20. Logan
logan
“This is unconstitutional,” Lue grumbles, digging a shovel into manure. I’ve told her a million times to use the manure fork, but she just won’t listen.
I spray out a bucket and let it drip into the alleyway before setting it back in its spot and filling it.
“Do you even know what that means?” I ask my stubborn daughter, wondering where she heard that.
“Well, no,” she admits with a sniff. “But I heard Uncle Stetson say it when he was doing stalls last week, and I think he’s right.”
I shake my head with a smile, watching her make the job harder on herself. “Why don’t you use the fork? It’s not as heavy, honey.”
“I don’t use the fork because I don’t want horse poop to fall through it onto my boots.” I pointedly look down at her boots that are stepping on horse poop right this minute. “It’s not the same!” she says when she sees where I’m looking .
“All right.” I lift a hand in surrender and turn off the water, leaving the stall she’s in and heading to the next.
“Like child labor, I shouldn’t be subjected to this.” I hear her mumbling and smile, shaking my head.
“It’s a rite of passage, Lue,” I say, rinsing the next bucket.
“Well, I don’t want it,” she replies, and I have to bite my lip to keep from laughing.
My phone ringing distracts me from my laughter, and I pull it out, my heart jumping a little at the sight of Thea’s name on the screen.
“Hey,” I answer, my voice sounding breathless. “How are you?”
After the rodeo yesterday, I spent the afternoon with Lue getting her some summer clothes. She still had two days of school left, but they were more about fun than actual school. So, it was basically summer for her now.
“Hey, I just got a piece of mail that I was wondering if I could come have you open it?”
I hang my head and sigh, speaking softly, “Thea, you can open it. I’m not going to sue you or something.”
“Thea?” Lue’s head perks up when she hears me talking. Dang bat ears on that one. “You’re talking to Thea? Can I talk to Thea?”
I frown. “No, you can finish your chores.”
“But I want her to rehearse some lines with me today!” she says, loud enough that Thea can hear through the phone.
“She’s working, hon, she can’t rehearse.”
“Hey, speak for yourself. I have some downtime around three if you wanna bring her by. Then you can open that mail for me. ”
I smile at the first part. “You want me to bring her? Are you sure you have time?”
“I’ll make the time.”
My heart must have some sort of condition because it thumps loudly in my chest again. “Fine, I’ll bring her by around three.”
“And open the mail.”
I roll my eyes good-naturedly. “Yes, that too.”
“Great! See you guys then!”
I hang up the phone and sigh. “Guess we’re going to Thea’s.”
“Yes!” Lue pumps her fist, and for whatever reason, this gives her the energy to finish her chores in record time.
I’m sitting at a table by myself, sipping a soda, and looking through mail for Thea. Most of it is unimportant to me, considering I have nothing to do with it. So, I open it and then put it into a stack without looking at it.
Lue is up by the bar with Thea across from her, both with scripts in front of them, reading to each other back and forth. Lue makes movements with her lines, probably deciding how best to act them out, and Thea smiles at her when she does.
Part of my attention is on the mail, but the majority of it has been watching the two of them interact. I get this feeling in my gut that tells me this could be for the long haul.
When you’re a single parent, it’s one thing to fall for someone, to have feelings that are bigger than you’re used to for someone. But when your kid gets along with them great? That’s a next-level thing .
I remember when Graham was dating his now fiancée, Quinn. He had to win both her heart and her daughter’s heart. I remember him coming to me and asking how he should go about making that transition, and I said, let it happen naturally.
Now, though, you wouldn’t think that she was his stepdaughter—or stepdaughter-to-be—you would think they were blood related. And even though her father was still in the picture, somehow, they had their own special relationship that was allowed to bloom on its own.
Thea wouldn’t be coming in worrying about Lue’s biological mother. I haven’t heard from her since before she left Lue on my doorstep, and I was hoping it stayed that way.
Fourteen years was a long enough time that I think she was gone for good, but you never fully know.
But Thea would be taking on the role of mom. I wonder if she’s ready for that. If she was willing to be that, because if we continued the way we were, that’s what I would like her to be. A family. I’ve always wanted to give Lue that sense of family she’s missed, of having a mother.
And no, she wouldn’t turn out worse without a mother around, but as she heads into the land of teenager-ism, I want her to have not just me who would kill anyone who ever hurt her, but someone who could guide her to make good choices.
I open the next letter, not paying attention with my gaze still on them, and pull it out, quickly skimming through it and then pausing.
I flip the envelope over and see that this was not addressed to me, but to Thea. It must have gotten put in this pile by mistake.
The return address is the correctional facility, and my blood cools when I flip the letter back .
I shouldn’t read it, shouldn’t even acknowledge that I have it, but with one sentence on the piece of paper, I can’t help it.
You’re not so hard to find, are you?
I swallow down my rage, my hand curling into a fist and the anger pumping under my skin palpable.
This fucker wouldn’t know what hit him if he came near her. Part of me wishes he would. That he would think he could come in here and harass my woman and get away with it.
He had another think coming.
My gaze snaps back to Thea, and I can tell they’re about to finish up. I quickly open the other pieces of mail, my focus not on what they are because, for one, I don’t care because it’s not my business, and for two, I can’t stop thinking about what I just read.
I already knew that he knew where she worked, that she owned the bar. That was why we’d gone through all the legal trouble of making sure nothing could be taken from her. There was no possible way for him to touch her financially.
Seeing the proof with my own two eyes that he was still making himself known, that he was still watching her? It was enough to make me want to grab my brother and CT and go talk to this guy.
What could I do, though? He was in prison. He was untouchable for me.
For now.
“A little late for taxes, isn’t it, Mr. Cowboy?” Annmarie’s voice makes me jump, and I reach out with my left hand, grabbing the small stack and flipping it over so she can’t see what it is .
She sets a Coke down in front of me, and I give her a smile. “Thanks, Annmarie. And nah, just sorting through some mail while the girls work.”
Annmarie glances at her sister and gives a barely-there smile. “Yeah, cool. I like seeing Thea like she’s been lately.”
I clear my throat, straightening in my seat. “Oh yeah?”
“Yeah.” Her reply is casual, then she turns to me. “So, don’t mess it up, you hear me? She’s been through a lot.”
I soften a little at the protectiveness of Thea’s little sister. You can tell by looking at Annmarie that she’s had her fair share of heartbreak. One way or another, she’s been through it. “I promise I won’t do anything to hurt her.”
She gives a nod. “Good.” She walks away, then turns and points at me. “’Cause I’d hate to have to kick your ass.”
I laugh lightly at the threat, mostly because I believe there is some merit to it happening.
Thea glances over, catching her sister’s threat, and rolls her eyes good-naturedly. She turns back to Lue and says something to make Lue laugh, and my chest tightens at the vision of them.
Their relationship was already blossoming, even without my involvement with Thea.
Lue hops off the stool and grabs the manuscript, leaving Thea with her own that she stashes somewhere behind the bar. Another tick in the pro column. Her willingness to read through Shakespeare meant I didn’t have to.
“Hey, Daddy.”
I smile, my chest warming at my daughter’s clear and present happiness.
“Hey, baby.” I grab the mail. “Have a seat. I’ll be right back, and we can order some food.”
“We’re eating here?” Lue claps, excited .
“What? My cooking is that bad?”
For a moment, Lue just stares at me and then gives me a sweet and almost condescending smile. “I love you, Daddy.”
“Oh, I see how it is.” I laugh and make my way to the bar, handing over the pile to Thea, who glances around to make sure her sisters are nowhere nearby before she takes the stack from me.
“Thank you,” she says, holding it to her chest.
It’s on the tip of my tongue to tell her she can open my mail, but I don’t, because all it does is give me another excuse to see her more. Why would I look that gift horse in the mouth?
“I saw a little something else in that pile, Dorothy.”
Her eyes widen in surprise, and she glances at it. “What?”
I stare at her for a moment, distracted by her beauty, distracted by the way she holds herself so confidently, yet there’s a part of her that’s unsure about everything. I can see it.
“From the correctional facility.”
Her shoulders deflate. “Another parole notice?”
I blink in surprise. “He’s up for parole?”
Brows furrowed, she nods. “Yeah, it’s why I’ve been so on edge lately. They’re supposed to decide if he’ll be let out soon.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” My tone is low and dark. If that fucker even comes close to near her…
“Because…I don’t know.” She shrugs her shoulders, running a hand through her hair. “Things have been good with us. I hate bringing up the reason we’re finally…”
I let myself relax a little and look down at her soft, pink lips. If my daughter wasn’t watching us, I wouldn’t hesitate to kiss her right now.
“Things will be good for us, regardless of what he does, Thea. But I really want to be kept in the loop about what’s going on with him.”
“Okay, I’m sorry.” Her eyes search mine, and she reaches out a hand, grabbing one of mine and interlocking our fingers. “What did the letter say then?”
Dread laces through me again, and I sigh. “It was from him.” I glance around the bar. “He’s still keeping tabs on you.”
“Shit.” Her eyes pinch shut, and seemingly automatic, she opens them and glances around the restaurant, looking for someone she knows, maybe. “I had hoped they stopped.”
“Thea, I don’t want you here alone, you hear me?”
“Sometimes I have to close alone.”
“Okay, but Malcolm isn’t going to be leaving before you. Walk out with him.” Malcolm was one of her chefs and a beefy enough guy that he could throw down if he had to.
I also went to high school with him and knew he was a decent guy who would protect an innocent woman.
“Okay, I’ll make sure I never leave alone.”
Just picturing it, I see her heading home and then walking into a dark apartment all by herself. What were the chances they knew where she lived? Pretty good, I’d bet.
“Maybe you should come stay with me for a while.”
Her eyes pinch in confusion. “What? Why?”
“We don’t know what he knows. And we sure as hell don’t know what he’ll do if he gets out and heads this way. I want you to be safe.”
“I’m not going to live with my new boyfriend, let alone intrude on you and Lue’s space.”
“Don’t think of it like that. You’d have your own space.” As soon as I cleaned out the spare room.
“No, it’s okay. I promise I’ll be safe. I carry protection. ”
For a moment, we just stared at each other, both wondering if the other was going to drop the issue. I could see it in her eyes that this was the last shred of control that she had over her life, and she didn’t want to give it up.
I wasn’t going to push her to do that.
Yet.
“Okay, fair enough.”
Her lips curve into a grateful smile, and she glances at my daughter and back. “You guys want dinner?”
“Yes,” I reply, squeezing the hand I’m still holding. “With you.”
“Oh, I should probably work,” she says, glancing around the still-lulling restaurant. It wasn’t even five thirty yet.
“Come on, eat with us first, and then we’ll let you work.”
“Go, eat, be merry.” Annmarie pops up behind Thea, surprising both of us as she walks to the other end of the bar.
“How does she do that?” I ask Thea, wondering how many times that woman has snuck up on me and scared me since they got here.
Thea chuckles, and I smile at the sparkle in her eyes. I had been hoping to see it again tonight.
“No one knows.”