He tapped out a reply, spending far too long deleting words and adding new ones before deleting those too. Considering he made his living as a writer, it was amusing how he couldn’t come up with the right content for what should be nothing more than an innocuous text message response.
In the end, he settled for,Looking forward to it,and added the thumbs-up emoji, then pressedSendbefore he could debate it any longer with himself.
“Yep, you’re completely and stupidly doomed,” he muttered to himself as he set aside the phone and settled down at his desk for an unscheduled evening of work.
He’d planned on leaving alone the work he’d done earlier during his marathon day of writing, letting the new chapter marinate and settle overnight before diving back in again. Butjumping back into Maura Shaw’s world, and the mystery and intrigue with which she was currently entangled, would keep his mind occupied and stop him thinking about the only other thing his mind seemed capable of focusing on these days.
Courtney.
With a sigh, Travis read the last page he’d written, and launched himself into the middle of the fictional chaos with a mixture of excitement and relief.
17
“Is a bit early for lunch,don’t you think?”
Courtney looked up from the chopping board where she was preparing cheese and pickle sandwiches, and clocked the puzzled expression on her cousin’s face. It was, after all, only eleven o’clock in the morning.
“I’m making a picnic to take to the park,” Courtney explained to Rosie. “I want to get everything ready and packed so I don’t forget anything.”
“Ah, I see.” Rosie looked more closely at the provisions laid out on the counter. “You didn’t go and buy new bread and cheese, did you?”
“Of course I did. I’m eating you out of house and home as it is. The least I can do is pop round to the shops and buy my own picnic items.”
Rosie rolled her eyes. “There was no need to do that.”
“I’m making extra sandwiches, so there was every need. It’s only a loaf from the bakery and some nice cheese from the deli. Plus, I bought a bag of fresh apples and a few other bits while I was out. A picnic should have nice stuff in it, don’t you think?”
“Is this all for you?” Rosie looked incredulous. “I know you’re hungry these days because of the baby, but maybe we need tofeed you more at breakfast and dinner time if you need all this food at lunch to keep you going.”
Courtney laughed. “It’s not all for me. I thought I told you I was meeting Travis Stone today and sharing a picnic with him.”
Courtney saw the intrigued look that crossed her cousin’s face. “No, you didn’t mention it. A picnic, eh? That sounds cosy.”
“It’s just a gesture to thank him for making dinner for me the other night.”
Rosie’s eyebrows waggled. “Youdefinitelydidn’t mention you’d had dinner together. Is something going on between the two of you?”
“Of course not! Look at me!” Courtney patted her baby bump. “I look like a beached whale, for God’s sake. And Travis is my employer, well, my client, I suppose, considering I only work a few hours a week freelance for him, and when he offered to make dinner for me the other night, it was only because we’d bumped into one another on the high street and he’d just picked up pasta and what-not, and he was just being kind, and…”
Courtney trailed off, realising she was babbling, which made her look guilty, as if she had something to hide.
“First, you don’t look like a beached whale,” Rosie said mildly. “Second, guys usually don’t make dinner for women just to bekind. Maybe he likes you?”
Courtney laughed at that. “He probably just feels sorry for me. That’s all.”
“Sorry enough to meet you for a picnic, too?” Rosie said, a sly smile curving her lips.
“There’s nothing going on! I’m about to have a baby, and the father wants nothing to do with me or his child. Believe me, I’m completely inoculated against romance these days. And anyway, how completely inappropriate would it be to get involved with some guy I only just met when I’m weeks away from giving birth?”
Rosie gave her an odd look. “It wouldn’t be inappropriate at all if it was what you both wanted. There’s no judgement here, Courtney.”
Her cousin’s tone was soothing, and Courtney grunted out a frustrated apology. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to snap. There’s honestly nothing going on between Travis and me. He’s a nice guy and I’m glad to work for him, and I’ve enjoyed spending a little time with him since we met, but… that’s it.”
Courtney wondered who she was trying to fool. The last thing she wanted her sweet cousin to think was that she had any interest in some guy she’d just met, considering the mess her life was in and all the many challenges she had to deal with. She didn’t want to seem scatty or stupid or irresponsible, not when Rosie and the rest of the Austin family were being so supportive during her hour of need.
But the truth was shedidfeel something for Travis, even although she knew it was stupid and pointless and completely immature, considering the current predicaments she faced in life. In a matter of weeks, she’d be a single mother with a tiny baby to care for.
And yet, although her child was her focus and the only thing that mattered to her, her heart still clip-clopped whenever she thought of Travis Stone.
