Travis

The fears we don't face become our limits – Robin Sharma

"It went well then?" Stephen asked. His hand knocked the brim of his hat as he wiped the sweat from his brow. The brown hair beneath the hat was wet and damp, evidence of the summer heat. Though it was only early June, it seemed like it was going to be an exceptionally hot season if the past week of high temperatures was any indication.

"Yeah, it went okay," Travis replied as he leaned against the pitchfork. Next to him was a wheelbarrow half-filled with soiled hay and manure. The horses had all been turned out into the paddock for the day leaving the barn quiet except for the stream of chatter he and Stephen had kept up.

"Third place in Austin and then second in Amarillo...You've had two good back-to-back showings. You must have racked up a few points and had a pretty nice payday. When's your next event?"

Travis tried to remember all of the dates he'd inputted into his calendar. "Well, I've got the Classic here in two weeks but my next out-of-town event is at the start of July, I think. I'll follow the circuit for a while and hit a few rodeos before coming back home for all of August. I'm starting in Montana out in Dillon. Gotta make sure I don't get banged up and ruin Jake's wedding photos."

"Just broncs?"

"For now. Remember Sam Kline? He and I were chatting about maybe entering in a few roping events together once we meet up on the circuit but we haven't signed up for anything yet."

He kept his voice even as if he weren't discussing anyone or anything of note. His heart sped up a fraction but he'd long since learned how to school his expression into calm nothingness, especially when it came to discussing things that nobody else knew about, like Sam.

They hadn't made any promises to each other, nothing beyond the assurance that when they met up in Dillon, they'd somehow find their way to each other's rooms. Would pick up the late-night conversation from where they'd last left it in Sam's bed. Staring up at the ceiling in the hotel room where the shadows were only dispersed by the glow of the moon slipping through the cracks in the blinds.

Stephen's eyes tightened a fraction and Travis felt a twinge of guilt, though not for lying. No, it was for the loss that shone in his friend's eyes at the reminder that his roping days were over. Travis missed the days as well, especially since he and Stephen used to rope together constantly. Those times were long past now since Stephen's retirement but the time didn't make the memories any less bittersweet.

Still, Stephen tried to show his support as he began to get back to work. He shoved his pitchfork into a patch of soiled hay and began to scoop it out into the wheelbarrow. "Sounds like it'll be a good run on the circuit for you."

"I hope so." Travis returned to the stall he was mucking and tried to bring the conversation back to easier topics. "I hear Caroline's coming back tonight? You must be excited to see her."

"It'll be nice to have her home," Stephen agreed but Travis got the sense that Stephen was toning down the excitement. His eyes were alight with it.

For just a moment, Travis felt a flash of irritation. Stephen knew exactly who he was and what he was looking for in a partner. Caroline was a perfect match for him in many ways and they both seemed perfectly contented with each other. Travis was often jealous of that assuredness. Though he cared for Ginger, he couldn't lie to himself and say that he felt as if their relationship was as easy as he witnessed between others.

His fault, of course, because if Travis were being honest, it would never truly work with Ginger. Still, he cared for her enough to try and deny the part of him that came alive when he spent time with Sam. That part he knew would never really be allowed to dominate his life.

So he was trying with Ginger. Perhaps one day that person who emerged in the darkness of motel rooms on the circuits would dissipate entirely and he could find himself purely and innocently happy with her.

"How long has Caroline been gone again?" Travis asked to put his mind back on a fully functioning relationship and off of his own.

"About a month."

"That's a fair bit of time. She enjoying Nashville?"

Stephen said, "Seems like it. She's been meeting with a lot of different artists and now Bailey's label has also been discussing finding opportunities for Caroline with some of their artists in L.A. as well."

Travis whistled through his teeth. "L.A...That's something."

"Yeah, it's impressive – but she'd only be there on vacation. She's been working in Nashville more and more though. I don't think she wants to say it but I'm pretty sure she's considering moving to the city at some point."

"Oh?"

Stephen nodded but his eyes weren't as troubled as Travis thought they might be. "She's doing a lot of writing and recently started working with Aysha Mathis who is apparently a songwriting genius, according to both Caroline and Bailey. And you know Bailey – if she says someone is genius they must really be good. Aysha's basically taken over for Bailey as a mentor to Caroline and she lives in Nashville so if anything is going to prompt Caroline to move, it would be that."

"And you? Would you stay here or go with her?"

"I don't know," Stephen said but from the way that he said it, Travis had a pretty good idea of where Stephen's head was at. He didn't seem like he was staring at the writing on the wall but rather a yellow brick road of opportunity. It sounded like he was considering going with her if she went.

"What would you do in Nashville?"

Stephen didn't even hesitate. It was clear that he'd given this some thought even if he was outwardly noncommittal about the whole affair. "There are ranches in Nashville outside of the downtown area. I could find work on one of those or look for a position as a horse trainer somewhere."

"Sounds like you've got it all figured out."

"Hardly. Just...contingency plans."

Travis said, "Well, whatever happens, I'm sure it will all work itself out for you and Caroline. The two of you are practically a match made in heaven."

Stephen laughed and replied, "Pretty sure that sounds more like Bailey and Noah. Those two are so damn happy it sometimes makes Caroline and I nauseous just to be around them.

That sounded about right, Travis thought. Though, if anything, Bailey and Noah were also one of the least overtly affectionate people that he knew. In public, they didn't hang all over each other or feel the need to blatantly let everyone in their nearby vicinity know that they were together. There were no make-out sessions in corner booths or grinding on each other in bars.

Instead, it was small intimate gestures. The way that Bailey unconsciously reached out to link her fingers through Noah's when they were sitting next to each other or how Noah looked at her when she was otherwise preoccupied. On more than one occasion, Travis had noticed Noah staring when Bailey was in mid-conversation with someone else and laughing with her head tipped back. It wasn't the gesture that was particularly noteworthy but rather the dumbstruck expression on Noah's face whenever he looked at Bailey like she was his whole world.

"You can say that again," Travis replied with a chuckle. "What makes it worse is that I don't think there is anything fundamentally wrong with Noah, either. Sometimes, I wish there was so that Jake and I could have the chance to threaten him a bit more but the guy is so damned likeable that I can't even fault him."

Stephen grinned. "I thought you and Jake had given up on that whole macho-big-brother thing when it came to Bailey? Didn't seem like she listened to you much, anyway."

"She's got a mind of her own, that's for sure."

"Bailey still sticking around for a while yet or does she have to hit the road any time soon?"

Travis tried to remember what his sister had last told him about her work plans but he didn't think she had anything pressing lined up. "As far as I know, she's just trying to hit the deadlines for the album she's working on. I think she's doing most of her work from here because she's helping Piper with all of the wedding planning. Likely she'll be touring once the album is released."

He scooped up the last of the manure from his final stall and leaned against the wall next to the tack as Stephen finished up.

"You going to visit her when she does start travelling again? Where was it you went during her last tour...Charlotte?"

Travis said, "Yeah. It was only for a weekend and then I came home. It was fun though to see her in her element. Still surprises me how comfortable she is on stage in front of thousands of people, though. I have no idea where she got that from since mom gets flushed and dad gets stutter-y whenever either of them have to make so much as a thank-you speech. I'd like to see her on stage again. Maybe I'll give myself a little vacation."

"With Ginger?"

"Maybe."

"Just maybe?" Stephen hedged as he left his stall and lifted the wheelbarrow and began to drive it out towards the back of the barn where the manure pile was.

Travis helped him dump it out and said, "Ginger's great. Really great. I guess she and I are just different than you and Caroline or Bailey and Noah. I like hanging out with her. She's funny, smart, pretty...But it's been less than two months since we first started seeing each other. I know that was enough time for Bailey to fall for Noah but I need more time than that to know if she's the one for me."

Much more time. Even as he said it, his thoughts flashed towards Sam and the Travis that existed within those motel rooms. The Travis that would never be entirely free or happy with Ginger.

Though maybe he'd one day be like Sam and be completely content with having his secret trysts in dimly lit rooms before returning home to his wife.

"Makes sense," Stephen said. "Took Caroline and I a bit to figure out what was really happening between us. I mean, after the fire we got a lot closer but it wasn't until about eight months after it that we decided we were officially dating. If it's any consolation, though, I think Ginger is great."

"Yeah, me too," Travis said and meant it – even if the words were accompanied by a hint of guilt.

He clapped Stephen on the shoulder as they stored the wheelbarrow and headed back through the barn towards the house. There, a few hundred feet away, Travis could see his father and Noah splattered with white paint as they finished up the new porch. It had been a spring project of theirs, deemed necessary after a few of the old wood planks had rotted through. Rob had stated that he was going to rip out the entire porch and put in a new one instead of just replacing the few damaged planks.

Travis still wasn't sure how Noah had gotten himself roped into the project. He had just shown up on the day that Rob had started tearing the porch out and come back each day since.

They walked over to the house and Stephen called out, "Working hard or hardly working?"

Noah looked up with a grin. There was a splotch of paint on his cheek. "I'd say the second but since your dad is listening, I'm going to go with working hard."

"Good answer," Rob told him with a good-natured chuckle as he tossed a paintbrush into a bin.

Travis had inherited his dark brown hair and eyes from his father and the similarities didn't end there. He was often told that he was a spitting image of his father from thirty years ago. In every rodeo he entered, there was at least one person who walked up to Travis asking him if he had any connection to Robert Grant. It always gave Travis a sense of pride to say yes even if the question did get old after a while.

"I think we're done here for the day, Noah. It'll need another coat but we'll need to let it dry first. Can you come back in a day or two?"

"Sure," Noah said as he stood up and stretched. Travis could hear his joints pop as Noah moved. "I should get going before Bailey has the whole house filled with smoke and the smell of burnt food."

"That happen often?" Stephen asked.

Noah nodded gravely as he reached for a rag and began wiping off the paint from his hands. "More often than it should. Why do you think I do most of the cooking?"

"I was going to say that it was because you enjoyed it but from the look on your face I'm assuming it's actually because you like to eat edible foot instead of stuff that has been charred-to-a-crisp."

Travis couldn't help but chuckle and it was echoed by the bass laugh of his father. "I wonder how she survived by herself all those years in Nashville."

"Salads and microwavable meals," Noah told him. "They were her guilty pleasure, or so she confessed to me. Apparently, she can pop things in the microwave without blowing it up. Eggs and, surprisingly, fried chicken are her two other specialties though, between us, I'm still not sure how she manages the chicken considering it involves very hot oil but she manages."

"What do you have her monitoring this time?" Rob asked.

"A pot roast. We're having a welcome-home dinner for Caroline tonight and that's her favourite. There'll be plenty of food if anyone else wants to join us. Stephen's going to be there. Rob, Travis? Either of you? Maryse is more than welcome too, of course," he added, referencing Travis' mother.

"Actually, Jake, Piper, and Piper's parents are coming by tonight but count us in for next time," Rob told him. "Speaking of, I should probably go make sure that Maryse doesn't need my help setting up though, unlike my daughter, my wife is perfectly capable within a kitchen." He smiled and bade them goodbye before heading for the side door on the other end of the house so that he didn't ruin the paint he and Noah had so painstakingly applied.

Noah looked to Travis with a quirked eyebrow.

"I wouldn't want to intrude," Travis started and the idea of fifth-wheeling his sister and his best friend didn't seem very inviting. However, the idea of spending a night talking about wedding planning didn't sound appealing either.

"You wouldn't be," Noah said with a wave of his hand. His eyes blue eyes were bright and honest as he added, "Besides, we've already got two gate-crashers. Bailey told me that the songwriter she's working with and his buddy are going to come for dinner as well. The more the merrier."

Stephen nudged Travis' arm. "Come. It'll be fun. Otherwise, you'll have to listen to talk about floral arrangements and seating placements."

No, thank you, Travis thought. "What time?"

"Around seven. Come over whenever, though, and just let yourself in. You know the passcode to the gate."

"What I'm hearing," Stephen interjected, "is that you want us there sooner so that we can distract Bailey while you clean up whatever mess she's concocted in your absence."

Noah's grin turned rueful and the back of his neck reddened as he flushed. "I love that girl but I worry about her cooking competency – especially when we're cooking for a crowd. If it's just the two of us, I humour her which normally means we end up eating boxed macaroni and cheese from the pot for dinner. I just hope she's basted the roast."

"And if she hasn't and it's a total catastrophe?" Travis asked.

"Then...I'll order a pizza." Noah laughed and tossed the rag he'd been using to mop the paint up into the same bucket with the paintbrushes. He bent to hammer the lid back into place for the paint cans and assembled everything into a neat little pile for Rob to put away inside later. Finished, he pulled his keys from his pocket and headed for the truck that was parked nearby.

"I'll see you both tonight," he called over his shoulder as he ducked into the driver's side.

Travis watched him go and asked Stephen, "Is it bad that I'm a bit scared to go and having second thoughts?"

"Probably." There was a teasing glint in his friend's eyes. "Who do you think Bailey has over this time?"

"No idea," Travis said with a shrug. "I'm sure it's someone impressive that we'll never see again after today."

"You're probably right. Anyway, I'm going to head home, shower, and change. I'll meet you at Noah's place later, yeah?" Stephen was already walking away towards his own truck that had been parked near Noah's.

Travis nodded and thought that a cold shower sounded like the best possible thing he could do right now to beat the heat and get this sweat and dirt and grime far away from him. "Sounds good, buddy. I'll see you soon."

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Hope you enjoyed!

Any of my lovely readers participating in the open novella contest 2022? If so, drop your name and book title in the comments below and stay tuned for my entry "The Golden Arrow" coming next week!

Brenna <3