“Not your fault.” Pain showed in Travis’s face as he spoke. “If I’d been smart enough to get out of the way when that trailer started moving, I’d have been clear. Or maybe I should’ve tied those trees down better. Hell, partner, stop beating yourself up. It was an accident, plain and simple. All we can do is thank God it wasn’t worse. I may look like a train wreck, but at least I’ll heal—and I didn’t lose anything vital.”

“But I may put off our wedding portrait until after the wedding,” Maggie said. “That, or have this guy photoshopped.”

“Or we can leave me as is and have fun telling the grandkids how the old man got attacked by a load of trees,” Travis joked.

Just then, a nurse bustled in with a tray, which she set on the overbed table. “Lunchtime!” Her voice was as brisk as her manner.

As the nurse left, Travis lifted the metal cover on the plate. “Yum. Creamed tuna on toast. Highlight of my day. You might as well go get yourself something from the cafeteria, Maggie, darlin’.”

“I’ll wait until you’re asleep,” Maggie said. “Go ahead and eat. You need to keep your strength up.”

“What I need is a sixteen-ounce prime rib,” Travis grumbled.

“Speaking of lunch,” Conner said, “Megan and I have a date. I promised her a good time. So we’ll leave and let you enjoy your creamed tuna.”

“Is there anything we can do or get for you?” Megan asked.

Travis’s eyebrow lifted mischievously. “Chocolate,” he muttered.

“We’ll see.” Conner escorted Megan out of the room and downstairs to the parking lot.

“I’m amazed Travis is in such good spirits,” she said as they headed downtown.

“He’s a tough guy,” Conner said. “Did you know he was once a highway patrolman?”

“No, but I’m not surprised. He’s got that way about him.”

“Not many people know this, but he served three years in prison for manslaughter. He stopped a car that matched the description of a kidnapper’s vehicle. When Travis told the driver to open the trunk, the guy took off. Travis shot him through the rear windshield. He thought he was saving a young girl, but there was nothing in the trunk except some weed. It turned out, the kidnapping was a hoax—just a couple of fool girls making up a story.”

“That’s awful!”

“It gets worse. The college kid who was killed had rich parents with connections to the court. Three years in prison for a cop. Can you imagine how rough on Travis that must’ve been?”

“What I can’t imagine is why he doesn’t seem bitter,” Megan said.

“He was. But then he met Maggie.”