Not a Chance (Sweet Nothings)

chapter FOURTEEN



The next day was the annual Christmas parade. Pretty much the whole town turned out, no matter how cold or wet. Arden couldn't wait. When she was a kid she went either because she was in one of the floats or wanted to stand on the side of the street and catch candy. As an adult, the nostalgia of those days drew her out. She enjoyed watching the next generation of kids participating in the hundred year tradition.

Arden bundled up in jeans and a red sweater. She wore her Christmas socks, shoved her arms into her black, wool coat and wrapped a red scarf around her neck. Then she ran out to meet Nick who was climbing out of his car. She jogged to his side and took his arm and they walked the mile to Main Street.

People were gathered on either side of the street waiting for the parade. There were kids sitting on tail gates. Grandparents sitting in lawn chairs. Teenagers gathered in little groups. Everyone was wrapped in triple layers of clothing and the air was punctuated with hundreds of fading puffs of breath.

Arden felt Nick pulling her toward Lacey and Steven Wilder a few yards away. Steven was Nick's best friend from high school. Arden liked the couple okay, but they were his friends more than hers. Nick, Steven and Lacey immediately broke into conversation, leaving Arden silent on the sidelines as usual. She looked around, her eyes searching for some familiar faces. At last she saw her friends gathered in a small group outside of Sweet Nothings.

She gave Nick's arm a squeeze to let him know she'd be right back. He waved her off and she took off up the street. She got halfway to the group when she saw that Travis was standing there, talking to the husbands. Alice's husband Vince, stood two inches taller than Travis, his expression stoic as always, his hands hanging at his sides. Russell, Shannon's husband, stood with his arms crossed over his chest. His long, sandy-blond hair hung in his face and he occasionally darted glances around him. Arden had always thought he looked like a criminal. Maybe he was and maybe that's why he always looked so uncomfortable. Travis stood with them, real easy-like, his thumbs hooked in his pockets.

Arden bit her bottom lip. The husbands stood a few yards away from the women, so maybe it would be okay to go over there. But she didn't want Travis getting the idea that she was going to see him. She started to turn around, but then Shannon saw her and waved her over.

"Arden!" Shannon shouted over the crowd. "Come stand with us!" She shoved a strand of her long, curly red hair back up into her stocking cap.

Arden took a breath and then squeezed through the crowds to her friends. She got hugs from Emma and Alice and then the sound of drumsticks marking time indicated the beginning of the parade.

It came down the street from City Hall and would end down by the river. Russell and Vince moved behind their wives and Emma and Arden so the shorter women could see. There was a float from the church, the high school marching band, and some local businesses. And then the Miss Merry Christmas contestants rolled through, each in a skimpy prom gown, each riding on the hood of a car or truck driven by a high school football player.

Arden remembered riding on the hood of Allen Jessop's Mustang her senior year. She'd had on a strapless, pale pink gown and the smile of a girl who knew without doubt that she would win any pageant she wanted to just because it was what she was born into. Now she looked at these girls and thought how ridiculous they all looked freezing their asses off in those inappropriate dresses.

Suddenly Arden felt a pair of strong hands grip her upper arms. She knew it was Travis even before she felt his breath on her ear. "That one's mine," he said. "Isn't she gorgeous?" He pointed to a teen princess dressed in a pink, strapless gown that strongly resembled the one she had worn only five years earlier. The girl rode on the hood of some kind of muscle car. Arden didn't know what it was. She'd never been terribly interested in cars.

She turned to face Travis, feeling completely disgusted. "She's sixteen, Travis!"

"Not her. The car. The kid next door, Kyle Sanders, asked if he could drive it in the parade. Isn't she a beauty?"

Arden felt a rush of relief and a mild wave of nausea at the passing of what might have been jealousy if she cared at all about Travis. "Yes," she said. "She is indeed a beauty."

Travis beamed proudly as his '69 Mercury Cyclone rolled slowly past. He kept his arm draped over Arden's shoulders. She felt immediately warmer with him pressed up against her. He had on a flannel lined denim coat and a stocking cap pulled down over his ears. He'd shaved his beard and now sported a day's worth of stubble and Arden thought he looked terribly handsome. She applauded herself for her self-discipline when she forced herself to not slip her arm around his waist and bury her face in his chest. That would have been inappropriate, of course. In fact, she should probably make him take his arm off her shoulders, but she couldn't quite bring herself to go that far.

Fortunately, Travis amended the situation himself. After his car passed, he turned back to Russell and Vince who were talking football. Russell, perpetually unshaven, long, scraggly hair hanging in his face, looked completely unfit as a husband for the refined Shannon. Vince, the tallest person in the group, was married to Alice, the shortest. Nobody belonged together.

Arden couldn't help contrasting Travis with the other two men. They were all as redneck as could be. But next to Russell, with his dark, edgy nature and Vince with his strong, quiet reserve...Travis shone like the sun. He was cheerful, witty, outgoing. Of course she already knew this about him from her own personal experience, but seeing him amongst her own acquaintances made her appreciate him all the more.

Shannon tugged on Arden's sleeve and pulled her a little farther from the men. The women circled round her. "Nick's over there glaring daggers at Travis," Shannon said, in a hushed voice.

Arden didn't look. "I should go back to him. He's got it in his head that he should be jealous of Travis."

Alice snorted. "Gee, I wonder where he got that idea. Hey, Travis!"

Arden stiffened. Travis turned, his brows raised. "Yes, beautiful?" he answered Alice.

She blushed, which caused Arden's jaw to drop in disbelief. How did he make someone as shameless as Alice blush?

"Is she lying? Or did nothing really happen between you and our young Arden, here?" Alice asked, a mischievous grin on her lips.

Travis stepped toward them, looking dead serious. He grabbed Arden's left hand, which bore her sparkling engagement ring, and held it up in front of Alice's face. "See this? Our young Arden is engaged. She's a paragon of fidelity. Nothing happened."

He dropped her hand and Alice laughed. "Well then, I'm sorry for you."

"Oh, me too," Travis said. "Very, very, very sorry." He turned to Arden. "Where is Prince Charming, anyway?"





"I'm right here," Nick said from behind him. Nick walked around him and stood at Arden's side. He slipped his arm around her waist. Arden gave Travis a smug look. Travis's eyes narrowed. "I'm glad you're here, Travis," Nick said. "I wanted to thank you for taking care of Arden. I hate to think how she would have fared without your assistance."

Travis, amiable as ever, said, "It was my pleasure."

"I'm sure it was," Nick said, pulling Arden tighter against him. "You're not planning on trying to steal her away from me, now, are you?"

Arden couldn't believe Nick would bring his fears into the open like this. She examined her nails and pretended to be bored, hoping no one would notice her surprise and discomfort.

Travis laughed. "I'll tell ya, if I had it to do over again, I'd have already stolen her." He glanced back at Vince and Russell who had tensed up like a couple of beta wolves sensing danger. They relaxed after Travis gave them an almost imperceptible nod. Arden wondered whether the behavior was conscious or if it just happened from somewhere deep in the primitive places inside their minds. Either way, it was fascinating.

Nick smiled, but it was a bitter, hate-filled thing. "Fortunately for me you've got nothing to offer her."

Travis's smile vanished. "We can't all get rich preying on little old ladies retirement funds."

Nick stepped forward and Travis didn't back down.

"Okay," Arden said, pulling at Nick's arm. "I think that's enough social interaction for us today. It was good seeing you all," she said to the group. She breathed a sigh of relief as Nick allowed himself to be led away.

"I could have had you if I really wanted, Princess," Travis said.

She stopped and turned around, her expression registering disbelief and amusement. He was wearing that cocky half-grin. "How do you figure?" she asked, not sure why she was letting herself be drawn in like this.

He shrugged. "I've never been told no. Not when I really turn on the charm."

"You hit on me within minutes of getting stranded. You tried to convince me to sleep with you at least a dozen times." She'd taken a few steps toward him and he'd closed the distance even more so that she had to lean her head back to look at him.

"Not because I was trying. That's just what I do when I'm around women. If I'd really wanted to, you'd be wearing my ring right now."

"Your ring?"

"That's right."

"And my finger would be green, too, wouldn't it."

He laughed. "Yeah. But you wouldn't care."

"I think I probably would," she said, holding her hand up so the diamond caught the sunlight.

He grabbed her hand and shoved it down to her side, keeping ahold of it for longer than he should have. He lowered his voice, leaned down and whispered in her ear, "Give me one night and I'll make you forget there ever was a Nick Wheeler."

She felt herself turn red, but she boldly met his eyes. "I'm not impressed, Travis."

He assessed her for a few moments and then stepped back. "You're wasting your time and mine with that prick," he said, nodding at Nick who stood only five paces back, seething with hatred.

Arden glanced over her shoulder at Nick. She'd never seen the veins in his neck stick out like that before. She looked back at Travis. "I like the ring I have just fine. Have a good life, Travis." She turned and walked away, taking Nick with her. She didn't look back and was very proud of herself for it.