That interpretation was one option, yes. Although, since she hadn’t made the cash transaction, she was taking only part of the responsibility. She gave what she hoped was a yeah-maybe tilt of her hand.
Travis stopped his movement toward her and pulled himself up to sit on the edge of the desk.
Her heart dropped a little. She’d sort-of hoped he’d come sit next to her.
That was ridiculously unacceptable, though, because there was no reason for him to sit next to her or for her to hope that he would.
He started lining up the pens on the desk so they were end-to-end.
She glanced at her computer screen, really needing to get back to it. But Travis was there, and he obviously needed to talk.
If she were being honest, she’d been feeling lonely just before he came in. The kind of lonely that didn’t go away. Just standard lonely that happened even when the boys were around, or she was with her girlfriends.
“You’re acting strange,” she said, making a note of where she was in the file so she could easily pick back up later. Then she balanced the laptop on the edge of her thigh, giving Travis her full attention. “Spill it. I’ve got to finish this, and I’m guessing you’ll need sleep at some point.”
“And you don’t need sleep?” he asked.
“The sooner I can tie up the loose ends, the sooner I can go to sleep myself.”
The air between them seemed to stretch, and she didn’t like it. Not one bit.
She waited, not saying anything while he got his thoughts together.
“Dad caught me just now, before I came in,” he said, not meeting her eyes. His throat was working as he swallowed hard. If she didn’t know better, she’d think that Travis was experiencing a keen set of conflicting emotions.
“Is he okay?” she asked, because Travis was being so odd that maybe there was something wrong with Bob. She didn’t want to even consider that.
“Yeah, he’s fine.”
“Travis?” she asked, as gently as she could, because worry was starting to seep in. She was getting concerned about what it was exactly that he wasn’t saying.
Travis finally held her gaze with his, and that loneliness that she’d had earlier? Poof. Disappeared.
And that made the center of her face go a little numb with realization.
“Dad just wants sleep. He talked to me about it for a bit.” Everyone who knew Bob understood the man was not a talker. Even with his kids.
Evelyn was the talker. Bob was the listener. Rachel learned that early on.
“He told me not to spend time with you,” Travis said, matter-of-factly.
Well, crap. She did not expect that.
Rachel’s eyebrows rose. She did not appreciate her ex-in-laws inserting themselves into a conversation about who she spent time with. That was up to her, and only her. Well, and whoever she elected to spend that time with, too.
In any case, Bob and Evelyn didn’t get a say. “Seriously?” she asked.
“Yep.” Travis nodded, and he wasn’t doing the distant thing anymore. Actually, he was checking her out. The full body scan, the heat of the gaze, the small part to his lips.
He wasn’t being obnoxious or anything. More like he was just observing and appreciating. Her stomach flip-flopped, this time with tingles along the tips of her ears.
She glanced down to ensure she hadn’t dropped chocolate on her shirt or something, because wouldn’t that be embarrassing?
Also, very on-brand for her.
“Your dad told you he’d prefer if you don’t spend time with me? Then you came by here to see me when I’m by myself?” she asked, a little confused by the conversation but choosing to go along with it, since the lonely ache had dissipated.
“Yep,” he said again.
