The Lullaby Sky (22 page)

Travis pushed his shoulder away from the doorjamb. “I’m done for the night. Finished a scene that had been on my mind, and now I’m going to take a shower and go to bed, too. I guess I’ll be moving back across the street tomorrow, but I really don’t want to. I keep hoping that Gina will bring another guest and you’ll need me to stay awhile longer.”

“I do feel safer when you are here. Abusive husbands or boyfriends are control freaks, Travis, and they hate it when they lose that. Any time I have guests, please move right in.” She smiled.

He crossed the room and took her in his arms for a tender hug, then tipped her chin up with his rough knuckles and brushed the sweetest kiss across her lips. “Good night, Hannah.”

“’Night, Travis,” she said as she took a step back and turned around to leave.

When she was in her bedroom, she touched her lips. Crazy—they weren’t nearly as warm as they felt.

C
HAPTER
T
WENTY
-T
WO

W
as it normal in a marriage to go without sex or any physical contact for a whole year?
Hannah looked in the mirror that Saturday morning as she dressed and wondered whom she could ask such a personal question. Certainly not Liz, because her marriage had been every bit as dysfunctional as Hannah’s. And not Darcy, because she’d never been married, but Hannah doubted seriously if she’d gone a year without sex since she was sixteen.

Her phone rang, and she checked the ID before she answered it. “Hello, Mama,” she said.

“I’m the bearer of bad news and good news. Which one do you want first?” Patsy said.

“Give me the bad first. Do I need to sit down?”

“No, it’s not that bad. Your grandmother fell this morning and cracked a hip. The doctor insists that she is going to a nursing home when she leaves the hospital. He says she’ll need all kinds of equipment that I don’t have. I’m tired, Hannah, and I’ve done my best, but now it’s time,” Patsy said.

Hannah hated hearing that her grandmother would be in a nursing home. “Mama, if you can get her on a plane and bring her here, I’ll take care of her.”

“Honey, the doctor says we’re past that option, and besides, she wants to be in Virginia. She likes it here among her old friends and what family is left. This is her home. That’s the reason I moved back to Virginia after your dad died and she had her first hip replaced. Some of her friends are even in the same nursing facility, so truth is, she’s kind of excited about the whole thing. You’d think it was an extended slumber party that she’s going to,” Patsy said.

“Okay, and the good news?”

“I’m coming to Crossing for the Fourth of July and I’ll try to stay a week. Travis called and told me that Sophie was fussing for me. I didn’t think I could get away, but with this change I’m going to give it a try. But only for one week. I wouldn’t want to leave your grandmother any longer than that.”

Hannah sat down on the bed with a thud. “Oh, Mama, that is wonderful, wonderful news. I don’t think Sophie could be a bit more excited than I am. I’ll pamper you and we’ll have long talks way into the night. I can’t wait to see you.”

“Okay, then. What’s going on in your world this week?” Patsy laughed and changed the subject.

Hannah quickly filled her in on everything about Jodie and the kids, up to and including the movie the night before. But she didn’t mention the kisses she’d shared with Travis. Lord have mercy! She certainly couldn’t tell her mother that she’d been kissing Travis only two weeks after her day in divorce court.

“Sounds like you are keeping busy and doing something fulfilling. I’m proud of you,” Patsy said.

“Mama, is it normal for a man not to have sex with his wife for a whole year?” She blurted out the question and felt her face burn with shame at asking. “I googled it but only found a million ladies’ magazine answers. And now I’m fire-engine red.”

“Don’t ever be embarrassed to ask me anything. And the answer is yes, especially if he is cheating,” Patsy said. “And he’ll get mean as a snake so he can think that it’s your fault that he’s doing something he shouldn’t. Then when the affair is over, he’ll get sweet for a little while until he starts up another one. Is that what happened with Marty?”

“Yes, it is, but I thought something had to be wrong with me. Who could I have asked? Liz is in the same boat I was, and Darcy hasn’t been married,” Hannah said.

“Again, my child, you can ask me anything,” Patsy said. “Marty had to be in control. I’m sure it was like that even in the bedroom, right?”

“Yes,” Hannah answered honestly.

“That sure don’t make it pleasant for the partner.”

“How do you know all this?”

“I read everything I could find on men like him when you finally broke down and told me about his threats. I couldn’t figure out a way to get you out of there. I thought he had someone on his payroll watching you. I had no idea about the cameras and the tracking stuff. But why are you askin’ now?”

“We can wait and talk more about that when you are here. It’s only a couple of weeks.”

“Yes, we can, and I’m so looking forward to the visit,” Patsy said. “I wish Mama would have agreed to move to Crossing rather than me having to come here, but at the time I was alone and all her friends were in her part of the world. Got to go now. The nurse is here with papers for me to sign. Love you.”

Hannah tossed the phone on the pillow and crossed the room to look out the window. Today Jodie was leaving, and Sophie would be lonely for sure. They’d all miss having a baby in the house, but more than anything Hannah would miss Jodie’s insight and sweet smile. Part of being a host for the shelter was not getting so attached that the guest or Hannah would want to keep in touch. Ties like that could be dangerous. She wished she and Jodie had met under different circumstances so they could be friends for longer than a week.

Daylight was breaking, giving the trees and houses dimensions, bringing them to life. Lights were shining from the kitchen windows, which meant Aunt Birdie was up puttering around in the kitchen. She owed Aunt Birdie so much for being her confidante and for letting her use her phone to call Mama every week.

Something akin to ice water running down her spine made her shiver as she visualized what Marty would have done if he’d ever heard the conversations she’d had with her mother over the past few years. She reminded herself that she’d never have to see him again. But a tiny little niggling space in her heart still worried that there would come a day when he’d make even another run at ruining her life.

Wrapping her arms around her body, she crossed the room and slung open the closet. Jeans and a shirt would do fine, and sandals. They were going to the zoo, not to a formal dinner.

Formal dinner.

That made her think of the clothing that hung in the penthouse apartment in Dallas. Things that she only wore when she went to the bank’s black-tie affairs, usually at Christmas when Marty and his father were the big shots who gave out bonus checks. She wondered what Marty had done with them. Had he sent them all to Goodwill, or were they still hanging in the closet?

She was trying to decide which pair of sandals to wear when her door burst open and a yawning Sophie made her way to her mother’s bed and curled up in it, pulling the sheet up to her chin.

“Good morning,” Hannah said as she slid her feet into a pair of pink sandals that matched the shirt she’d chosen.

“I don’t want this day to be here, Mama.” Sophie sighed with all the dramatic ability of a little girl.

“Me, either, but we knew when Laurel arrived that it was only for a week. We’ll have to be thankful for the week, not be sad that it’s over.” Hannah sat down on the bed and pulled Sophie into her arms.

Sophie buried her face in her mother’s shoulder. “I wish Laurel was really my sister. Lullaby and me, well, we’re going to miss her.”

“I know,” Hannah said. “You and Lullaby can love on each other, and that will make today easier.”

“Mama, can we have sausage gravy and biscuits for breakfast? I like pancakes better, but Laurel likes biscuits and gravy. Since it’s her last day, she should get to choose.”

“How ’bout if we have both? It’s your last day with her
and
her last day with you. And we’ll even let Lullaby have a little bit of gravy on a plate so she can share the good-byes with you. But promise me—no tears. It will make Laurel even sadder if you cry,” Hannah said.

“Okay, no tears. But that don’t mean my heart won’t be cryin’.” Sophie bounded off the bed and ran to her room, yelling for Laurel to wake up.

“Out of the mouths of babes,” Hannah murmured as she made her way to the kitchen.

Travis was already in the kitchen and holding a cup of coffee out to her. “What’s that all about?”

She wrapped her hands around it and took a sip. “I’m making pancakes plus biscuits and sausage gravy for breakfast. One little girl needs pancakes to help with the pain of separation and the other needs biscuits and gravy.”

He nodded and opened a cabinet door. “I’ll start making biscuits.”

“You cook?”

“When I want to or have to. Remember, darlin’, I lived alone or with my dad. That’s it. Of course, now he’s got a new wife to help him with the cookin’. He called to tell me that he got married and is on a honeymoon cruise. Can you believe that? He’s not coming home for the Fourth of July, but he will be here at Christmas.” Travis measured two cups of flour into a bowl. “And I do make a mean pan of biscuits.”

Hannah poked him on the arm. “You are full of surprises. I’m happy for your dad. I’ve often wished Mama could find someone, but I don’t think it’s going to happen.”

“Take you a whole lifetime to figure out all my surprises. Maybe your mama has had her hands full with your grandmother,” he said.

“Mama, Mama!” Sophie yelled. “Can I give Laurel one of my Barbie dolls to take home with her?”

“Of course, and maybe a couple of outfits, too,” Hannah hollered back.

“Yay!” Sophie squealed. “Which ones do you want, Laurel?”

Travis added baking powder to the flour and stirred. “That little girl is going to flourish in Kentucky.”

Holding hands, Laurel and Sophie skipped into the kitchen.

“We need a bag to put my new Barbie in because Mama says there’s not room in the suitcase. Besides, I want her in the backseat with me so I can show her everything out the window,” Laurel said.

Hannah handed over a grocery bag. “You two might want to pick out some books for Laurel to take, too, after breakfast.”

Laurel hung her head, and her small shoulders sagged. “I don’t have anything to give you back.”

Hannah quickly crossed the room, knelt beside the two girls, and hugged them both. “You gave Sophie a whole week of friendship. She’s had someone to play with and have a weeklong sleepover with in her new room with the clouds and twinkle stars. That’s a lot, Laurel.”

The little chin came up, and her bright-blue eyes twinkled. “We gave that to each other, and when I get home to ’Tucky, Mama says that she will paint clouds and rainbows and stars on my wall like Sophie’s and then at night”—she stopped and sucked in more air—“we can look at the wall and Sophie can look at hers and we’ll remember each other.”

“That’s right,” Hannah said hoarsely.

When she turned around, Travis had both arms open, and she was about to walk into them when Jodie and Bella arrived in the kitchen. Lord, she needed that hug so badly right then, but she didn’t feel comfortable embracing him in front of her guests.

With the baby on her good hip and her crutch firmly planted under her other arm, Jodie made her way slowly to the table. “Good morning. What can I do to help?”

Travis reached for the baby. “You can finish making the biscuits if I can spend a little more time holding Miss Bella. She doesn’t look like she’s hardly awake.”

“She could have slept longer, but we’ve only got an hour and a half before Donnie gets here,” Jodie said.

“I believe that’s the first time you’ve said his name,” Hannah said.

“It’s one of those things that the television psychiatrist would have a ball with. I was afraid if I said his name out loud that this would all fall through. Gina called me on the house phone to tell me to be ready at eight thirty—he called her,” Jodie said.

“Any news from your ex?” Travis dragged a wooden rocking chair in from the living room and reached for Bella.

Jodie put the baby in his arms and leaned her crutch on a kitchen chair. “Gina told me that he called a bit ago and asked if I was there. He cussed and ranted when she told him I was not. He wanted to know if I’d gone to Kentucky. She told him she had no idea what he was talking about and he hung up on her.”

Travis sat down and started humming a lullaby, and the baby snuggled right down against his chest.

Jodie added oil and milk to the flour mixture and deftly completed the biscuits. “I keep praying that nothing happens before Donnie gets here. I hope things are better when I’m in the car and headed home, but I’m still afraid. Does it ever go away?”

“I’m still wondering the same thing.” Hannah stirred up pancake batter.

“Laurel told me last night that she didn’t ever want a daddy again. She only wants an uncle Travis and an uncle Cal. Daddies are mean people to her,” Jodie said softly. “I’m not interested in another man in my life, but I hope I haven’t ruined her heart for love when she’s a grown woman.”

“All you can do is your best to give her a happy life and hopefully her uncle Donnie will be a good male role model,” Travis said from the other side of the room.

Hannah’s blood ran cold. Did Sophie feel the same way about a daddy? She’d never suffered at Marty’s hands, but she’d lived in a tense world when he was home. And she’d seen bruises on Hannah many times. Would she grow up to be drawn to abusive men?

“It won’t happen,” Travis said.

“What?” Jodie asked.

“What Hannah is worrying about. If anyone ever mistreats Sophie, they won’t live to see daylight. Cal and I will take care of it,” he said.