Chapter Twenty-One #2
Grace tsked her tongue, drawing Logan’s gaze back to her face. Once more, he was taken aback by how beautiful she was. Especially now that he was so much closer.
“Frank’s not as bad as you might think, Logan,” Grace said, sounding defeated.
He raised a curious brow.
“Yeah? Well, he’s not so good either. Don’t take anything he says seriously. He’s a known flirt.”
“He’s also handsome,” Grace replied, “And kind when he wants to be. And he makes me laugh.”
Another surprising, sharp pang of jealousy struck Logan in the chest, and he grimaced.
“You sound like you’ve taken a liking to him,” he grumbled.
Grace’s calm expression shifted to one of worry, and he wondered what he said that affected her so.
“Grace, is everything alright?” He asked.
He reached out, wanting to comfort her, but changed his mind at the last second. She’d just been touched by one man; she didn’t need him pawing at her too.
“Frank is a bit of a wild card, I know,” Grace sighed, “But he’s far more handsome and easier to talk to than all those old, rich ranchers my father keeps trying to marry me off to.”
Guilt washed over Logan, soothing the burn of jealousy in his broad chest. He had always known that Mr. Walker was a strict man, but he’d never once thought that he wouldn’t allow Grace to choose a husband for herself.
He couldn’t imagine what that would be like; to be taken into God’s holiest ceremony with a person he didn’t personally choose for himself.
“Come on, Grace,” Logan urged, “You can do better than Frank.”
To his relief, Grace laughed softly at the way he said Frank’s name with open disgust, and didn’t get upset.
“He’s not my first choice,” she admitted.
Logan was quiet a moment as he studied her face.
Not just the soft curve of her cheeks, or her cute little button nose.
Or the way her soft lips curved naturally upward the same way her chin did.
No, he looked at her eyes; at the way they were tightened in the corners and her blonde brows puckered together.
She was afraid. Afraid of a future being tied to a man she couldn’t love or even connect with.
“You thought Garrett was going to change his mind,” Logan said softly.
Grace’s puckered brows shot up as her gaze snapped to his, and a bit of color fused into her cheeks.
“Doesn’t matter now,” she said defensively, her hands squeezing her arms tighter. “He’s already chosen someone else.”
“And you’ve chosen to treat that someone pretty poorly because you… are in love with him that much?” Logan asked.
She scowled deeply for a moment, then with a sigh, her face relaxed, and she shook her head.
“I didn’t love Garrett,” she confessed. “Not in that way at least. I was a little sweet on him when I was younger, sure, but that stopped when he told me he could only love me as a sister. He’s just the best choice!”
“Was,” Logan gently corrected her. “He was the best choice. Before he married Hannah. But you think he could be the best choice for you again if you’re mean enough to run her off?”
Grace groaned as she reached up to rub her face.
“Oh, I have been awful, haven’t I?” She grumbled. “Especially today. I shouldn’t have done that. I just felt so… so desperate.”
Logan gave her a lopsided smile and shook his head.
“You really think that if you ran Hannah off, Garrett would somehow come around and marry you after that?” he asked.
Grace groaned louder as she covered her eyes and shook her head.
“No, absolutely not,” she sighed. “You’re right. I behaved so badly. I need to find them both and apologize.”
“I agree,” Logan said, “But on another day. They all need some time to recover from today’s… issues.”
Grace nodded as the sound of footsteps alerted Logan that they were not alone, and he turned around and stepped further away from Grace just as Dean came around the corner. Logan immediately noticed the way Grace’s face blanched as she saw her brother, and she shot him a pleading look.
“What in the world are you two doing back here?” Dean asked, his protective edge sounding surlier than usual as he stalked toward them. “Logan, I thought you were going to find her and bring her right back?”
Logan realized then not one, but two secrets needed to be kept.
One for Grace’s sake, and one for his own.
Even if he was starting to have feelings for her, it wasn’t something he could act on now, maybe ever.
With as overprotective as Dean was, it could ruin their friendship, and he couldn’t have that, not when he knew he’d be losing Grace too.
“Well, it took me a while to find her,” Logan said, forcing a calm, casual smile as he walked toward his friend and patted him on the shoulder. “This little lady decided to chase a fox. Kept moving around a few steps ahead of me.”
Dean’s brows flew up as he looked from Logan to Grace, who’d managed to put on a sheepish smile.
“A fox?” He asked.
Logan held his breath. He was sure Grace was doing so as well as she nodded with that adorable sheepish smile.
Then Dean groaned, rubbed his face, and beckoned Grace to him.
“Girl, how many times do I have to tell you? You cannot make a fox your pet! And you cannot run after them! What if you were bit?” Dean said worriedly.
Logan loosed a quiet sigh of relief as Grace and Dean began to bicker about the fun and dangers of taking a fox as a pet as they walked away. Once they were gone, he stayed for a moment behind the Sheriff’s office, taking the quiet moment of solitude to get his mind in order.
Falling in love with Grace was a bad choice, he decided.
There was just no way that things would work out well.
Dean would never forgive him, and he was sure Mr. Walker didn’t find him good enough to marry his daughter anyway.
And of course, there was Grace herself. She’d gone after Garrett.
Then Frank, but not him. Not Logan. So it was clear she didn’t even think of him as a choice.
Though the realization hurt, Logan clung to it and tried to push his mind back to Garrett’s problem with the Southern Pacific Railroad as he walked back to his parents’ house.