His Texas Bride by Deb Kastner

grin was any indication of his feelings, the man still carried a torch for Ellie, just as he had in high school, even if at the time Ellie had never had eyes for any boy but Buck.
    At least back then she hadn’t. He hadn’t a clue what kind of man Ellie was attracted to these days. Maybe a man like Travis.
    Maybe Travis.
    Seething with pent-up frustration, Buck twisted the door handle and plastered what he hoped was a smile on his own face, though he was certain he failed in the effort.
    Travis looked more than a little startled before his smile widened, were that possible. “Buck Redmond. I didn’t think you were still in town.”
    “Well, I am,” Buck replied testily, even as he stepped away from the door and gestured Travis inside. “I’m staying with Ellie, at least for the time being.”
    “Oh,” Travis said, sounding as surprised as he looked. “I, uh, I’m glad to hear it.”
    Travis didn’t look glad to hear it, Buck thought. Infact, Travis’s expression registered quite the opposite. He was obviously sensing some kind of competition with Buck, though for the life of him, Buck couldn’t imagine why. What Ellie and Buck had shared had been a lifetime ago.
    Still, it soothed Buck’s ruffled feathers a little bit to think that he might still be considered competition where Ellie McBride was concerned. Even if it wasn’t true.
    “Why don’t you come into the kitchen and have a seat, Travis?” Buck said, gesturing with a jerk of his chin to the dining table. “How do you like your coffee?”
    Travis sighed and pulled the roses from behind his back. “I wasn’t planning to stay, actually. I was driving by and I saw Ellie’s light on, so I thought I’d stop by and give her these,” he said, tossing the bouquet on the table.
    “She’s not awake yet.”
    “Oh.” Travis sounded positively dejected, and for some reason that made Buck want to grin. As popular as Buck had been in high school, he’d never been a bully, but for some reason he had the most peculiar yearning to push Travis’s buttons now.
    “I’ll let her know you were here,” Buck said with a casual shrug he wasn’t feeling. He flashed a peripheral glance at Travis but didn’t square off his gaze. “You can leave the roses. I’ll be sure Ellie gets them.”
    “Be sure I get what?” asked a sleepy-eyed Ellie from the back-porch door. She was casually dressed in gray sweats and a bright red T-shirt, and her shiny black hair looked adorably rumpled from sleep, Buck thought, his heart pumping furiously despite his best efforts to remain calm and aloof. He just hoped Travis didn’t notice Ellie the way he did.
    Travis was already on his feet, sweeping up the bouquet of red roses and thrusting them at her, another silly grin plastered on his face. Buck wanted to roll his eyes.
    “I bought these for you yesterday,” Travis said in a rush, “but I got hung up at the school.”
    Ellie smiled sweetly at Travis, making Buck want to pound on something, put his fist through a wall, maybe. Ironically, in the same moment he was thinking about how little Travis knew Ellie, unless she’d changed more than Buck knew, though this was something a woman wasn’t likely to change her mind about over time, was she?
    Ellie’s favorite flowers had always been violets—the color of her eyes.
    “I’m the drama teacher at Ferrell High,” Travis explained for Buck’s benefit. “And I got roped—unwillingly, mind you—into the planning committee. Which is going into overdrive, I think,” he continued with a chuckle.
    Buck scowled at no one in particular. “Planning committee for what?”
    Travis glanced at Buck in surprise and then turned his gaze back on Ellie. “Our twentieth class reunion. Didn’t you get an invitation, Buck?”
    “No,” Buck snapped, wondering why he cared.
    He didn’t care. He just didn’t want Travis here.
    “Well, Cindy Spencer is in charge of sending the invites,” Travis explained. “I expect she thought