“What are you still doing up?” Maggie closed the front door behind her and hurried to the sofa. “Is everything okay? Is Carly home?”
“Yeah, everything’s all right. I’m just watching a movie.” And waiting up for you.
“Where is she?”
“In her room. Asleep, I figure.”
“Oh, okay.” Dark circles shadowed beneath Maggie’s eyes. She was exhausted. How did she work such long, late hours?
“Sit down, take a load off.”
“Is your leg okay?”
His casted leg was propped on the coffee table in front of the sofa.
“Yeah, the doc said to keep it elevated. Come on. Sit down.”
“I think I’ll just go to bed.”
“Watch the movie with me.”
“I better not. I’m—” Maggie glanced at the TV, and her face lit up. “The Notebook?” She tossed her purse on the coffee table and fell down beside Travis. “I love this movie.”
“You sure do.”
She nudged him with her elbow. “And you do, too. Admit it. Don’t most guys like this movie?”
“Remember when you first saw it?”
“Um . . .” She kicked her shoes off and curled her legs behind her.“We saw it when we were home for Christmas.”
“Right. My mom watched Carly so we could have a date night.”
“You bawled like a baby.”
“No, I didn’t. Not like a baby.” She nudged him again, this time with a playful grin. “But you did.”
“You’re crazy.” Her feet hit the floor, and she twisted around, grabbing hold of his arm and giving it a shake. “Travis Kane. Don’t you even. You cried. I caught you wiping your eyes with your T-shirt.”
“It was popcorn dust.”
They burst out laughing, sharing one of the last perfect nights they’d had together before their marriage imploded.
“Popcorn.” Maggie let out another chuckle and stood up. “If we’re going to watch this movie, we need popcorn.”
“Want me to make it?”
“No, keep your leg up. Want a beer?” She circled the table and headed toward the kitchen.
“Sure.”
“Better get the tissues. I’m sure you’ll need them.” She winked as she disappeared through the door.
This was setting up to be an even better idea than he had thought. Originally, he’d planned to wait up and tell her she needn’t worry about the tuition money. But when she came in, so obviously exhausted, he knew now was not the time. Lucky for him that The Notebook was on TV. It immediately put her in a good mood—something she seemed to need. Tonight he would focus on taking Maggie’s mind off her troubles and save money talk for another time.
A few minutes later, she swaggered in with a big bowl of popcorn and two beers, settling beside him on the couch. They weren’t touching but sat closer than they had in years. Even after working hours behind the bar, she smelled good. Her soft, floral fragrance tickled his senses. Her eyes were locked on the screen as she robotically lowered her hand to the popcorn bowl then placed a few kernels in her mouth.
“Aren’t you going to have any?” She set the bowl between them.
“Sure.” He reached for a handful, and after swallowing, washed away the saltiness with a swig of beer.
Instead of watching the movie, he watched her. Her eyes expressed every emotion, narrowing and brightening as the story unfolded. Those eyes were the first things he’d noticed about her when they met. When she had set those big, luminescent emeralds on him in the football stadium, he’d totally forgotten he was drenched in Coke. Her gaze had pulled him in so fast. Maggie was more beautiful today than she’d been at sixteen—even with the tiny creases around those beautiful eyes.
“Why aren’t you watching the movie?” She said with her focus still locked on the screen.
“I’m watching.”
“No, you’re not.” She grabbed the remote and paused the movie. “You’re watching me.”
“Just glanced over.”
“No . . .” She set the bowl of popcorn on the table. “You were watching me. And something was going through your mind. What was it?”
“Do you really want to know?”
“Yes, Travis.” She sighed. “I really want to know.”
He shifted around so that he was nearly facing her while keeping his cast propped on the coffee table. “I was thinking you’re prettier than you ever were.”
“What? I—” She folded her arms around her middle and sat up straight, her cheeks warming to a rosy glow.
“Really.”
“Oh my God. You’re full of it.”
He had embarrassed her. His compliment had thrown her off. She wouldn’t look at him. Instead she gathered the popcorn bowl in her lap and hit the remote control.
The characters were splashing in the water. “If you’re a bird, I’m a bird,” Ryan Gosling said.
Travis chuckled. “I never understood that line.”
“He’s just saying that he’ll be whatever she wants him to be. Anything for them to be together.”
“That’s not realistic.”
“It doesn’t have to be. It’s love. It’s how he feels. He wants her so desperately.”
“But he can’t change who he is. Either she wants him or she doesn’t.”
Maggie once again hit the pause button and turned to face him. “She wants him, Travis, but it’s complicated.”
“Nobody talks like that. I’m a bird, you’re a bird.”
“That’s not what he said.” She threw a piece of popcorn at him. “Besides, it’s romantic. It’s a beautiful, poetic way of saying he loves her.”
He chuckled and reached for a kernel. “You eat that stuff up, don’t you?” The popcorn hit her square in the nose.
“Yes.” She pelted him with three more. “I love it. To know someone loves you so much that he is willing to do anything. Noah spent years as a recluse building her dream house in the movie.”
“So that’s what love means, huh? Building a two-story house to win her over?”
“No, you big jerk.” Laughing, she threw another handful of popcorn at him.
“I’m not cleaning this up.”
“Noah built the house as an expression of his love for her and his belief that someday she’d come back to him.”
“Lucky for him that she did.”
“I give up.” She threw up her hands, and the bowl teetered on her lap. Popcorn spilled onto the floor. They both reached to steady the bowl, and Travis’s hands landed on hers. Maggie’s eyes grew big, sucking in a breath. She always jumped when he touched her. The day he had apologized, he had thought she didn’t like it. But the way her eyes now softened and her lips curled into a smile, maybe she didn’t mind it so much.
“What do you think love means?” she asked.
The whispered question clenched his heart. How the hell could he answer that? Love could make your deliriously happy, but, in his case, it could also cut you to the bone.
He shrugged.
“No thoughts on the matter?” She smiled and raised her brows, challenging him to delve into the subject.
Whatever love meant, he wasn’t going there with her. Sticking to the movie plot was easier. “Want to know what I think?” He took the bowl from her, placing it on the table, and reclaimed her hands, letting them drop to the narrow space between them. “I think Noah and Allie finally figured out they were meant to be together.”
“What? Like some kind of predestined thing?”
“You know, like they wanted to do life together.”
“Like a soulmate?”
“That’s a sappy word, but yeah.”
“Not a romantic bone in your body.” She smiled, laying her head against the back of the sofa.
“I wouldn’t say that. I can be romantic when I need to be.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yeah, remember that candlelit picnic?”
“The one where I got pregnant at sixteen?”
“Thanks for killing the buzz.”
They both laughed, and to Travis’s surprise, she laced her fingers between his.
“It was romantic, Trav. So pretty with the candles flickering and the blanket spread out beneath the trees.”
“See, I can be romantic.”
“Yeah, you can.” She pulled a hand from one of his and brushed a finger over his cheek. “You did a lot of romantic things. I guess I just forgot.”
“It was a long time ago.”
“A lot’s happened.”
He grabbed her finger and pressed it to his lips, hoping she wouldn’t pull away. “I’m sorry.” He murmured against her tender skin. “I’m sorry for not being there for you and Carly. For being so messed up. I shouldn’t have gone out all the time. I should’ve tried harder.”
“We were so young.”
“No, I let you down.”
“It’s okay.” She cupped his face in her hands. “I’m just as much to blame. I shouldn’t have run out on you.”
“It about killed me.”
“Me, too.”
He held her gaze, drinking in the words they had never spoken. If he had only apologized sooner, would things have turned out differently?
“If I could have a do-over, it wouldn’t turn out the same,” he said, leaning in and slipping his hands around her waist.
“Life doesn’t give us do-overs.”
“You don’t believe in second chances?”
She didn’t answer. Her brows furrowed, and her smile faded, but still she held his face in her hands. She studied him as if seeing him for the first time.
“You’ve changed.”
“Nah, I’m the same guy. Just older and with less hair.” He chuckled, running his hands up the sides of her body. It felt good to touch her again.
“I hate that you were in that accident, but I think it’s mellowed you.”
“Maybe.”
“I like the new Travis.”
“Do you?”
“You don’t fight with me anymore.”
“Disappointed?”
She shook her head, dropping her hands to his shoulders. “I don’t want to fight with you.”
“Then don’t. I think the last couple of weeks here have proven we can get along.”
“Maybe so.”
She dropped her hands and scooted out of his arms. The heart-to-heart ended. Maybe he’d said too much. Hit a nerve. Tapping the remote, she cuffed a handful of popcorn from the bowl as The Notebook came back to life. Her gaze stared straight ahead. She was done talking.
Travis pressed his back into the sofa, taking a sip from his beer, and watched the movie. They sat silently, both engrossed in the movie or in their own thoughts. A few minutes in, Maggie pulled one foot to her lap and ground her thumb into her heel.
“Feet hurt?”
“I need some new shoes.”
“Here. Let me.” Before she could protest, he reached down and gathered her ankles, setting her feet in his lap. He kneaded the balls of her feet, and she released a satisfying breath.
“That’s what I need. A foot massage.”
“And you’re going to get one.”
She lay back on the sofa and tucked a pillow beneath her head. “This is amazing.” She closed her eyes with a sweet smile on her face. “Magic hands.”
He laughed. “Yeah, I’ve been told that.”
She leaned up her elbows, sucking in a breath. “Who’s told you that?”
He answered with a smile.
“Spill it.”
“You.”
“Did I?”
“Yep.”
Her smile grew big as her eyes hooded. She looked so damned sexy laying there. “Yeah, I guess I did.” She dropped her head back on the pillow and closed her eyes, her chest rising and falling in a slow, steady rhythm. Quiet filled the room as he continued rubbing her tired feet. After a few minutes, he’d thought maybe she’d fallen asleep, but with her eyes still closed, she said, “I really should go to bed. I have to open in the morning.” She didn’t move.
“It’s late.”
“I know, but this feels so good.”
“I can give you another foot rub tomorrow.”
“That would be great.”
“And every night.”
Her eyes opened, and her feet slid from his lap. “You’ll spoil me. I might let you stay forever with a deal like that.”
“Sounds fair.”
She squeezed his hand and stood up. This special time was coming to an end. Travis lowered his cast to the floor and gathered his crutches from the side of the sofa.
“Let me help you.” She reached down and held his arm as he rose up on his good leg.
When he teetered, she wrapped her arm around his waist to steady him. He slid his arm around her. “We were talking about do-overs.”
“Yeah, and I said there are no do-overs.”
“You sure about that?”
Her gaze dropped to his mouth, and he could’ve sworn she leaned in.
“Isn’t that what happened in The Notebook?” He pulled her closer, their noses nearly touching. “She gave him a second chance.”
“She did.”
“Well?”
“I don’t know.” She tucked her hand behind his head, gliding her fingers up the back of his neck, while her gaze crashed with his. “I just don’t know.”
Travis leaned in, and she curled out of his arms, disappearing down the hall.