start hiding that better.”
His brown hair looked like it had been combed with his fingertips that morning, with one strand resting on the thin metal nosepiece of his wire-rimmed glasses. His grin shone genuine and sweet beneath his summer sky-blue eyes.
“Tell you what. You keep that key, and if I ever lock myself out, I’ll come and find you,” she said.
“Sounds like a solid plan to me.” He nodded. “I’ll put it on my key ring and keep it safe.”
She straightened her legs and scooted to one side so that she could prop her back on the wall. Hannah could hear every movement—from the squeak of the bed across the hall where Darcy was sleeping to the sound of a lonesome cricket singing a solo somewhere in the downstairs bathroom. She’d learned to be very aware of her surroundings and Marty’s body language through the years. Turning it off wasn’t as easy as flipping a light switch. So how in the hell had Travis sneaked into her house, made coffee, come up those stairs—especially the noisy one three up from the bottom—and gotten into her room without her knowing it?
“The whole house smells fresh and new,” Travis said.
That was the answer. The paint smell in the house had thrown off her other senses, including the instinct that told her when someone was near.
“I love it.” She sipped the coffee.
“How’d you sleep last night?” Travis asked. “Sore this morning from all that work?”
“Yes, I am, but I have a pretty new room for all the aches and pains. And I never sleep past six and here it is after seven, if that answers your question. How about you?”
He reached over and touched her on the foot. “I feel better and sleep better knowing this is over for you.”
“Y’all keep telling me it’s over. Why don’t I feel like it is, Travis?” she asked.
“This is your first weekend as a single parent. Ten weekends from now won’t be as tough.”
“Promise?” she asked.
He set his coffee cup on the floor, raised his right hand, and placed the left one on an imaginary book. “I do hereby swear that each week will be easier than the last one. In six months you won’t even remember these tough times. Hallelujah. Amen. Praise the Lord.”
“You better move to the other side of the room, Travis Johnson. When that lightning bolt shoots though the window and zaps you dead for blaspheming, I don’t want to be too close.” She giggled.
“I’ll die a happy man, because I saw a twinkle in your eye for the first time in a long time.” He grinned. “I like the new room a lot, Hannah.”
“I was sitting here thinking that I might paint every room in the house just like it and do all the woodwork in white.”
“It will be like a sky full of fluffy white clouds. Sophie will love it.” His grin widened.
“That’s a phase with her. It’ll fade when something new comes along. At least I’m not painting all the walls like that patchwork quilt she drags around with her. Now that I’ve decided to do this, I’m getting so excited about it.”
Travis chuckled. “I’m so glad to see you happy, Hannah. But you better whisper about that quilt idea, because if she hears you say that in your sleep, she’ll want her room to be done in a patchwork design. And remember, darlin’, this cloud phase has lasted more than a year. She made me lie in the grass last summer when she called them ‘crowds’ instead of clouds. So we might have a few more years of guessing what the clouds are before she outgrows her love for her lullaby sky.” He hesitated, but the silence in the room felt comfortable between them. “I bet when she’s a grown woman with kids of her own, she takes them out to look at the clouds whenever they get a boo-boo. It’s ingrained in her. It’s her safety net.”
Travis, dependable, sweet man that he was, could find good in everyone. Hannah hoped that someday when the right woman came along, she’d realize that she’d found real gold and not fool’s
His brown hair looked like it had been combed with his fingertips that morning, with one strand resting on the thin metal nosepiece of his wire-rimmed glasses. His grin shone genuine and sweet beneath his summer sky-blue eyes.
“Tell you what. You keep that key, and if I ever lock myself out, I’ll come and find you,” she said.
“Sounds like a solid plan to me.” He nodded. “I’ll put it on my key ring and keep it safe.”
She straightened her legs and scooted to one side so that she could prop her back on the wall. Hannah could hear every movement—from the squeak of the bed across the hall where Darcy was sleeping to the sound of a lonesome cricket singing a solo somewhere in the downstairs bathroom. She’d learned to be very aware of her surroundings and Marty’s body language through the years. Turning it off wasn’t as easy as flipping a light switch. So how in the hell had Travis sneaked into her house, made coffee, come up those stairs—especially the noisy one three up from the bottom—and gotten into her room without her knowing it?
“The whole house smells fresh and new,” Travis said.
That was the answer. The paint smell in the house had thrown off her other senses, including the instinct that told her when someone was near.
“I love it.” She sipped the coffee.
“How’d you sleep last night?” Travis asked. “Sore this morning from all that work?”
“Yes, I am, but I have a pretty new room for all the aches and pains. And I never sleep past six and here it is after seven, if that answers your question. How about you?”
He reached over and touched her on the foot. “I feel better and sleep better knowing this is over for you.”
“Y’all keep telling me it’s over. Why don’t I feel like it is, Travis?” she asked.
“This is your first weekend as a single parent. Ten weekends from now won’t be as tough.”
“Promise?” she asked.
He set his coffee cup on the floor, raised his right hand, and placed the left one on an imaginary book. “I do hereby swear that each week will be easier than the last one. In six months you won’t even remember these tough times. Hallelujah. Amen. Praise the Lord.”
“You better move to the other side of the room, Travis Johnson. When that lightning bolt shoots though the window and zaps you dead for blaspheming, I don’t want to be too close.” She giggled.
“I’ll die a happy man, because I saw a twinkle in your eye for the first time in a long time.” He grinned. “I like the new room a lot, Hannah.”
“I was sitting here thinking that I might paint every room in the house just like it and do all the woodwork in white.”
“It will be like a sky full of fluffy white clouds. Sophie will love it.” His grin widened.
“That’s a phase with her. It’ll fade when something new comes along. At least I’m not painting all the walls like that patchwork quilt she drags around with her. Now that I’ve decided to do this, I’m getting so excited about it.”
Travis chuckled. “I’m so glad to see you happy, Hannah. But you better whisper about that quilt idea, because if she hears you say that in your sleep, she’ll want her room to be done in a patchwork design. And remember, darlin’, this cloud phase has lasted more than a year. She made me lie in the grass last summer when she called them ‘crowds’ instead of clouds. So we might have a few more years of guessing what the clouds are before she outgrows her love for her lullaby sky.” He hesitated, but the silence in the room felt comfortable between them. “I bet when she’s a grown woman with kids of her own, she takes them out to look at the clouds whenever they get a boo-boo. It’s ingrained in her. It’s her safety net.”
Travis, dependable, sweet man that he was, could find good in everyone. Hannah hoped that someday when the right woman came along, she’d realize that she’d found real gold and not fool’s
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