Page 65 of Secret Revenge

I found Travis at the foot of the stairs, hunched over his phone and wearing an annoyed frown.

“Anything wrong?” I asked over his shoulder.

He jumped and turned around to face me, smiling. “Nothing serious, just work. You look wonderful.” He looked me up and down as if he had just seen me for the first time. He held me at arm’s length and examined me, beaming.

“Thank you,” I said timidly, blushing a furious red as he inspected me.

The drive to my parents’ house passed by in a blur. One moment I was stepping out of Travis’ front door, and the next moment I was ringing the bell at my parents’.

I turned to Travis and smiled nervously as we waited for someone to answer the door. He was bursting with energy and I could feel it pumping into me like electricity. “You seem… excited.” I murmured to him.

“I am,” he admitted.

“Okay… care to tell me why?”

“You’ll find out soon enough, darling.” He smiled and kissed my forehead just as the front door swung open.

“Here they are!” My mother’s excited voice brought a smile to my face as she greeted us.

“Hi, mom.” I hugged her, wincing when she squeezed my shoulder too tight.

“Oh, dear. I’m sorry. I forgot about your injuries.” She turned to Travis. “And who is this? You look familiar…”

“Mom,” I murmured. “This is Travis. Travis… Ross.”

My mother’s mouth formed a round “o” of surprise as she put his name and face together. Mom knew exactly who the Rosses were. She had never been as vehement with her feelings and opinions as I was, but she knew that Ross Senior was responsible for the downfall of our first family.

“Oh! Well, um…Travis. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.” Her smile had cooled a little bit, but I could see her shoving all of her preconceptions about the Ross family out of her head. “I’ve heard… wonderful things about you.”

“The pleasure is all mine. Thank you for having me.” He smiled and accepted the tentative hug my mother offered.

“Hey, dad,” I smiled awkwardly as my stepdad walked carefully down the front steps behind my mom. “How are you doing?”

“I have good days and bad days,” he said as he hugged me. “Today is a great one.”

“Please, come inside. Where are my manners?” My mom bustled inside like a mother hen, fussing about every little thing. The way the pillows sat on the couch, the invisible dirt on the spotless coffee table, the nonexistent smudge on the wooden floor.

“Hope you came with an empty stomach! I cooked enough food to feed a small army.”

She hadn’t exaggerated. The dining table was covered with a scary amount of food. Travis clapped in delight and thanked my mom profusely. “This all smells delicious!”.

He led me to a seat and helped me into it before taking his own. He went on to stuff more food than I’d ever seen one person eat before down his throat. I watched my mother fall slowly and irrevocably in love with his innocent enthusiasm.

I watched in a daze as Travis conversed freely with my parents, making them laugh and joining in when they made jokes.

They looked like old friends at a reunion. Every time someone said something to me, I gave a delayed response, as if I wasn’t really in the room with them.

Travis held my hand the whole time, rubbing his thumb gently on the back of my hand. At the end of the meal, he offered to help my mom in the kitchen, and she had to shut the door to keep him from helping her with the dishes.

“Your parents are awesome,” he said when we returned to the living room for tea. I watched his eyes for a long moment. He really did mean it. He wasn’t just patronizing me. It felt so good I wanted to scream.

“Thank you,” I whispered. He kissed my forehead. When my parents came into join us, he stood up.

“I’d like to thank you again for your hospitality and kindness. I was hoping you could follow me for a short drive. There’s something I’d love to show you. I promise, it’s not going to take too much of your time.”

My parents exchanged a look. “Lead the way then,” my mother said, looking intrigued.

Travis held the door for them to get into the backseat of his Maserati, then helped me into the passenger’s seat. We made small talk in the car as he drove, but like me, my parentswatched the streets outside, thinking the same thing. Where on Earth was he taking us?