JESSICA PUSHED TRAVIS into the privacy of their bedroom and kicked the door closed. “Take a deep breath, Trav. Several if you need to.”

“Jake,” Travis groaned. “He was going to hurt you.”

“He wasn’t! You have to stop looking at everyone as a threat, baby. Mark would never hurt me. Ever. He’s almost as irritatingly protective as you are, because he’s always had some misguided need to fill in for our father.” She laid her hand on his arm. “And the idiot comment was because he was holding back from saying something much, much worse. He can swear like a sailor, but because he’s trying to be respectful to my husband, he didn’t.”

“Does he actually realize I’m your husband, Jessica, or does he think I’m someone you need to be protected from? I won’t have him usurping my authority.”

“Oh, my... ah... seriously? I’m going to ignore that remark for the moment and readdress it at a later time when you’re not so keyed up.” Jessica sighed. “Mark’s in a weird place, Travis. He just needs some time to adjust. He will. Please be patient. I don’t want to be in the middle of a war between the two of you, especially since there’s no need for one. You could be great friends, if you’d just relax.”

“Me?” he snapped. “Why is this on my shoulders?”

“Because you’re my husband, and by right, I get to tell you what to do.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Oh, really?”

She nodded and kissed his cheek, then his lips. “Really. Because even when you pull the ‘authority’ card, I know you better than that.” She kissed him again. “I know you are the sweetest, most caring man I’ve ever known, even more so than my brother, and that’s saying something.”

“Oh?”

She kissed his neck. “Yep. And I know that even though you throw around words like ‘usurp,’ ‘authority,’ and ‘obedience,’ you listen to me and do everything you can to make me happy.” She kissed his lips again.

Travis sighed and gave her a deeper kiss. “I will try to like your brother.”

“Thank you.”

He smiled and kissed her again. “You’re welcome.”

“We have to get downstairs, Travis.”

“We have a few minutes, sweetheart.”

She leaned back. “Are you suggesting a quickie?”

“A quickie?” he said, pronouncing it in a southern drawl, his eyebrows together in confusion. “Ah, yes, quickie’s an appropriate word, I think.” He nodded in vigor. “Yes, a quickie would be nice, don’t you think?”

Jessica giggled. “Okay, just don’t say ‘quickie’ again. It sounds weird when you say it.”

Travis laughed and kissed her again.

* * *

After his strange altercation with his brother-in-law, Mark headed downstairs, arriving in the foyer to find Sophie speaking with yet another maid.

“Hey, Mark. Where are you going? Everyone’ll be here in less than an hour.” He faced her and she raised an eyebrow. “Are you okay?”

“I need to talk to Emma. I thought I’d run next door for a few minutes before dinner.”

“Hold that thought.” She nodded to the maid, who left them alone.

“What?” Mark asked. “I’m not allowed to talk to my best friend?”

“No. It’s not that. It’s just different here. I know you were used to”—she lowered her voice—“calling her whenever you wanted to, or stopping by without notice, but you can’t do that here. I don’t know how Clay would react.”

“Right.” He leaned against one of the banisters. “I forgot about the husband.”

“She’ll be here soon enough.” Sophie laid her hand on his arm. “She’s coming early to help.”

“Can I do anything to help in the meantime?” he asked.

“Nope. There really isn’t anything Emma can do either, as a matter of fact. I think she just wanted an excuse to visit with you alone before the masses descend. Why don’t you go have a drink in the parlor and I’ll send her in when she gets here.”

Mark nodded and headed into the large room. He’d just taken his first sip of bourbon when he heard the front door and muted voices. He poured another glass and turned when he heard the rustle of fabric.

“Hey, bud. Sophie said you wanted to talk to me. What’s up?” Emma asked. Mark faced her and she frowned. “Uh-oh, that’s not a good look. You okay?”

Mark shrugged and held out a glass.

Emma shook her head. “Breastfeeding.”

“Oh, right. Sorry. I need some advice,” he said.

“Okay, shoot.”

“I can’t get a handle on Travis, and I keep saying shit that just pisses him... or Jess... off.”

Emma sighed and glanced behind her. “Come with me.” She led him through a door at the back of the room and into another parlor of sorts. He vaguely remembered Sophie calling it the drawing room.

She faced him. “What did you do?”

Mark filled her in on his altercation with Travis earlier and Emma smiled. “The problem is you called him an idiot.”

“Yeah, so? It’s better than what I wanted to call him.”

“No, it probably wasn’t,” she said. “Travis is dyslexic, Mark. He has a difficult time reading and figuring out basic math equations, and it makes him feel dumb.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because Jessica brought a book back with her from the future that she, Sophie, and I hand-copied, on how to teach dyslexics to read and do math. We wanted to have it in case any of the kids that came to the shelter had trouble with learning. As we were in the process of getting our versions bound, she confessed she’d bought it for Travis. We promised we wouldn’t tell anyone.” She sighed. “Of course, now I’m breaking my promise.”

“Damn it.” He swigged the rest of the bourbon. “Now, I’m the idiot.”

“No you’re not.” Emma sat on the sofa by the window. “You didn’t know.”

“I don’t understand why she didn’t tell me.” Mark sat beside her. “But, I suppose I could have asked.”

“I think his dad was pretty hard on him, based on the stuff Jessica’s told me,” Emma continued. “And you probably pose a threat.”

Mark frowned. “Me? How am I a threat?”

“Travis took it really hard when Jess disappeared... um, back to the future. He thought he’d lost her forever. Remember what Jamie was like when Sophie disappeared?”

He stood and poured another drink, grateful Jamie had bourbon in just about every room in the house. “Mostly what you told me. It didn’t sound good.”

“It wasn’t, and Travis doesn’t have the anger management skills that Jamie has. On top of that, he didn’t know us well enough to know he had support, so how do you think it was for him? When she returned, he wouldn’t leave her side, literally. And the one time she convinced him to give her space, she was kidnapped.”

Mark swore as he took his seat again. “What the hell, Emma? When?”

“Just before Christmas.”

“Why didn’t she... or you, tell me?”

“Probably because it’s old news.” Emma stared at his drink. “And it’s not really my story to share.”

He handed her his glass. “Have it.”

“Just a little,” she whispered, and took a generous sip.

“What did Travis do when she was kidnapped?” Mark asked, and took his glass back.

“He tracked her. One thing about Travis is he can find anyone, anywhere. Quite a bit like Crow. But he’s having a difficult time believing she’s safe when he’s not with her. You must be able to understand that. And now you’re here. Travis is probably worried you’ll take her away.”

“That explains why he was so upset when Jessica was out of his sight yesterday in town.”

“Yeah. He gets really antsy.”

Mark crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. “And how do you know all this, little Miss Nosy Pants?”

Emma nodded toward the doorway.

“Sophie,” they said in unison.

Emma giggled. “She’s not stupid, my sister... plus, Jamie promised Travis someone would be with Jess whenever Travis had to be away.”

“And what does Jess think about that?”

“She hates it.”

“Then she should put her foot down,” Mark said.

Emma slapped his forehead with her palm. “You really are an idiot.”

“Ow! What was that for?” he asked, rubbing his head.

“She loves him. It’s not like he’s worried for no good reason. She gets that. There’s a reason your sister’s a nurse, Mark. She’s one of the most caring, patient people I know.”

“Yeah, that’s very true.” He stood and paced the room.

Emma smiled. “It’s also war time. War that’s on our own soil. So what good would ‘putting her foot down’ do? He wouldn’t worry less.”

“I guess you’re right.”

“Oh, I know I’m right.”

“Does he have to look so pissed off every time he sees me, though?”

Emma giggled. “He’ll warm up. You should have seen him with Jamie when he first got here.”

“So you’ve all alluded to.”

“Okay, okay. He can tell you what happened if you get to that point.” Emma patted the open space on the sofa. “Now, tell me all about your date with Gabrielle Butler.”

Mark flopped down next to her. “Not much to tell.”

“Are you going to see her again?”

“Absolutely. I can’t imagine not seeing her again.”

Emma grinned. “She’s gorgeous, huh?”

“Yeah, but there’s something else. I just feel intense around her. Like, I don’t know, when I’m not around her, I miss her. It’s weird, because I barely know the girl.”

“I remember feeling the same way with Clay. Sophie says it has something to do with the time travel thing. Our emotions are heightened, and we’re drawn to our true loves.” Emma wrinkled her nose. “But then, she’s also ridiculously romantic.”

Mark laughed. “Very true.”

“I do see why you like Gabby so much, though. She’s awesome. Plus, she drives her brother nutso, which makes me like her even more, and she’s crazy smart.”

“She seems a little nervous about showing that.”

“I know. She’s really open when it’s me, Hannah, and Victoria, but she shuts down if any of the men are there, and even with Gwen, which is sad. Gwen would love to have open conversations about the same topics, but neither of them feel comfortable enough to open up with each other. We’re working on them.” Emma elbowed him gently. “I think if Gabby found a man who appreciated a strong, independent woman, she’d absolutely rule the world.”

Mark laughed. “Okay, okay. No pressure or anything.”

Emma took another sip of Mark’s drink. “How’s Jess? I haven’t spent any time with her this trip.”

“She’s good. It’s kind of weird, though. She’s been without me for, what, six months or so? At least in the same time zone, so to speak. And I’ve been without her for three years. I get she’s this grown woman with a husband and everything, but I’m still having a hard time not butting into her business.”

Emma smiled gently. “Well, it was you and her against the world for the longest time.”

“Like you and Soph.”

“Exactly. And then Jamie came into the picture, and I had the father figure I didn’t really think I wanted or needed, and then I met you and I was doubly screwed.”

“What? Why?”

“Because you were in love with me and stupid jealous all the time.”

“Look, you dated some idiots. I simply pointed that fact out.” Mark grinned. “And you can go ahead and put to bed this idea you have that I’ve always been in love with you.”

“But you have.”

Mark rolled his eyes. “I have not. I was in lust with you for about six minutes, because the first time I met you, you were wearing your blue cocktail dress.”

Emma laughed. “But you were always trying to kiss me.”

“For your information, I wasn’t actually always trying to kiss you. It was a game of chicken that I won every time.”

“Oh, whatever.”

“It was.”

Emma stared at him for a few seconds. “Really?”

“Really.” He tweaked her nose. “I loved flirting with you, but ultimately, I knew it would’ve never worked between us. Plus, you’ve always been the person I could tell anything to, and if we dated, I was afraid we’d mess that up.”

She grinned. “Me too.”

“Now, Hannah, on the other hand...”

Emma laughed. “Yeah, well, who wasn’t in love with Hannah? And her accent just puts everything over the top.”

“It’s true.”

The sound of a screaming baby filtered into the room.

“If she’s not in the parlor, Clay, check the drawing room,” they heard Sophie say.

“That doesn’t sound good.” Emma stood and made her way to the door. “I’m in here, babe.”

Mark followed.

Clayton appeared, carrying a swaddled Henry, and frowned. “You’ve been alone with him? Unchaperoned?”

“Yes. So?”

“You shouldn’t be alone with a man like that.”

“Oh, right. Well, I won’t tell you we were totally making out, then,” Emma retorted.

“Emma,” Clayton admonished.

“The door was open the whole time, Clay. Don’t get all bent out of shape.” She took Henry from her husband and cradled him against her chest. “What’s up with you, little man? Huh? I fed you less than an hour ago.”

“Em, you can use the nursery to feed him,” Sophie offered as she passed the door. “Sarah and her sister are up there and ready to help with the kids.”

“Thanks.” Emma smiled at Mark. “Talk more later?”

“Of course,” he said, ignoring the look of death coming from Clayton.

Emma nudged Clayton with an elbow, drawing his attention, and then dragged him out of the room.