Rachel could relate to that.
“Meemaw was the heart of the family.” Evelyn adjusted so she leaned closer to Rachel. “She never got to meet my boys, but she would’ve loved them. She would’ve loved my grandbabies, too. She would’ve wanted them to have a stable home with a mom and dad who put them first.”
“Evelyn…”
“Hear me out.” Evelyn looked between Gavin and Travis.
Travis was scowling in their direction. Gavin was talking to Dane about something that animated his expression.
“Evelyn, I’d like you to hear me out for a minute.” Rachel set aside her cup of coffee and faced Evelyn head on. “You love Bob. I’m certain that your meemaw loved her husband. Gavin and I never had that.”
Evelyn pursed her lips.
“We didn’t. We made a mistake one night, and he was stuck with me. We did our best, but it wasn’t the right thing. So we adjusted. That’s what you do in a family. You adjust. My family wouldn’t adjust to the idea that I had kids the way I did. They still haven’t. And you know what? It makes me sad, because they’re missing out on two of the best humans on the planet.” Her voice trembled a little, dammit. She stood, then she turned to Evelyn. “I’m not making threats, because that’s not how I work. But I have watched my boys lose one set of grandparents to what they thought was right, even when it was really, really wrong. I don’t want them to lose you and Bob, too, because I’m with the wrong son.”
Evelyn didn’t say anything. She didn’t have to.
“Just don’t do the wrong thing for the right reasons,” Rachel said as a parting shot.
Then she went to Travis.
“What did she say?” he asked as soon as she was in front of him.
“I…” Rachel turned back to Evelyn, who was staring intently at the interaction between her son and Rachel. “I told her she needs to knock it off before my boys lose both sets of grandparents.”
Travis drew her in for a hug. “Are you okay?”
He smelled of spice and the mountains and…the man she loved.
“I’m okay,” she said.
How often over the years had she said those words, and they’d been half-truths said to make the other person feel better?
She smiled against Travis’s shoulder because this time, she meant it. “I was hoping you might take Brady up in the single-engine? I mentioned it, and he really wants to.”
Travis’s look of shock was nearly comical.
“Will you come along?” he asked, recovering quickly.
“No way in hell.” She shook her head.
He draped his arm around her. “Small steps, sunshine.”
…
TRAVIS
Travis couldn’t kiss Rachel like he wanted to, not with the boys loaded in the SUV with the dogs. He stood outside the driver’s-side door with Rachel as the sun set over the Rockies. It cast a beautiful glow behind her.
He wished he had a camera.
They’d touched down at Centennial Airport in Englewood. The flight had been remarkably uneventful. He hadn’t been able to fly, but he got to sit with Rach. Even held her hand most of the flight.
He had no idea what the hell had gone on between the two women. But whatever it was, his mama was straight-up confused. She now looked at the two of them like she didn’t want to wring both their necks and make chicken soup out of their souls.
If he had to guess, Mama was softening toward the two of them like butter left out in the Tennessee sun.
This, he figured, was a welcome improvement.
