26. Thea
thea
Anticipation was eating me alive.
It was Friday night, and things at the bar were—as usual—wild and crazy. It was nice having three of my sisters here tonight, along with our servers and barbacks, it made everything flow easily.
But there was a simmering tension in the air, created solely by me.
It’s been nearly three days since I saw Logan last.
He’d been busy on the ranch, helping everyone get ready for the wedding tomorrow.
Lue stopped by the restaurant every afternoon during a lull so we could work together on rehearsing her lines. She was one dedicated girl, that was for sure. She was also possibly one of the sweetest girls I’d ever met. She was kind and generous in a way that was rare for someone her age.
Yesterday, someone had been struggling to get out the door, their hands were full of takeout, and before I could even get up, Lue was at the door helping them out.
Logan was doing an amazing job with her, whether he felt like it or not.
“Is it always like this on Fridays?” Ophelia sweeps her hair up into a high ponytail, her long, light brown hair still hanging past her shoulders.
It was her first Friday she was helping out at the bar, and I felt that it was doing her mental health some good to be home with us, even if it was only temporary.
“Yeah, pretty much,” I say, looking out over the crowd. “We’ve kind of become the go-to spot for the locals around here, they like having a spot to go hang out after work.”
She looks at the crowd I’m seeing and turns back to me, giving me a smile. “I’m proud of you.”
Something warm blooms in my chest at her words, and I turn my gaze away, grabbing a rag to keep my hands busy. “What?” I scoff out an uncomfortable laugh.
“Seriously, Thee, you’ve done such an amazing job with this place. It doesn’t look anything like the rundown bar you first bought.”
“I’m older than you, it’s my job to be proud of you.”
Ophelia looks at me with an impatient expression, and I hold my breath. “Thea, just because you’re older doesn’t mean I can’t be proud of you. You haven’t had a fair few years since Mom and Dad died. You’ve had to have so much on your shoulders and look at how far you’ve come.”
Her words are nice. Her words should make me feel good about what I’ve accomplished, but instead, all I can think about is the fact that I am not as successful as she thought.
I was hiding myself away from one man by using another.
I was still being watched by dangerous men, therefore putting my entire family and our business in danger.
I don’t feel like I’m doing a fantastic job.
I clear my throat and, like a coward, change the subject. “Did you speak to Tori recently?”
Ophelia nods. “Yeah, she’s in China somewhere.”
I purse my lips, shoving away the hurt in my chest that she will talk to every single one of my sisters but me. Just another reason to keep my family out of the nonsense I’m dealing with. Tori was hurt just as much as I was when things went south with Eric, and she blamed me for it. Rightfully so.
I can’t let this same mistake continue to hurt my sisters.
“Oh my gosh,” Ophelia says suddenly, a clear note of surprise and glee in her voice.
“What?” I ask, looking for the source of her happiness.
Then, the crowd parts like it was choreographed to be, and there stands Logan Cash in all his glory. And in his hand is a single pink rose.
“Awe, holy crap, is he not the sweetest?” Ophelia grabs on to my shoulder, squeezing in excitement.
“He…is,” I say, unable to tear my eyes away from him. His cowboy hat is tipped low on his head, and a flash from the other night when he told me the rules for that particular hat refreshes in my mind.
“Once you put my hat on, you’re mine.”
It may have made me pause a month or two ago, but something in my heart made me answer without hesitation.
I should be terrified, but it was Logan, so I just…wasn’t.
“Go, go, go!” Ophelia pushes me toward the bar opening, and I move, my limbs doing more than my brain in that current moment .
I was happy that my sisters didn’t seem reluctant with Logan. I’d always assumed that when I found someone else—if I had ever found someone else—that there would be hesitation, worry, or concern over my choices.
I weave my way through the crowd until I’m standing right in front of Logan, holding my breath again as our proximity closes.
“You look beautiful,” are his first words, his voice deep.
“I’ve been sweating all night.” The words fall from my lips before I can tell myself to keep my mouth shut, but it was true. My hair was tied up like my sister’s, and I’m sure I have sweated off all my deodorant by now.
His eyes shine like he finds my answer funny. “Well, you’re glowing then.”
I laugh at his joke, and he holds out the rose to me.
“For you.”
“You didn’t have to do that.” I take the rose and lift it to my nose, inhaling the sweet scent.
He holds out his hand for me to grasp, and I do, letting out a deep breath as the anticipation of the day settles over me.
This is what I’ve been waiting for since the moment I woke up.
Since we got together, every Friday, like clockwork, Logan has shown up and asked me to dance.
It was a tradition I never wanted to end.
Don’t get your hopes up, Thea.
My brain battles, telling me I still need to be careful. That I need to watch what I was doing with a careful heart because I could get used to this—to him—rather quickly.
Logan gave no indication that he would rather be anywhere else, that he would like to get out of this relationship.
He actually seemed to be the opposite when he introduced me to his entire family officially, when he has no hesitation when he wraps his arms around me in front of anyone who can see, and when he saved me from Bones the other night…
he did more than declare himself committed.
I follow Logan out to the dance floor, the crowd moving swiftly to a popular country song over the speakers. I start in with Logan, rose still in hand, trying to keep up with the movements and laughing when I fail. More than once, I catch Logan staring at me and smiling when I stumble.
But I don’t care. I should care, as I normally do, about making a fool of myself in front of this massive crowd of people, but I don’t.
Somehow, I think I can thank Logan for that new self-confidence.
The music changes, and suddenly all those clustered bodies that were line dancing move off the dance floor or find a partner. The music slows down, and a methodical and very country love song plays through the speakers.
Logan wastes no time in grabbing my hand and linking it with his, pulling me into his chest. I let my hand follow his lead, and instead of doing the traditional two-step the song calls for, he has us swaying softly to the beat.
It gives me a moment to catch my breath.
The rose dangles from my fingertips behind his head, and I look up into his eyes, where he’s already gazing back down at me.
I blush almost instantly and blow out a breath, waving my hand at my face like I’m flustered by the heat in the room rather than the heat from his gaze.
“You okay?” he asks, his hands tightening around my waist .
“Oh fine.” I shake off my blush. I lick my lips, “So, where’s Lue tonight? Another friend’s night out?”
He smiles. “No, actually. She’s with Dani and some of Dani’s friends tonight. Doing a bridesmaid’s party thing.”
I arch a brow. “Like a bachelorette? Isn’t Lue too young for that?”
Logan seems to find my protectiveness amusing, and his smile widens. “It’s not really a bachelorette thing. They’re just watching movies and eating junk food. Dani isn’t one for drinking much more than a couple beers.”
“Oh,” I say in a brilliant reply, allowing my defensiveness to cool. I had no hold or say over Lue, and surely she was safe with her cousin. “Sorry.”
His eyes turn serious, and he looks at me, almost stopping our dance altogether. “Don’t ever apologize for watching out for my daughter, Thea.”
I don’t have a reply to that, so I lick my lips and let him continue.
“You know, I’ve never wanted to seriously date someone. I always figured I would die a bachelor, just taking care of my daughter to give her the best life I can.”
“You’re doing that,” I butt in. “She’s such a great kid.”
“She is.” He nods. “But she’s sensitive too.
She’s a fourteen-year-old girl who has a single daddy trying to do his best with his only help being her uncles and grandma.
” His eyes dart away, and I can tell by looking at him that he’s thinking about his next words.
“I never want to parade people in and out of her life. My mom never did that to us kids, and I hate how lonely she must have been, but I would have hated more having strangers in and out all the time. So, I told myself I wasn’t going to introduce her to anyone, I’d never take a date home.
I never have.” He shrugs his massive shoulders and looks back at me.
My feet are barely moving now, my attention completely focused on him.
“Until I met you, I was fine with that life.”
I swallow hard, my mind going through so many replies so fast that I can’t even keep up with myself until I finally settle on, “And now?”
His grip on me tightens, and every part of me feels completely safe with this man. Safe, secure, and cherished.
Feelings I’ve never felt before.
“And now, I want you there.” I watch his Adam’s apple bob as he swallows, licking his lips, his eyes locked on mine.
“Now, I want to wake up and know you’re mine.
I want to do family dinners, just the three of us.
I want you there on Sunday afternoons with my family.
I want to take you on a ride up in the mountains, and I want to build a bonfire and go camping with you and Lue in the summer.
“I want to spend Christmases and holidays and random Tuesdays with you. I want everyone in this town to know, undoubtedly, that you are mine.”
The words are…perfection.
A swirling feeling in my heart and gut tell me that I’m overwhelmed by the number of promises he just made, by the vision he’s painted for us.
But…more than that, there’s excitement bubbling in my chest at the prospect.
My mind keeps repeating, in its own way over and over again, could this be true? Could this be it?
I shove away any uncertainty, lace my fingers through the long hair at the nape of his neck, and pull his mouth down to mine. Telling him and anyone watching that not only was I his, but he was mine.