Heart of Texas Vol. 3 by Debbie Macomber Page B

her neck.
    â€œYou won’t find it.”
    â€œThat’s okay because I’ve found you.”
    A shiver moved through her. “I think you should go.”
    â€œWhere?” He was far too involved in kissing her neck and her ear to pay much attention. Her words said one thing and her body another. Her hands hung idle at her sides and she let her head fall back, exposing her throat to his mouth.
    â€œSomewhere else…” Her words were barely audible.
    He turned her carefully to face him and smiled at her tightly shut eyes. “Open your eyes, Nell,” he instructed. “I want you to know who’s kissing you.”
    â€œI don’t want you to…”
    He laughed softly and cupped her face with both hands. “I’d expect you to be honest, if not with me, then with yourself.”
    She opened her eyes, and he knew his words had hit their mark. “Good, very good,” he whispered and gently lowered his mouth to hers.
    His lips had just made contact when the phone on the kitchen wall rang. The sound startled them, broke them apart.
    Travis groaned. Every nerve, every sense had been readied to enjoy their kiss.
    After two rings, Nell answered it. “Hello,” she said, her voice trembling, but only a little.
    It surprised him how close to normal she sounded. Travis wasn’t sure he could have pulled it off nearly as well.
    He watched as her gaze revealed surprise. “It’s for you.” She handed him the receiver.
    â€œMe?” Only a few people knew he was in Promise. “Travis Grant,” he said into the mouthpiece.
    â€œThis is Grady Weston.”
    Grady Weston. Travis didn’t think victims were normally contacted in advance of a tar and feathering.
    â€œI’ve changed my mind,” the other man said gruffly.
    â€œAbout what?”
    â€œTaking you to Bitter End. Be ready by noon tomorrow.”
    â€œFine…Great!”
    Travis replaced the receiver. Nell stood a few feet away, with arms crossed, her eyes worried.
    â€œGrady’s decided to help me find Bitter End, after all,” he said.

CHAPTER 6
    O NLY ELEVEN-THIRTY . T RAVIS glanced at his watch, pleased that Grady Weston had agreed to show him the way to Bitter End. He wasn’t sure what to expect once they got there, especially considering people’s reactions every time he mentioned it.
    Killing time, he walked over to the paddock outside the barn where Jeremy’s horse, Dot Com, ran free. Earlier, Jeremy had told him proudly that he’d come up with the name himself. Now Travis stood and watched the young animal racing back and forth, kicking up his hind legs, running for the sheer joy of it.
    The air was clear and Travis inhaled deeply. Until now he hadn’t spent much time in Texas other than book signing and media tours in cities like Dallas and Houston. He’d written several stories set at least partly in Texas, but his research had been limited to libraries. The greater his success, the tighter his schedule and the less time he had for personal investigations. A shopping center in San Antonio or an airport in Dallas hadn’t prepared him for what he’d discovered here in the hill country. He found the vast openness awe-inspiring and the life so dissimilar from his existence in Manhattan that he felt as though he were visiting an alien planet.
    The silence was perhaps the most profound difference. Without even realizing it, Travis had grown accustomed to city noise. Taxis honking, buses, shouting, street musicians, the clang and clatter of vendors. He’d lived in Manhattan for almost fifteen years now and hadn’t realized how loud it could be. These few days in the country with Nell and her family had changed his whole perspective.
    To his surprise he’d slept all night, every night. He never drafted his books while on the road, but the tranquility here had both relaxed and inspired him, and he was overwhelmed with ideas.