. I just have something I need to take care of.”
He just stares at me, like he’s waiting for me to continue. When I don’t, he runs his hand over the back of his neck.
"Okay fine, you don't have to tell me. I'll pick you up tomorrow around noon.”
I nod once, and he walks out. As soon as the door closes behind him, Willow walks in with a proud grin on her face.
“What is the matter with you? Why did you do that?”
She rolls her eyes. “Because you two are incapable of seeing what is in front of you.”
I stare at her. “You did that on purpose? You set us up, so we’d have to spend time together.”
"Of course, I did. You were so busy being jealous that you weren't the center of his attention, you missed all the looks he was giving you that would have made it totally obvious to anyone else watching that you are.”
"Willow, it's over between Travis and me. We have been for years."
"You two try to pretend, but you may as well have blinking neon lights over your head, saying, “I’m still in love with you!”
As much as it thrills me to hear her say this, I won’t let myself get my hopes up. There is still a lot I need to take care of before I can even think about a future with Travis.
4
TRAVIS
I pull into one of the empty parking spaces in front of Centennial Bank and Loan. I look over at Harper in the passenger seat. She hasn't said a word besides thanking me for driving her when I picked her up. She's holding a brown accordion folder to her chest as if someone is going to try and steal it from her.
"Are you okay?" I ask, noticing her complexion is paler than usual.
She nods once and glances over at me. “Yeah, all good.”
I don't bother to point out the fact that her lips are puckering again. This is something big, probably even why she came back, but I'm not the guy she confides in anymore even though the urge to take care and protect her is strong in me.
“I will meet you back here in about an hour?”
She nods and gets out. I watch her from my rearview mirror to see where Harper's going. She crosses Main Street and walks past the line of brick storefront shops. She's just about out of my view when she stops in front of Garrison Traeger's law office. The hairs on the back of my neck prickle up. This can't be good. Whatever it is, there's a reason Harper didn't tell her family or me why she had a meeting today with Garrison.
Movement from behind the glass window in the bank reminds me of my meeting. I check my tie in the rearview mirror and head inside. I have to focus now, but my concern for Harper is still near the forefront of my mind.
* * *
"Well, everything appears to be in order,” Brenda, the loan officer, says. She flips through the pages of paperwork I’d submitted for this loan one final time. I didn't have as much as I would've liked for the down payment, but I hoped that my long history with the bank might be enough for them to take a chance on me.
“When do you think you’ll have an answer for me? I’m eager to put in my bid on the property as soon as possible.”
“It shouldn’t be more than a day or so.” Brenda smiles at me, but it doesn’t quite reach her eyes.
“What is it? What aren’t you telling me.”
