when Travis shifted his gaze back to her. Yeah, she needed a good, swift kick or maybe a jolt from a cattle prod.
“It was good to see you again,” he said.
“You, too. Tell Rita I said hello, and tell Hailey she’s a mighty good rider.”
He nodded but then seemed to hesitate for an extra long moment, almost as if he didn’t want to leave, before nodding and walking away.
“Whooee, that is one fine specimen right there,” Abby said.
Savannah took a moment to bite down on an uncharacteristic comeback that would have sent up red flags for Abby. Heck, the entire grandstand full of people would see those bright flags waving.
Thing was, as she watched Travis walk away, she realized Abby wasn’t wrong. He was indeed a fine, fine hunk of man.
“Is he seeing anyone?”
Savannah shrugged, not trusting herself to not tell her friend to back off. She had no right to claim Travis Shepard, not when she’d told Abby she was too dang busy to date. At least not until she’d built the store into the destination she wanted it to be. She’d proven in the past that success required single-minded focus.
What about Lizzie? She was successful, the acting head of the family’s large energy company, and still had time for falling in love and starting a family.
Yeah, and she had a lot more employees at her beck and call. And she wasn’t building Baron Energies from the ground up.
When Abby started giggling, Savannah finally tore her gaze away from Travis’s retreating form. “What?”
“Hope he likes drool,” Abby said as she made a circular motion with her finger toward Savannah’s mouth. “Because you’ve got a bloodhound slobber situation going on.”
“I do not.”
“Really? Let’s ask the crowd.” Abby made as if she was going to call out a question to the people sitting in the grandstands.
Savannah spun on her heel, gave her friend a playful slug in the arm, and headed toward Bluebell. And she’d never admit in a million lifetimes how difficult it was to not glance over her shoulder and scan the crowd for Travis. Abby didn’t need any more ammunition. And Savannah didn’t need to have images in her head of Travis rewarding her for posting a good time with a congratulations kiss of her own.
Chapter Two
Travis fought the urge to look back over his shoulder as he walked away from Savannah. Maybe if he ignored the buzzy tug of attraction he’d felt toward her, it would go away. It wasn’t the first time he’d been drawn toward Savannah, but he wasn’t that smitten boy anymore. And he didn’t want to feel anything other than friendship toward her or any other woman.
Besides, he doubted his attraction would end any differently than it had all those years ago. After all, back in high school her focus had been on rodeo and family to the exclusion of everything else. Considering where they were, he’d venture a guess that hadn’t changed.
Not that it mattered. Savannah Baron might not have changed, but he had. When they’d been teenagers, he couldn’t have imagined the pain and turmoil he had ahead of him, the anger that still accompanied him every day even though he did his best to hide it.
He shoved those hard memories and thoughts of Savannah away as he drew close to his own family. He walked up behind Hailey and lifted her into his arms.
“Hey there, cowgirl. Got a kiss for your favorite uncle?”
Hailey giggled. “You’re my only uncle, silly.”
“Guess that means I have to be your favorite, huh?”
Hailey leaned over and gave him a big, smacking smooch on the cheek.
“Who were you talking to?” Rita asked as she tucked Hailey’s big blue ribbon into her purse.
“Savannah Baron and a friend of hers.”
“I haven’t seen Savannah in forever.”
“Yeah. She said it was when this squirt was a baby.” He tickled Hailey’s ribs, making her squirm to get away. With a laugh, he set his niece on her feet. She immediately ran over to talk to one of her friends who’d competed in the mutton busting, too.
“So, how is she?” Rita asked. “Still single?”
Travis knew that tone and shook his head at his sister.
“What does that mean? She’s not single?”
“It means you can stop those matchmaking thoughts you’re having.”
Rita crossed her arms. “Why? You liked her once upon a time.”
“That was a long time ago. A lot has happened since then. We’re not the same people we were then.”
“Sure you are, just older and with more experiences.”
“Listen, I know you’re just looking out for me, doing the big-sister thing, but I don’t need dating advice.”
“Because you’re not dating.” A tinge of sadness enveloped her words and shadowed her eyes when she looked up at him.
“No, I’m not.” And he had no intention of changing that. Every time he thought about it, his heart got jerked back to the happy days he’d spent with Corinne and how they’d been ripped away in a split second. Going through that once was heart-wrenching. Not just that he’d lost Corinne but how he’d lost her. And the fact he’d lost what might have been—children, a long and happy life together. He wasn’t exactly chomping at the bit to set himself up for that kind of pain again. Taking that chance just wasn’t worth it.
But damned if his gaze didn’t drift across the arena, searching for Savannah anyway.
“You know Corinne wouldn’t want you to spend the rest of your life alone. You were much too young when she passed and you have a lot of years ahead of you.”
Of course, she couldn’t know that. His life could be snuffed out tomorrow, as quickly and unexpectedly as Corinne’s had been. But he wouldn’t say that and hurt her, especially when Hailey was nearby and might hear. Despite the harsh reality of the world, he wanted nothing more than to keep that away from Hailey for as long as he could.
Wanting to change the subject, he glanced at Rita. “Would you like something from the concession stand?”
Rita let her breath out slowly but didn’t pursue the original topic further. “Grab us a couple of burgers and lemonades.”
Thankful for the break from his sister’s scrutiny, he made his way through the crowd. But leaving behind what Rita had said proved more difficult. There was no denying he’d been immediately attracted to Savannah, a pull he hadn’t felt in a long time. Didn’t want to feel. Was it even possible for him to move on? Would it be fair to a woman when a chunk of him still clung to the hope of vengeance against the man who’d killed Corinne? That was an ugliness he just couldn’t shed, and he doubted Savannah or any
