“That young black guy on the gate is very, very pretty,” were the first words Abby spoke the following morning as she came rushing through the hall to the back of the house where Tasha was getting up to greet her. “Hey, sit down and tell me why Bobby is meeting me here this afternoon?” she asked bluntly making Tasha laugh as Alexi came into view with Sandra.
“Hi, are you better?” asked the little girl, understandably nervous having witnessed Tasha’s meltdown at the vineyard.
“Yes, much better, thank you.” She felt relieved when Alexi relaxed as she hugged her.
Alexi sat between her mother and Tasha. “Travis said I could ride with him today.”
“Yeah, Uncle Jim said you were going to put Travis through his paces.” Laughed Tasha as Travis appeared at the back door.
“Morning, beautiful ladies, and you, Abby.”
His smirk and Abby’s sneer made Tasha laugh.
“Screw you little, cousin,” spat Abby seriously, making Tasha laugh more.
“Back at you, Abs. Alexi, let's get saddled up,” he said to the little girl before turning to Tasha. “How you doing, Tasha? Security are really intense, aren't they?”
“I'm fine thanks, and if by intense you mean they ask a million questions before they'll even check for your name on their very exclusive list, then yes, they are intense.”
Watching Lexi head out with Travis, Tasha turned her attention to Abby. “What's the story with Travis? I've asked Jim but he’s very vague.”
“He is my cousin. My mom's sister married a Texan rancher and moved south, Travis is their youngest son. He’s a good guy, but a little dumb, especially where love is concerned. He was seeing a local girl who cheated on him with his friend and when he found out, he went berserk. He loved and trusted her, both of them. Anyway, he kicked off big time and beat his friend to a pulp.”
“Really?” Tasha struggled to picture Travis out of control like that.
“Hell yeah! He ended up in jail on assault charges and Bobby represented him in court and cut a deal; if he found a job and someone to vouch for him, he stayed out of jail.”
“Jim?” Tasha wondered if he wanted to rescue or save every underdog he came across, like her.
“Yes, Jim. He'd met Trav a few times when he'd visited us and liked him well enough and felt sorry for him. Bobby explained the deal he thought he could make to keep Trav out of jail and he offered immediately. He did need someone to look after the stables when he bought the house I guess, but he only had about four horses at the time, for the kids. That was about four years ago and Trav has been here ever since and built the stables up.”
“Jim does love a cause, doesn't he?” asked Tasha but not necessarily requiring a reply, although Abby gave her one.
“I think that's Maisie's influence, the innate need to overcome injustice. Bobby would have made a fabulous D.A. but he wants to defend not prosecute and Jim has always sided with victims rather than bullies, except for when he was cheating on his wives I guess.” Abby regretted her final comment as she saw Tasha's face change. “God, Tasha, I didn't mean that to sound like it did, sorry.”
“It's fine. I kind of get what you mean and I love that he wants people to be treated fairly, but I do sometimes worry that he fell in love with the idea of saving me,” Tasha admitted warily.
“I don't know that he realised you were a victim when he fell in love with you. He called Bobby on the Sunday morning to discuss how overwhelmed he was by his feelings for you,” Abby revealed, rendering Tasha almost speechless.
She paused and wondered how much Abby knew of that conversation and how much she'd reveal when the sound of the front door closing made Tasha jump nervously until she heard Lizzie's voice.
“Tash.”
“In here,” replied Tasha, still a little nervous and jumpy.
“Hey,” cried Lizzie as she rushed over to Tasha where she hugged her firmly. “Could we hang out while Daddy's at work?”
“Who's we?” asked Tasha curiously.
“Me, Dylan, Danielle and Rory,” replied Lizzie.
“Who’s Rory?” interrupted Abby.
“He’s the boy that Danielle likes,” whispered Lizzie with a giggle that Tasha reciprocated, unlike Abby.
“And how did you get him past security?” asked Abby sternly.
“We told them he was Josh who is on their list and they know me and as I was with that Ray guy from security...” she said proudly.
