“I’m good,” Travis told her.He didn’t intend to stay long.
“I’m good, too, thanks.”Gage walked ahead of him into the kitchen.
“What brings you by?”She frowned when Braydon stepped up beside her, a lion preparing to protect its pride.
“We have some news,” Travis said, glancing between the two of them before settling his gaze on Jessie.“It’s about your mother.”
Jessie’s smile slid right off her face.“Meredith?”
He nodded.
“What about her?”Braydon asked.
Travis looked at Gage, who nodded in encouragement.
“She’s in town,” he said, forcing himself to hold her gaze.“Brantley and his team are lookin’ into a case that they think she’s involved in.She showed up unexpectedly last night.”
“Have you seen her?”Jessie asked.
“Briefly.I’ve put her up in a motel in Taylor,” he explained.
Her expression went from surprise to disinterest almost instantly.“Well, I hope she takes care of business and leaves as quickly as she came.”
“You don’t mean that,” Braydon said softly.
Jessie took a step back.“Oh, trust me, I do.She hasn’t been my mother for a long time.”
“Do you plan to see her?”Braydon asked him.
Travis shook his head.“Not if I don’t have to, no.”
“You’re not gonna introduce her to her grandkids?”
He swallowed past the lump that formed in his throat.He wasn’t sure how to answer that because he didn’t know what Kylie would’ve wanted.She never really talked about her mother, and the few times she had, it was with the same distaste for her that he could see on Jessie’s face now.
“Probably not.”Travis glanced at Gage, then looked back at Jessie.“We just wanted you to know, in case you see her in town.”
Jessie turned away.“Well, thanks for tellin’ us.”
Travis met Braydon’s gaze and hoped his brother saw the apology in his eyes.He didn’t come here intending to upset Jessie, but they’d thought it best that she hear it from them first.
“We’ll get outta your hair,” he told Braydon.“Let me know if you need anything.”
With that, Travis walked out of the house, wondering whether he should’ve told them about Brantley’s ridiculous notion that Kylie might be alive.By the time he got in the SUV, he decided that information was better kept to himself.Just because he was holding out hope that a miracle was possible didn’t mean it would come true.And the last thing he wanted was for anyone else to have to grieve Kylie’s death a second time.
