Baby For The Mountain Man

“Selfish assholes,” I said.

I could’ve sworn I saw Travis’ cheek twitch with a smile.

“What?” I asked.

“Nothing,” he said. “Just your enthusiasm.”

“It’s beautiful out here. Kettle’s like a second home to me, despite the fact that I’ve explored very little of it. Knowing someone’s attacking it like that makes me sick.”

“Don’t worry. We’re trying to get it settled,” he said.

“I don’t know what I can do, but if I can help just like me know. Okay?”

I could see him really taking my words to heart as he nodded his head. Silence fell between us as I sipped on my coffee. Simply being in his presence was enough to make me smile. I felt pulled towards him. I felt my body gravitating in his direction. My foot slid towards his underneath the table and settled by his as my hand reached out for his fingertips. I waited for him to move. To shrug me off or get up from the table. I waited for the rejection I somehow assumed was coming.

But instead, he allowed our fingertips to tangle within one another’s and I felt a peace settle over my body.

“What are you doing for dinner tonight?” Travis asked.

“Sitting at a table with my head in my plate trying not to look at my father’s angry glare. Why?” I asked.

“I figured you might want to have steak stir fry and smile instead.”

“Uh huh. And who’s cooking up this stir fry?” I asked.

Travis scooted his hand closer to mine, threading our fingers deeper into each other’s grasp.

“Me,” he said. “If you’d let me.”

I smiled as I curled my lips around my straw. My eyes fluttered up to his as we sat in the corner of that coffeehouse. Part of me was worried about who saw us and who would report back to my father with it, but the other part of me was fine. I wanted to be with him. I wanted to be in Travis’ presence. I wanted to soak up his warmth and experience what it felt like to be safe in the presence of another human being.

“I think I’d like that option better,” I said.

“I was hoping you would say that,” Travis said. “I’ll see you tonight.”

Sixteen

Travis

I was frustrated after that meeting. I was beyond frustrated, really. I was angry. And fed up. And pissed off. I was upset at the position my father’s company had been put in. I was upset with the fact that we had no other options except to pin Breathline Energies for harassment. That wouldn’t make a company like them stop. They had a team of lawyers piecing this together. For all we knew, they could take that harassment lawsuit and spin it to make my father look fucking crazy and take the whole damn company from him.

But seeing Ava walk into that coffeehouse settled me immediately.

It was scary, the way I relaxed with her. It was reminiscent of the woman I had once fallen in love with. Things like this had been easy with my ex. Talking and sharing memories and being around one another. It was easy and fluid, like it was with Ava.

That terrified me. But it also filled me with a sense of delight.

When Ava and I parted from the coffeehouse I went straight to the grocery store. I picked up all the best ingredients to make her dinner tonight. I picked out a wonderful cut of steak and picked out fresh ingredients to use. I purchased fresh herbs instead of the dried stuff I had in my cabinets and grabbed a decent bottle of wine. I took all of it back to my cabin and started planning out the evening, excitement coursing through my veins.

I was just about done with dinner when a knock came at my door.

I wiped my hands off and raked my fingers through my hair. I headed for the door and opened it, my eyes raking over Ava’s beautiful form. She was in this beautiful yellow and pink floral-printed dress, with ballet flats on and her hair curled around her face. She had this innocent glow about her until my eyes connected with hers. For the first time, I was seeing Ava as a woman instead of as a young girl. Her eyes were filled with a fire and a confidence I hadn’t seen in her yet, and my heart slammed against my chest as she stepped inside.

“You look wonderful,” I said.

“You look nice, too,” Ava said. “It smells delicious in here.”

“And it’s done cooking. I hope you came hungry,” I said.