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She stood up, resolved to get it over and done with imme¬diately. Her stomach churning, she walked into the kitchen and then stopped, surprised, when it was empty. A moment later Travis appeared, his manner casual and his voice easy when he said, 'Left the newspapers in the car.' He reached for his tray as he spoke, his plate piled high with enough food for a rugby team. 'I'll see you outside; don't be long.'
He'd disappeared before she could say anything, and when she joined him outside a minute or two later he was sitting on the tub she'd vacated, a newspaper spread out on the floor in front of him in which he was apparently engrossed as he ate. Beth sat down on the bench, feeling at a loss. She didn't know how to start now. Somehow the atmosphere had changed again. "You don't look very comfortable perched on there,' she began.
'I'm fine.' He didn't raise his head from the newspaper and his voice was preoccupied.
Beth gave up and selected a newspaper from the pile he'd placed at one end of the bench, biting into a croissant as she began to read. She'd say something later; there was plenty of time.
It was a warm, lazy Sunday morning. When they had eaten their fill—Travis packing away an inordinate amount of food—Beth made some more coffee and they continued to read the papers in the sunshine, sitting side by side on the bench now. Fat bumble bees buzzed among the tubs of flowers, a family of bright-eyed sparrows chattered and squabbled as they cleared the cake from the bird table and Harvey, replete and satisfied, dozed and dreamed doggy dreams at their feet.
It was a perfect summer's idyll—or it would have been if Beth hadn't been so edgy. But, like the night before at the hotel, Travis had moved into charming companion mode. After stretching out his long legs and tilting his head back against the back of the bench, he appeared to doze for a while, before suddenly standing up and hauling her to her feet.
'Walk,' he announced. 'Burn off some calories for lunch.'
Harvey had heard the magic word and so she couldn't object.
With Harvey gambolling on in front, they walked through the woods, breathing in the delicious smell of good damp earth underfoot, before walking the banks of a sparkling tranquil river. Or it had been tranquil before Harvey arrived. It was at moments like these, as the big dog splashed and charged about in an ecstasy of enjoyment, that Beth realised he was still just a puppy in spite of his size.
Travis made her laugh often as they walked and she gradually found herself relaxing and just enjoying the beautiful morning. Daisies, buttercups, rich white clover and many other wild flowers Beth didn't know the names of dotted the grass at their feet, the perfume of pine heavy in the warm air.
Travis had taken her hand at the beginning of the walk and she hadn't objected, wondering if he would pause and kiss her at some point. He didn't. He kept the conversation light and amusing and unthreatening, whether by design or accident Beth wasn't sure. She only knew that her emotions had shifted yet again and now the thought of finishing with him was off the agenda. Which made her the most fickle of females, she admitted soberly, as they began to retrace their steps to the cottage. But she just didn't seem to know her own mind where Travis was concerned.
'What?' Too late Beth realised she must have been staring at him and the piercing grey gaze was now trained on her face. 'What's the matter?'
'Nothing.' She forced a smile. 'Nothing's the matter.'
He stopped, enclosing her within his arms, but loosely. 'Don't buy it,' he said evenly. 'What were you thinking?'
She thought swiftly. 'I was just wondering about that.' She touched the scar on his face. 'How you got it.'
He looked at her and she knew he didn't believe her but he didn't pursue the matter, taking her hand again and lacing her fingers through his as they began to walk on. 'I had a brother,' he said unemotionally, 'Kirk. He was two years older than me. Shortly after my mother met my stepfather he took Kirk and I fishing for the day. The boat overturned in the river when my stepfather overbalanced; he'd been messing about, showing off. Kirk got entangled in some weeds and stuff, couldn't surface. I shouted to my stepfather to help me but he was more bothered about saving his own skin. By the time I got Kirk to the surface I'd had to come up for air umpteen times. He didn't have a chance.' He touched the scar on his face. 'There were all manner of things in the river; I don't know what I caught my face on. I didn't even feel it at the time. It wasn't until we got to the hospital it started hurting.'
'Oh, Travis.' Beth was appalled. She stopped, causing him to halt too and look at her. 'I'm so sorry,' she said weakly. 'That's terrible.'
He nodded. 'Yes, it was.' For a moment something worked in his face and then he got control again. 'My stepfather insisted he didn't help because he couldn't swim and had only just managed to get to the bank by a fluke. I didn't believe him. I'd seen him in the water and he could swim all right. But my mother chose to accept his story.'
