Alibi (Brantley Walker Off the Books #5) - Nicole Edwards Page 0,61
back downstairs. He’d expected to find Travis in the living room, where he’d left him, but he wasn’t there. He started toward the guest room where Travis had moved his things shortly after Kylie died, but he came up short when he heard his voice coming from Travis’s office.
Gage stepped into the room to find Travis pacing the floor, his phone to his ear.
“I understand, but when you know for sure, I expect to be your first call. Not my father, not Gage. Me. Do you understand what I’m sayin’?”
That was all it took for Gage to realize who Travis was talking to. Rather than wait so they could have a knock-down-drag-out, Gage turned and walked right back out of the room. He went for the stairs, took them two at a time, and headed for his bedroom. He shut the door behind him, knowing Travis wouldn’t come in.
Taking a deep breath, he paced the room a couple of times to calm down, then decided a shower was in order. After all, this was his routine. Every morning, he woke up, then with Travis’s help, he got the kids up and moving. If it was the weekend, he tried to come up with something to entertain them with, and during the week, he would get them ready for daycare. After what had become a daily battle regarding who didn’t want to go, he would finally get them dropped off, then he would go to the resort to put in his eight hours. Most of those were spent working with one of Travis’s brothers because he sensed Travis didn’t want to be in the same room as him.
Which had made this past week, when they’d been stuck in the house, a complete hell. For both of them.
And then, when the day was over, Gage would reverse course, pick up the kids, bring them home. Dinner was generally whatever he could scrounge together in a few minutes with five kids underfoot. With each passing day, as their new normal set in, they were finding a routine that worked for them. Generally Travis would come home in time to help with baths, then they would get the kids to bed before going their separate ways.
And every night, without fail, Gage would go to Travis because he couldn’t stand to go a single day without that connection. He knew it was painful for them both, being without Kylie, but he wasn’t willing to let go of what they’d worked so hard for. Gage wasn’t ready to lose everything, although at times, he felt like he already had.
After stripping off his clothes, Gage got in the shower. As was the case every time he took a minute to breathe, the tears would come. Fortunately, he reserved that emotional unloading for when he was alone, so as not to let the kids see the pain that still consumed him. It was hard enough to get through the minutes of the day. It would be even harder if the kids had to shoulder the weight of everyone else’s emotions.
Once he’d let the hot water beat out some of the tension in his shoulders, Gage focused on his frustration rather than his grief, avoiding the tears as he hurried through the shower, got out. He pulled on sweatpants and a T-shirt—always clothed in case the kids needed him—then fell into bed, not bothering to pull back the covers.
It wasn’t until he was lying there, in the dark room, when he heard movement on the other side of the bedroom door.
He waited, expecting to see Kade or Avery peek inside as they had done a few times in recent weeks, seeking comfort.
But no one opened the door.
Was it…?
“Travis?”
The throat that cleared from the hallway was definitely that of a full-grown man.
Gage hated that his chest inflated, hope filling him. He knew the only reason Travis would come to their room would be to hash out whatever was on his mind. And clearly he felt it was important, otherwise he would wait until morning.
He remained silent, waiting to see what Travis would do. After several minutes passed, he sighed, disappointed. He’d hoped that Travis would’ve made the effort, would’ve—
The doorknob turned and Travis appeared, backlit by the butter-yellow glow from the light in the hallway.
Neither of them said a word when Travis stepped into the room, closed the door behind him.
Neither of them said a word when Travis walked toward him only to stop, turn back around.