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Hank was eager to know the answer to that question, too. “Yeah, Trav. Enlighten us.”
“Well, it’s not a long story. I’m a game warden and eleven years ago I was stationed in Wyoming. I was called out to investigate the report of an illegally trapped golden eagle in Montana. The witness insisted the eagle was entangled and injured inside a cage trap.”
“Veronica?”
“Yes, ma’am. Veronica met me at a trailhead early the next morning and…well, she showed me the way to the trap. We rescued the bird which was indeed injured from trying to fight his way free.”
“And…what?” Grandma Kate asked gently, obviously not overlooking his brief pause.
Travis chuckled and his cheeks flushed a little. “She berated me first thing for not coming the day before and told me it’d be my fault if the eagle died. Really let me have it. She was pretty upset until I explained that I’d been detained while trying to wrap up another illegal trapping case in the next state. I felt terrible because she looked like she’d been crying.”
“Berated you? That doesn’t sound like my sweet girl. Crying over the eagle definitely does, though. Veronica has a tender heart.” She looked up into Travis’s eyes as though she was searching for something. “Was the eagle able to make a full recovery?”
He hesitated for less than a heartbeat. “Yes, ma’am. It was treated and released.”
Kate scoffed and stopped in mid-step. “No need to lie to me, Travis McDaniel. I’m made of pretty stern stuff.”
Travis let out a sigh. “It developed gangrene from its injuries and had to be put down. It was trapped in the cage enclosure too long. One thing, ma’am?”
“Call me Grandma Kate, Travis.”
“All right, ma’am—I mean, Grandma Kate. Veronica thinks the eagle was treated and released. One day she called me to follow up about it. I happened to still be in the area so I stopped by and she asked about the bird. I lied. I couldn’t stand the thought of seeing her cry.”
Kate patted his forearm. “Understandable. Sounds like you have a tender heart, too, sweetheart. But don’t lie to her again. It’ll only hurt her in the end. In return, I’ll keep your secret. So…” She turned her steely blue gaze back to Hank and then up to Travis again. “Let’s talk about your intentions toward my sweet Veronica.”
“Ma’am?” Hank asked, and it was his turn to cease walking in mid-step.
* * * *
Travis caught sight of Veronica standing outside the tent, dabbing her cheeks with a tissue. She frowned as she looked at her phone and then quickly stowed it. Her attention paused here and there as she looked around the assemblage. Veronica was a people watcher, which probably came in handy in her profession.
He’d seen the same thing when she’d observed the gathering while Hank dealt with that nut job who’d showed up to protest the wedding. She’d been so wrapped up in watching the crowd that he hadn’t wanted to interrupt her. It didn’t surprise him that she’d gone on to be a writer.
Kate had mentioned to him and Hank that Veronica might benefit from the self-defense class Hank was teaching. Kate didn’t strike him as the type to say something like that unless she had a damn good reason. As they walked across the grassy lot, he tried to reconcile what Kate had told them about her being hurt by someone who had fancied himself a Dominant. The thought angered him and fired his protective instincts.
He’d been torn when he’d met her eleven years before. Fresh from graduating high school, she was still a baby compared to him. When he’d stopped in to see her after her follow-up call, it’d been a good thing that her family had been around because otherwise he might not have been able to contain the urge to kiss her.
“I hope she agrees to come to the Pony,” Hank murmured, his eyes glued to her. “You reckon she understands that we’re both interested in her, Fishcop?”
Taking no offense at the nickname, Travis glanced at him and grinned. “She looked like she was trying to wrap her mind around it when she got invited to the binding ceremony.”
Travis pinpointed the moment when Veronica found him and Hank in the crowd because a flush filled her cheeks. In a self-conscious gesture, she pressed her fingertips to her upper chest, unconsciously drawing his gaze to her lush cleavage. She was clearly feeling out of her element and he sensed that she was uncomfortable with her body. That was a circumstance he wanted very much to change and could picture exactly how he’d go about doing it if she was his sub.
