“Watching you?”
“That sounds so freaky and paranoid, doesn’t it?”
“A little, without an explanation to go along with it.”
“Heather?” Brooke’s concerned call from her front porch sent a deep sigh shuddering through her.
“Be there in a minute!” She groaned. “I’ll explain later. I don’t want this to be a big thing tonight.” The urge to share her fears and concerns nearly overpowered her. However, while she’d gotten to know Travis over the last four months, thanks to her friendship with Brooke, his best friend’s wife, she swallowed the words and stepped closer to him. She studied his wound. He still looked amazing to her even with a slightly red eye. “Let me see it.”
“It’s fine. It was a glancing blow. I just want to know what you don’t want to be a big thing.”
Heather leaned closer. “Travis, come on.” She caught a whiff of that cologne he used. A scent she’d come to associate only with him.
“Nope.” He actually backed away from her, the expression on his face grabbing her curiosity. He rubbed just under the wound, his green eyes glinting at her, a mixture of admiration and . . . fear?
She raised a brow. “What in the world is wrong with you?”
He flushed. “Nothing. Doctors make me nervous.” He bent and picked up the black Stetson that had flown from his dark blond head when she’d belted him.
“Doctors make you . . .” She sputtered to a stop. Then laughed. When he didn’t join her, that trailed off too. “You’re serious?”
“Now you know my deepest, darkest secret.”
“Somehow, I doubt that. Are you going to explain?”
He raised a brow. “Are you going to tell me about this person you think is watching you?”
“Heather? Travis? Is everything okay?” Brooke called from the porch again, her voice a mixture of curiosity and concern.
“We’re coming, Brooke.” Heather figured Brooke’s rabid curiosity—which was part of what made her such a great psychiatrist—would get the better of her and she’d come to investigate if they didn’t hurry up. She waved toward the house. “Why don’t we go join the party and put some ice on that eye?”
His eyes narrowed, and for a split second, she thought he might insist on further explanation for her odd behavior, but he agreed with a quick nod.
With one last glance behind her, she shook off the ominous feeling that her watcher was escalating and vowed to have a good time tonight.
Even if it killed her.
Travis leaned his head back against the edge of the hot tub and let the jets pound his body while his left eye and cheekbone throbbed. He’d shucked his cowboy boots and Stetson in favor of a bathing suit and old T-shirt from his college days at Baylor University. Caden Denning and Brooke’s husband, Asher, sat opposite him while Gavin Black manned the grill.
Heather, Brooke, Sarah, Ava, and Gina had opted for the heated pool. Shortly after his wedding to Brooke last year, Asher had convinced his friends to join him in the DIY project of converting the existing pool into a pool and hot tub combo. They’d painted oversized game boards on the concrete, including chess, backgammon, and shuffleboard. It was a gorgeous entertaining space.
At the time, Travis had been certain he and the others were nuts for agreeing to help put it all together. Right now, he decided it was the best idea any one of them had ever come up with. Mainly because of the hot tub adjoining the pool. He settled back in the tub, elbows resting behind him on the ledge between the two. The ladies had migrated to the shallow end steps to chat. Travis closed his eyes and let the hot water relax him.
“How are you doing?” Heather’s soft question whispered past his ear. Opening one eye, he turned his head to discern she’d aimed the question at Gina.
“Okay today,” Gina said. She had her auburn hair pulled on top of her head in one of those clip things women liked. The floodlights from the pool illuminated her face. She was pretty in a girl-next-door kind of way, but the stress of losing her husband had stamped a grief onto her fragile features that would only be softened by time.
“Tomorrow I might not be,” she said. “I try to stay busy. I joined a chess club here before I left Kabul and the first meeting is tomorrow night, but it’s hard to work up any enthusiasm for it.”
Travis grimaced at the pure sadness in her voice and shut his eye. Gina’s husband had been killed in Afghanistan about six months ago. She’d come home to bury him, then returned to finish her tour. A courageous choice.
“It doesn’t help that my mother-in-law keeps posting stuff on Brad’s social media page, ranting about the military and everything wrong with it,” Gina said. “Including me. She blames me and everyone involved for his death. She thinks I should have done something. Everyone should have done something to keep him from dying.”
“Oh, how awful,” Brooke said.
“I’d simply delete his profile, but his friends still post on there as a way to honor his memory, and I hate to take that away from them. Or . . . I could simply block her, but that doesn’t seem right either. I can see it now, can’t you? #worstdaughterinlawever.” She rubbed her eyes. “And, truthfully, I don’t want to lose the content that he posted.”
“I’ve seen a few of the posts,” Heather said, “and I can imagine those are really hard for you. Can you ignore her or snooze her?”
“I’ve been ignoring her. Or trying to. It’s not working very well.” Gina shook her head. “I need to stay off social media until she calms down—and she will. Eventually.”
Heather rubbed her friend’s shoulder. “I’m sorry.”
Travis glanced over at Caden and noticed his eyes were on the ladies.
Most specifically, Ava. Caden and Sarah’s childhood friend, but it was obvious Caden wanted to take that to a new level.
Travis lifted a brow and caught the man’s eye. Caden gave him a deadpan look and rolled so his back was to Travis. He crossed his arms on the hot tub ledge and rested his chin on them. Travis filed the information away. So, Caden was interested in Ava. That was a relief. He’d thought for a long time he might be attracted to Heather.
He would understand it, of course. Heather had the looks of a runway model with her long wavy blonde hair, creamy complexion, and eyes that reminded him of his mom’s sapphire pendant she wore only on special occasions. And while he had initially been attracted to her good looks, it was the heart that beat within her that kept his attention snared.
Travis had a healthy self-esteem for the most part, but when it came to women, he sometimes felt like a fish out of water—especially since his last relationship had gone south. Heather was so out of his league she didn’t even have a league. He often found himself paralyzed when in her presence. It was stupid, but it was also reality.
“. . . friendly fire,” Gina was saying. “What’s so friendly about it? It still kills.”
“Aw, Gina . . .” Brooke’s voice was soft, sympathetic, and raw with hurt for her friend.
Gina waved a hand. “Sorry. Being home and trying to adjust to this life without Brad has been hard.” She paused. “So, here’s some good news. I start my new job tomorrow.”