The kitchen, decorated tastefully like the rest of the house, was filled with the mouthwatering aroma of the sizzling bacon on the stove top. Dana attended to it, the fork scraping along the metal of the pan as her and Bay picked up their conversation without missing a beat.
When the driver had spoken of Bailey McAlister, Travis hadn’t imagined a full-grown man.
He guessed that answered his question about how Bay had known where he was staying.
Sipping his coffee, he took the chair opposite Bay at the dining table and glanced between the mother and son duo. The blond hair and brown eyes were a theme, though Bay only contained a fifth of the same energy that Dana bounced around on.
The conversation paused, and Travis blinked only to find both sets of brown eyes trained on him.
“Sorry, what?” he asked, setting his mug down and leaning forward to pay attention.
“What exactly do you plan on doing here in Holdengate?” Dana inquired patiently.
“Uhm…” Travis brought the mug to his lips and sipped as he tried to conjure an appropriate answer. “I don’t know.”
Dana’s gaze bounced between him and Bay before settling on Travis. “Well, it’s a Saturday, which means Bailey has to go into Briarton for…”
“Mom, that’s okay, it’s—” Bay started, but Dana silenced him with a stern look. He held his hands up in surrender as she continued, a smile twitching his lips.
“What I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted,” she said, words teasing, “was that Bailey has the music program he’s involved in, and I’m sure if you needed something to do he wouldn’t mind if you tagged along.” She winked at Bay and began transferring slices of bacon from the pan to a plate lined with paper towels.
“Music program?” Travis repeated, and arched a brow at Bay.
His cheeks flushed the slightest color of pink as he nodded, sipping from his matching mug as if to hide. “Yeah. Music program.”
Travis waited for clarification for a bit too long before he realized none would come.
Weighing the options in his mind, he figured he could sit around the house all day or— wait.
“How far is Briarton?”
“About thirty minutes from here.”
Travis pointedly glanced out the window to their right. “And do you plan to hike there? Have you looked outside?”
Bay and Dana traded knowing glances, twin smiles on their faces before they both glanced at him, and in concert mumbled, “Californians.”
“What?” Travis asked with a frown.
Dana waved him off as she began carrying plates of food to the table. “Don’t worry, we aren’t making fun. It’s just, snow is normal for us northerners. This is nothing. You should see it in the dead of winter. You’re lucky we’re on our way to spring.”
“Spring? This is spring for you?” he questioned in disbelief.
Bay snorted. “Believe it or not, yes. This is normal for us.”
Dana pointedly cleared her throat, and Bay’s gaze bounced from her back to Travis, lips twitching. “So, are you in? Though we will be making a quick stop to find appropriate shoes for you if you agree to go.”
Travis crossed his ankles at the mention of his ratty shoes. And still, he wasn’t sure what he would even be agreeing to. But Dana had that hopeful look on her face that he’d seen on his mother’s face far too often.
“Sure, I’m in.”
This was a terrible idea.
And whoever had agreed to it was an idiot—oh wait.
Travis had agreed to it.
What he hadn’t agreed to was the painfully awkward way he stood by while Bailey glanced at him over his shoulder before turning back to face the clothes rack. Without even speaking, he plucked a jacket off the shelf before tilting his head to the side and motioning for Travis to follow.
“What size shoe do you wear?”
“Ten,” Travis answered dutifully, his scuffed shoes squeaking on the floor as they walked through the store.
Bailey hummed, but otherwise remained silent as his steps slowed. They came to a stop in front of the shoe section, and Travis grimaced at their options.
“Don’t give me that look,” Bailey told him with a playful tone.
Travis’s gaze darted toward him as he arched a brow. “What look?” he inquired innocently.
“That look of pure disdain. No, these aren’t name brands and most of them are ugly, but they’ll keep you a lot warmer than those would,” he answered with a nod toward Travis’s feet.
“Okay, I get it, we hate the sneakers,” he answered, and pointed to a pair of what looked like brown boots with a beige, warm, fluffy sheepskin interior. “Those aren’t the worst.”
“Good pick. We’ll be twins,” he teased, and Travis glanced down at Bailey’s boots.
The very same pair. Oh.
Bailey tugged a box off the shelf and pushed it lightly into Travis’s chest. “Try those on. With the liner, sometimes they fit tighter than normal. We’ll also have to get you a pair of thicker socks while you break them in. The blisters can be a bitch.”
Travis didn’t know what to say, so he remained silent as he sat down on a bench, set the box beside him, and tugged off his sneakers. The boots fit perfectly, and even though they weren’t his usual style, they—
“Look good,” Bailey murmured, and Travis nodded in agreement.
The simple quietness between them was a blessing. Travis wasn’t pressured to make small talk, and it seemed Bailey enjoyed the silence just like he did. The ease.
“I doubt we’ll find anything else to your liking here, so we can just start with these for now. These will get you by at least.”
“How do you know I wouldn’t like anything here?” Travis challenged.
Bailey glanced over at him, his gaze darting up and down Travis’s figure. A familiar heat twirled through him, but he ignored it.
Between the red sweater and the black ripped skinny jeans, Travis thought he looked casual. It wasn’t like he was in shorts and a crop top.
“You’re wearing designer brand jeans and an equally expensive sweater, and I bet those Converse were custom designed. This is all wholesale.”
“I’m not a snob,” he argued, a frown tugging his lips down.
“Never said you were,” Bailey responded quietly.
Travis tugged on the hem of his red sweater and shrugged, following Bailey through the store. He swiped a pair of socks off an end cap, thick looking wool ones that made Travis sweat just from looking at them.
“Are we planning a hike through the wilderness?” Travis asked, partly out of curiosity and partly out of fear.
“No, but the truck has been giving me problems lately and the last thing we need is to get stranded on the side of the road only for you to freeze to death. So, wool socks. Appropriate jacket. New boots. The ripped skinny jeans will have to do, but I suggest you get online and order whatever you need ASAP. The snow doesn’t ease up until around April here.”
They went through the checkout line, and Travis swiped his card without hesitation. Neither of them spoke again until Travis had changed his boots in the truck, with Bailey focused on the road and seemingly oblivious to his passenger.