page39 (1/1)

The sky was very blue at the back of him and somewhere down on the river bank she could hear ducks quack-quacking, the light su her face with its warmth She wondered what his reaction would be if she asked hiht ho wanted it It would cut through everything she had said in the last ue 'Here we are, then Sorry about the delay, but it's madness in there' Mavis bustled up with the bottle of wine Travis had ordered, two glasses and a couple of menus 'Dave will see you later,' she added to Travis, 'and he said to say he's told chef to put a pair of lamb shanks by in case you fancy your usual He braises them in a port and redcurrant sauce' She turned to Beth, including her in the conversation 'And frankly we can never get enough to satisfy demand But of course there's plenty of other dishes to choose frory I'll leave you to it, then' She flashed the smile 'I'll be back in five minutes to take your order' And with that she sailed off

'She's a bundle of energy' Travis had noticed Beth's slightly bemused expression 'Whereas Dave's the most laid-back soul in the world A definite case of opposites attract¬ing, but their e is rock solid'

'How long have they been lad to hast at how near she had co all her hitherto sensible deoodness Mavis had come when she did

'Ten years We were all at university together, although I'd known Dave at school He proved hiood friend when Kirk died,' Travis said calmly

Beth stared at him He had started to pour the wine and his hand was steady, his voice even, but she knew the thought of his brother was painful She didn't kno she knew but she just did He was by no means fully over what had happened, but then in such cases perhaps one never really recovered? Maybe the best to hope for was to learn to live with the pain?

She felt too eo down that avenue so instead she said, 'Do they have any children?'

'Five' And then he sed face when her mouth dropped open "But there are two sets of twins in there; they run in the family on Mavis's side, apparently They had a boy first and then two sets of girls It's bedla to Dave'

'Wow' Beth was genuinely impressed 'I think I'd have chickened out at three'

'But you have to take passion into account,' Travis said gravely 'I gather the last pregnancy was a result of one of those wild nights when they couldn't get enough of each other and precautions were the last thing on their minds'

Beth refused to blush because she knew that was exactly what he'd had in mind She also refused to dwell on the s at her 'Lucky old theulps There, that was better The sizzling in her blood was under control again 'But I should i children,' she said pri the quirk to his mouth 'Especially with a pub to run'

'Mavis's parents live with theether so help's always at hand' Travis handed her a menu 'Wouldn't suit me; I'd want my wife all to myself' His dark eyes stroked over her face and her pulse quickened 'But they're as happy as bugs in rugs'

He leant forward again, his fingers tweaking the thin strap of her dress back on to her shoulder from where it had slipped His touch set her skin on fire and Beth inwardly groaned at her weakness 'Your skin's like silk,' he murmured 'Warm silk kissed by the sun, soft and smooth A man could lose himself in such softness, do you know that?'

She wanted towitty which would defuse the moment but without embarrassment, but she couldn't She just stared at hi in her ears

'I want to et what day it is, whatin the world but us and e're doing to each other It would be like that, I know it The rest of the world would fade away as though it didn't exist' And then he settled himself back in his seat and picked up his ly matter-of-fact as he said, 'But until that day I'll just have to be patient The lamb's fantastic, by the way I'd seriously advise you to try it'

CHAPTER EIGHT

The lamb was fantastic and so was the rest of thetaken and by the tiarden was all but deserted and the pub had closed Mavis and Dave joined the ti the children out at one point The little boy, who looked to be seven or eight, obvi¬ously adored Travis and insisted on sitting on his knee for the tiirls were taken in for a nap by their grandmother after just a few minutes