Several days went by with Denver and Scarlett at the ranch, and everyone fell into a kind of a rhythm. Time and again, Travis was struck by how well the two of them seemed to fit with the Harvey family. He would have said they were meant to be there, if he’d been the kind of man to believe in such things.
The furthest he would go, when he was feeling a little sentimental, was to admit to himself how much he liked having Scarlett around. He enjoyed the kid’s company, too, but there was just something about Scarlett.
He woke up with her on his mind, smiling to himself as he checked his phone. Even a message from his manager practically begging him to reconsider the canceled PR gig wasn’t enough to sour his mood. He felt guilty about leaving his sponsor in the lurch, but for once, he was one hundred percent sure that he was doing the right thing. And if it afforded him the opportunity to spend a little extra time with Scarlett, all the better.
Travis had never been an early riser, but since coming back to the ranch he had worked hard to change that. Now, he only allowed himself a couple of still minutes in bed before jumping up to shower. Even so, when he made his way into the kitchen, all three girls were already awake and halfway through their cereal.
“Woah!” Travis exclaimed, throwing his hands up in mock surprise. “What is this? Who are you, and what have you done with my nieces who like to stay in bed all morning?”
Lizzie gave him an indulgent look and answered around a mouthful of her breakfast. “We are the nieces. We’re gonna help Daddy!”
“She means we’re getting ready to go out and take care of the chores,” Sophia explained. “We said we’d take on more to help Daddy and Uncle Travis.”
Not for the first time, Travis noted how old beyond her years his eldest niece was in terms of maturity. It had been hard enough losing his mom as an adult. He couldn’t imagine how difficult it had been for Sophia, who had been seven when she lost her mom—old enough to really understand the loss, young enough to not know how to cope with that kind of pain. He should have done more to be there for her. He would do better, once he was on the road again. He wasn’t going to worm his way into the girls’ lives only to disappear completely again.
“Jeez, you guys get up early. What’s with that?”
Denver spoke from the doorway, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He was clearly not a morning person, either. Scarlett, on the other hand, looked perfectly rested and ready to go. She tousled Denver’s hair as she brushed past him into the kitchen.
“We’re about to do our chores,” Thora informed Denver, taking one last slurp of milk before carrying her bowl to the sink. “We have things to do to help Daddy out until he gets better.”
“It’s very important work,” Lizzie added, her voice and face equally intense.
The girls rinsed out their dishes and hurried out of the kitchen to collect their coats. Travis, pouring himself a cup of coffee, watched Scarlett’s face. She had the look of a woman with a plan forming, and he was curious to see what it might be.
“You know what, Denver?” She said as he rifled through the pantry for something to eat. “You should go out to the barn and help the girls with their chores.”
He turned to look at her, his displeasure with the suggestion poorly disguised. “What? Why?”
“Well, it kind of seems like the least you could do, right?” she asked, her tone calm and patient. “Alex and his family are being so generous, letting us stay here while things get sorted out at the apartment. It would be really great to do something for them in return.”
Travis watched Denver closely. For a second, it looked like he might relent and follow the girls. Then his face hardened, and he shook his head again. “No. No way. I don’t want to do ranch chores. I want to go for another ride with Travis.”
This, Travis had not seen coming. Both Denver and Scarlett looked at him now. Scarlett looked weary and guarded, like a woman preparing to be ganged up on in a fight. Denver, on the other hand, looked expectant. It didn’t take a genius to see that he expected Travis to take his side. Which was only going to make things feel worse when Travis did the exact opposite.
Travis cleared his throat and shook his head. “A ride sounds good, man, and we might be able to do that later on today. But I’ve got a lot of work I need to get done first, and I think you should listen to your mom and help the girls out with the chores. It will make the riding later feel better. Like you earned it.”
Suddenly, it felt like all of the oxygen had been sucked out of the room. Denver’s eyes narrowed and he stepped away from the pantry, slamming the door.
“She’s not my mom,” he said slowly but sharply. “She’s not my family. She’s the one who’s keeping me from my real family.” With that, he stalked out of the room. A moment later, they heard the front door slam. Travis just stood there, feeling like he’d made a mess of everything, while Scarlett let out a long, shaking breath.
“I was just coming in here to get your dad some breakfast,” she said in a dull, disbelieving voice. “It’s kind of shocking how quickly things can change with kids, right?”
“God, I’m so sorry, Scarlett. If I hadn’t put my foot in my mouth…hey, come out there with me, will you? We’ll go talk to him. Let me try to help make this better.”
For a second, he was sure she was going to say no. Then she nodded, smiling wanly. “Okay, that sounds good. I’ll just take your dad his breakfast and we’ll see what we can do.”
Scarlett felt oddly fragile as she and Travis headed for the barn. The morning air was crisp and heavy with the promise of more snow, and it helped her to clear her head. She needed that right about now, too, and not just because of the mess with Denver in the kitchen.
Truth be told, she was a little bit bowled over by what Travis had done, taking her side over Denver’s. It would have been a whole lot easier—and probably more fun for him—to maintain his idol status with the boy. But he’d chosen to be supportive of her instead.
Maybe there was more to Travis than she had let herself see. She knew he was a hard worker and that he cared about his family…but now she was starting to think that he might have the potential to be a good father. He seemed to have a good feel for how to handle children, even difficult ones like Denver.
Looking at him now, he didn’t appear to be all that bothered by Denver’s lashing out. She tightened her hold on his arm and leaned in a little. “Hey, I want to say thank you.”
“Oh yeah?” He gave her a little smile and kept them on track to the barn. “Well, that’s much appreciated, but you don’t need to. You were right about the chores, and he shouldn’t have spoken to you like that. A kid’s got to have some discipline, whether he likes it or not.”
Scarlett nodded but said nothing. She knew that Travis was right, but that didn’t do anything to lessen her dread over what she might find in the barn. She and Denver had finally started making real progress with each other. She hated to think that it could all come undone so quickly. She was so focused on that fear that it took her a minute to realize what she was looking at when they reached the barn door, stepping inside.
Travis laughed softly, approvingly. “I’d say he’s recovered pretty nicely, wouldn’t you?”
Scarlett couldn’t find her voice to reply. She had been doing her best to prepare herself for an angry, shut down Denver, much like the kid she’d first welcomed into her home. What she saw now couldn’t have been more different. Alex, sitting on one chair with his leg propped up on another, was laughing as he directed his “work crew” in their morning chores. Following his instructions were not only his three daughters, but Denver as well, looking every bit as engaged as he did when Travis was giving him a riding lesson.
She turned to look at Travis, who was still laughing. “I don’t get it. How is this possible? He was so angry before!”
“It doesn’t seem that strange to me,” Travis said with a grin, still watching the four children go happily about their work. “He reminds me a lot of me when I was a kid. A lot of bluster and kickback, but at the end of the day, he just needs a push in the right direction. He may drag his heels a little, but he’s got a good heart and he wants to be helpful. To feel like he’s being put to some use.”
Scarlett smiled with relief. “I guess you were right. He’s certainly seemed better since we’ve been here.”
“I think some of that’s got to do with just being around the horses, too,” Travis continued thoughtfully. “There’s a lot to be said for that kind of animal therapy, especially for a kid whose life has been up in the air. Animals are simpler than people—they don’t have an agenda. Spending time with a horse is good for the person, and the horse, too. Snuffles seems years younger than she did before she and Denver took a shine to each other.”
Scarlett nodded in agreement. “You’re totally right. I just didn’t realize what a difference it could make.”
Travis shuffled his feet in a surprisingly self-conscious gesture. “It’s always been an interest of mine. I used to want to do something with it, you know? Maybe have some kind of a horse therapy thing on the ranch.”
“That’s a wonderful idea!” Scarlett exclaimed.
Travis gave her a hard smile. “My dad didn’t think so. I only mentioned it once, but he made it clear that he thought it was new-age crap.”
“Of course, he did,” Scarlett laughed, rolling her eyes widely enough that Travis joined in. “You know how he is. He’s got to come around to ideas in his own time. Seriously, though. I think you have the right idea. And I think you’d do an amazing job running some kind of horse therapy. You’ve already done a great job with Denver. It’s been so good for him, being around you. You’ve been a positive influence on him—and there’s nothing a foster kid needs more.”
“You’re good for him, too, whether he’d admit it or not,” Travis insisted.
Scarlett sighed, looking less confident. “I try,” she agreed. “But it’s not as easy as I thought it would be. When I was a foster kid, it seemed so obvious everything my foster parents were doing wrong. I thought I’d know all the answers once I was in their shoes. Turns out, I wasn’t giving them enough credit.”
“You were in foster care? I had no idea.”
Travis’s attention was entirely on Scarlett now. She could feel his body shift more fully toward her, sense his eyes on her face. She had no idea what had made her tell him about that. It wasn’t the kind of information she usually shared, especially not with guys she hardly knew.
“I was,” she answered stiffly. She loosened her arm from Travis’s grip and hugged her arms tightly around herself. “It wasn’t the best experience.”
Travis reached for her, but she sidestepped the attempted embrace. She had already shared far more with him than intended. If he tried to hug her now, she was pretty sure she would break into pieces.
He cleared his throat and looked at the kids again. “Well, I’m no expert. I think we both know that. But from where I’m standing, you’re doing a hell of a job. A blind man could see that you’re all in when it comes to that kid’s well-being. He’s very lucky to have you.”
Scarlett murmured a thank you, blushing furiously under his gaze.