“A friend?” The emphasis Amber put on the word made Travis laugh again.
“Not that kind of friend.”
“Good.” Amber raked her gaze over Scarlett once more. With her heavy black eyeliner and several layers of mascara, the effect made her appear owlish rather than menacing. “She looks kind of young to be his friend.”
“She is standing right here,” Scarlett put in coolly. She held out her hand. “I’m Scarlett.”
After a second’s hesitation, Amber shook her hand. “Amber. And this is my son, Will.”
“We’ve met.” After ruffling the boy’s hair, Scarlett looked around the cluttered kitchen with interest. “I love the color scheme.”
Travis managed to suppress a snort. Right. With green cabinets, orange walls and beige countertops, the kitchen looked like it had been decorated by an insane artist on drugs. For all he knew, it had.
“Where’s...?”
“Vivian?” Amber yawned, making her disdain and boredom clear. “She’s getting ready for bingo. I’m guessing she didn’t know we were having company.”
“Oh, you’re not,” Scarlett put in. “Having company, that is. Don’t think of me as company. After all, I’m going to be staying here awhile.”
“Here?” Amber’s eyes widened in black-smudged horror. “Where are you planning on sleeping?” She cut her gaze to Travis and then back again. “Oh. Sorry. I didn’t realize you two were a couple.”
Travis couldn’t help laughing again as he waited for Scarlett to deny it.
“We’re not.” Scarlett sounded calm, rather than flustered, which disappointed him. “I’m staying at Hal’s place.”
“Hal’s place?” Amber narrowed her heavily made-up eyes.
“That’s right.” Scarlett glanced at Travis. “We should probably go. I promised to help Delilah this afternoon.”
“But you just got here,” Amber said.
“And you haven’t met Vivian,” Travis put in. “You definitely need to get to know her if you plan on hanging around the ranch. She knows everything and everyone.” He raised his voice to be heard over the TV. “Vivian!”
“What?” Vivian came bouncing into the room, the movement graceful despite her recent knee replacement surgery. She stopped short the instant she caught sight of Scarlett. “Who’s this?” she asked, glancing from Travis to Scarlett and back again. “Do you have a new friend?”
Even though friend was how she referred to her gentlemen callers, Travis knew Scarlett had no idea. Even so, he shook his head. “She’s here to visit with Hal.”
“Hal?” Vivian’s perfectly arched brows rose even higher. “You can’t be serious.”
Again, Travis found himself laughing out loud. He hadn’t had so much cause to find things humorous in a long time, at least since Hal had gotten sick. “Not like that,” he began.
Scarlett, who still had no idea of the underlying meaning to Vivian of the word friend, looked perplexed. “I’m his daughter,” she said.
Travis nearly groaned aloud. Now the S was sure to hit the fan.
“His daughter?” Vivian sounded as if she was choking. She glared at Scarlett for a moment before turning her stare on Travis. “Is this your idea of a joke?”
He opened his mouth to respond, but before he could, Scarlett spoke again.
“What is wrong with you people? Why do you all find the idea that Hal could have a daughter—me—so threatening?”
“As if you didn’t know,” Amber drawled, barely looking up from her phone.
“I don’t.” Scarlett crossed her arms. “So please, someone enlighten me.”
“This is ridiculous,” Vivian put in. “Young lady, who do you think you are? How dare you perpetuate a scam like this on a dying man?”
“For the last time,” Scarlett said, a thread of steel hardening her voice. “I am not scamming anyone. Or joking. Hal Gardner is my father. I just learned about him after my mother died. Now if any of you want to tell me why that’s a problem, I’m all ears. If not, I need to get back to the main house.”
Despite himself, Travis admired her backbone. His mother could be intimidating to people, especially those she didn’t like.
Vivian opened and closed her mouth with a snap. Without saying another word, she spun around and strode back to her room, her huge dangling earrings swinging.
Staring after her, Amber laughed. “I think I like you, Scarlett,” she said. “You’re the first person I’ve met who can get Mama to stop talking.”
Clearly not sure how to respond to that, Scarlett nodded.
“I like you too,” Will declared, coming out from behind Travis and bestowing a quick hug. Scarlett smiled down at the little boy, her expression somewhere between enchanted and uncertain.
“Thank you,” she said, once Will had released her and stood staring expectantly up at her. “You’re very nice.”
Will beamed at the compliment. He went and grabbed one of his favorite toys, a large plastic dump truck, and brought it over to her. “Do you wanna play?”
Scarlett looked at Travis, clearly asking for help. He could venture a quick guess that she didn’t have a lot of experience around children.
Finally, Travis took pity on her. “Come on,” he said. “I’ll take you back. We’ll try introductions again later when everyone isn’t acting like they’ve lost their minds.”
“Hey,” Amber protested. “Just because Mama went off on a tear, don’t lump me in that category. Scarlett, there aren’t a lot of women our age out here in the country. I think you and I could become friends.”
Travis shook his head. “She’s probably not going to be here that long,” he told his sister, which earned him an angry glare from Scarlett.
“Thanks, Amber,” Scarlett said. “And despite what your brother thinks, he has no idea about any of my plans. Hal gave me an open-ended invitation, which means there are no time constraints on my visit. So yes, we should hang out. There’s no such thing as too many friends.”
Amber’s answering snort of laughter made Travis frown, which she ignored. “Good for you, Scarlett. I like that you refuse to let my big brother intimidate you.”
“Intimidate?” Travis protested. “Your choice of words wounds me. I’m just trying to help.”
“You’re just trying to control the situation,” Amber shot back, her eyes still sparkling with humor. “Lighten up, Travis. You’ve been taking care of everyone for so long, you’ve clearly forgotten how to act toward a guest.”
He shouldn’t have been surprised when Scarlett nodded. “You’re right about that. Your brother hasn’t been the slightest bit welcoming.”
“He doesn’t like change.”
Travis rolled his eyes. “Enough already. Scarlett, are you ready to go?”
When her gaze locked on his, again he felt that tingle of awareness. “I guess so,” she said, her voice full of reluctance.
“Don’t worry,” Amber interjected. “Both Mom and I are frequent visitors up at the main house. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Scarlett immediately brightened. “Okay. That sounds great.” She started for the door, glancing back over