Page 51 of Love and Memories

He checked his phone again. No missed calls or messages. It had been over twenty-four hours since Bella’s appointment, and she hadn’t called him after like she’d promised. In fact, she hadn’t reached out to him or responded to his calls and messages since, and the unease in his gut was twisting into a painful knot.

She was probably tired. She could have gone somewhere with Anna. Maybe her phone battery died and she forgot to charge it.

But what if she got a bad report from the doctor and she was avoiding him? Bella had retreated into her shell a few times since they met, and most of those instances followed a bout of overwhelm or the revelation of some new obstacle she hadn’t expected.

He wanted to be there for her, but he couldn’t help her if she wasn’t ready to let him in.

What was he even thinking? Did he want her to let him in? Did he want to get caught up in a relationship with a woman whomight leave him as soon as she realized who she’d been before her injury?

He shouldn’t want to get involved with her, but his logic had little say when stupid feelings took the lead.

Turning up the volume on the game, Travis sat back on the couch. Why was it so difficult to focus on anything other than Bella?

The roar of an engine neared the house, and Gage opened the front door a minute later. Keys jingled as he tossed them into the junk bowl by the entrance.

Gage let out a deep sigh as he dragged his feet into the living room and fell into the recliner beside the couch. “What are you up to?”

Travis pointed to the TV. “Watching the game.”

Gage quirked one brow up. “Couldn’t find anything to do this afternoon?”

“Nah. I got in late from my shift this morning.”

“So you’ve been sitting here? All day?” Gage asked.

Travis picked up his phone and checked the time. It was after seven in the evening. “I guess so.”

Gage leaned forward and propped his elbows on his knees. “You’ve been sitting here for almost twelve hours?”

“No,” Travis barked back at the accusation. It sounded really pathetic when Gage put it that way. “I’ve gotten up for stuff.”

“Like what? To walk to the bathroom to take a leak, and to the kitchen to eat junk food? What’s the matter? Are you sick?”

Washe sick? Maybe he was coming down with something. That would explain his lack of motivation to do anything. “I don’t know.”

Gage tilted his head to the side. “Does this have something to do with Bella? Did she break up with you?”

“We’re not together,” Travis clarified.

“You spend all of your time together. Kinda the same thing.”

“No, it’s not. This isn’t a relationship. I’m just helping her. She just got a job, but she doesn’t have a ride to work.”

“Then why didn’t you go to work today?”

“It’s my day off.”

“Yeah, but you’ve never had a true off day. You work for the Bensons when you’re not at the fire station. What gives?”

“They usually give me a day to recover after I work at the fire department.”

Travis was young, so it wasn’t too difficult to slip back into his life. Some of the older men really struggled. Being away from your family for forty-eight hours straight was tough. Add in a lack of sleep and the nature of some of the calls they responded to, and the mental toll did a number on most of them.

“Didn’t Bella need to work?” Gage asked.

Travis stared at the TV, but the picture on the screen wasn’t registering. “She didn’t call.”

“Oh, so that’s what this is about. She didn’t call.”

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