Chapter 7 #2
Sasha gave the horse one final pat, grabbed her tools, and turned to put them away. She paused, eyeing Caleb suspiciously. “Something wrong?”
“Course not.” He hurried forward to grab the mounting stool. “Let me help you put things away, then maybe we can go see if the kitten hunt was successful.”
Sasha laughed softly as she headed down the hall. “Sometimes you’re just as big of a kid as Tyler, Dad.”
“We should never outgrow kittens,” Caleb told her.
“Truth.” Tools put away, she tucked her fingers into his. “Let’s go get cuddles.”
The nights were still cool enough that the regular evening gatherings at High Water were held inside around the massive fireplace in the main ranch house.
Only one ranch hand was on site at the moment—an older man named Simon who hadn’t said much but nodded his approval when Logan threw a one-handed bowline knot to tie off a horse in a hurry.
Tonight, though, Simon had decided to join Kevin and Edison at the pool table in the game room for the evening, but the rest of the High Water family were cozied up together around the flickering flames.
It was one of Logan’s favourite times of day for so many reasons.
He’d grown to care for all the families who called High Water home.
All three of the Skye brothers were men Logan looked up to.
Their wives were powerhouses in their own rights and treated him somewhere between a stray puppy—that from Sydney—and a little brother figure.
And then there was Jinx.
The first face he’d seen when he’d been certain he was dead, yet she’d proven over the past year that she was not the angel he’d first imagined.
She was so much better. She was real. She was fire and ice.
He was in so much trouble when it came to thinking about her. He only hoped he’d managed to keep his obsession hidden, because the last thing he’d ever want to do was hurt her.
When Jinx sighed heavily and began pulling apart her project for the third time that night, Logan knew something was wrong.
Obsession meant he knew all her tells.
He wasn’t about to grill her or put her on the spot, though. She’d hate it as much as he would have. But somehow, he was going to find out what was bugging her.
If it was trouble from that asshole Jason, Logan was more than willing to track the kid down and teach him some manners. Jason was eighteen now, and Logan was only twenty. More than close enough to be a nice friendly conversation.
Although it was true Sasha Stone was a damn good bodyguard when necessary. And Jinx herself—while she might not like confrontations, it had been good to see her grow stronger and stronger during the time Logan had been at High Water to witness it.
Logan’s thoughts were interrupted by movement from the love seat.
“We’re off.” Declan pulled Sydney to her feet. “Syd’s got that conference in Calgary tomorrow, and I’m going along for the drive. We won’t see you in the morning.”
“Or for dinner.” Sydney turned quickly to Declan. “Don’t ask any questions. Just smile and pretend you know what’s going on.”
“Don’t know what’s going on, but fine.” Declan offered the room a ghastly grin. “See you when we see you.”
Jake snorted. “God, that’s the scariest face I’ve seen since that horror movie with the clown.”
From her position on the couch, Tansy threw a handful of popcorn at him. “No mentioning scary clowns. Good grief, I’d like to sleep sometime in the next month.”
“Sorry,” Jake offered, but his smile remained.
“Good night from me as well.” Petra stood, her hand instantly covering the swell of her belly. “I’m trying to store up as much rest and relaxation at this point in the game as possible.” She glanced at Jinx. “Don’t stay up too late, okay?”
“Need to clean this up,” Jinx said. She dumped the mess on the floor and rose to sneak a hug. “Night, Mom.”
“Night, sweetie.” Petra’s grin was as wide as Jinx’s as she left the room.
In short order, the rest of them gathered their things and headed off.
“Make sure you close the flue on the fire,” Jake reminded Logan.
“Yes, sir.”
“Night, Jinx.
“Night, Uncle Jake.”
The final logs were white with red edging, a mess of hot coals that would burn for at least another half hour.
“Did you want me to put more wood on the fire?” Logan asked Jinx.
She moved slowly, spooling yarn around and around in an even motion as she stared into the flames. “No. I need to go to bed soon too.”
“Okay.”
He sat back down. Quiet surrounded them, and the faintest hint of unease. Mostly, though, the sensation was one hundred percent High Water. A safe spot. A refuge.
A home.
Logan leaned back in his easy chair, thankful that when he looked toward the fire, Jinx was in his line of sight. Enough that he could watch her without being creepy about it.
Dear God, he hoped he wasn’t being creepy.
He couldn’t look away, though. Her long hair hung over one shoulder, the faintest hint of gold mixed with the glowing brown.
She and Sasha had gone for a spa day with Julia Sorenson, Jinx’s auntie, and ever since Logan had been daydreaming about threading his fingers through Jinx’s hair, letting the soft strands pour over his skin.
He closed his eyes and fought to keep his body from reacting more than it already had.
“Logan?”
He opened his eyes. Jinx was still focused on her tangled crochet thread, but she glanced at him briefly.
“What’s up?
She swallowed. “I need a favour.”
“Of course. Shoot.”
Awkward silence followed before she shoved her project into her bag without care.
“Something’s wrong,” Logan noted quietly. “You frogged that project three times tonight.”
Her gaze snapped up to his. “How do you know I was frogging?”
Logan laughed. “Jinx. You and Petra have been crocheting around me for months. Every time you make a mistake I hear you use the phrase, and then the other one of you makes ribbiting noises.”
Her lips quirked. “Oh. Yeah.”
“Yeah.” He slipped off the chair and onto the floor beside her. He leaned back and stretched his legs in front of him. “What’s the favour?”
She met his gaze straight on. “Will you be my date for grad?”
Lightning sizzled up his spine. Excitement. Finally.
Before he could say anything, though, like hell yes, she rushed on.
“So I got on the bus yesterday, coming home. Sasha wasn’t there because she had to go over to her Auntie Ivy’s, but it’s only a short trip, you know? I sat in our usual seat, and then suddenly Jack Travers sat down beside me.”
Logan went still. He hadn’t heard about this yesterday. So she had to have gotten through it on her own, but damn it…
Jinx closed her eyes tight, screwing up her face adorably. “I did not have a panic attack, but I kind of didn’t know what to say. He’s in my class, and he’s not an ass, but he’s just…Jack.”
Sounded like a terrible fate, to be just Jack.
This was not headed where Logan had hoped. “Did he do something that upset you?”
“He asked me to the prom.” The words burst free from Jinx as if she’d been asked if she wanted jump out of a plane into a pit of vipers. “It was horrible.”
“I can see that.” Amusement was better than getting angry at a kid who was probably twenty kinds of terrified himself, asking a pretty girl to a big social event.
Jinx shivered, then she sat up straighter, a touch of fire growing in her words. “I do not want to go to grad with him. Or with Jason, or Todd, or Aslan, or…”
“Good to know.” Logan paused, not sure if he should let hope bloom or not. This wasn’t about what he wanted right now, but what she needed. Still, he had to ask. “But you do want to go with me?”
“I told him I was going with you.” She said it with a hint of defiance. “He said okay and moved to a different seat right away, and no one else bothered me today, but I know when they find out you’re not taking me, it’ll start all over again. Or worse, I’ll get teased for lying.”
“Then it’s a good thing I’m more than happy to be your date,” Logan offered truthfully, even though the edges of his heart felt raw.
Jinx’s smile reappeared in a blink of an eye. “Really?”
“Hell, yeah.” He nodded. “I never got to go to my grad, so it’ll be fun.”
Tension slipped from her like air from a balloon. “Thanks, Logan. I appreciate it so much.”
“No problem,” he assured her. He adjusted the flue to closed then stood as she did. “Done for the night?”
“Yeah.” She flushed. “I needed to ask you, and I didn’t want to do it in front of Petra and Jake in case you said no. But now we can tell them in the morning that we’re going to grad as friends. They’ll be glad, as long as you’re sure it’s not a problem.”
“No problem at all.”
This whole idea was a pile of trouble waiting to happen, but that was fine. Logan had dealt with trouble before.
Only not the kind with big brown eyes and a tender heart. Or one with lips that he wanted to lean in and kiss and more…
Nope. No trouble here at all.