he cleaned himself off as fast as he possibly could with a monster hangover, the vision grew stronger.
Someday he would swear to Georgie he’d seen the future in that shower.
She would tell him he’d still been drunk, but she’d smile and get misty-eyed.
No, forget that part. His Georgie would never cry again. Not the sad kind of tears, anyway. She would cry when he finished the fireplace. On their wedding day. When their children were born. When those same children graduated from college. Good tears. He’d give her good tears for the rest of her life. He was capable of it. He was this man—not some man who’d come before. If she believed in him once, she could do it again. This time it would be different, because he believed in himself. That he could make her happy. Forever.
First he had to win her back.
But it wouldn’t be easy.
Travis was clearly the last person Bethany expected to find on her doorstep.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.” She propped a shoulder against the doorjamb and hauled in a long sip of white wine. “My sister isn’t here. Even if she was, I would rather exfoliate with sandpaper than let you see her for even a second.”
Keep it together. Keep. It. Together. Don’t beg to know where Georgie is. What she’s doing. If she’s okay. That wasn’t his purpose there. And he didn’t have the right to know yet. In lieu of words, he took a key out of his pocket, extending it toward Bethany to take.
“What is that?”
“It’s the key to my house. The one I grew up in.” Voice rusty from disuse, he didn’t bother trying to make himself sound normal. It was taking all of his effort to stand there and not ask for news about Georgie. Something. Anything. “Flip it however you want and keep the profit. It’s yours. Free and clear.”
Bethany straightened slowly. “You’re giving me the house? Why?”
“It’s important to her. You succeeding. All of you succeeding. She’s good in that way. She’s so fucking good, you know?”
“The best.”
Travis took a necessary moment to breathe. “And I need her—I need her to know—the past is over. I’m done living there.” Not wanting to give her room to refuse, he put the key in Bethany’s free hand, closing her fingers around it. “But I’m going to ask for something in return. Because I’m fucking desperate.”
“You’d have to be to ask me for help. I’m only giving you the time of day because . . .” The barest hint of sympathy crept into her expression. “You really do look like hell,” she grumbled into her wineglass. “Why am I not enjoying this as much as I should?”
“You know I’m in love with her. That’s why.” Saying it out loud seemed to make it that much more true. Voicing the truth written on his soul felt so incredible, he couldn’t wait to say it over and over again for the rest of his life. To Georgie. To anyone who would listen. Unless, of course, Georgie wouldn’t take him back, in which case he’d be saying it to the business end of a pillow for the foreseeable future. “I love that girl in every way it’s possible to love someone. And maybe a few ways that don’t even have a name. I’m just asking you to help me prove it to her.”
Bethany blinked away the moisture in her eyes. “You did a number on her.”
The pain that ripped through him was so intense, Travis had to prop a hand on the house for support. “If she decides she’ll be happier without me, so be it.” He swallowed a fistful of nails. “Maybe that’s true. But I’m not losing her lying down.”
He could feel Georgie’s sister studying him. Couldn’t lift his head to confirm it, though. “What do I have to do?”
Hope sparked to life. Just enough to make his neck work, so he could look at Bethany. “Please. I have things I need to say to Georgie. Just get her to listen.”
“Tell me your plan and I’ll think about it.”
When Travis finished, she swirled her wine in her glass and tossed it back. “Fine. I’ll help. But afterward, her decision is final. You have to respect it.” Just before shutting the door, she tossed up the key and caught it. “Thanks for the house.”
Travis walked down the porch, zero spring in his step. No, it was way too early for that.
At least now he had a plan.
The promise of that