Chapter Fifteen
Travis woke early on Saturday morning. Beforethe sun, before even the kids had woken.
He’d spent last night in his recliner, having stayed up late with Kate, watching a movie until she fell asleep in his lap. At that point, he’d relocated her to her bed and headed for his own. Before he’d gotten his bedroom door open, he’d heard the sounds coming from inside. Kylie’s sexy moans, Gage’s raspy grunts.
Rather than interrupt their stolen moments, he’d gone back downstairs and settled in to think. He’d obviously fallen asleep.
To avoid waking the rest of the house, Travis tugged on his boots and headed for the resort. He had a shower in his office, which he took advantage of, changing into a spare set of clothes he kept there.
Now, he was sitting at his desk, finalizing the resort’s guest list for this year’s New Year’s Bash. It was late notice, but he knew a lot of their guests thought of this place as a spur-of-the-moment indulgence, somewhere they could sneak off to when that coveted invitation appeared in their mailbox. Rarely did anyone ever decline the invitation.
Last year they had forgone doing anything for the resort in lieu of making it a family affair. The Walkers had descended on the resort for Christmas, making it impossible to plan for a resort celebration, so this year, Travis was dedicating the holidays to the guests, making up for lost time, so to speak.
Not necessarily because he felt he owed the guests anything. No, this was personal. Selfish, he figured was a good description. Until he found Juliet Prince, he was no good to his own family. Hell, he could hardly look his daughter in the eye knowing he had failed her. Epically. And until he brought that woman to justice, proved to Kate she was safe once again, that she didn’t have to be held just to fall asleep, Travis knew he had to stay focused.
He reviewed the final name on the list, added one more for good measure, then shot the email over to Sawyer, who would handle ensuring the invitations went out. On Monday, of course. When normal people worked.
Travis had just hit send when his cell phone buzzed on his desk.
He glanced over at the screen. It was home calling, which meant Kylie since Gage preferred text as his method of communication.
“Hello.”
“Hey.” Her voice was warm and concerned. “You slipped out early.”
Leaning back in his chair, Travis closed his eyes. “Yeah. I’ve got stuff to do here.”
“You gonna be there long?”
“A while. Why?”
“We were thinkin’ we’d take the kids over to your parents for a little while.”
“I’m sure they’d like that.”
“So we’ll see you…?”
“I need a few hours. I’ll text you when I’m finishing up.”
“Okay.”
He could hear the disappointment, but Travis ignored it. He owed Kylie as much as he owed Kate. He knew his wife worried endlessly about that woman still being out there. They were all losing sleep over it.
“Talk to you later.”
“I love you, Travis,” she said softly.
“Love you, too.” He disconnected the call because it was pointless to express his feelings over the phone.
He half expected Gage to stroll in, to smile and tell him to give up for the day. That’s what his husband did. Gage kept Travis’s spirits up, motivated him to do what needed to be done, ensured he was involved in every aspect of their family life because Travis was often so focused he lost track of time.
But Gage wasn’t going to come in, he wasn’t going to make an attempt at seduction to get Travis to do what he wanted him to do. In fact, he wasn’t even sure Gage ever wanted to talk to him again. They hadn’t spoken much in the past week. Aside from sleeping under the same roof, though not necessarily in the same bed. They’d been alternating staying with Kate because she continued to have nightmares, which meant their physical interactions had been limited as well.
It would get back to normal. Eventually. Once he found Juliet Prince and she ended up behind bars or in the ground—his preference was for the latter because his hatred for her was so intense.
Until then, Kylie and Gage could hold down the fort. They were used to this from him. Travis had never pretended to be anything other than what he was. He had a single-minded focus at times, and they knew it was better to simply leave him be until he got it resolved.
And it would be resolved.
