at hearing his words to his brother, she understood. He was struggling and thought she’d be better off without him. Libby took a deep breath, and turned around, walking to her jeep. She got in it and turned the key. She swiped at her tears, irritated they’d made their way from under her eyelids, then took another deep breath. “This is not finished. I’ll give you a day or two to get your bearings, and I’ll be back. You’ll see, we belong to each other,” she said, with a sharp nod to confirm her decision.
~~~
Travis looked at the clock on the wall. It was 4:20P.M. He’d waited an extra twenty minutes to make sure that Libby hadn’t changed her mind. And here he still sat, alone. Scotty had been called in to work for the evening, and they needed every penny they could get to pull this off, so he’d gone in, glad of the extra hours. Which left Travis to do the best he could to find supplies for their Christmas Village.
Travis walked over to the breakfast bar that separated the kitchen from the living room and grabbed his keys. “May as well get a start on it,” Travis said. He opened his front door and walked out onto the porch just as a blue jeep pulled into his drive. The blood started rushing in his ears, and he wanted to shout his happiness to the treetops, but he didn’t. Instead he walked out into the middle of his yard, and waited for her to park and get out of her jeep.
~~~
Libby looked around herself and realized she’d been so lost in the past that she’d not even realized the direction she was driving in. Instead of going into town, she’d taken the turnoff and was only about a mile from Travis’s house. She glanced quickly in the rear view and realized she’d been crying again. She lifted the edge of her shirt and blotted her eyes and her face before running her fingers through her hair.
She steered her jeep carefully off the old, two lane highway and into the place she’d parked her jeep in for as long as she could remember when she used to feel welcomed here. When she turned off the engine, and got out of the car, she noticed Travis standing in the yard beside his truck.
“Hey” she said, getting out of the jeep and standing there looking as awkward as she felt.
“Hey,” he answered. He could tell she was nervous. “Decided to take pity on me so I didn’t buy pink and yellow decorations for Christmas?” he joked.
“Yeah, something like that,” Libby answered, offering a hesitant smile. “Where’s Scotty?” she asked.
“He got called into work this afternoon. We could really use the money, so, I’m flying solo. I’m really glad of your help,” Travis said.
“Oh,” Libby answered, looking around herself, glancing anywhere but directly into his eyes.
“So, I’ll drive?” he asked, taking a step toward his truck.
“Yeah, okay,” she answered. Then she made him really grin. “Shotgun!” she called out, getting to the truck before he did.
Once settled in the truck, Travis reached down to his right and started to move his papers and gloves, cell phone, and the things he carried with him from the middle of the bench seat. “Let me get these out of the way,” he said, gathering them up and sliding them into the storage panel on his door. When he was done, he glanced over at Libby with a bright smile, and found her watching him with her eyebrows raised. He realized at that moment, he’d cleared the space beside him for her to sit in just as she used to before he’d enlisted and been sent overseas — before he’d blown their relationship all to hell and back.
He looked down at the space between them, then directly into her eyes. He didn’t say a word, it wasn’t necessary. He simply faced forward and put the truck in gear.
They’d just begun to back out when he spoke again. “I’m really glad you decided to come with me, Libby.”
“I wasn’t sure you’d still be home,” she admitted.
“I waited in case you changed your mind,” he said, giving her a meaningful glance before looking at the road again.
“Good thing I decided to come then. It’s not much fun when you wait for nothing,” she said. The minute she heard her own words she squeezed her eyes shut. “I’m sorry,” she said.
“No, don’t be. It’s the truth. So, where to