“Sure, yeah, let’s talk.” Travis pushed his chair back from the desk, stood, and strode to the door. He closed it. Then back to the chair.
He needed to get new art for the walls. His mother had picked out the pastel watercolors currently hanging. He’d never cared because he was never there.
That was changing.
He had ideas, and he was going to see them through. Mini-tarts was only the beginning.
“You really care about her?” Gavin asked, like he didn’t really know if he believed it.
Travis nodded. “I do.”
“That’s good. I’m happy for you both.” Seriously? Huh.
Who would’ve thought?
“Hey, have you heard from her since we got back?” Travis asked.
“I talked to the boys this morning. They didn’t say anything. Haven’t you talked to her?”
“Not since the airport. I’ve been calling, but she hasn’t answered. I figured she needed some space.” Space sucked, and he’d keep calling. He hoped like hell his mama hadn’t done something to sabotage him, and he planned to stop by at lunch to ensure that had not happened.
He’d meant it when they’d danced—he wouldn’t just let her walk out of his life, not until she told him that’s what she wanted.
“I care a lot about Rachel,” Gavin said, clearly choosing his words carefully. He sat in the chair across from Travis’s desk.
Of course, Gavin should care about the mother of his kids, but the words still stuck sideways in Travis’s craw.
“I don’t love her, though, not like that,” Gavin continued. “I…I guess I screwed up her life and have always felt the responsibility for that.”
Now, that got Travis’s attention. “You didn’t screw up her life.”
“Trav.” Gavin dropped his elbows to his knees. “I can see the remnants of my mistakes with her all the way from California to Colorado. Those boys are the best things that ever happened to me, but I still managed to screw it up.”
Gavin had been distant with Travis since the big reveal. Travis was pretty certain this was because the twins dug him, and Gavin felt threatened by it. Which was ridiculous because they adored their Uncle Trav, but they loved their dad. If he’d given them half the time of day that they deserved, then he’d see how much he meant to them.
“They love you.”
Gavin nodded. “I’m not going to continue that screw-up. I’m going to be there for them. They’re the priority.”
“What changed?” Because this was a pretty big change.
“I thought Rachel needed me to be absent. I thought she preferred to do things herself. It’s who she is, you know?” Gavin asked, but he didn’t wait for an answer. “The only thing I want is for her to be happy, the boys to be happy. I’d like a little bit of that for myself, but Dakota wasn’t that for me. I wasn’t it for her, either. We both held on to hope a little too long. I guess that’s one thing Rachel and I did get right—we stopped trying before we really hurt each other.”
“You’re really not pissed we’re together?”
Gavin gave a light shake of his head. “I’ll get pissed if you hurt her. She’s had enough of that in her life. She’s already lost most of her family. We’re her family now. I won’t let anyone—not even you—fuck that up for her.”
Travis chuckled.
“What’s so funny?” Gavin asked.
“I’ve just been rehearsing to say something similar to you.”
“Then I guess we’re on the same page.” Gavin held his hand out to Travis.
For the first time in a long time, they were on the same page.
Travis shook his brother’s hand.
