Nicole Edwards - Travis

As Gage was going through the contents, to sign off that he retrieved them, Travis noticed a ruby ring, and when he asked about it, Gage had given him the story. The ring belonged to his grandmother, a gift from his grandfather on their fiftieth wedding anniversary. The gold was thin from wear over the years, but the stone was beautiful. After a little discussion, Gage suggested that they have the stone cut down into smaller stones and put into a ring for Kylie.

And now that the ring was on her finger, the tiny rubies and diamonds that wrapped around the band shining as brightly as the tears in her eyes.

Travis had never cried a day in his life – at least not since he was a teenager. But suddenly his throat was clogging up tight, and he was overwhelmed with so much love, he wondered if it was finally going to pull him under.

♀♂♂

As Kylie stared up at Travis and Gage, she was sure that both men were choked by as much emotion as she was. She glanced back at the ring now on her left hand, and she still couldn’t believe how beautiful it was.

“Where did this come from?” she asked, glancing over at Gage and giving Travis a minute to try and rein himself in. She knew how much he hated this much emotion.

“The ruby came from my grandmother’s ring,” he explained. “We had it cut down and placed in the center band. It represents that you are our heart. The outer rings of diamonds represent us, protecting you forever. We knew you didn’t want big stones because they would get in the way when you were working, so we opted for something smaller.” His smile grew bigger. “Only because we’re not going to allow you to take it off. Ever.”

“Well, you don’t have to worry about that,” she told him as she brushed her fingers over the three bands of stones inset in the ring that wrapped around her finger. Three bands of stones, the inside ring of rubies were for her and the outer rings of diamonds protecting the precious stones on the inside were for Travis and Gage. The ring was absolutely perfect.

She peered up at Travis and then over to Gage. She gave him a grin that only he would know why. And on cue, Gage leaned over and pulled open the drawer in his nightstand, retrieving the small black box that she knew was in there.

Although he had managed to keep her ring a complete secret from her, she had been involved in the design and purchase of another ring. Or rather set of rings. He moved back onto the bed with the box in hand and the gentle click of the velvet top snapping open, Travis looked over at him.

“I know you think you’ll always be the one to get the last word in,” Gage said to Travis, both of them focused intently on him. “But we have a question for you too.”

Travis didn’t speak, but his eyebrow cocked in question.

“Will you marry us?” Kylie asked, effectively throwing him off course.

“Are you…”

“Before you finish that question, yes, we’re serious,” Gage said, pulling one of the two rings from the box and handing it to Kylie as he resumed his place on the bed beside her, laying on his side and pressing up along her side.

She took Travis’ left hand and slid the platinum band over his finger. Once it was firmly in place, she took the other ring from the box and proceeded to slip that one on Gage’s finger. As they both stared down at them, she smiled.

“Is that…?” Travis didn’t finish the question, but Gage obviously knew what it was.

“Yes, those stones came from my grandmother’s ruby as well.”

Kylie knew Travis was moments away from falling apart and as much as she wanted to hold him together if that did happen, she knew he’d be crushed if they saw exactly how vulnerable he was. Pulling him down on top of her, Kylie pressed her lips to his.

“I love you, Travis. I’ve loved you since the day I met you. It killed me that you walked away, but it was the right thing to do. We weren’t ready,” Kylie said as she slipped her other hand over to Gage’s face, sliding her fingers down his cheek, she pulled him closer. “We weren’t ready because we weren’t complete. We needed to wait for Gage to find us.” She smiled, trying to hold the tears at bay long enough to get the words out. “I love you, Gage.”

Both of her men leaned forward, their mouths coming together above hers and she held them. And she didn’t care how long they had to lay there. Kylie was prepared to hold them forever. If that’s what it took.

♂♀♂

January…

“How many invitations did y’all send out?” Zane asked as three of Travis’ six brothers stood beside him in the reception area of Alluring Indulgence. They’d taken to watching as more guests arrived at the front doors and made their way to the counters to be checked in.

The driveway outside was lined with expensive cars, sleek black town cars and more than a handful of limousines all shuffling to the front doors as soon as another spot opened. The valets – all six of them – were working double time trying to move vehicles while the bellhops were standing at the ready, retrieving luggage and helping the guests inside.

“We filled the place up,” Sawyer answered, making Travis smile.

That they did. All of the guest rooms in the hotel were full, as well as the bungalows. Those had actually gone first, and they had a waiting list already for future stays.

“You sent out two hundred invitations?” Kaleb peered over at Travis as he asked the question.

The guest list was quite extensive, and the first go round, they made sure to include those who would get the word out once their stay was over. Word of mouth was the best marketing tool they could have. After all, they weren’t letting a single reporter through the door for obvious reasons – well, there was one exception, but McKenna promised she’d hold her story until Travis gave her the go ahead.

“You know the saying,” Travis said. “Go big or go home.”

“Holy shit,” Zane whispered, watching as women and men of all types made their way inside.

Travis, Sawyer, Kaleb, and Zane stood to the side, out of the way while everyone around them moved at a casual pace. It was still hard to believe that the resort was open. After tying up all loose ends, they’d managed to open on time too. Their goal to open early had been eliminated with some unexpected bad weather in December, but Travis took it in stride. It was open now and that was what mattered. Ever since they unlocked the doors that morning, people had been arriving. And not only were they registering, the rest of the place was reaping the benefits of the guests.

“Well, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to check on my wife,” Kaleb said as he turned to face them.

“How’s she doing?” Travis knew that Zoey was in her last trimester, and as each day passed, they were all counting down the days until the newest member of the Walker family came into the world. Initially, Zoey and Kaleb hadn’t wanted to know the sex of the baby, but somewhere along the way one of them clearly caved because now they had a nursery all set up in their house, and it was painted blue. Neither of them were saying which one gave in first.

“She’s doing well. We don’t plan to stay too long tonight, but she insisted on being here for the opening.”

“Well, tell her I’m glad she came,” Travis told Kaleb as he watched another couple arrive.

“Will do. Oh, and Trav? Congrats. This place is truly amazing. Sometimes it’s hard to believe one person could dream up a place like this. But it’s not hard to believe that you made it come true the way you did.”

Travis couldn’t find the words to respond to his brother. In the last few months, things had been coming together. Not just the resort, but for their family as well.

They were still waiting for Zane and V to get married, but at least there was a date set. Provided all went well, and Zoey delivered the baby on time, there would be another Walker wedding in March.

Brendon and Braydon were still seeing Jessie, which they all figured had to be some sort of record. She was permanently rooted in Coyote Ridge for the time being, although she wasn’t staying at a hotel anymore. She had recently moved into Travis’ house, ever since he’d moved into Gage’s. Kylie didn’t like the idea of her sister continuing to stay at a hotel, so Travis figured the house was empty, might as well put it to good use.

As for Ethan, well, the man was still a workaholic. From what Travis knew, E was still seeing Blake – although he was not admitting as much. They seemed to have a sort of love/hate thing going on. Not that Travis expected their relationship to be serious, but he wasn’t sure how much longer those two were going to be able to keep it up.

“I second that. Thanks for letting us be a part of it, bro,” Sawyer said, clapping Travis on the back as he grinned. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I see a group of ladies who have white glove service in their future.”

“Thanks. You know I couldn’t have done it without you,” Travis told them all before they left. And it was the truth. AI might’ve been his brain child, but he wasn’t capable of pulling it off by himself. Nor did he want to. This was his dream, but it wouldn’t be worth it if he didn’t have his family and his friends there to share it with.

A few more slaps on the back and then Travis watched as Kaleb disappeared into the area beyond the reception doors and Sawyer strolled off in the direction of a handful of women. Actually, to be accurate, there were four and as soon as they noticed Sawyer coming their way, all of them perked up. Not that they needed much help because from where Travis stood, they looked pretty damn perky as it was.