Page 32 of Travis

She gives me a wink. I almost want to take her out to dinner in thanks, but I feel like that would give her the wrong impression. “You decorate this place?” I ask, filling the void, while she does keystrokes.

“Yeah. I almost would rather bring better stuff from home. This is the worst decorating job I've ever seen. And they made me decorate early on a dare. Now I get to look at this crap until Christmas.”

“The sheriff doesn’t have a budget for that?”

She gives me an ‘are you kidding me?’ look. “Sure.”

I snort a laugh. She does, too. Then she does a few more keystrokes and shakes her head. “Nope. Nothing. He’s clean.”

“Are you serious?” I’m flabbergasted.

“Yep. Nothing. Nada.” she responds, turning the computer around. “Clean as a whistle.”

I’m almost regretful. I don’t want Becky working with someone like that, but still, the vibe I got from him says that he’s trouble. Maybe Sara’s right. Maybe it’s just because he’s the first guy around my now ex-wife. “Man. That’s...surprising.”

“You seem disappointed.” she observes.

I ponder that comment for a moment. “I don’t know. I guess...I...I guess my radar is off.”

“Well, he is kind of cute, but he’s not you.” she says, throwing me off further. I cringe inwardly. The look on her face says that she’s definitely flirting, and I'm not sure what to say to stop it. “Say, Travis. Do you like homemade chili?”

I know where this is going, but since she did me a favor, I answer. “I do, yes.”

“Well, what’s say y’all let me cook you up a nice batch, and you can come on over to my place and eat it with me?”

I scratch my chin, staring at the floor, thinking about how I can let her down easy. “I’m not...I’m not sure that I’m ready to be dating yet, Evelyn.” I look up at her. “You’re smart and beautiful, and if I wasn’t in the predicament that I’m in, I'd be all over that...you know...you...me...chili. But I’m just not in that place yet.”

The desired effect happens. She smiles kindly. “God, Travis, you are just the sweetest thing. I mean it. I really hope that you find happiness somewhere. And whenever you’re ready, just give me a call. There will always be a hot pot of chili waiting.”

“That’s real sweet, Evelyn. But don’t wait for me, sugar. I don’t know what’s happening from one day to the next. Y’all deserve better than that.”

Another warm smile.

“Thanks for the favor.”

“Anytime.”

Kurt’s sitting on the front porch when I get back to the ranch. He’s got a wad of Christmas lights in his lap. “Hey, buddy. What's up?”

“Nothing, really. Just getting back.”

“Out gallivanting?”

“Na, just checking out the but-much that’s working for Becky.”

He smiles. “I was earlier, too, man. Lisa had me on the case while the baby had a meltdown.”

I'm shocked. “You’re serious? What did you find out?”

“Well, not much. He’s never been married. He flirts with one of the waitresses up the street at that coffee shop. His taste in clothes trumps that Oscar de la Renta dude, and he has no problem running up his credit card bills to prove it.”

“But he’s not swindling money or involved in organized crime?” I ask, almost facetiously.

“No, man. Sorry.” he shakes his head. “I know you were kind of hoping it would be that way, but you know that Becky’s just hired him for help. She’s not going to try to get into his pants or let him get into hers. She’s better than that, man.”

“I know. I just...I don’t know. I get a bad vibe from him.”

He manages to free a strand of lights and sets them on the porch. “Maybe it’s a bad vibe from something else. You know, like, a sixth sense or something. I know a lot of people that get those.”

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