Chapter 20
20
T ravis stirred, rolling his head from one side of the pillow to the other before his eyes flew open, and he sat straight up in bed. Alice!
He ripped the covers off and put both feet on the floor before he remembered that Ellen had her.
He sank back down, sitting on the side of the bed, but no longer in a panic.
Ellen. He smiled. She kissed him. Not like a friend.
For a moment he allowed his mind to drift back over all the years. Ellen in the parade. Ellen with her cow and her dog. Ellen with her baby pudge, her little girl face and chubby cheeks, her serious, conscientious, compassionate way. The way she'd been his friend no matter what. The way she'd forgiven him, over and over, for doing stupid things.
The day he'd seen her and realized that what he felt for her was a lot more than the benevolent way an older teenager looks at someone he considers a child. Realizing that he didn't consider Ellen a child any longer. But also realizing that she wasn't ready for the feelings that he had. Making the difficult decision to walk away, rather than do something that both of them would probably regret.
God had rewarded him, over and over, but especially earlier today, when he told her that he loved her and she said she loved him in return. The years of waiting, the years of praying that he was doing the right thing, that God would bring her into his life when she was ready, the uncertainty of whether or not he should continue with Ford, or whether he should be impatient and force things with Ellen. He was glad he had waited, but it hadn't been easy.
And now, all the waiting, all the thinking, all the wishing she was his, was over, and… There were still some hurdles to overcome. Like what they were going to do with Alice.
Like…he should go to Tadgh and ask for her hand. It was an old-fashion gesture, but one that Travis thought should be honored.
Was that rushing things too much? It had been eight years since he first realized that he wanted her. It didn't feel like he was rushing anything to him.
Maybe he should find out exactly how she felt before he embarrassed himself by going to her father, but it seemed like that was backwards. He ought to find out whether or not Tadgh would give him permission, before he pursued anything more with Ellen. He'd already kissed her. He probably shouldn't have even done that.
Knowing that the world would think he was nuts. Knowing that they would laugh at the idea that a woman's father should be consulted, and that she shouldn't make up her own mind, Travis didn't care. It was a matter of respecting the man who had raised Ellen, and giving him the honor that was his due. He wasn't asking for Tadgh to hand Ellen to him, just asking for permission, to see if Tadgh felt like he was good enough to pursue after the woman he'd raised.
At that thought, his stomach churned. Maybe Tadgh really wouldn't think he was good enough. After all, his beginnings were less than humble. They were despicable. His family didn't exactly have the track record of being faithful and honorable. If he were Tadgh… Just looking at him from the outside, he wasn't sure whether he would give himself permission to pursue Ellen.
He thought he heard a vehicle, and he smiled, but no knock at the door was forthcoming, nor did he hear the front door open or Ellen call out.
That was odd.
He stood up, walking to the window looking out, seeing a little bit of dust like maybe there had been a vehicle, and he tried to remember if he had ordered anything where there might've been a delivery person at his house, but he hadn't.
Strange.
He shook his head, and moved away from the window, getting ready for his day. Thinking to himself that maybe he needed to make a phone call to Tadgh before he did anything else, he called Tadgh and arranged a time for him to come out and talk.
He had made a lot of calls for business over the years, a lot of difficult calls, a lot of ones he didn't want to make, or ones that had intimidated him. But, the call to Tadgh was by far the hardest call he'd ever made.
He dreaded the idea of facing the man, not because he wasn't a good man or didn't like him, but because he was so emotionally invested in the outcome and did not want to go see him.
But, for Ellen, he would do it.
He went down to the kitchen and had cracked a couple of eggs when he heard a vehicle. This time, he stopped what he was doing and walked to the window in time to see Ellen's car coming down the driveway. He smiled before he realized that…it wasn't Ellen driving.
He squinted, were those tattoos?
His eyes moved, and he realized that it was Ellen's honey blonde hair in the passenger seat.
A slither of unease curled through his stomach, and he threw the egg shell that he had still held in his hand in the garbage can before he walked to the back door.
It took a couple of seconds watching Ellen's car pull in and stop, before he realized there was movement on the stoop.
It took even longer for him to process what he saw.
A small child, young, sat at his feet on the stoop. He seemed agitated as he moved his legs from side to side, and his fingers clenched and unclenched. It was almost like he was forcing himself to keep his butt on the stoop, but his body just had to move.
Strange. Travis looked around. There were no adults in sight.
Ellen had gotten out of her car. The driver's door opened a few seconds later, and he recognized, almost immediately, Alice's mother.
What in the world was she doing here? And why was she driving Ellen's car?
Still, despite all the things that seem to be really odd about the day, he could smile, because he remembered how his day had started. With Ellen, holding her. It wasn't hard to remember the way she kissed him, and how perfect she felt in his arms.
He opened the door, as Ellen pulled Alice from the backseat and closed the door.
She smiled at him, but as her eyes fell to the bottom step, and she realized there was a child sitting on it, her smile faded. And her brows drew down, as though trying to figure out this newest development.
As he was. He had stepped out on the porch, and slowly made his way down the steps.
He wasn't very good with small children, and in his experience, a lot of times they were afraid of him.
He didn't want to scare this little guy off. Not before he figured out what in the world was going on. He was way too young to be anywhere without supervision. There was a small bag sitting beside the kid, and Travis made it to the step, hunching down beside the bag, as Ellen walked up the sidewalk.
The kid's eyes were on the women, and he jumped a little at Travis's voice.
"Hey there, Mister," Travis said, using the most gentle voice he could muster up.
"Hey," the kid said.
"Where's your mom?" Travis asked.
The kid's eyes skittered from Travis to Ellen and back to Travis.
"The man told me to sit here. That you took in kids, and that you'd take me."
Travis's eyes grew wide. He took in kids?
He almost laughed. Not voluntarily. Not because he wanted to. Just because he hadn't had a choice, but…he supposed word got around. Especially in the circles that this kid's parents must run in.
"Is he coming back for you?" he asked.
He regretted that question immediately as the child's chin trembled, and his eyes fell. Instead of answering, he picked up an envelope that was lying on the other side of him, which Travis hadn't noticed until just then, and shoved it at Travis.
Travis assumed the answer was in the envelope, but he wasn't sure. He lifted eyes full of questions to Ellen's. She hadn't said a word, just stood there, holding the car seat and waiting. Listening.
He didn't know what else to do, so he opened the envelope and pulled out a piece of paper and read the note.
Hi!
This is Eugene. Travis Feagley is his dad, and while I raised him for the first four years of his life, I can no longer take care of him, so I brought him to his father's house, so his dad can start pulling his weight.
Now that Travis is successful, he can start paying for his own child.
I'll be back around to check on him. He's not ready for school yet, but I'll make sure that Travis has parental consent and all the records that he needs when I come back.
Signed,
Eugene's mom.