Travis's Gift (Riley's Pride #3)- Sandra R Neeley Page 0,56

Travis looked pointedly at the empty spot beside him, then up at Libby.

“I didn’t know if you wanted me in the middle like when we were younger,” she said, sliding to the middle of the truck.

“I always want you close enough to touch — always,” Travis said, putting the truck in gear and backing out.

Once they arrived at Libby’s house, Travis followed her inside and waited while she packed a bag, then filled another with shoes, makeups, toiletries and things of that nature. He walked around the living room, poking through the keepsakes that adorned the tables and shelves.

“Been a long time since you were in here,” she said, standing quietly with her filled bags in the doorway that led to the bedrooms behind him.

Travis turned to look at her. “It has. I’m sorry it took so long,” he said, sighing and walking toward her.

“It’s okay. Everything happens for a reason,” Libby said. “We found each other again.”

“Very true,” he said, reaching out and taking her bags from her.

“Let me walk through real quick and make sure I didn’t leave anything I might need in the next few days,” she said.

“Alright,” Travis answered, as she disappeared toward the back of the house again. “Hey?” he called. “What do you want to do with the house after you fully move in at my place?” he asked.

A few minutes later Libby walked back into the living room. “I hadn’t thought about it. I mean, I supposed living at your place is best — that is where the tree farm is, and it’s a lot more land.”

“I didn’t ask that very well, did I? I just assumed,” Travis admitted.

“No, the times we spoke of it, it was understood that I’d be at your place. And, you’ve said a time or two over the last few days that I belong at your place as much as you do,” Libby said. “I hate to sell it. It’s my childhood home, you know?” she asked.

“Then don’t. We can rent it. That way you can hold onto it. And you never know who may be looking for a place to live. Since you’ll be with me and Scotty, you won’t really need the income, you can stash it away in a savings account, or retirement account, and you can be choosy about who you rent it to as well. It’s not like you’ll be in a rush to have to find someone fast,” Travis said.

“That’s a great idea! Additional income, plus I get to hang onto it,” Libby said. “And I’m comfortable at your place…”

“Our place,” Travis said. “It’s our place.”

“It’s yours and Scotty’s. But thank you for saying so,” Libby said.

Travis smiled and set her bags down. He walked over to her where she stood across the room from him. “It’s yours, too. I added your name before I went overseas. Once I got back, I never changed it. It meant something to me to work the land that was not only our family land, but yours as well. If anything ever happened to me, I wanted you and Scotty to have it.”

Libby’s eyes got big and she looked at Travis with a shocked expression on her face. “Travis!” she exclaimed.

“Told you you belonged there as much as we did. You’ve always belonged there in spirit, you just didn’t know it was legally as much yours as ours,” Travis said, shrugging. “Now you do.”

“I can’t believe you did that,” Libby said.

Travis placed a finger beneath her chin to hold her steady so he could kiss her. “Love you,” he said.

“Love you, too,” she answered.

“Come on. Let’s get going, we have a lot to do.”

“Okay,” she answered, unable to remove the grin from her face. Claimed and mated, loved completely, and part owner in a tree farm — not a bad morning at all.

~~~

Later that afternoon, Travis and Libby had gotten all the tables put where they wanted them from the welcome arch that everyone walked through, along the wide, cleared path that led to the barn. There were six each, eight foot tables in all. One for the cookies, breads, and brownies and the hot chocolate and coffee. The first cup of hot chocolate and/or coffee was free, but all else was available for purchase. There was another for the wreaths and all the supplies for the customers to use if they decided they wanted to make one. There were two of them for the ornament painting because they expected lots of families and didn’t want