The look in his eyes that she still dreamed of every damned night of her life. She felt a little flare of hope deep inside, and quickly squashed it into nothingness. She’d been hurt enough by Travis and his back and forth emotions. She couldn’t risk it again. “That’s good. I’m happy for you,” she finally said to Scotty. “I’m going to see what else I might be able to find to use as decorations on the village entrance.”
“We have some artificial boughs you could hang, but it might be better to use trimmed tree branches. There’s some lights out there, and you might want to think about some folding chairs too, for if somebody needs to sit down while their kids paint the wooden ornaments.”
“Very good ideas,” Libby said.
“We have some blowup stuff, too. Maybe Santa in a sleigh?” Scotty suggested.
“I’ll go take a look,” Libby answered, smiling at him as she turned and moved toward the Christmas decorations.
Scotty watched Libby walk away. He understood what she felt. She was afraid to hope again. Travis had hurt her so many times she was afraid to believe in what she surely saw with her own eyes.
Travis approached from the lumber part of the store.
“Hey! You find everything you needed?” Scotty called out.
“Yeah. Got the extra plywood added to the order. Where’s Libby?” Travis asked, looking around.
“She went to go see what other kinds of decorations we might use to decorate the entrance of the village,” Scotty answered.
“I’ll go find her,” Travis said with a smile on his face.
“Don’t hurt her again,” Scotty said.
Travis turned back to Scotty. He could see the apprehension in his brother’s face. “I’ve hurt both of you, for a long time. And that’s on me. There’s no excuse for it. But I can see who I am now. I can see what I’ve lost all this time. I’m so, so, sorry, Scotty. I can’t take it all back, but if I could I would in a heartbeat. But I will make sure that there is never another instance that causes you to doubt me, or to fear me.”
Scotty tried to brush off Travis’s apology. “I never feared you, you never hurt me…” he said.
“Not physically, but sometimes emotional pain is deeper and longer lasting. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry that I was so bitter, so resentful and so lost that I pushed you both away. You are the only two things in my life that matter, and I shoved you away like you didn’t. Give me a chance to show you that I’m not that male anymore. You won’t be sorry. And neither will Libby — if I can get her to look at me without wanting to slap me, I’m going to marry her, mate her, and love her endlessly until the day I die. No, that’s wrong. Even longer than that. I just have to earn her trust enough to prove it to her,” Travis said.
Scotty smiled at Travis. “I don’t know where you’ve been, but welcome home, brother. I missed you.”
Travis grinned and reached out to hug Scotty over the counter at the paint mixing station. They slapped each other on the back before pulling away from one another. “I missed me, too. Just give me a little time. You’ll see. Libby will be with us forever.”
Scotty nodded and grinned as Travis strolled away with his hands in his pockets, whistling Christmas Carols as he looked for Libby.
Travis walked out into the garden center which was where all the larger outdoor Christmas decorations were. He walked up one aisle, knowing from his sense of smell that Libby was on the one next to it. He paused when he heard her voice speaking to another woman.
“It’s so surprising to see you with Travis again. We hadn’t seen you together since he came back from overseas,” the first woman said.
“Yes, well, he needed some help planning his family’s Christmas Village this year,” Libby said.
“Oh, they’re going to do that again? I can’t wait to see it. And him. He hasn’t been around much.”
“No, he hasn’t,” Libby answered, the strain easily detected in her voice.
“I didn’t mean to offend you,” the woman said. “I mean, he is available again, right? Ben and I divorced last year, and it’s not like you and Travis followed through with the engagement. All’s fair in love and all that,” the woman said far too happily. “Thought I’d throw my hat into the ring and let him know he’s been marked