CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Tess
Now that Tess knew she’d be leaving The Outpost, showing up for work held no allure.
So, the next morning, she called in late and stopped at Karla’s for pancakes—partly because she hadn’t eaten dinner the night before and was starving, and partly because she wanted to avoid Logan as long as possible, and the store would be the first place he’d look.
Assuming he cared enough to seek her out.
When he showed up at the diner ten minutes later, she had to give him credit for tenacity.
“There you are,” he said, sliding into the seat across from her. “I’ve been trying to reach you all night.”
And just like that, even Karla’s pancakes didn’t sound good. He read her mood instantly. “Something’s wrong. What happened? Is it your mom?”
“Oh, I don’t know.” She gave him her best death stare. “Could it be that I just found out the man I thought liked me is only using me to get information on a business he’s buying? The business I spent the last five years building. The business I wanted to buy.”
Logan froze and closed his eyes.
“Yeah. I found out.” Tess pulled out her wallet, dropped a ten-dollar bill on the table, and stalked out. Without looking, she felt Logan hot on her heels.
“I wouldn’t follow me if I were you,” she bit out once they were on the sidewalk. “I’m pretty pissed.”
“Tess, wait.” He reached for her arm. “Let me explain.”
“Admit it.” She whirled on him. “You only came to Green Valley Falls to scope out The Outpost. The question is, why did you stay? Why did you ask me out? Why not just get what you wanted and leave? Are you some kind of sadist?”
She was spinning out of control, an emotion she did not care for. She thought she’d calmed down overnight, but seeing his stupid, handsome face caused all the anger and hurt feelings to rush back tenfold.
He sighed, clearly busted. “Okay. Yes. At first , I came to town just to check out the business. But—”
“We’re. Done.” Tess ground out the words before storming to her car, getting in, and driving off.
In no mood to go to work now, she made a pit stop at home to grab her laptop, and drove to Windy River State Park.
Window down and radio off, she meandered deep into the park, giving nature a chance to do her thing. Eventually, she parked in a small lot far from the visitor center. No one would find her here.
After a few minutes of deep breathing—Faith would be so proud—she got a hold of herself and opened her laptop. There was no internet out here, but she didn’t need it. She clicked into a years-old document that hadn’t been touched since college—“Business Plan.”
So completely enthralled, it was lunchtime before she even looked up. Her back had knotted into a painful kink, and her stomach growled fiercely. Good thing she was always prepared.
She popped open the glove box, fished out a protein bar and a bottle of water, and stepped out to stretch her legs while she ate.
A quick loop through the woods had her feeling refreshed. But, in the interest of saving her back, she headed home to continue her work on a desktop computer and the squishy comfort of her office chair. Also, she could hear that pizza in the fridge screaming her name from here.
As she cleared the park exit, cell coverage returned, and her phone pinged with notifications—Faith calling an emergency team meeting at Page Turners. The pizza would have to wait.
When Tess arrived at the bookstore, Faith, Juliet, and Alex were already there. Grim expressions and a dozen donuts on the desk told her this was not a good news situation.
“Now what?” she asked, plopping down into a chair and taking a coffee Alex offered. “It’s not my mom, is it?”
“No,” Faith said quickly. “She’s fine. Going home later today.”
Tess figured as much. Nick would have hunted her down if it were something that important. She picked up a fritter and took a huge bite. “So?”
“I take no pleasure in telling you this…” Faith started.
“Woman,” Tess said around a mouthful of donut. “I’m in no mood for games. Spill it.”
“Remember when I guessed Logan had a secret family?” She paused, and when Tess didn’t say anything, continued. “I saw him at the park across the street with a pretty blonde woman and two little kids. He kissed the woman. On the mouth. And the kids called him ‘daddy.’ I’m sorry, Tess.”
“He’s married ?” Her stomach flipped, and she tossed the donut back into the box. The thought of unknowingly cheating with another woman’s husband made her sick. And angry. At him, and at herself. How had she so thoroughly misread him?
This was the final course, the dessert lie of his full-meal deal of lies. First, he forgets to mention that he’s rich. Then, that he’s buying the store. And finally, that he’s married! Then again, he’d already lied twice. Why should one more be a surprise?
But this lie didn’t sit right. Logan might be a liar, but a cheater?
“Are you sure?” Tess asked.
Faith shrugged. “I suppose I could be wrong, but I don’t think so. I called these guys to come over right away, and they saw it too.”
“It didn’t look good,” Juliet said, shaking her head.
“Sorry, Tessy,” Alex said.
“This makes no sense,” Tess said. “Why would he bring his family here ? He knows the town’s too small for it to go unnoticed. He has to know I would find out.”
“Maybe they surprised him,” Juliet said. “And he didn’t have a choice. Like, the kids wanted to play in the park, and he couldn’t very well say, ‘Sorry, my mistress might see us.’”
Tess winced. “But I just saw him this morning at Karla’s. You think he left his family sleeping at the inn to come find me? Why would he do that?”
“What’d he want?” Faith asked.
“I don’t actually know. I let him have it about The Outpost thing before he could say anything. Then I stormed off.”
“Maybe he came to tell you about them before you found out from someone else,” Juliet suggested.
“What if there’s some other explanation?” Alex said. “Don’t suppose he has a twin?”
“Not that I know of.” Tess shook her head.
“What about a doppelg?nger?” Juliet said. “Supposedly, everyone has one.”
“And the odds that Logan’s showed up here? Now?” Tess said. “Would be astronomical.”
“I must be mistaken,” Faith declared. “Let’s go to the inn and confront him. If I’m right, we’ll make a big scene. And if I’m wrong, it’ll all be cleared up.”
“No.” Tess stood. “Thanks for the info.”
“What are you going to do?” Faith asked.
“I’m not sure yet.”
Her friends huddled around and mumbled their support, reminding her they were always down to hide a body if necessary.
She left with the inkling of a plan. Since she hardly ever took time off, she had a ton of vacation days on the books.
No time like the present to use that up.
With everything going on, an impromptu getaway was exactly what she needed.
And she knew just the place to go. She called the day-shift supervisor to tell him she’d be gone for a few days. The store would run fine without her.
After a quick stop at home to pack a bag, she ran by her parents’ house to make sure her mom didn’t need her, and then hit the freeway, putting Green Valley Falls in her rearview mirror.