5. Thea
thea
The blizzard that was here over the weekend had basically put the town of Acton out of commission, which meant that I had way too much downtime to overthink every aspect of my life.
Was having Logan help me wrong? Would Eric go after him too? I didn’t know, and frankly, I was starting to have second thoughts on the entirety of the situation.
But I was here, standing outside the lawyer’s office, waiting for Logan to arrive.
When he pulls up in his truck and steps out, I have to stop myself from drooling. He’s got on clean boots, Wranglers, and a heavy jacket with the logo from the ranch the Trevors owned on it. He reaches back into his truck after he steps out and grabs his hat, completing the look.
“You must be freezing,” he says in greeting, his brows furrowed into his normal scowl .
I’ve learned this scowl is not an angry one, but his concerned face.
“Oh, I’m okay.” I am wearing snow boots, jeans, and a heavy down jacket that kept me toasty.
“I like your hat.” He smirks and flicks the pom-pom on top of the winter beanie I am wearing.
I feel my cheeks grow warm and pretend they aren’t. “Thanks, shall we?”
“After you.” He holds his hand out to the side, gesturing for me to go ahead of him, and I feel his hand settle on my lower back.
I swear, even through the down coat, I can feel the heat radiating off him.
We step into the warm office, and that’s when everything becomes too real.
“Well, how do you feel about that?” Logan’s calm and cool voice somehow settles my nerves, and I give him a once-over.
We ended up walking down the street after our meeting and grabbing some lunch at the local Mexican restaurant that everyone in town loved.
It felt like a date.
But I knew it wasn’t.
“I feel…anxious.”
His usual scowl reappears. “Why?”
I take a sip of my water and wish it was coffee. Even our short walk, with the lingering cold air moving through our town, froze my hands. “Because I feel like I’m giving in to something. ”
“What do you mean?”
I shrug, unable to think of all the right things to say. “This is hard for me. I built that business with my sisters, and now I feel like I have to give it away in order to save it.”
“You’re not giving it to me,” he replies, keeping his eyes locked on mine. “I’m holding it for you until we’re sure this asshole isn’t going to come sniffing around.”
I feel his booted foot hit mine and take a deep breath. “I know. I know that’s true. But I can’t help but feel like I’m giving into something I shouldn’t.”
“I get it.” He takes his napkin and places it in his lap.
His hat was the first thing he took off and laid upside down on the bench beside him.
I found his manners to be endearing and knew that it was all because of his mom that he had them at all.
“But just think of it this way, a temporary change in ownership to protect your assets. That’s not a bad move. ”
I knew he was right. I knew that everything I was doing was a good idea, just in case.
Eric was unhinged right now. He was as bad as when he first realized he was going to be going away for what he did.
He’d been livid with me, blaming me for what I did by ratting him out.
I was terrified the charges wouldn’t stick, but the relief I felt when I realized that my husband, who had essentially gaslit me and made me think all our problems were because of me, was no longer going to be a part of my life, had been nearly crippling.
He was verbally abusive, he was rude and hurtful, and when that spread to my sisters, it had pushed Tori to leave.
That had been the final straw.
I’d known for some time before that that he was not what I’d thought, that somehow, he’d tricked me into thinking that he was this knight in shining armor when instead he was the definition of a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
I shake my head and decide it’s time for a change of subject. “Anyway, how is Luella’s line rehearsal going? Did she get the role she wants?”
Logan smiles. “I have heard A Midsummer Night’s Dream’s script about ten dozen times, and she gets better and better each time.”
I grin. “Really? I’ve heard she’s got talent from her theater teacher.”
“Mrs. Jenkins comes into Bottle Grounds?”
Laughing, I reply, “Every Friday. She and a group of other ladies come in for one hour, they dance, and each have one drink, and then they leave.”
“Wow.” Logan looks shocked at the news. “You know, Mrs. Jenkins was my theater teacher when I was in middle school. It’s surprising to hear she has a life outside the school.”
“You were in theater?”
He raises a brow at my tone. “Where do you think my daughter gets the talent? I was the best Peter Pan that school had ever seen.”
Giving him a dubious look, I ask, “Are you serious? I can’t picture you in green tights.”
“Tights were easier to pull off when I was thirteen, but yes, I am serious. You don’t really get a choice when you live in a small town, and somehow”—he lifts his hands—“I was the best option for Peter Pan.”
“Huh.” I try to picture Logan jumping around a stage at that age, playing the mischievous Pan. I can’t hide the smile that grows on my face, or the laughter that starts to escape .
“Are you laughing at me?” He stares at me in dismay, which somehow makes the laughter come harder. “Okay, fine. Laugh at me, let me have it.”
The waiter comes over, and Logan orders. I, however, cannot get it together and can’t talk to the waiter at all.
When I finally can stop my laughter, my head feels light, and my chest feels empty of that heavy feeling that’s been crushing it since everything that happened, and Logan is smiling at me like…well, he’s just smiling at me.
“I’m sorry,” I say, my mouth still curved into a grin as I dab at my eyes.
I don’t normally wear a bunch of makeup, considering it tends to melt off my face when I’m working.
But today I made a better effort. Only for it to be laughed off, judging by the black smudges that came away with the napkin.
“No, no, laugh at my expense. That’s just fine.” He leans his elbows against the table.
“I think I needed that,” I say, patting my stomach and taking my glass of water, swallowing some down to clear my throat.
“I’m glad to have helped.”
“You did.” I glance at him, and the sight of him makes me have to clear my throat yet again.
Something about how he so casually leans against the table, how his clean-shaven face somehow always has the perfect little shadow to it, how his slightly longer hair curls a little at the ends, it’s all too much to handle.
“So, how was your day going before this?”
The question is so innocent and somehow takes me off guard. “Um, it was good. I got some emails answered at the bar, got some shipments organized, and some inventory done. Annmarie is there now, going through some stuff. ”
I don’t think anyone has asked me how my day was in a long time. Not since my mom died.
After that, I was a parent to my sisters, and Eric certainly never cared enough to ask that kind of thing. It’s mundane and such a common thing to ask, but if I was asked that, it was more of a common courtesy thing than someone actually caring.
Logan cares. I can tell by the way he watches me as I answer that he actually cares about what I have to say.
“Where does Annmarie think you are now? Did you tell her?”
I rub my lip. “No. I didn’t tell her the truth.”
“I don’t think it would be a bad thing for her to know, that way she can keep an eye out for things.”
“I don’t want her to know, Logan,” I state firmly, watching his face carefully. He just watches me back. “This is my mess to clean up. I don’t need my sisters worrying about things they deserve to leave in the past.”
“You deserve to leave it there, too.”
I nod. “I appreciate that, and I plan to. Just as soon as I take care of him. Make sure he stays put.”
Logan seems to think about this for a moment, his hands clenching and unclenching. “Anyway.” He shakes his head. “What does Annmarie think you’re doing?”
“She thinks I’m on a lunch date.”
His brows shoot up, and a satisfied smile crosses his lips. “Really.”
“Really.” I grab my napkin, folding it over and over again, my nerves needing an outlet. “It was the only thing I could be doing where she couldn’t come with me.”
“Got it.” He nods his head. “So, you’re dating me.” He seems far too satisfied with that reasoning .
“I didn’t say it was you.”
He tilts his head from side to side, weighing the situation. “Yeah, well, I hate to burst your bubble.” He gives a nod to something behind me, and I glance back, wondering what he’s seeing. “But Meryl has been sitting back there with a notebook the entire time we’ve been here.”
I groan and turn back around when I see her lift her phone, presumably to take a photo.
Meryl was this town’s gossip. She knew everything about everyone and spread every rumor she could get her hands on.
“Do you think she’s planning to share this news with everyone?”
“She’ll probably put it on Facebook.”
I gape. “Are you serious? How do you know that?”
He leans forward, a grin touching his lips. “Ever since the paper went under, Meryl took the opportunity to open up a Facebook group for Acton and Fall Springs.”
Fall Springs was technically where my apartment was. The two towns were basically one, with the shopping and restaurants residing in Acton, but some quarrel between two families way back when split the town.
“She posts everything on there, anything she thinks people would be interested in.”
“And you think she’ll post this?”
He shrugs. “What’s more interesting than the bar owner in distress dating the single dad?”
I sit back and cross my arms petulantly. “She doesn’t know I’m in distress. And you forgot cowboy.”
He gives me a look. “What?”
“Single dad, cowboy. That’s your title. ”
“It is?” He scratches his head. “Everyone walks around calling me cowboy?”
“Oh yeah.” I rest my arms on the table. “Every time dart league is going, girls flock from all over town trying to get you or Stetson to look at them. CT was a part of that too, until he and Dani made it official.”
“People come to just watch us play?”
I clear my throat. “No. Women come to watch you play, in hopes that you’ll pick one of them to stick your next dart into.”
Logan cracks up at that analogy, his hand moving to cover his mouth, and I bite back a grin. I’m not often funny, as a matter of fact, I usually stick to the serious side of things, but making Logan laugh may just be the highlight of this day.
“Wow, I had no idea.”
I lift a brow. “None?”
“No.” He shakes his head. “Darts is just a fun thing for me to do to unwind. I don’t take it too seriously, and I sure as hell am not going to dart league looking for a hookup.”
I bite my lip and ask, “Is that all you ever do? Hookup? You don’t date anyone?”
“Aside from you?” he quips back, and I feel heat rise into my cheeks. He grins and says, “No. I don’t date. I haven’t dated in a long, long time.”
“What about…” I trail off, wondering if it was even my place to ask, but he finishes my question for me.
“Lue’s mom?” He shakes his head. “Nah, we didn’t date. We got together once or twice, right after high school was over. Then Lue showed up on my doorstep.”
“I’m so sorry. That must have been scary.”
His thoughts seem to trail off, but he looks at me and smiles. “Best thing that ever happened to me. ”
I grin back at him. “She’s great. Really.”
“Thank you.”
Our food arrives, and I see he’s ordered us a meal that feeds two, the whole thing feeling more and more date-like.
I settle in to eat and decide that I can pretend this is normal for me. I can pretend that we do this all the time and try to enjoy myself. “So, how was your day?”