Broken Strings

Two

That was how, six months after that leap, Travis found himself sitting across from Ginger at Annie's Diner where she worked.

"That makes sense," Ginger agreed, bringing Travis back to the topic of grandbabies.

"I think so too," he said and they shared a smile.

"Not that I don't like having you here," Ginger said, leaning across the counter again, "but since you're also on a tight schedule today I thought it might be best to remind you that you have somewhere you're supposed to be in five minutes."

Travis glanced at the time on his phone and his eyes flew wide. "Shit!" He hopped down from the stool and was halfway to the door when he called back over his shoulder, "Thanks, Ginge. I'll see you later!"

Her laughter echoed behind him, chasing Travis out of the diner.

Travis was lucky that Hayes Men's Wear was located on a three-minute walk from Annie's. If it had been any farther, he most definitely would have been late. As it were, he breezed into the shop with a minute to spare, though he was still later than the rest of the group he was there to meet.

"Told you he'd be on time," Stephen said to Jake as Travis entered. "You owe me ten bucks."

"You bet on whether I'd make it here?" Travis gaped at them.

Jake Grant – the eldest child of Rob and Maryse Grant – grinned at his younger brother. Where Travis had inherited his father's dark hair and brown eyes, Jake had gotten more of their mother's colouring. There were a few shades difference to his hair – where Maryse had locks of strawberry blonde, Jake's was more of a sandy blond – but their eyes were the same. A rich jade green.

"Well, more accurately we were betting on whether you'd be late to the appointment because you were too busy gazing into Ginger Lacroix's eyes at the diner." Jake smirked in a hard, mocking way.

"Technically, they were betting on you," said the other member of their party. "I said that I didn't know you well enough to make assumptions on your punctuality."

Travis didn't recognize the man but he knew who he was. Patrick Vickers was a friend of Jake's from veterinary school who Jake had asked to be a groomsman alongside Stephen. Travis was serving as the best man.

Jake and Stephen were still chuckling.

"Oh, shut the hell up," Travis said to them. It only made them laugh louder. "If either of you had been chatting up Piper or Caroline, you know that you would have been late."

But they didn't have the chance to respond before Mr. Hayes – a short, balding man in an immaculately dressed suit – came walking in from the back room.

"Ah, I see everyone is here and ready. Follow me."

He led them deeper into the shop and went about explaining the different styles for the tuxedo ensemble they were all shopping for. Travis listened as he offered options for vests and ties. He was quite sure that he'd never seen so many different colours and patterns for such things in his entire life.

When Jake had decided what he wanted them all to wear, Raymond went about sizing them. As the shopkeeper left to grab a tape measure, Travis turned to his brother and asked, "Does Piper know where you are today? Or is she giving you free rein with the design choices for the groomsmen?"

"We talked about it for over three hours the other day. I know more about pocket squares and cufflinks than I ever thought that I would," Jake said and there was a slightly traumatized look to his face as he walked into one of the dressing rooms.

Travis snorted. "Rather you than me."

"You'll know all about it one day too. Just you wait."

"Oh, I will. I'll just let you and Stephen end your bachelor days first."

Stephen blinked, his eyes going wide and with a hint of panic. "Hey, don't bring me into this. Caroline and I have not even discussed the idea of marriage. We've only been officially dating for ten months."

"Are you bringing Ginger to the wedding?" Jake asked as he stepped out of the dressing room in a standard black tuxedo. Mr. Hayes fluttered around Jake with his tape measure.

Travis had never seen his brother in something so formal. "Nice," he commented. And then rubbed his jaw. "I think I'll invite Ginger, but I haven't talked to her about it yet."

"Really?"

"We haven't been together that long," Travis said. "And the wedding isn't until the end of August. What if we stop seeing each other between now and then? I'd rather wait until a bit closer to the date to ask her to come."

Jake fidgeted in the suit, yanking at the collar. "Well, for what it's worth, I hope things work out for the two of you. Ginger's a sweet girl."

"She is."

"I can't believe she's still hanging around this town, though. Hasn't she been fantasizing about leaving since she graduated high school? I swear every time I went into Annie's she was looking at travel magazines. Though, I haven't seen her doing that much lately." Jake gave Travis a pointed look at that, as if Travis had a reason for the lack of magazine browsing that Ginger had been doing.

Travis shrugged. "It's something we've talked about. Her parents want her to stick close to home, I think, and Ginger still doesn't know what she wants to do as a career. She doesn't want to stick at Annie's forever but is still trying to figure the rest out."

"She'll be twenty-three this year, right? A year younger than Bailey?" Jake clarified as Mr. Raymond indicated that he could step back into the change room to return to his normal clothes.

"Yeah, they were a year apart in school. Her birthday is in December."

A moment later, Jake stepped out of the dressing room. Stephen, looking slightly terrified, had already taken up Jake's spot in front of Mr. Hayes and was going through the same measurement process that Jake had gone through. Travis knew it would be his turn soon.

"Speaking of Bailey, which we only kind of were, did you hear that she's agreed to host Piper's bachelorette party?" Jake asked.

Travis shook his head.

"I'm trying to decide if I should be scared."

Stephen chimed in, "I wouldn't worry about it. Last thing I heard, it was just going to be the girls and Noah acting as the stripper entertainment."

"Shut up, Stephen," Jake said without even looking at him. "Or I'll ask Mr. Raymond to stick you really hard with a pin."

Mr. Raymond, who was indeed in the process of pinning a piece of clothing to Stephen's specifications, offered a weak smile.

In the mirror, Stephen met Travis' eye and sniggered. There was not a chance in hell that Noah had agreed to such a thing – that much was obvious. But considering the way that many of the town's women had fawned over Noah when he and his sister had moved to Tishomingo – mostly due to his status as a top-ranking rodeo bull rider – it was an easy way to get a rise out of Jake. Especially since Piper had, on more than one occasion, gossiped with Bailey about how muscular Noah's chest was.

"I wouldn't worry about it too much," Stephen said with a grin that was the farthest thing from reassuring. "It's Bailey. How much trouble could she really cause?"