horses and stowed his sleigh in the stable behind the inn. It was easier for him to stay in town during the week before Christmas, where Nick always provided a free room.
He’d gotten offers to go home with two childhood classmates who he’d once hung around with after Bella and her mom had left town, but he wasn’t interested in lighting a fire under those relationships. Truth be told, he’d never been interested in either one of those women other than as friends, but to this day, they never seemed to get the message.
Until last night when he told each of them flat out, and even then there was the whole “benefits” conversation. A waste of time, he told them.
With Bella back in town, his entire focus had shifted, especially since he’d caught something in her eyes last night while they were riding inside the sleigh: a genuine, unfiltered happiness. More than once he’d spotted her pretty lips mouthing the words to a Christmas carol, as if she had no control over the surge of joy that overtook her. It was that surge he wanted to appeal to. That playfulness he thought he might tap into and keep her right there in Briggs, at least until he could get her to let her guard down and enjoy the holiday he now knew she secretly still loved. No one who truly disliked Christmas would sing along with the group, no matter how cool she acted or what she said.
Sometime around dawn, he’d gotten up, showered, dressed and took off for the only place in this entire town where he might find something that would help bring out that playfulness: the attic inside Dream Weaver Inn. He thought if he could locate the tiara he’d overheard her talking about with Jaycee that maybe he’d be able to help her find Christmas in her heart. He knew she hadn’t taken it because he’d wandered into her bedroom right after she’d left and found it lying on the floor next to her bed. At the time, even though Nick had told him she and her mom had moved away, he hadn’t believed it. Instead, he assumed they’d be returning one day soon, so he’d picked it up and placed it on her pillow.
Regrettably, she had never returned and her bedroom had later been converted into a guest room. Knowing Nick never threw anything away, Travis hoped the tiara would be somewhere up in the attic and he intended to find it.
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