Chapter 55
“Hey, Mace.”
“Hi, Gin.” I put her on speaker phone as I stare into my bathroom mirror and attempt to fix my hair, which has been frizzy all day from the unusually high humidity outside.
“Are you coming to The Cowherd tonight? My father has requested your presence. He wants all four contestants to make an appearance on our busiest night of the week.”
“Mama told me. I’ll be there. So will Dave,” she says. “But are you ready for Logan and Gigi’s engagement party tomorrow?”
No.
“I’m trying,” I say.
“We’ll hang out together,” she says reassuringly. “See you soon.”
When I walk into The Cowherd an hour later, the bar is packed. I’m talking wall-to-wall patrons, including my entire family.
I rush over to the bar, pushing Free and Riley aside. “Daddy! You know you’re not allowed near the bar, especially when it’s this crowded and I can’t keep an eye on you.”
“Evan’s here.” Daddy waves to his sober companion standing discreetly between the taps and my father’s stool. “He’s taking care of me. Don’t worry.”
Evan gives me a thumbs-up, and I nod to him in relief.
“Baby, I love your print top.” Mama nods approvingly at my light orange and red spaghetti-strap shirt. “Where did you get it?”
“San Antonio,” I tell her. “This really amazing store that sells all handmade items from Mexico.”
“It goes perfectly with those jeans and cowboy boots.” Mama taps my foot with her own high heels. “You know, I think our little talk the other week was a good luck charm. You look better already.”
“Thank you, Mama. I think.”
“And theater rehearsal starts this week.”
Great.
I look suspiciously at my parents as they both beam at me. “Why is it so crowded in here?”
“ went live this morning,” Mama says proudly. “Benny! Show your sister what you’ve done.”
Ben winks at me as he opens the swing door and I slide behind the bar.
I look down at his laptop and the photos of Logan and Gigi, and Ginny and Dave on the homepage.
Two pairs of contestants in the Make Your Match Contest: Which Soul Mates Will Finally Give Jane Austen Her Independence Day?
Daddy points to the big booth behind him. “All four contestants are here tonight.”
Gigi and Logan, Ginny and Dave are sitting with Blake and—
“Who are the two Gigi look-alike blondes?” I say.
Ben chuckles. “Gigi’s two sisters. Both married and on a girls-only vacation.”
“Isn’t that great?” Daddy beams. “And we got a slot on the news. We’re on TV in ten minutes.” He points to the flat-screen already on above my head. “The reporter was here all morning, making sure he had his facts straight. Real nice guy.”
A movement catches my eye behind the fake plant Mama had installed by the front doors.
I recognize the cameraman—Jon I think his name is—lurking. I’m sure Skip isn’t far behind.
I look over at Ben, and he sees the same thing. He grins and shakes his head.
“Mace, you doing all right?” he says in a low voice.
“Why is everyone asking me that these days?” I say.
Freedom leans over the bar. “Maybe because you’re acting like a scorpion’s caught in your bra.”
I stare over her head at Logan as Gigi leans in close to him and bats her eyelashes. He doesn’t react.
I wonder if, in private, he kisses her on the lips in that slow, unhurried way he always did with me. Like he had all the time in the world. Like nothing was more important than the feeling of his mouth on mine.
Logan glances up like he feels me looking. My cheeks burn, but I wave casually.
“You don’t need a man.” Free’s watching me closely.
“I know that. I would have just stayed married if I thought so, right?”
“Right. Except…” Free gazes over at Logan and then returns her serious expression to me. “It’s like I can see your lipstick still on his face.”
Riley has just turned away from kissing Wink, and she overhears. She laughs and high-fives Free. “So true, honey.”
Ben holds out his hand. A quarter sits in his open palm. “Y’all want to bet on Make Your Match? Will either couple actually go through with their wedding?”
Riley immediately grabs a quarter out of the tip jar and places it on the counter. “Count me in. No on Logan and Gigi.”
“I don’t bet,” Free says. “I don’t like gambling with money.”
“Good for you, honey,” I say to her. “Ben, seriously. Stop.”
“I’m betting against Logan and Gigi, too,” he says. “We’ll see if I’m right, huh?”
He and Riley laugh, and the two of them pocket their quarters.
“You seem upset,” Riley says to me with a knowing smile.
“Not true at all,” I say. “I don’t care. Because I have someone. Someone who’s not Logan. Who was never Logan.”
I reach for my phone and immediately text Jamie.
Come to The Cowherd tonight?
I’ve just put my phone away when Riley asks me to come with her tomorrow up to Austin for Wink’s spring training.
“I’ll try,” I tell her.
She giggles and grabs Wink’s ass, and he leans down and tongues her.
Oh, God. Couples are everywhere. I need a break. I look around for a potential exit, the one thing Daddy taught me—“always look for an escape door, darlin’, because no matter where you are and no matter how good things seem to be going, you never know when you’ll need to bolt.”
I finally locate George at the other end of The Cowherd, but before I can move to go offer to help him, Free comes behind the bar followed by Blake.
She says something to him about her term paper, followed by how nervous she is to start college. I’m barely paying attention to their conversation, but I perk up when he ruffles her hair affectionately and says, “You’ll do great, Free. You know you’re a genius.”
When my baby sister, who I’ve never heard to have a crush on anyone, blushes bright red, I send a hard look Blake’s way. He’s oblivious because he can’t take his gaze off of Freedom.
I clear my throat.
Neither of them turns their heads.
I step forward and take Free by the arm.
“Hey!” she says as I pull her toward the back of the bar. “I was in the middle of a conversation!”
I keep my voice low as I say, “Do not tell me you and Blake…”
“No!” She protests loudly.
Too loudly if I want to press her. Which I don’t.
“You know I’m a virgin. Without man, in other words.” She glares at me.
“And Blake’s a player,” I warn her. “A big one. Probably the biggest one in Darcy. He always has been, Free. You can’t trust any boys.
” I send a glare in Logan’s direction. “But that boy there”—I point at Blake, who’s now been joined behind the bar by Logan.
The two of them are chuckling over God knows what—“He’s off-limits to anyone I care about.
Especially you. He’s far too old for you, and I don’t want to see you get hurt. ”
“But Blake and I are friends,” Free says. “He looks out for me.”
“Friends, fine. Blake Wild’s a good guy that way. But more than friends? Not fine. Got it?”
She grumbles but says, “Okay.”
Before I can say anything else, she scoots away from me and back to Blake’s side. And I have my own off-limits guy to deal with—Logan Wild is advancing on me from across the way.
When he reaches me, we stand silently and assess each other.
His dark hair’s neatly combed, but he runs his fingers through it in an agitated manner, effectively messing it up.
His jeans are hanging so low I could probably see the elastic band of his boxers if I tried, and his forest green shirt is super soft.
When the fabric brushes my bare arm, I nearly fist it in my hand and hold on tight.
Space is at a premium behind the bar tonight.
Ben’s on my left, the bartop is on my other side, and Logan’s, well—Logan’s right here in front of me.
I tap my cowboy boot on the floor and try not to appear flustered. But he smiles at me and—shit, he looks so hot I can hardly stand still.
Distraction. Find a distraction, Macey.
“Free!” I call across to her. “You’re too young to be back here. Scoot.” I step forward and give her a little shove toward the swing door.
But Free looks up pointedly at the photo of me crawling across The Cowherd counter. “Pretty sure there’s never been a minimum age requirement to be back here. At least, not if you’re a Henwood.”
“That’s right.” Daddy smiles at us and throws his arm across the counter so he can put his hand on Ben’s arm.
“Ben’s been fully trained. This morning by yours truly, with some help from George.
So he’ll be working alongside you every day this summer, Mace.
He’s nearly old enough to bartend, aren’t you son? ”
“Nearly old enough!” I say incredulously. “I was serving drinks when I was a lot younger than Ben.”
“Well, you’re my girl.” Daddy smiles. “You were always so grown-up. Seemed to be born that way.”
I don’t have a comeback for that, and I swallow down my anger. But Logan turns on my father with a hard look.
“Sometimes, those traits are inherited, sure,” he says slowly. “But sometimes, they’re forced on a person due to circumstance.”
Mama reaches for her ginger ale, and Daddy clears his throat awkwardly.
Logan lets it go like nothing out of the ordinary just happened.
But something did just happen. And I love him for sticking up for me. For always, when it matters most, having my back.
He looks down at me. “You okay?”
I nod. “When were you going to tell me about New York?”
He takes my arm as I turn away for the taps. “Mace.”
I snap my head back to him. “What? What do you want me to say? That as you fly over Darcy you can wave good-bye to me? Or maybe as you fly over the cow pasture where we made lo—”
Fuck. I cannot believe how far I just took that.
Free and Blake are staring at us, and I have to blink back my sudden tears.
Logan bends his head so he can whisper into my ear, so quietly nobody else could possibly overhear. “Please don’t get emotional. It’s just…temporary. Nothing’s gonna change.”
I lift my head so I can meet his eyes. “Are you really that na?ve, or are you just getting that good at lying to yourself? Gigi Phillips will never be able to exist in Darcy, Texas. And the sooner you admit that, the better.”
I flip my hand in the air to make my point, but Logan grabs my wrist. I try to pull it away, but he holds on as his gaze fixes on Jamie’s commitment ring.
“What’s this?” He looks down at the fake diamond and then back at my face.
I recognize the flash of panic in his eyes, panic he tries to push away, and I have half a mind to tell him the diamond is real. Instead, I pull my hand away.
“Just a little commitment ring. From Wal-Mart. No big deal.”
“Commitment to what? To marry him?”
“Nooo.” I purse my lips. “You know I’m not the marrying kind. Not unless I’m drunk and in Nevada.”
Logan exhales. “So who is he? When did you start seeing him?”
“Just recently.”
He grabs my wrist again and looks the ring over. “So this is a replacement? For the ruby one?”