A ride was the least of his problems.
Gerry regarded him, narrow eyed. Travis understood. As potential talent, the production company wanted him within reach at all times. He wouldn’t be free again until he was either culled from the final cast list—or the show had finished shooting, whichever happened first.
Travis was determined not to be culled. “I’m supposed to bring my fiancée to the audition tomorrow night. I really need to talk to her about that.” As soon as I can find her.
Gerry, who was about five foot six and weighed maybe 110 soaking wet, glared up at him. “Got it. Don’t mess me up, man.”
“No way. I want this job.”
“Remember your confidentiality agreement. Nothing about the production or your possible part in it gets shared.”
“I remember.”
“Be in your room by seven tonight. I’ll be checking.”
“And I’ll be there.”
Gerry headed for the airport, and Travis called the ranch. His mother, Mary, answered the phone. “Honey, I am on my way,” she said.
He was waiting at the front entrance of the Manor when she pulled up in the battered pickup she’d been driving for as long as he could remember. She jumped out and grabbed him in a bear hug. “Two weeks in Hollywood hasn’t done you any damage that I can see.” She stepped back and clapped him on the arms. “Get in. Let’s go.”
She talked nonstop all the way back to the ranch—mostly about his father’s brother, Phil, who had recently moved to town from Hardin, Montana. Phil Dalton had wanted a new start after the loss of Travis’s aunt Diana. And Uncle Phil hadn’t made the move alone. His and Diana’s five grown sons had packed up and come with him.
At the ranch, Travis’s mom insisted he come inside for a piece of her famous apple pie and some coffee.
“I don’t have that long, Mom.”
“Sit down,” Mary commanded. “It’s not gonna kill you to enjoy a slice of my pie.”
So he had some pie and coffee. He saw his brother Anderson, briefly. His dad, Ben, was still at work at his law office in town.
Zach, one of Uncle Phil’s boys, came in, too. “That pie looks really good, Aunt Mary.”
Mary laughed. “Sit down and I’ll cut you a nice big piece.”
Zach poured himself some coffee and took the chair across from Travis. In his late twenties, Zach was a good-looking guy. He asked Travis, “So how’s it going with that reality show you’re gonna be on?”
Travis kept it vague. “We’ll see. I haven’t made the final cut yet.”
Zach shook his head. “Well, good luck. I don’t get the appeal of all that glitzy Hollywood stuff. I’m more interested in settling down, you know? Since we lost Mom...” His voice trailed off, and his blue eyes were mournful.
“Oh, hon.” Trav’s mom patted Zach gently on the back. She returned to the stove and added over her shoulder, “It’s a tough time, I know.”
“So sorry about Aunt Diana,” Travis said quietly.
Zach nodded. “Thank you both—and like I was sayin’, losing Mom has reminded me of what really matters, made me see it’s about time I found the right woman and started my family.”
Travis ate another bite of his mother’s excellent pie and then couldn’t resist playing devil’s advocate on the subject of settling down. “I can’t even begin to understand how tough it’s been for you and your dad and the other boys. But come on, Zach. You’re not even thirty. What’s the big hurry to go tying the knot?”
Zach sipped his coffee. “You would say that. From where I’m sitting, Travis, you’re a little behind the curve. All your brothers and sisters—and more than a few cousins—are married and having babies. A wife and kids, that’s what life’s all about.”
“I’ll say it again. There’s no rush.” Well, okay. For him there kind of was. He needed a fiancée, yesterday or sooner. But a wife? Not anytime soon.
Travis’s mother spoke up from her spot at the stove. “Don’t listen to him, Zach. If a wife is what you’re looking for, you’ve come to the right place. There are plenty of pretty, smart, marriageable young women in Rust Creek Falls. Marriage is in the air around here.”
Travis grunted. “Or it could be something in the water. Whatever it is, Mom’s right. Marriage is nothing short of contagious in this town. Everybody seems to be coming down with it.”
Zach forked up his last bite of pie. “Sounds like Rust Creek Falls is exactly the place that I want to be.”
* * *
It was almost three in the afternoon when Travis climbed in his Ford F-150 crew cab and went to town.
He drove up and down the streets of Rust Creek Falls with the windows down, waving and calling greetings to people he knew, racking his brain for a likely candidate to play the love of his life on The Great Roundup.
Driving and waving were getting him nowhere. He decided he’d stop in at Daisy’s Donut Shop—just step inside and see if his future fake fiancée might be waiting there, having herself a maple bar and coffee.
He found a spot at the curb in front of Buffalo Bill’s Wings To Go, which was right next door to Daisy’s. As he walked past, he stuck his head in Wings To Go. No prospects there. He went on to the donut shop, but when he peered in the window, he saw only five senior citizens and a young mother with two little ones under five.
Not a potential fiancée in sight.
Trying really hard not to get discouraged, he started to turn back for his truck. But then the door to the adjacent shop opened.
Callie Crawford, a nurse at the local clinic, came out of the beauty parlor. “Thanks, Brenna,” Callie called over her shoulder before letting the door shut. She spotted Travis. “Hey, Travis! I heard about you and that reality show. Exciting stuff.”
“Good to see you, Callie.” He tipped his hat to her. “Final audition is tomorrow night.”
“At the Ace, so I heard. We’re all rooting for you.”
He thanked her and asked her to say hi to her husband, Nate, for him. With a nod and a smile, Callie got in her SUV and drove off.
And that was it. That was when it happened. He watched Callie drive off down the street when it came to him.
Brenna. Brenna O’Reilly.
Good-looking, smart as a whip and raised on a ranch. She’d taken some ribbons barrel racing during the three or four summers she worked the local rodeo circuit. She was bold, too. Stood up for herself and didn’t take any guff.
But he’d always considered himself too old for her. Plus, he kind of thought of himself as a guy who looked out for her. He would never make a move on her.
However,
