Page 43 of Love and Memories

“Bella. Bella,” Anna whispered.

Opening her eyes, Bella blinked past the blurriness in her vision.

“Hey, you slept a long time. I’m just checking on you because Travis won’t stop calling.”

Bella rolled over and squinted against the light streaming through the thin curtains. “What time is it?”

“Eight thirty.”

Bella blinked again. “In the evening?”

“No. Morning.”

Sitting up and propping her arms behind her, Bella sucked in a deep breath. “I slept all day and night?”

“Yeah. You needed the rest though,” Anna said.

Bella rubbed her eyes. How had she lost so much time? “You’re going to be late for work.”

Anna grinned. “Nope. Travis is on his way. I’m leaving now, and I’ll be at the office before nine.”

Anna’s words took a second to sink in. “He’s coming now?”

“Should be here in a few minutes,” Anna confirmed.

Bella flipped the blanket off her lower half and placed her feet on the floor. “I’ll be ready in just a few.”

“Don’t rush. He said he’s off work today and has nothing to do.”

“Except babysit me,” Bella added low.

“Hmm. I guess he isn’t looking forward to that since he’s called me three times this morning.” Anna flashed one of her cutesy smiles and tossed a phone onto the unmade bed. “Oh, andI gave him your number. He calls me way more than Dean ever has, but he really wants to talk to you.”

The phone on the bed buzzed.

“Oh good grief, please tell that man you’re alive,” Anna said.

Bella strode back to the bed and picked up the phone. A message waited.

Travis: Hey, this is Travis. I’m bringing breakfast, so don’t eat until I get there.

Anna leaned over Bella’s shoulder to read the text. “Oh man. He’s got it bad.”

Anna could be right, but Bella was in just as much trouble as Travis. Being the center of his attention was causing her heart to race past all warning signs and straight for the unknown ahead.

16

TRAVIS

Travis tightened his grip on the steering wheel. After a forty-eight-hour shift at the fire station, the only thing he wanted to do was see Bella. Things were so out of hand, he’d already picked up breakfast for her before Anna replied to his early-morning texts.

Now, Bella was sitting next to him in his truck, and he couldn’t focus on the road ahead because he kept sneaking peeks at her.

The bruise around her eye had faded, and the swelling was mostly gone. Her light-blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and she wore a T-shirt with Grady’s Feed and Seed logo on the back with faded jeans and new boots–boots he’d bought for her an hour and a half ago based on Anna’s size suggestion.

Travis swallowed hard. He’d never seen Bella wearing makeup or fancy clothes, but she could rock the natural look better than any woman he’d ever met.

He glanced her way again to find her smiling back at him.

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