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The sky was very blue at the back of him and somewhere down on the river bank she could hear ducks quack-quacking, the light summer breeze stroking her face with its warmth. She wondered what his reaction would be if she asked him to take her straight home to his bed because every fibre of her being wanted it. It would cut through everything she had said in the last minutes but nevertheless the words hovered on her tongue. 'Here we are, then. Sorry about the delay, but it's madness in there.' Mavis bustled up with the bottle of wine Travis had ordered, two glasses and a couple of menus. 'Dave will see you later,' she added to Travis, 'and he said to say he's told chef to put a pair of lamb shanks by in case you fancy your usual. He braises them in a port and redcurrant sauce.' She turned to Beth, including her in the conversation. 'And frankly we can never get enough to satisfy demand. But of course there's plenty of other dishes to choose from if you're not overly hungry. I'll leave you to it, then.' She flashed them both a beaming smile. 'I'll be back in five minutes to take your order.' And with that she sailed off.
'She's a bundle of energy.' Travis had noticed Beth's slightly bemused expression. 'Whereas Dave's the most laid-back soul in the world. A definite case of opposites attract¬ing, but their marriage is rock solid.'
'How long have they been married?' said Beth, glad to move to a safe topic and secretly aghast at how near she had come to renouncing all her hitherto sensible demands that they take things slowly. Thank goodness Mavis had come when she did.
'Ten years. We were all at university together, although I'd known Dave at school. He proved himself to be a good friend when Kirk died,' Travis said calmly.
Beth stared at him. He had started to pour the wine and his hand was steady, his voice even, but she knew the thought of his brother was painful. She didn't know how she knew but she just did. He was by no means fully over what had happened, but then in such cases perhaps one never really recovered? Maybe the best to hope for was to learn to live with the pain?
She felt too emotional herself to go down that avenue so instead she said, 'Do they have any children?'
'Five.' And then he smiled the smile that made such a dif¬ference to the hard rugged face when her mouth dropped open. "But there are two sets of twins in there; they run in the family on Mavis's side, apparently. They had a boy first and then two sets of girls. It's bedlam sometimes, according to Dave.'
'Wow.' Beth was genuinely impressed. 'I think I'd have chickened out at three.'
'But you have to take passion into account,' Travis said gravely. 'I gather the last pregnancy was a result of one of those wild nights when they couldn't get enough of each other and precautions were the last thing on their minds.'
Beth refused to blush because she knew that was exactly what he'd had in mind. She also refused to dwell on the smoky quality to his voice and the way he was looking at her. 'Lucky old them.' She reached for her glass of wine and had a good few gulps. There, that was better. The sizzling in her blood was under control again. 'But I should imagine life's a bit hectic with five young children,' she said primly, ignoring the quirk to his mouth. 'Especially with a pub to run.'
'Mavis's parents live with them at the pub; they all went into business together so help's always at hand.' Travis handed her a menu. 'Wouldn't suit me; I'd want my wife all to myself.' His dark eyes stroked over her face and her pulse quickened. 'But they're as happy as bugs in rugs.'
He leant forward again, his fingers tweaking the thin strap of her dress back on to her shoulder from where it had slipped. His touch set her skin on fire and Beth inwardly groaned at her weakness. 'Your skin's like silk,' he murmured. 'Warm silk kissed by the sun, soft and smooth. A man could lose himself in such softness, do you know that?'
She wanted to make some light throwaway comment, something witty which would defuse the moment but without embarrassment, but she couldn't. She just stared at him, her heart thundering in her ears.
'I want to make love to you until you forget what day it is, what month it is, what year, until there is nothing in the world but us and what we're doing to each other. It would be like that, I know it. The rest of the world would fade away as though it didn't exist.' And then he settled himself back in his seat and picked up his menu, his voice suddenly shockingly matter-of-fact as he said, 'But until that day I'll just have to be patient. The lamb's fantastic, by the way. I'd seriously advise you to try it.'
CHAPTER EIGHT
The lamb was fantastic and so was the rest of the meal. They had arrived just as last orders were being taken and by the time they were at the coffee stage the garden was all but deserted and the pub had closed. Mavis and Dave joined them at their table and the four of them sat for a long time talking and laughing, Mavis's parents bringing the children out at one point. The little boy, who looked to be seven or eight, obvi¬ously adored Travis and insisted on sitting on his knee for the time that remained, although the girls were taken in for a nap by their grandmother after just a few minutes.
