“And no sugar before dinner.”
He nodded again. “You’re the boss.”
“Don’t let them unpack the suitcases until I get back. I have a system.” It was a good system that ensured the clothes didn’t get all tossed into one pile in the middle of the room. Which was the way they’d prefer to live.
Dane saluted. “Consider it not done.”
Travis paused at the entry to the trail, apparently waiting for her to catch up. She hurried to meet him there.
He, however, didn’t seem in a hurry to talk.
They walked in silence for a bit, the crunch of pine needles under their feet, the rustle of the trees, and a bird chirp here and there the only sounds.
The peace was…peaceful. April would totally love it.
She made a mental note to tell April all about it the next time they talked. She needed to check in with her friend anyway, since her husband had been taking extended work trips over the past month. Rachel understood more than most how it felt to manage everything alone. To have the whole world fall on her shoulders.
Travis still said nothing. Of course he didn’t. She had his number. He was waiting for her to talk first. Negotiating with her mini-tyrants had taught her a lot about keeping her mouth shut and waiting them out.
The trail opened up to a vast swath of beach along one edge of the smaller lake. A sensation of falling hit her as she took in the view. The jolt of mountain gorgeous seriously knocked the air out of her.
She gasped. A good gasp. The kind of sound that came from witnessing beauty of this magnitude. Unlike the house that was in-your-face enormous, the panoramic view was pure serenity.
Rachel gaped as she turned a semicircle to take in the lake, mountains, and endless sky. “I forgot how beautiful this place is.”
A breeze blew light ripples along the surface of the water, and only a few boats in the distance disturbed the scene. Insects made touch-and-go landings on the ripples, risking their lives for a taste of the water.
Risking their lives because at any moment a rainbow trout could pop right up like the Puffle Yum Momster and grab its dinner.
Still pretty, though.
“The new dock is around those trees. We spend a lot of time on the lake during the summer. I’ll teach the boys to water-ski this year if you want,” he said.
Water-skiing?
“I’ve never been.” Rachel started toward the dock.
Travis shoved his hands in his pockets, like he seemed to always do around her. “Then I’ll teach you.”
The offer snagged in the air between them. He wanted to teach her to water-ski? What would his mother’s fake cat have to say about that?
“We’ll see,” she said in lieu of an agreement. “What was the thing you wanted to talk to me about for Brady?” Rachel continued her trek in the direction of the dock—away from the trail. The pull of the water was intense.
Back in college, she’d swum on the competitive team. That was long before she’d gotten pregnant. Back then things were as simple as diving into deep water and swimming away her cares.
“I’d like to take him up a few times in my single-engine.” Travis cleared his throat. “Let him get the feel for flying in a small aircraft.”
Rachel’s heart seemed to stop beating. “Dane liked the idea, too,” he continued.
She stilled. Swallowed. Blinked. “I know I’m supposed to say yes, but I’m not going to say yes.”
“Do you want me to quote you some statistics about the safety of flying?” he asked. “Because I’d be happy to.”
She just bet he would. That didn’t change anything, though.
“I know the statistics say it’s safe.” Rachel grabbed a stick from the ground and broke off small pieces, tossing them aside as they walked along. “But statistics don’t help when it’s my kid up in the sky in a piece of metal with a single engine.”
“But you take that same kid in a piece of metal with an engine down I-70 at seventy-five miles an hour?” Travis asked, trotting to keep up with her pace.
