Chapter 26 Mac
26
MAC
“Yes, you got it, Mrs. Conrad! I’ll stop by tomorrow after work,” Logan called out, walking backward toward the van with that charming grin he wore like armor.
I stayed where I was, propped in the passenger seat with my boot resting against the dashboard, a cigarette hanging between my fingers.
Bringing it to my lips, I took a long drag and exhaled slowly out the open window, watching the smoke curl into the warm spring air.
“You don’t need my number, I promise I’ll be there!” Logan added, voice pitched just enough to carry back to the small crowd of older women who’d been surrounding him like a pack of coyotes in cardigans.
I couldn’t help the laugh that slipped out, my lips quirking into a grin. Logan was being completely overrun by a group of flirtatious grandmas, all batting their lashes and pretending they didn’t know exactly what they were doing.
Could I have saved him? Sure.
Was I enjoying this a little too much? Absolutely.
Finally, with one last wave and a desperate smile, Logan turned on his heel, yanked open the van door, and climbed inside. His expression dropped the second he sat down.
“I’m never coming back here,” he muttered, slumping against the driver’s seat with the dramatic exhaustion of someone who just barely escaped with his dignity intact.
This had been stop number two on our flower delivery route. The ladies from the crochet club now had their flowers to pass out around town, which left the door-to-door deliveries still ahead of us.
“Did I hear you lining up a hot date with Mrs. Conrad?” I asked, taking another pull from my cigarette. “Didn’t peg you as the widow type.”
Logan gave me a sideways glare, shifting the van into drive. “She needs help lifting ‘heavy things,’” he said, air quotes and all. “Apparently, my muscles will do the trick.”
I snorted, my head falling back as I laughed.
Logan was pretty ripped. He might’ve been the youngest and shortest in our crew, but his physique gave Rhodes and Boone a real run for their money. His arms were the size of damn tree trunks—hard not to notice when he was constantly in T-shirts a size too small.
I glanced down at my own leaner frame and gave a one-shouldered shrug.
“Guess that’s why she didn’t ask me,” I muttered.
“That, and you barely got out of the van to say two words to them.”
“Yeah, well, it’s not exactly a secret that most of the older ladies in this town aren’t my biggest fans.”
I’d never been the golden boy type—not like Logan. I’d started smoking young, worked in a bar before I was old enough to legally drink, and never made much effort to hide the rougher edges of who I was.
Tattoos covered most of my arms, stretched across my chest, even snuck up the sides of my hands. I wasn’t what they wanted their daughters—or granddaughters—bringing home. And my dad being the town drunk hadn’t helped matters. His reputation clung to me like smoke, no matter how hard I tried to shake it.
Not that I really did.
“I wonder why,” Logan said dryly, pulling onto Main Street toward our next delivery.
“Wise ass,” I grumbled.
He chuckled, clearing his throat, and gave me a quick glance. “So, how are things with Penny? She didn’t seem pissed about you tagging along today.”
“I think… good,” I said finally, flicking ash out the window. “She doesn’t act like she wants to murder me anymore. So that’s progress.”
Logan didn’t say anything, but the knowing smile that tugged at his lips said enough.
“I’m actually enjoying all this groveling,” I said, surprising even myself. I wasn’t the kind of guy who chased, but chasing Penny? That had been… kind of incredible.
“Oh?” Logan’s voice carried too much amusement for my liking. “The hunted becomes the hunter?”
I rolled my eyes and let out a sarcastic laugh. “Very funny.” Then, softer, more honest: “I like making her happy. I know I screwed up, and I’d do just about anything to fix it. Seeing her the way she was before—distant, cold, avoiding—it sucked.” I shook my head, trying to clear the memory.
“I get it,” Logan said, glancing over at me before turning back to the road. “Her happiness matters more to you than your pride.”
It did. I’d beg, I’d crawl, I’d do whatever it took. Knowing I’d been the reason behind that flicker of sadness in her eyes… it gutted me like someone had driven a blade straight through my chest.
I glanced at Logan and caught it—a flicker of something passing across his face. His jaw clenched. One hand tightened on the steering wheel, his knuckles going pale.
“You got something you want to add?” I asked, narrowing my eyes.
He looked at me, startled—like I’d caught him mid-thought—and cleared his throat. “Nah. Nothing.”
“Come on, man. You know all my shit. Least you could do is give me a crumb of yours. Help a guy’s bruised ego out.”
Logan hesitated, his brows furrowing as he mulled something over. Then he exhaled through his nose and said, “I’m in love with Ellie.”
I blinked. Then scoffed. “I said, tell me something I don’t know. That doesn’t count.”
“What?” Logan looked genuinely taken aback as he pulled up to the only traffic light in Faircloud. He turned to face me, confusion creasing his features.
I shrugged. “Pretty sure everyone already knows. You’ve been in love with Ellie since the dawn of time, right?”
Logan had been trailing after Ellie Cassidy since the moment he became a permanent fixture at Cassidy Ranch. His mom traveled constantly for barrel racing, which meant he spent more time with our crew than he did at home. And wherever Ellie went, Logan followed.
She needed help? He was there. She smiled? He lit up.
And when she left town for almost a year? So did he—at least emotionally. He distanced himself, vanished for random trips, barely showed face. At first, I thought he’d grown tired of us. But the more I thought about it, the more the puzzle pieces clicked into place.
“You know?” Logan’s voice went tight. “Does Boone?”
“Don’t know,” I said. “We’ve never talked about it. But if I picked up on it, I’d bet others have too.”
The light turned green, and I pointed ahead. “Eyes on the road, Romeo.”
Logan shifted into gear, driving us down Main Street and onto one of the quieter back roads that led out of town.
“So what if Boone does find out?” I asked. “What’s the big deal?”
Logan scoffed. “You mean besides the fact I’m in love with my best friend’s little sister?”
“You’re practically his brother,” I said. “Boone’s not an idiot. And if he hasn’t noticed by now, that’s on him. Besides, it’s not like you’ve hidden it well. You’ve had heart-eyes for that girl since you were a freaking kid.”
“I don’t know…” he murmured, and I could see the war inside him. He opened his mouth like he wanted to say more, then clamped it shut again.
“Come on,” I coaxed. “I’m feeling soft today. Say what you gotta say now or forever hold your peace.”
He huffed a laugh and rubbed the back of his neck. “I think I’ve always loved her. I just never knew how she felt about me. And then she dated Buck, so I backed off. Figured that was my sign to let it go. But now…” His voice trailed off into the quiet hum of the van.
“You want to know if there’s still a chance,” I finished for him.
Logan nodded slowly, his voice barely more than a whisper. “Yeah.”
If I’d learned anything lately, it was to speak up before you lose what matters.
This thing with Penny had changed me. More than any fight I’d been in, more than any mistake I’d made, more than all the years I spent trying to outrun the inevitable.
I had the urge to say all that to Logan. To crack my chest open and spill everything out onto the floor between us. But instead, I nodded and said, “Go for it. Deal with Boone later.”
Logan didn’t respond, and silence settled in the van as we turned down a quiet street. When we pulled up to the first house on the delivery list, I climbed out and rounded the back to grab the bouquet. I figured I’d take this one. Let Logan sit in his thoughts for a minute.
Mine were already spiraling anyway.
I started walking toward the porch, the flowers cradled in one arm, and let myself drift.
If I were being honest, I wasn’t entirely sure I’d ever really been loved. Not in the way people talked about in songs or movies. I didn’t grow up knowing what that looked like.
But the way I felt around Penny—the way my chest tightened when she laughed, or how her presence lit my nerves on fire like a live wire—that felt like a damn good place to start.
I knew I loved her. That much had been clear the day she left that little pink glitter bomb in retaliation for everything that happened.
In that moment, every emotion hit me like a freight train; everything crashed down at once.
Anger.
Sadness.
Guilt.
Fear.
There was sadness for her, for me, even. Guilt for the way I’d handled everything in the beginning. Regret for not doing things sooner. Happiness, because I reflected on the moments when things were so damn good.
Penny made me feel.