Travis

The answers were finally trickling in. But, with every one answer came two more questions. It was like being on a perpetual and very irritating quest.

I turned onto the deserted highway, shifting quickly through the gears. The raw power of the car thrummed into my feet, pulsed through the steering wheel into my hands. I downshifted once and rounded a curve. The highway would lead straight on to town, so I opened my baby up. It wasn’t quite the same as having a horse underneath me, but it was a close second.

Close second? How many times had I settled for a close second over the last decade and a half? Memories of Christine astride the horse next to me, as we’d raced across the plain the day before, sent heat spiraling through me, followed quickly by a dousing of ice water. Too many times. Way too many.

Shoving aside the unsavory thought, I began instead to play around with the idea that had stirred while talking with my father. Something that expanded on Grant’s concept of modernizing to increase the herd, but also involved giving Grant his own niche with the horses he loved.

“Grant’s not afraid of failing, Travis. He knows the business and he’s got a head for it. He’s afraid of not measuring up to what you might be expecting from him.” Father’s last cryptic disclosure wasn’t sitting well.

So would Grant see the benefit of my proposal or would he only see his older brother trying to take over? I’d have to tread carefully. The hell with it. Grant would have to get used to me being home, being part of the Hawk MC. And we’d either learn to work together, or kill each other.

I stabbed the hands-free button on my cell and dialed L.A.

“Hey, Trav! Have you gone cowboy on us yet?” asked the deep voice on the other end.

I felt the grin splitting my face at the sound of my best friend’s voice. “Missing me yet, Dan?”

“Only taking most of your paycheck at the Friday night poker game.”

“Ah, I don’t miss that.” I took a deep breath then dove in. “I’m not coming back.”

Dan chuckled. “Yeah, I figured. I want out myself. Got any openings in Cowville for a hotshot helicopter pilot?”

“Maybe,” I said. “Have you ever considered herding cattle by helicopter?” The outskirts of Pine Haven loomed —as much as a sprawl of one-and two-story buildings could loom —as I finished outlining my proposition to a very interested Dan Griffin, EMS helicopter pilot.

“So, what about prospects for female companionship?” asked my old pal.

Christine’s face floated into my thoughts. I affected my thickest accent. “I can probably rustle you up an invite to the Sunday church social to meet our one-eyed, bucktoothed schoolmarm.”

“My dream girl.” Dan chuckled. “I’ll start packing tomorrow.”

“Pool drying up out there, buddy?”

“Not exactly. I went on a blind date with an actress last week. And she’s not averse to going out again. Of course, it’s kind of like dating a box of rocks without a lid, but she’s not hard on the eyes.”

I snickered. “I’m sure you can figure out what to do with her rocks.”

“I’m sure I will.” Dan sighed heavily. “Travis, I don’t know how to—” Another puff of air sounded over the phone. “Look, Cara got her start in Community Theater.”

The back of my neck heated up. “And?”

“And she remembers a girl she used to work with, when she first started out. Said she had a beauty of a singing voice, was a good actress but not serious about it. And she left L.A. very suddenly some years ago in the middle of a production. Cara thinks she went back east to her family.”

Braking to a stop in front of the sheriff’s office, I forced myself to keep breathing. “Okay, I see you still like to bury the lead.”

“I’m sorry,” Dan apologized quickly. “I wasn’t sure if you were still looking. I’ve seen what the dead ends do to you, man.”

Memories of drunken nights and morning-after hangovers, with Dan doing the male equivalent of hair-holding played in my mind like an old movie reel. “Not my finest moments.”

“So I didn’t know what to do with the information.” Dan’s voice was heavy. “Do you want me to dig further? Are we still looking for this girl?”

“I…” I hesitated. Was I still looking? The dead ends were exhausting as well as heartbreaking, but as clues went this was the most solid they had come up with in a long time. I thought about Christine. The woman in the flesh and now. I was definitely falling hard for her. The sun flashed off a passing lumber truck, inciting an answering sparkle from the crystal angel hanging on his mirror, reminding me there were things left unsaid.

The truck rumbled past and was gone.

“Trav?”

I inhaled, blew out forcefully. “Yeah, sure, go ahead,” I said in a rush. It couldn’t hurt to ask around, could it?

After severing the phone connection, I began to rethink my decision.

The angel swayed gently on her cord in front of me, mocking my indecision. I watched her until she was still again. A dream forged in loneliness and desperation. A dream, which had been about hope, survival and beating the odds.

My eyes drifted to the passenger seat where Christine had sat just the day before. Vibrant, alive, happy. She hadn’t even been on my radar before that mountain road. And now… even though she wasn’t physically seated next to me at that moment, she was real. She was a tangible presence in my life, not the dream that the angel dangling from my mirror represented.

I reached up and yanked the angel until the cord snapped. I held her in the palm of my hand for a moment, ran my thumb over her face in a gentle caress.

“Parting is sorrow, darlin’, but there’s nothing sweet about it. Whatever your reasons for not being there, wherever you are now, I sure hope you’re well and happy.”

My decision made, I leaned over, opened the glove compartment, and dropped the angel inside, with a feeling akin to adding the last period on a shift report. The slam of the little door echoed through the car. I considered calling Dan back and telling him to drop the hunt, then shrugged. As with all the other leads, nothing was likely to come of it anyway.