Page 20 of A Longtime (and at one point Illegal) Crush

Mr. Travers looked like he wanted to yank the beer can back, but after another assessment of Kye’s height, he slumped down at the kitchen table instead. He rubbed his forehead. “I was just going to drink a little to take the edge off of this hangover.”

The last thing they needed was for him to start drinking again. Elsie came into the kitchen and sat across from Mr. Travers, giving him her most understanding smile. “I know Carson said some regrettable things to you. I’m his sister, and believe me, he’s said plenty of regrettable things to me. He’s also said regrettable things to my other brothers. And my parents. Some pushy fans from other teams. A few unhelpful customer service agents. That one reporter…”

Kye folded his arms. “I’m not sure this is helping.”

Elsie ignored him. “Sometimes Carson speaks without thinking first. But he’s really a good guy at heart, and he loves Olivia. They want you at the wedding.” Elsie went on for several more minutes, reciting how much Olivia loved her father and how sad she’d be if he didn’t come.

Mr. Travers rubbed his eyes. “They don’t really want me there. Look, I know I haven’t always been there for my girl, but I meant to be. I always thought I’d be able to put it right someday.” He gestured to a used lotto ticket mingling with the trash on the kitchen table. “I’ve bought one of those every week since I was eighteen. I used to dream about buying me a Lamborghini, but after I had my kids, it was always about them. I dreamed about what I could give them. Never paid out, though. Story of my life.”

Lottery tickets? That’s how he hoped to help his kids? Well, this just went to show why the world needed math teachers—to explain the minuscule probability of winning a jackpot.

“You can still give Olivia something,” Elsie said, “Be a part of her wedding. That’s what she wants now.”

“The past is in the past,” Kye agreed, “and you can’t do anything to change it. Trust me, I’ve tried.” His gaze shot to Elsie.

She gulped despite herself. He wanted to change the past? What part of it?

Kye returned his attention to Mr. Travers. “All you can do is decide what sort of future you want. For example, right now you need to decide whether you’ll willingly come with us like a sensible person, or whether I have to hog-tie you and throw you into the back of my truck.” He smiled stiffly. “Don’t let this plaid shirt and pen in my pocket fool you. I’m a rancher. I know how to do it.”

Elsie coughed in surprise at the threat. Mr. Travers, on the other hand, laughed and shook his head. “You two aren’t gonna take no for an answer?”

“Nope,” Kye said.

“Well, I guess I’d better get showered and dressed then.” He stood up and shuffled down the hallway, “Don’t want to be hog-tied in my pajamas.”

When he’d disappeared into a room, Elsie turned to Kye. “You clearly don’t understand the part of good cop. Also, he’s probably going to escape out the bathroom window, and we’ll never see him again.”

Kye pointed to the coffee table. “If he does, he won’t get far without his car keys.”

Maybe. But that still didn’t mean they’d be able to find him. Elsie stepped outside the house just in case. She planted herself not far from the bathroom window and wrapped her arms around her for warmth. There were a lot of ways she’d imagined spending this morning. None of them had involved throwing herself on the fleeing father-of-the-bride.

Olivia had better appreciate this.

Mr. Travers didn’t go out the bathroom window, and when Elsie heard the shower stop, she tramped back inside. Several minutes later, he presented himself, clean, shaved, and wearing some khaki pants and a polo shirt. “This is as fancy as I’ve got,” he said.

He looked nice, like a normal person. Like the person he should’ve been all along.

Kye led the way to the door. “I’m sure we can rustle up a suit coat that will fit.”

The three went outside, climbed into Kye’s truck, and began the trip back to Lark Field. Elsie expected Mr. Travers to be sullen about being forced to go with them, but just the opposite happened. He seemed to have decided that Kye was a kindred spirit—which made one wonder how often Mr. Travers had threatened to hog-tie someone—and happily shot the breeze with him the entire ride. That was probably for the best. Elsie didn’t need more one one-on-one time with Kye.

She was relieved when they finally pulled up to her house. She hadn’t expected Kye to see her to the door, but he told Mr. Travers he’d be a minute and got out with her.

“Thanks for your help,” he said as they walked. “The next time I need someone to be the bad cop, you’ll be first on my list.”

“Thanks—if that was a compliment and not an insult.”

He gave her one of his wide grins. “Of course it was a compliment. I would only ever compliment you.”

Mmm hmm. That’s exactly how she felt.

“Don’t tell Olivia about her dad yet,” Kye said. “There’s still time for him to bolt. In fact, don’t tell Carson either. Because if Mr. Travers does bolt, and Carson knows about it, he might hurt him. That’s not how we want their wedding day to go.” Kye cast a glance back at his truck. “I’ll find a suit coat for Mr. Travers, then drop him off with Olivia’s aunt and uncle. Once he’s with the other guests and sees that they’re glad he’s come, I’m sure he’ll be fine.”

Olivia would be so happy to see him. “Thanks for doing this. It will mean a lot to her.”

He nodded, and for a moment looked like he wanted to say something more to her.

She waited for those words, wishing for…she wasn’t sure what.

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