Chapter Twenty-One
Logan peered around the back lawn of the Twin Rivers Church, looking for anything else that needed to be cleaned up or taken care of.
The day, which he had thought started off well for Hannah thanks to Amanda’s cheerful and friendly nature, had quickly degraded into chaos after her brother Jacob had so harshly pushed poor little Maria into the food tables.
The boy had fled quickly after that, and Logan was sure he was the only one that had actually seen what had caused the catastrophe. It wasn’t Maria’s fault or any of the other children’s either. They were getting fussy, sure, but all children did when they were hot and hungry.
Logan made a mental note to find the boy later and have a stern talk with him.
He’d seen his fair share of foul-tempered teenage boys, and knew how quickly they could go from causing a little trouble to full-out breaking the law and ending up in one of Logan’s cells.
He didn’t want that for Jacob. In fact, though he barely knew the young man, he had a strong, personal urge to help the boy turn things around before he got worse.
For now, though, he had to see to finishing up the cleaning of the church’s back lawn.
Most of the members of the congregation had fled right after Hannah had, grumbling about their broken dishes and missed potluck meal.
Only a few had stayed behind the mess, like himself, Amanda, Garrett, and Dean.
Grace, though. Grace was missing, and that nagged at him too.
He wasn’t sure where or even when she’d left, but he was certain she was supposed to be riding home with Dean.
“Let me help with that,” Logan said, noticing that Preacher Thompson was struggling to right one of the fallen tables.
“Oh, thank you, son,” Preacher Thompson replied, letting out a dry laugh as they worked together to not only pick the table up but carry it back into the church. “Quite a day, wasn’t it?”
Logan chortled.
“Well sir, can’t say I’ve ever seen anything quite like it,” Logan agreed.
Preacher Thompson shook his head sadly.
“Poor Mrs. Mercer. I thought she was faint from fear right in front of all of us,” he sighed. “And Garrett? He can’t seem to stop apologizing. I keep telling him that it was an accident, and no harm was meant, but I don’t think he’s hearing me. Are things this bad at their house?”
Logan shook his head. In truth, he didn’t rightly know.
He’d been meaning to ride out and visit, but his investigation into the Southern Pacific Railroad and their false deed had taken up most of his time.
That in itself was enough to drive Garrett a little crazy.
It was all he’d wanted to talk about once he got away from Hannah after the service.
Logan had pleaded with him to be patient, but his old friend, for once in his life, couldn’t seem to reach that deep well of patience he was once known for.
His conversation with Preacher Thompson halted as Dean and Garrett came in behind them, carrying the last table in from outside.
“Preacher, once again, I’m so sorry that—”
“Son, hush, please,” Preacher Thompson cut him off as he held up his hand. “Your apology has already been accepted ten times over. Why don’t you go on home? Check on your wife? She seemed to be struggling quite a lot today, even before the mess.”
Garrett let out a sorrowful sigh, but nodded his head.
“I think you’re right, Preacher,” he replied. “Sorry, I mean, thank you. For everything today.”
Preacher Thompson gave him a nod, and Logan, Garrett, and Dean said their farewells to him as they made their way back outside.
“I’m going to go find Hannah,” Garrett said.
“You should,” Dean agreed. “And if either of you need help, let me know.”
“Same here,” Logan offered.
“I appreciate that. I’ll see you two soon,” Garrett said, already walking away. “Thanks for staying back and helping me clean up.”
Dean and Logan both nodded, but the moment Garrett turned the corner of the church, Logan turned to Dean and gave him a playful elbowing to his ribs.
“Looks like you two made up,” he said. “You finally done being mad at him for not telling you about Hannah?”
“Yeah, well, I might have overreacted,” Dean replied, rubbing his side.
Logan barked out a laugh. “Might have? Your mama would be rolling over in her grave if she saw you or Grace treating a woman so poorly. A woman that is married to your best friend at that!”
Dean’s remorse grew more apparent as his broad shoulders dropped.
“Had to bring up Mama, didn’t you?” He murmured, kicking at the dust as if he was a boy instead of the full-grown man that he was.
Logan patted him on his back.
“You’re not a bad man, old boy. And I’m glad you stopped acting like you are,” Logan advised. “Grace seemed to do a little better too.”
Dean only nodded as he kept staring at the ground.
“Speaking of your sister,” Logan went on, “Where did she go?”
Dean looked up, confused, and peered around the now clean lawn. He reached up and scratched his head, squinting as the sun started to dip west.
“I don’t know,” Dean replied with a shrug. “I’m sure she was here a few minutes ago. I could have sworn I saw her helping Amanda.”
“Hmm,” Logan grunted, “She probably helped Amanda walk our parents home. I’ll go get her for you.”
“Thanks, man,” Dean said, clapping Logan on the back as he walked away.
It didn’t take long for Logan to get from the church to the main street where his and Amanda’s parents’ house sat, but when he got there, he found no Grace.
“Where did she go?” Logan asked Amanda as she stepped out onto the front porch.
Amanda shrugged.
“I don’t know. She just said she wanted to take a walk,” his sister replied.
“Alone?” Logan asked, his anxiety spiking. It didn’t help that his little sister laughed at him.
“It’s Sunday, so the saloon’s not open and, even if it was, it’s not even dark yet, so none of the riffraff are out. And you’re the one that keeps the town protected, Logan, you should know that we don’t have much trouble.”
That didn’t matter. Logan didn’t like the idea of beautiful Grace walking anywhere alone.
Especially today, when she looked so particularly stunning in her new green dress and bonnet.
He hadn’t been too thrilled to see Grace treat Hannah so poorly, but even so, he couldn’t deny the fact that seeing her had made his heart skip a beat.
“I’m going to go look for her,” Logan said, stepping off their parents’ porch.
“I could help,” Amanda offered, taking a step toward him. “We could split up and take less time to find her.”
Logan chortled.
“And end up having to look for two of you instead of just one? No thanks. Stay here, Amanda,” he answered.
He didn’t have to look back to know his little sister was rolling her eyes at him.
“You don’t need to be so bossy,” she called to him.
“I’m the Sheriff, sis, it’s what I do,” he called back, and smirked as he heard Amanda let out an annoyed sigh before going back inside their parents’ house.
His smirk faded after a while though, as he searched the town’s main streets and alleys and found them all empty.
His worry started to rise again as he headed to his Sheriff’s office, deciding that it was time to pull in one of his deputies for help.
He stopped just as he reached the door knob, though, and instead of pushing the door open, he listened.
Laughter, soft and feminine, was coming not from within the Sheriff’s office, but behind it.
With slow, quiet movements, Logan released the door knob, and carefully snuck around the side of the building.
He peered around the corner, and a strange pang thrummed in his heart as he saw Grace laughing with none other than Frank Ashton.
Frank sure likes to meet at the back of buildings, he thought bitterly.
Another pang shot through his heart as he heard Grace laugh again.
The beautiful sound so angelic, so feminine as she reached out and playfully slapped Frank’s shoulder.
Jealousy rose quick in his chest as he watched Frank reach toward Grace’s face and tuck a stray hair back into her bonnet.
Logan was moving before he knew it, walking with purpose and a scowl toward the man he’d caught behind the courthouse just a few short nights ago.
“Don’t you have a home, Frank?” Logan asked.
Grace and Frank both startled as they heard his voice, and both of them grew pale as they saw him. He hated how Grace looked almost troubled by his presence, but he couldn’t hide the joy he felt when he saw the panic in Frank’s eyes.
“Sheriff,” Frank stammered.
“You must not, if you keep finding yourself bringing company to the back of public buildings,” Logan said, staring intensely down at Frank.
“You should go now.”
Frank said nothing. Not even goodbye to Grace. Instead, he bolted and disappeared around the corner of the building.
“Coward,” Logan muttered, shaking his head as he watched Frank run away.
He turned back to Grace, both disappointed and jealous, and asked a bit too harshly, “What on earth do you think you’re doing, Grace?”
Though Grace might have looked shocked and even a little worried to see him at first, her expression quickly shifted to one of stubborn independence as she squared her shoulders and raised her chin.
“As much as you might think you can boss me around like I’m your little sister, you can’t, Logan William Hayes,” she stated primly as she crossed her arms.
“Oh, don’t worry, I definitely don’t see you as my little sister,” Logan retorted.
Grace looked startled by his words, but nowhere near as startled as Logan found himself.
He’d never said something like that to a woman before.
He had more manners than that. Before he could apologize though, Grace raised a coy brow, as if intrigued by his answer, and he suddenly felt so bashful he had to look away.
“Why would you need to meet with a man like Frank Ashton alone, Grace?” He asked, calmer this time. “He’s no good for you. Certainly not good for your reputation if anyone else but me would have caught you.”