9. Ava

"Come with me." I grab his hand and extract him from the situation. The touch of his hand sends unexpected tingles through my body. I can feel my cheeks flush. Hopefully, he doesn't notice.

Poor Travis is being treated like a piece of meat by these ladies. Most of them seem innocent enough, but one woman is really after him–Barbara. She just grabbed his butt in front of everyone! I can tell he's very uncomfortable and doesn't know what to do.

I think I have a solution, but if we're going to do it, we need to act now. I'm a little nervous about telling him, but I think he'll do it. I lead him back to the kitchen for some privacy.

"What is it?" Travis asks with a hint of annoyance or frustration in his voice. Maybe this isn't a good idea?

"Ok, well, actually, Roberta gave me the idea…" I'm trying to make this less awkward.

"What? Spit it out. We've got to get back out there for lunch."

"So, after you introduced Kenny, Roberta claimed him as hers."

"Yeah, they're married. What's your point?"

"Well, what if we pretend that I'm–we're together?" I couldn't bring myself to say girlfriend.

"Oh." Travis looks a little stunned. I hope I didn't overstep and make things totally weird. "Wow–actually, that's a great idea!" he says with a wave of relief washing over his face.

"It is?" I'm surprised he's so enthusiastic.

"Yes. And the way you grabbed my hand and led me back here…that laid the groundwork. Barbara saw it. I saw her shooting daggers at you with her eyes," he says excitedly.

"Great."

"It is! It means I can flirt innocently with her and the others. It makes them feel good and gets me off the hook. They won"t take it too far if they think you're my girlfriend."

"That's the idea."

"Ok, so how do we let them know?"

"Wow, those ladies are like vultures! Hopefully, they'll lay off a bit once they have lunch." Roberta rushes into the kitchen. She stops short when she sees Travis and I standing so close together. "What's going on here?"

"Ava had this great idea! We're going to pretend like we're together!"

"Oh, really?" Roberta says.

"Yeah, I got the idea from you! I saw some of the ladies eyeing Kenny when he came in. But they turned it off once you said he was yours and threatened to feed them burnt toast."

"Yeah, I'm not going to put up with the stuff they do to Travis. Kenny is mine. Period."

"And now, Travis is mine?" I say, smiling at him as my stomach does a little flip inside."

"Well, darling, should we go back out and tell the ladies? Or should we let them figure it out on their own?"

"Let's go flaunt it. I'll drop it into the conversation. It'd be weird to make an announcement. Just follow my lead." I take his hand and lead him into the dining room. Funny, my hand fits perfectly into his.

"Trina and I will be out with lunch shortly!"

We walk into the dining room, holding hands. I can tell Travis feels a little uneasy holding my hand, but I'm unsure why. It's just pretend, after all!

We sit next to each other at the table and invite the ladies to join us. As we're all making small talk, Travis casually drapes his arm around the back of my chair. I don't hate it.

"Oh, are you two…together?" Peggy, the woman sitting next to Barb, asks.

"Yes, we are," I smile.

"Oh, that's so cute! How long have you been together? How did you meet?" Lori, who is sitting on Peggy's other side, asks.

I look to Travis to see if he wants to answer. We haven't had a chance to get our story straight. He looks like a deer in the headlights.

"We've been together almost two years now!" I say with a smile, putting my hand on his thigh, hoping to squeeze the shock out of him. "We met–"

"Lunch is here!" Travis interrupts and gets up to help Trina serve the soup.

"Travis! Will you sit down?" Roberta scolds him as she enters the room with a tray full of soup. "You're supposed to sit down and enjoy lunch with the guests! I'll tell ya, ladies, this man never stops working!"

"Ok, here we go." Travis sets the last two salads down in front of us.

"This looks great, Roberta!" I say.

"It sure does. And I'm absolutely famished!" Peggy says.

"Dig in!" Roberta and Trina finish serving the soup.

"So, how do you ladies know each other?" I ask, trying to steer the conversation away from us.

"Travis didn't tell you? We're the Whimsical Widows. We heard about Travis and his ranch through the Bereavement Brothers. Occasionally, we get together with them to spice things up!"

"Oh, that's right! Silly me, I knew that. I'm just getting our group bookings mixed up. We have another group of ladies coming later in the month." I fill my mouth with a spoonful of soup to shut myself up. "Mmm…"

After lunch, Travis and Kenny take the ladies on a tour of the ranch in the golf carts. I stay back with Roberta and help her and Trina clean up lunch so they can start preparing dinner. "He must be really uncomfortable with that Barb lady. Either that or he actually likes you, Ava," Roberta says.

"What? Why do you say that?" I try to hide my giddiness.

"He hasn't looked at another woman since Lilian. In fact, you're probably the first woman he's touched since. He avoids anything and everything related to romantic relationships like the plague."

"Poor guy. That must have been really tough for him, losing his wife so young."

"It sure was. Still is. He's the kind of man who needs a woman around. He won't ever admit it, but he does. And I think Mia would benefit, too. She hardly remembers a time when her mom was alive. She's already worrying about what will happen when she leaves for college, and she's only 13!"

"Aww, she's a sweet girl."

"She sure is. Having a younger female influence would be good for her. I can tell she already idolizes you."

"Roberta, this relationship between Travis and I is just pretend. You get that, right?"

"Mmm-hmmm." She smirked at me and got back to the dishes.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing."

My phone buzzes. It's my brother. "It better mean nothing. I have to take this." I step out onto the porch in the hope of getting better reception.

"Hey, bro. What's up?"

"Hey. Not much. How's the story coming along?"

"Fine. But I've only been here a day and a half–so I haven't got much yet. A group of women just arrived today, so I'll see how things are when they have guests."

"Great. Any word from Chad?"

"Nope. Why?"

"No reason. Just making sure."

"If something is going on, you need to tell me."

"Nope. Nothing. Just stay close to Travis."

"Why?"

"Uhh–because you're there to write about his ranch, and I need it to be a good story."

"Ok. You're acting cryptic and weird."

"Sorry. I don't mean to be. Just a lot is going on here with Chad leaving. I've gotta go. Got an interview in a few minutes."

"You're already looking to fill his position?" I was hoping I'd be the one to move into his spot. Or I'd at least get a chance to talk to Ryder about it.

"Talk to you later. Love you, sis. Be on the lookout."

"On the lookout for what?!" But he had already hung up. Why was he acting so weird?