Page 69 of Love and Memories

He pulled her back in and held her tight. Leaning down until his mouth was right beside her ear, he whispered, “I’m sorry.”

Lifting her head, she blinked through the leftover tears. “I’m sorry too.” She took a deep breath and turned to Anna. “I think I need a nap.”

Anna opened an arm to Bella. “Sunday is a day of rest, after all.”

Bella stepped into Anna’s embrace and turned back to him to whisper, “Sorry.”

“I’ll call you later,” Travis promised.

Bella pressed her lips together into a forced grin. “Okay.”

It was time to part ways, but he didn’t want to leave. Every instinct said to stay with her, but she didn’t need him right now. She needed rest and a friend who would hopefully assure her that they were making the right decision by waiting.

When Bella and Anna disappeared down the hallway, he slipped into his boots and walked out. Inside the safety of his truck, he banged the back of his head against the seat. Whether they were waiting to get into a relationship or not, he’d be there for Bella. Even if he had it to do all over again, he’d still let her have complete control of his heart.

26

ISABELLA

Bella hummed a Matchbox Twenty tune as she strode through Grady’s Feed and Seed. Travis needed to pick up ointment for one of the horses at Silver Falls Ranch on their way to work, and he insisted she get a coat.

Summer was officially waving its last goodbye, and Bella needed a whole new wardrobe. She wasn’t a stranger to harsh winters, but it was only the middle of September, and the nighttime temperatures were already bringing on the autumn color changes in the trees.

Bella would get one coat just to please Travis. Later, she’d ask Anna to take her to Blackwater Restoration to get a few used coats and sweaters.

Scanning the racks as she strode past the men’s clothing section, her attention caught on a flash of color that stopped her short. She detoured and brushed her fingers over the sleeves of a canvas coat. It was new, expensive, and the exact color of Travis’s brown eyes.

Ugh. Travis’s stupid deadline did nothing to stop her heart from latching onto him. The weeks since they’d decided to keep things platonic had only solidified her love for him.

Yes, it was love. Unfortunate, untimely love.

She’d done everything she could think of to change it, but nothing helped. Spending time with him four to five days a week gave her plenty of reminders that he was a good man. He made sure she always had meals, snacks, and water. He drove her to work and back and sometimes to doctor appointments. He checked on her constantly with texts and calls.

It was awful. They had three weeks before his self-imposed deadline, and she had trouble thinking about anything except Travis and the baby.

She let her hand drop from the coat. If only her baby could have Travis’s brown eyes and selfless heart.

“Hey. Did you find something?” Travis asked beside her.

Jerking out of her daydream, she stepped away from the rack. “Oh, sorry. I got sidetracked.”

Travis turned to the coat she’d been drawn to. “I don’t think this one will fit you.”

The coat didn’t fit her, but Travis did. What made it worse was that Travis knew it too. She could see the way he stared at her when he thought she wasn’t paying attention and the way he stood close to her whenever he could.

She looked up at him, and her stomach did a flip.

Wait, that wasn’t a normal flip. It was quick like a kick.

Bella pressed a hand to the bottom side of her barely showing bump and waited.

“Everything okay?” Travis asked.

Something bumped quickly against her hand, and she gasped.

“Bella, what’s wrong?” he asked again.

“It’s the baby,” she said. “It’s moving.”

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