Second Chance Baby (Crescent Cove #18)

Chapter 10

TEN

I swallowed hard. “I told you I didn’t want to take Plan B, so I’d say I’m just fine with it.”

“Good. I’m fine with it too.” He stepped up to me, sinking his teeth into my lower lip once more as his hand skimmed under his flannel nightshirt to cup my ass. “But I’m also fine with practicing, as long as we can do it a lot.”

“Don’t think that will be any problem.”

“Hey, people, Biscuit just peed on the kitchen floor so guess he had to go now!”

I tipped back my head as Travis laughed. “Mood officially gone.”

“Yeah, so let’s get dressed and get down there before the pup follows it up with a big fat…” I trailed off and tugged on his hand as we headed toward the bedroom.

We both dressed in record time. I just put on yesterday’s clothes and slipped on my sneakers, racing him downstairs to find Amerie and Carrington camped out on the couch watching something innocuous on TV with the dog between them.

“All urgency gone?”

Carrington shrugged. “He chilled right out after he made a mess.”

“Sounds about right.” Travis patted my ass on his way by, and Carrington didn’t even blink. “Did Lacey happen to bring a dog leash?”

“Yeah, she hung it on the hook over here. C’mon, Amerie,” she instructed, leading her young cousin to the door.

Obediently, Biscuit leaped off the couch to follow them.

I grabbed the leash off the hook and attached it to the dog’s collar, leading him outside and down the wide front steps. “Damn, you cleaned this place right up.” Travis slipped on his aviators and studied the now trimmed hedges with obvious appreciation.

“I didn’t get to rake yet,” I began.

“Not even sure I own a rake,” Travis said with a shrug. “Usually, I just slip a neighborhood kid a few bucks to tackle stuff like that.”

“Mom is worth more than a few bucks,” Carrington offered, ducking as I ruffled her hair.

“Aww, thanks. I’m touched.”

“But if we got some of those cool fall leaf bags they have at the hardware store, that would be fun.”

“Where’s the closest one?” I asked, leading Biscuit toward the bush he immediately wanted to mark as his own.

“Closest hardware store?” Travis scratched his neck. “Off Main Street, I’d say.”

“Let’s go then. Once we finish our family walk,” Carrington announced, grabbing Biscuit’s leash and taking off down the street at a record clip. Amerie jogged along beside her while Travis and I followed at our own far more leisurely pace, holding hands and stopping every few feet to point out pretty leaves and decorated houses and even a cloud in the perfect blue sky that just happened to be shaped like a Lab like Biscuit.

Which I had to show Carrington, who came back to us long enough to roll her eyes. “Sure, Mom, that cloud looks like a dog.”

“With Carrington, an eye roll is a sign of love,” Travis informed me. “Least that’s what I tell myself when she rolls her eyes at me ten times a day.”

“Think you’re exaggerating, Dad!” Carrington called before continuing on at her fast pace.

At the loud exchange, Mrs. Gunderson, revered town busybody, emerged from a neatly kept Colonial on the next block and literally clapped her hands upon spotting us.

In Travis’s sturdy grip, my hand went to ice.

“There you two are! After yesterday, we all wondered if you’d even come out for days. A lot of time to make up for, you know,” she added, looking at the two girls and the dog as if she was surprised to see them. “Oh, hi, little miss. What a cute puppy too. Who might you be?”

“My mom is her mom’s sister,” Amerie announced, pointing at Carrington.

“Oh, since when have you had a sister, Bridget?”

“Since before I was born, because Lacey is actually four years older than me.”

“Imagine that. Guess the Masterson family took up everyone’s attention since they’re so dang big and getting larger by the day, it seems like. Making so many babies. When are you making some new babies, by the way?”

I glanced at Travis, shocked into silence. Was that just a typical conversational gambit in town now? I remembered Mrs. Gunderson as a grade-A gossip, but it had been many years since I’d just strolled through town.

Travis shrugged. “Think it takes at least nine months, last I checked. Maybe more or less depending on the particular kid.”

“Okay, I’m outta here. Let’s go, Ame.” Carrington tucked her arm through her cousin’s and the two of them hightailed it up the street, kicking leaves out of their way. The dog hurried ahead happily, his golden, plume-like tail sweeping back and forth with obvious happiness.

“And also, you know, you can’t just assume anything, even in Crescent Cove.” I heard myself talking and actually didn’t even know what would come out of my mouth next.

Neither did Travis, clearly, since his head whipped toward mine as he squeezed my fingers.

In warning or in encouragement? I wasn’t sure.

“What does that mean, exactly? Everyone saw you two yesterday getting busy right out in public, so don’t play coy now.”

“I’m not playing coy, just there are no guarantees, even in this town. Some people also have fertility issues, you know? So, you shouldn’t make assumptions, even here. You could really hurt someone’s feelings. Not everything is fit for public consumption, no matter how nosy you are.”

Hearing myself, I closed my eyes.

Great one, Bridget. Barely back for a day, and you’re already insulting one of the pillars of the community.

“She’s right,” Travis said in a low voice. “Someone close to me had trouble getting pregnant, and I’ve also known some others who lost children, which is one of the hardest things for a family to go through. You never know who is facing what when you’re cracking jokes or making innocent remarks.”

“You’re right,” Mrs. Gunderson said with a loud sniffle. “Both of you. Why, my daughter is pregnant right now with a very wished-for baby. I would hate to hurt someone unthinkingly. I would just hate it. Bridget, you always had a heart of gold. No wonder this one didn’t want anyone else since you’ve been gone. How long since you left town for good, anyway?” Before I could answer, she waved a hand as if she was dismissing her own question. “Time doesn’t mean a thing in the scheme, with the solid foundation you two had. You were always meant for each other. From the very start! Come here, give me a hug, both of you. I insist.” Mrs. Gunderson rushed forward and crushed me in her arms against her voluminous bosom, nicely highlighted by her floral dress. “You’re going to stay now, aren’t you? We’ve all missed you here so very much. And maybe you’ll even go back to St. Agnes, won’t you? They’re running low on good teachers there, and they could really use you. You had such a way with those kids.”

I returned her hug, patting her back as my shocked gaze connected with Travis’s. He said nothing, just held his arms open for her when she finally let me go and moved on to hug him for a very long time. “Gee, last time I hugged you, you certainly didn’t have muscles like these, did you, Travis?” She made a show of pinching his biceps. Of course, the white Henley he wore displayed them to their best advantage, which I was sure was just a coincidence.

“Don’t let this one go, either, this time, Bridget,” she advised in a stage whisper as she resumed hugging him enthusiastically. “I gotta say thank you, though. I was smart enough to say you two would do the mattress mambo within days of your re-arrival in town, Bridget, once Hildie saw you rushing up the sidewalk to the Sherman and put out the good word.”

Good word was a nice way to describe gossiping the second I’d originally been spotted.

“Though you’ve been here before for visits, somehow, she suspected change was afoot. And thanks to your... ambition , my family is going to have a mighty fine Christmas this year!” Hooting with laughter, she pulled back with a wave and walked back to her lawn, rushing up the steps and back inside before I’d even pulled my jaw off the ground.

I swallowed hard. “Is she somehow getting paid because we had sex in a timely fashion? Is that a new Cove tradition?”

He merely laughed and lifted my hand to his lips. “At least she won’t be getting paid each time. Gotta love a small town, right?”

I did love my small town, and the feeling was growing every day. But there was no disputing it was a little crazy in the very best way.

A loud quack had me drawing back in surprise. “Are you lost?” I asked the clearly juvenile duck perched on the nearby sidewalk and sharing his opinion of us.

Many quacks followed.

“Nah, they often wander around the neighborhood since the lake is so close. They find their way back there in time. No worries.”

Everything with Travis seemed to end with that sentiment. I had to admit I liked it far better than my own style of being twisted up with worry and recriminations.

I cleared my throat. “Should we go find our kid? And Amerie?”

“Good idea. See you later, duck.”

“Dad! Help with Biscuit.” Carrington yelled from further up the block, darting around a fully decorated lawn. She seemed to be dancing with a Grim Reaper, but as we got closer, I realized she was chasing the dog, who was trailing his leash behind him.

Apparently, he’d gotten loose.

Travis managed to get hold of the leash, which he wrapped securely around his hand as he led the way back home.

To show his appreciation, Biscuit marked every lawn we passed what seemed like several times each.

And to our great appreciation, no more neighbors exited their lovely homes to ask if we were changing our lives immediately due to our outrageous sex lives.

As far as I was concerned, that plan seemed sound to me.

Once we arrived home, we conceded to Carrington’s need for Halloween.

Now.

Her father suggested after we got leaf bags and a rake at the hardware store, we should stop by a couple of the shops on Main Street. Shop local, sis boom bah.

But that idea was swiftly vetoed by Carrington, who felt that by now, everyone had started their decorating, so we needed to get a move on.

No more time to waste.

That seemed to be a theme in all ways.

For this little while, I was pretending to be part of the we . The idea of heading back to my apartment in Queens by myself just was ridiculously hurtful.

I’d only spent a day here and I already felt as if I didn’t want to go home anymore. That I didn’t even have a home. Not really.

Not one that beckoned me half as much as the town I’d grown up in, anyway.

But it wasn’t so much the town I didn’t want to leave, as charming and beautiful as it was. It was the people in it that made all the difference—my daughter and Travis.

And of course, my sister too, who I hadn’t spent more than a few minutes with when we dropped off Amerie at her place, explaining we had a big shopping trip to undertake so could she watch the dog until we could make sure Biscuit could handle being alone in the house.

She waved us off, saying it was all good, she’d lock him in the bathroom when her new boyfriend stopped by. I wasn’t really excited about that prospect, but it was better than letting him loose in our— Travis’s —house unattended.

God, it felt like my house already. I pushed that thought away.

Now that I was back in the Cove for good, I’d right all the wrongs. Including spending a lot more time with my sister and Amerie.

I’d make sure of it.

Right now, a Halloween shopping trip with my daughter and her dad was my focus. I didn’t want to miss a minute. I’d lost far too many.

Including an impromptu Care Bear concert in the car.

Travis grinned at her in the rearview mirror, shaking his head while she pretended to hold a microphone as she sang along to a current Taylor Swift song on the radio. I’d heard the song here and there, but listening to a 10-year-old singing about watching someone leaving because they were tired of her scheming was more than a little surreal.

Especially when the words hit a little too close to home.

Was I the anti-hero too? What did people think of me in the Cove for turning my back on my daughter to hide in the cutthroat modeling world?

Of course, the truth was much more nuanced than that. My twenties had been a whirlwind of unbalanced hormones post-pregnancy and intense anxiety along with so many other things that I’d never managed to voice. Or even face.

Travis and I were on an equal playing field there. We had both shut down from each other rather than communicating.

Mrs. Gunderson had seemed surprisingly understanding, considering she was a habitual gossip. Perhaps she didn’t want to scare me away.

I appreciated that. Not that anyone could convince me to leave now.

Even so, I knew all too well outsiders were quick to judge. Especially when it came to motherhood in a town like this one.

The idea of a solid family unit was incredibly potent in Crescent Cove. I’d dare call it a baby boom for all intents and purposes. Baby strollers were as plentiful as cars it seemed.

I loved babies too—well, children, which was why I’d become an elementary school teacher to begin with. I hadn’t foreseen having a baby would rock our relationship like it had. Somehow, we’d never discussed having kids even after being together for years. I’d assumed we would, after we got married and settled down.

Doing everything in the right order had been our unspoken plan. And then the plan had been blown to hell by what should have been the happiest accident ever.

I clicked back into the moment as Taylor sang about her daughter-in-law killing her for the money, I frowned.

“What a dark song,” I muttered. Not that the next lines were any better.

Was that true about me too? That I could stare directly into the sun but never in the mirror?

Was anyone rooting for the “Anti-Hero” here? Hell, was I even rooting for myself at this point?

For so long, I’d carried the guilt and remorse for everything I’d done. To the point I wasn’t even sure I had a proper read on the situation.

How could I?

A week ago, if someone had asked me how Travis felt about me, I would’ve said he tolerated me. Our last few years of meetings had been chilly at best. Before yesterday, I hadn’t seen him since spring. Not long in the grand scheme of things, but literal miles between how he’d treated me then to how we were now.

Was it just lust? Just a matter of right timing? Or was I being delusional?

The song switched to something else I didn’t recognize but Carrington kept singing with abandon, dancing in the backseat with no self-consciousness whatsoever. I was so glad for that, not that I could credit myself with teaching her to be that way. I had plenty of issues on that score, and being a model hadn’t lessened them, either.

Oddly, I seemed to be becoming more self-conscious as I aged instead of the other way around. Then again, it was hard enough being a woman in her thirties, never mind the modeling industry.

“What’s wrong?” Travis asked softly as he signaled to enter the highway.

I flipped down the visor mirror to check my face, wondering if how I was feeling was that obvious. My makeup was fine, though I needed more lipstick already. But I hadn’t bothered to retouch it since earlier.

I hadn’t even thought about it. I’d just enjoyed blending in amongst the people in my hometown. No one special.

True, Colette at the craft shop had mentioned our shoot yesterday, but no one else seemed to be chatting about it other than what Mrs. Gunderson had intimated with some sex bet. That we’d apparently helped her win?

Gossip in the Cove was no joke, and as bucolic as our town was, no one missed a chance to spin the wheel when it came to the rumor mill.

And Travis was still waiting for an answer, so I fumbled for the nearest thing that came to hand.

“How many people do you think are speculating about us now thanks to what Colette saw? And/or whatever poll or bet or whatever Mrs. Gunderson was referring to?”

Travis flicked a glance at me. “Who cares?”

He did have a point, but I’d never been as blasé about things like that as he was. “You’re a dude. Of course, you don’t care. The more babes you nail, the better.”

His silence clued me into my very wrong turn, since he’d already indicated his life had not been that way. Imagine me saying something to disrupt the tenuous peace between us?

What a shock.

Immediately, I bowed my head. “I didn’t mean?—”

“No, I get it. Regardless of the truth, everything is a bigger deal when a woman does it. Which was why I said what I did to Colette. Just wanted to keep everything clear.”

“I appreciated that, but what I said is still true. We were both all in on that shoot.”

“Oh, yeah, I know you’re used to all kinds of shoots.” His tone was carefully neutral.

“No, I definitely am not. That one was an all-new experience for me.” I dropped my voice to a whisper. “In the very best way.”

His lightning-quick smile blazed through me, and I had to lace my fingers together in my lap to keep from reaching for him. I didn’t know what exactly I’d do then, but I just needed him to know how much it meant to me. The old me would’ve been afraid to reveal her cards but fuck it. My feelings for Travis had never waned, including the how insane he made me in the bedroom.

I was tired of hiding my emotions toward him. No matter what that required me to risk.

I’d risk any fucking thing for a chance to get him and my daughter back. Being with them seemed like a dream come true, and I only wanted more.

“I haven’t returned Daphne’s texts yet,” Travis said, hitting the gas to pass a car just ahead of him. “Barely even glanced at them.”

“Yeah, I made sure Elaine knew I had different priorities now. Though we still have to deal with the fallout.” I swallowed over the sudden boulder in my throat. “The shoot wasn’t the most important part, obviously.”

“No.” He draped his wrist over the wheel again. “What was the most important part to you? I don’t want to make any assumptions this time.” His meaningful glance seared right through me. “In any way.”

I heard the tremor in his voice. That a man as sexy and self-assured as he was could ever feel insecure about anything—even for a moment—seemed patently impossible.

My heart raced, and my palms went damp as if we were back in high school all over again.

In our early days, I’d never worried about keeping his attention. Travis never faltered on showing interest both in our endless conversations or active sex life.

Actually, our problem back then had been trying to keep our hands off each other. No way could I misread how teenage Travis felt.

Carrington was still singing along to the radio, though in a much lower voice and without all the theatrics. I wasn’t sure if she was trying not to interrupt us or if she simply wanted to hear what we were saying.

So, I waited until he looked my way again and mouthed, “You.”

His lips quirked, popping out his dimples. “Me too.” He reached over to grab my hand and then his brow arched. He didn’t say any more, just linked our fingers together, but I could feel his questions without needing to voice them.

Why are your hands damp? Why are they shaking?

Since now they were doing that too. Could I be any lamer?

Survey said no.

But I didn’t try to hide anything from him. Didn’t try to pull away or play off my reactions. I’d assumed I’d laid my cards on the table enough with our conversation during movie night, but I’d just skimmed the surface. We had so much more to discuss.

Like our future plans. How I wanted to maybe go back to teaching, and how he might want to stay home with our future kids. If any would be in the picture for us. Day by day was the only way we could take all of this.

For now, I just curled my fingers into his and held on for all I was worth.

His big hand wrapped around mine and he held on too. If anything, his grip tightened.

Nothing had ever felt better than holding his hand with our daughter putting on a concert in the backseat.

Nothing.

It took about another twenty minutes to reach the Spirit store in the early rush hour traffic, but I would’ve been just fine if we’d kept driving forever. I didn’t want him to ever let me go again.

So much for managing my expectations around what had happened yesterday. Clearly, my expectations were a gateway drug to wishing for a fairy tale ending.

Even if it was crazy, I was too committed to the hazy happiness surrounding me that I wasn’t even going to try to tell myself not to get carried away.

I wanted to get carried away. I wanted that fucking fairy tale.

What good had it ever done playing it safe or holding back my feelings?

None, that was what.

Travis swerved into the parking lot of the Spirit store and let out a low curse. “Guess we are behind, huh, Care Bear? This place is frigging packed.”

“Jeez, imagine that.”

Her sarcastic reply made me laugh into my fist, and Travis’s narrow-eyed reaction just made me laugh harder.

“You two are both the same. Full of criticism.”

He couldn’t have complemented me more, which he must’ve realized because he broke into another huge grin.

“It’s not criticism,” I said primly. “It’s just a simple fact of life. Once you get to October, the best Halloween decorations have frequently been picked over. Even I know that, and we only had a small trailer to buy decorations for, not a big house like your parents’ place.”

“That was probably the last time I bought decorations other than a Christmas tree and a wreath. I’m good with those.”

My head whipped toward his. “You guys don’t decorate for Halloween normally? You used to always love spooky season. And you’d start trying to scare me as soon as it hit September, forget October.”

“What’s up with that, huh, Daddy?” Carrington crossed her arms. “That sucks. For me, I mean. Not you, Mom.”

“Your dad is super busy. Have you seen all the big jobs he’s had lately?” I asked, knowing all too well how much he’d been doing in recent months.

“Me? What about you? You were in a freaking movie.”

My cheeks were hot, so I knew my face had to be bright red. But it was a good kind of embarrassment. “It was a foreign film with subtitles. Not like some big box office smash. I just happen to be fluent in French, so I happened to be who they needed at that time.”

Carrington leaned forward between the front seats. “Dude, like a real movie? No way.”

I had to laugh. “It was a small one, but yeah, technically it was a movie. Not some blockbuster like Steven Spielberg would do, and there was no action.”

“Then what was it about?”

A loving relationship, so…sex.

Sex action. No guns or clingy body suits, just actual body parts. My own, even, since I hadn’t wanted to use a body double.

God knows I wouldn’t be doing such an explicit film ever again.

I cleared my throat. “Honestly, we sat around in little coffee shops a lot and talked about family stuff. And we read poetry. And argued now and then.”

Usually about wanting to have more sex.

But I wisely kept that part to myself.

“Can we watch it, Dad?”

“No,” I said right away. “Absolutely not.”

She pouted. “Why not?”

“Well, it’s mostly in French. You don’t know French, Care.”

“I can learn though. Do you know French?” she asked her father.

He hesitated long enough I fully expected him to toss me under the bus. Even if that meant he’d be tossing himself by having to sit by while his minor daughter watched a sex movie with her own mother.

I couldn’t even begin to guess what sort of therapy that would require her to have. And why hadn’t I considered that before I’d agreed to take the job? No matter how much money it had allowed me to send home to Lacey and Amerie.

Clearly, I hadn’t been thinking.

Sex movies were for people who didn’t have children or else they had to be really young.

You knew it was your last chance while your tits were still where they should be. More or less. Damn vanity.

“Nope, sorry, kiddo. Your dad skipped all his language classes in high school.”

I raised my eyebrows. He absolutely had not skipped them. French had actually been one of his best subjects.

And I could remember quite well all the sexy French endearments he’d whispered to me at intimate moments. And not intimate moments for the sole purpose of making me blush.

Like I was doing right now just from the mere memory.

“Aww, man, bummer.” Carrington slumped back into her seat. Then she seemed to realize where she was and slid across the seat to haul open the back door. “C’mon, people, time’s a wasting.”

I undid my belt with my free hand and started to open the door.

“I want to watch that movie,” he said in a low voice. “Is it available to stream?”

“I don’t know. I’ll get back to you.”

“You do so know. I’m in the business, remember?”

God, my skin was going to flay off my cheeks from sheer embarrassment. “I didn’t really pay attention?—”

“Bridget.”

I ducked my head. “Really? Are you going to make this into a thing?”

“I wasn’t, but now I damn well am. Were you naked or what?”

“Not naked,” I answered hastily. Close enough.

Why I hadn’t had any issue with getting naked with Travis on camera. Also, it was Travis.

“Then what’s the problem?”

“I’m no actress.”

“Let me be the judge of that, since you must be damn good if you won the part.”

“Not that many people tried out?—”

“Brig, stop running yourself down. Okay? I don’t like it, and if it’s just that you don’t want me to watch your movie, then I won’t. Subject closed.”

“It’s not that I don’t want you to watch it. Just it was kinda hot.”

“Then I absolutely want to watch it. Especially if we can get hot during and afterward.” He cupped my cheek for a moment, brushing his thumb over my quivering lower lip while I tried to breathe.

Then he slipped out of the driver’s seat and jogged across the lot to where our daughter was waiting impatiently in front of Spirit’s front door. I glimpsed him lift his hands in an obvious apology and then they both looked back at the Chevy.

They were obviously waiting for me.

I forced myself to hop down to follow them into the store. “Hang on, I’m coming,” I called gaily as if I wasn’t on the verge of tears.

Just being included with them was still new enough to take me out. But I shoved back my tears as I flashed them my brightest smile. “Last one in has to put the skeletons we get in crazy poses,” I decided, darting inside before they could catch me.