Not A Chance (Sweet Nothings) Read online

  "Oh..." she said, "No. Not really."

  "Let's see," Travis said. And before she could react, he reached out and pulled her shirt up. There was massive bruising along her ribs. Travis cursed. "Take Emily," he said to Arden. "I'm gonna go kill the fucker."

  "No!" Arden and Tonya said simultaneously.

  "Just go on home and mind your own business, Travis," Tonya said.

  Travis shook his head stubbornly. The only thing keeping him from charging the door was the fragile baby in his arms.

  "Travis, this isn't our business," Arden said. "You'll go to jail if you attack a man in his own home and then what good will you be to anyone, huh?"

  Travis glared at her.

  "Pull it together, Travis," Arden said. She stroked his arm like she was soothing a spooked horse.

  Slowly he swallowed down his anger and returned his gaze to Tonya. "Don't let him hurt this baby, Tonya," he said.

  "She's my kid," Tonya said.

  "I know that. So do right by her."

  Tonya reached her arms out. Travis lowered Emily into a cradling position and kissed her one more time. "Goodbye, Ems," he whispered. "I love you."

  Even Tonya softened at this display of affection. She took Emily into her arms and stared up at Travis. His eyes were wet, but he smiled adoringly at Emily.

  Arden took him by the arm. "Thank you, Tonya," she said. "If you ever need anything, please call." She handed Tonya a card with her phone number on it. "If you ever need a place to stay, you're welcome with me for as long as you want."

  Tonya bit down on her bottom lip and nodded.

  Arden gave Travis's arm a little tug and they got in her car and drove home. Travis was silent. There were only two tears out of the ordeal, which he quickly wiped off his cheeks with the back of his arm. Halfway home, Arden heard him exhale loudly.

  "Thank you, Princess," he said.

  She smiled then. She'd been so starved for the old Travis that she even welcomed being called "princess" again. "I wish it could be more."

  "Closure's good," he said. "I'm heartbroken. But maybe I can keep in contact with Tonya well enough to do at least a little bit of good for Emily."

  "You're an amazing man," Arden said.

  He shook his head. "You're just in love with me, that's all. Nothing amazing about me."

  Arden disagreed. But she kept it to herself.

  "You offered to let her stay with you," Travis said.

  Arden wasn't sure if he was asking a question or not.

  "Why did you do that?" he asked.

  "I guess if we have to have Tonya in order to be close to Emily, we'd best resign ourselves to it. It'll be like raising two children instead of one."

  Travis glanced at her.

  Arden smiled at him and then went back to playing Scrabble on her iPhone.

  "What are you going to do if she takes you up on your offer?" Travis asked.

  Arden stared hard at the game board trying to figure out how to get the triple word score. "I guess we'll just have to work out our living arrangements. I'm sure Emma won't mind sharing the apartment with her. But you might want to be closer to the baby, so that would just be up to you. We could keep her at your place or mine. Doesn't matter to me."

  "We." Travis said the word quietly.

  She looked up at him, then, suddenly aware of how much she was taking for granted. "I'm sorry," she said. "I wasn't thinking. It's just...after this morning I thought..."

  He reached over and took her hand. "We should go have lunch," he said.

  Arden stopped stammering and squeezed his hand.

  "Then we should go back to my house and make passionate love for the better part of the afternoon." He kept emphasizing the "we" when he spoke.

  "That's a really good plan," Arden said.

  "I'm glad you agree. We're going to get along just fine, I think," he said.

  Arden leaned up and kissed his jaw. She slid her hand over his thigh. They decided to skip lunch.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

  Travis was getting tired of saying goodbye to Arden every night. Or in the mornings. Spring was here and he wanted her with him all the time. It was ridiculous living in two separate places. He determined that tonight he would take her out to dinner and ask her to move in with him. Or marry him. He really didn't care which.

  She'd gone with him to visit Duane last week. That was it for Travis. He knew if she would participate in that relationship, she was definitely both feet in. She'd conversed with Duane politely and even smiled once in a while. They discovered a mutual hate for their sophomore biology teacher. Travis left the visit feeling as confident as possible that Duane was going to be okay. He'd cut his hair and cleaned up. He'd lost a front tooth in a fight his first night there. Duane had asked Travis, as a getting out present in six years, to buy him a gold tooth. He thought it would be cool.

  Travis and Arden had spent the night in a hotel in the city after that. She'd forced him to go to a fancy restaurant which he had to buy a jacket for. But then she paid for dinner and he hadn't felt the least bit guilty because it was small portions of weird, French shit that tasted like feet. He'd have rather had burgers at the diner any time.

  It was like that with their dates. They took turns sharing their individual tastes and experiences with each other. And along the way they found things in common and enjoyed each other's company.

  Tonight Arden was coming over to cook for him. Which always involved him helping whether he wanted to or not. So he tidied up the kitchen for her and ran a vacuum over the floor. He put the vacuum away in the linen closet when he was done and stopped in the hallway, looking into Emily's room. He'd taken a lot of stuff to Tonya, but she hadn't wanted the crib. All the remaining toys and furniture he intended to donate to the church, but he just wasn't ready to empty her room. He still woke up some mornings reaching for the bassinet that was no longer by his bed. It amazed him how attached he'd gotten to someone who wasn't even related to him. He loved that little girl. He'd truly felt like a father to her.

  He heard a car enter his driveway and then a horn honking. He left Emily's room and went to the front door. Arden was stepping out of a 1969 Cale Yarbrough special, Mercury Cyclone. His Cyclone. His heart swelled immediately at the site. The only good thing the old man ever gave him.

  Arden smiled at him, looking radiant in a yellow sundress that brushed against her legs in the breeze. "Like my new car?" she asked.

  He hopped down the porch steps and ran his hand up the fenders. Like a beautiful woman. Arden leaned against it, dangling the keys from her middle finger. "How did you find her?" he asked.

  "Same way I found Tonya. It was actually the car that led the detective to her. She sold this car for some quick cash, five thousand dollars to be exact."

  Travis winced.

  "Yeah. So the guy made a huge profit off of me, because he knew what it was worth."

  "Did you know what it was worth?" Travis asked.

  "Yes. I looked into it before I went there. The guy was not interested in selling. So I had to pay. A lot. But it's worth it because now I have a really cool car."

  Travis laughed. "Except it's my car." He stepped toward her and she leaned back against the car, grinning up at him.

  "Did you pay for it?" she asked.

  "I restored it."

  "Finders keepers. It's mine, now." She stretched her arm out, trying to dangle the keys out of his reach. He leaned up against her, the lengths of their bodies touching. He trailed his fingers along the length of her bare arm and wrapped his hand around hers, keys and all. "You're going to have to earn it back," she said.

  "That sounds fun," he said. He took her mouth with his and felt her up. She dropped the keys and he snatched them away. "Yes!" he said, stepping back. "Let's go for a drive."

  Arden rolled her eyes and dragged her feet to the passenger side. Travis opened the door for her. "I'm not having sex with you in the back of this car," she said.

  "Oh, you'll change your mi
nd."

  He helped Arden into the car and then went round to the driver's seat. By the time he got in, Arden was on her cell phone. "Okay, you go down the main street and take a right on Rosebud before you get to the hardware store and then a left on Sycamore. Ours is the second duplex on the left." She ended the call and looked up at Travis. "I gotta go home and put on some underwear."

  "Who were you talking...you're not wearing underwear?"

  She grinned at him and then got out of the car. He got out, too, and stared at her as she walked around the front to his side. "I was going to lure you into the backseat of your car. I can't allow myself to be the only woman in Splitlog who hasn't gotten laid back there."

  Travis grinned and felt suddenly hot all over.

  "That was Tonya," Arden said, holding her hands out for the keys. "She's headed to my place. She doesn't want you to be there. So I have to go."

  "Wait. What?" He absent-mindedly placed the keys in her hand.

  "I'll call you as soon as I find out what's going on. I'll try to get her to let you see Emily before she goes."

  Travis stood, stunned. His body hadn't forgotten that she wasn't wearing any underwear and his mind was trying to digest what she'd just said. Before he could respond, she'd kissed him on the cheek and driven off with his car.

  "I swear I didn't tell him nothing about you or where you live," Tonya said, cradling a cup of coffee to her chest. "He probably won't even start looking for me for a couple of days 'cause he knows I go stay with my cousin some weekends."

  Arden was sitting on the floor next to Emily who lay on a pallet grinning up at the ceiling fan. She rubbed her tummy but watched Tonya.

  "Anyway, I was thinking, Travis loves her so much. She should be with him. Don't you think?"

  Arden kept her mouth shut. Her suspicions were immediately up.

  "It's just," Tonya said, setting her cup on the table, "I met this guy. He wants me to move to Memphis with him. I thought about just safe-dropping Emily somewhere, but I remembered you said I could come here anytime and I remembered how Travis looked holding her."

  Arden took a slow breath and put on her cool, expressionless mask. "Travis wouldn't want to be involved in a situation that could lead to heartbreak in the future."

  Tonya's expression grew suddenly shrewd. "I'm willing to sign over guardianship to him. I'm willing to put her up for adoption. All legal-like."

  Arden's eyes narrowed. Tonya wasn't as dumb as she looked. She wanted something. Arden waited.

  "'Course, it'd be so much easier for Bryce and me to move to Memphis if we had a place to live. But things are kind of tight right now."

  "How much do you want?" Arden asked, cutting to the chase.

  "Ten thousand."

  "Jesus Christ!"

  "What?" Tonya asked. "You're rich, ain't you? Don't you want Travis to be happy?"

  "I'm small-town rich, Tonya. And besides, it's my parents who are rich, not me."

  Tonya shrugged. "I guess I can take her with me. 'Least then I'll get the EBT money and the tax credit."

  Arden took another deep breath. She squeezed her eyes shut and exhaled slowly. "I'm uncomfortable with the way this is going down. What if you change your mind and then go telling people that I tried to buy your baby from you? Wouldn't I get into trouble for that?"

  "It ain't gonna be like that," Tonya said. "We'll work it out so the two are unrelated. I can't take care of the baby, so I'm putting her up for adoption. And you are helping a friend out by giving her some cash so she can get away from her boyfriend who hits her all the time."

  Arden wished she hadn't bought back Travis's car, now. She could get ten grand, for sure. But she'd already borrowed from her parents for the car. This, she would have to take from her savings. And it would definitely make a dent. Furthermore, she knew that until the adoption went through, she had no way of assuring that Tonya wouldn't come asking for more money.

  Then again, Tonya was offering up her biggest bargaining chip for one lump sum. If she went through with adopting the baby to Travis, she would never be able to come begging again. And for that, her price was a little on the low side. Probably because she had no concept of money. After all, she'd sold Travis's car for five thousand when she could have gotten so much more.

  Still. Best to make her think that she was making an unreasonable request. "I can give you five," Arden said.

  Tonya's eyes narrowed. "I want ten. I think you can swing it. You'll do anything for that bastard."

  Arden smiled. She was right. She'd cash out completely and live in poverty if that was what it took to make Travis happy. "You don't see a dime of it until after papers are signed in front of lawyers."

  "I get a grand now. Then Travis gets guardianship. Then you give me the rest. Sound good?"

  Arden couldn't believe this was happening. She feared it was some kind of trap. What kind of mother would trade her baby for life with a man she'd just met and ten thousand dollars? "Emily stays with us now. Today."

  Tonya shrugged. "Fine with me. I don't got anywhere to put her anyway. Sleeping out of my car."

  "How soon will this happen?"

  "I'll alert my social worker first thing Monday morning. How soon can you get me my cash?"

  Arden swallowed. Could this really be happening. "Stay here with Emily. I'll be back with it in fifteen minutes." The bank was close by.

  Tonya shrugged. "Sounds good."

  Arden left and came back, half-expecting Tonya to be long gone. But she was sitting on front step smoking a cigarette with the door ajar so she could listen to Emily. Arden coolly handed her the envelope of cash. Tonya's eyes went wide. She took it and thumbed through the stack of hundred dollar bills.

  She stood and held out her hand to Arden. Arden shook it, hoping she didn't just doom herself to burn in hell for all eternity. The whole situation was bizarre. Wrong, even. But what could be wrong about Emily having a home with people who loved her and wanted the best for her?

  Tonya didn't even look at Emily again. She flicked her cigarette to the ground and then got in her car and drove away.

  Travis drove his pickup to Arden's apartment. She had called him and told him to come over right away. Her voice was calm, but he still felt he should hurry. He was thrilled when he arrived and Emily was placed into his arms.

  "We're babysitting for the weekend," Arden said. And that was all she said. He beamed. He would make the most of it. Enjoy every second with this little girl. And hopefully her life would be filled with many small moments with him so that she would know there was someone in this world who loved her more than anything.

  When Monday came around, Emily was asleep in the bassinet next to his bed. Travis got up and dressed for work. Then when Emily woke up, he put a onesie on her and some socks and took her out into the warm, Spring air. She could hang out with him at work since it was just for the morning.

  But then he got a phone call to go to the local DFS. He couldn't imagine what had happened. He packed Emily into her carseat and drove straight to the office. He was shocked to see Tonya sitting there with a social worker and another man he didn't know. The man stood and introduced himself as Harvey Lessinger, a lawyer Mark Butler had hired for him. Travis didn't have time to think. Emily was still in her carseat which he was holding in his left hand. He sat her gently on the floor and took a seat at the table. He looked at Tonya, but her face was stony.

  He was holding a pen and in the process of signing a paper when it fully dawned on him that Tonya was letting him adopt Emily. She was terminating her parental rights. It was explained to him that this was all dependent on a court's approval and that afterwards there would still be a lot of process to go through before the adoption was final.

  When he would look back on this time in the future, it would seem so amazing to him that things had gone as smoothly as they had. Of course during every step of the process he was a nervous wreck, worried that one little misstep would result in him losing Emily. But none of that happene
d.

  He would come out on the other side of the whole ordeal with the love of a beautiful woman and a sweet, red-headed daughter to raise.

  Epilogue

  6 months later

  Travis glared at himself in the mirror. He tugged at the bow tie for the thousandth time, intending just to loosen it. But as it had been so loosened already it finally managed to come untied.

  "She's going to kill you if you can't walk up that aisle and stand there for ten minutes without falling apart." Dustin leaned coolly against the doorframe. His arms were folded over his chest and one foot was crossed over the other. He was chewing gum and staring out the window. His tux was immaculate.

  "I fucking hate weddings," Travis said. "I told her that."

  "You can put someone else's needs ahead of your own comfort for a couple of hours," Dustin said.

  Travis turned his glare on his brother. "Where's Neil?"

  Dustin shrugged. "Probably outside flirting with the bridesmaids. In any case, he's dressed and ready to go. You're the only one causing trouble."

  "I'm not causing trouble," Travis said. They were in one of the church classrooms and he sat on the edge of the table and started tugging at the buttons on his cuffs. "These God damn cuffs are too tight," he grumbled.

  "Would you stop cursing? You're in church."

  Travis sat with the sleeves of his shirt and jacket now rolled halfway up his forearms. His knees bounced up and down and he watched the second hand on the wall clock tick extremely slowly. He buried his face in his hands and shoved his fingers through his hair, growling. "What's taking so long?"

  "Just fifteen more minutes, man. What's the big deal, anyway?"

  "I just hate weddings. I hate dressing up and standing in front of people and all the flowers and women crying."

  "So sorry to inconvenience you."

  Travis stood then and looked at Dustin. "Why couldn't you have just eloped? This is crazy."

  "Emma wants a wedding. Emma gets a wedding." Dustin spat his gum in the trash can. "Be right back," he said, disappearing out the door.