Choices (20 page)

His blue eyes danced with mischief as he said, “Hey, the parents are here. Can’t we edit that a bit?” he laughed, and then laughed harder when he saw the disgruntled look Logan threw his way.

His even white teeth flashed in a wry grin. “We were fifteen, and Abby was my first love.” He said dramatically, placing a hand to his heart.

“Oh, bull, I was just the first girl you ever kissed.” She replied and stepped lightly into his hug. He picked her up, bringing her feet off the floor.

“See, even now she can break my heart.” He replied, then put her down. Logan was still glaring at him.

“Easy Logan, I’m over it.” Kyle replied smoothly, but he really wasn’t. Abby was the first girl he ever loved, and she had spoiled him for the rest.

“Well, just be over it somewhere else.” Logan mumbled, but without heat. Abby seemed immune to his charms, as she stepped away from him and came right back to Logan.

“Pull up a hay bale, son.” Tuck suggested, scooting over on his and offering him a seat. Kyle sat, stretching his long legs out. He watched Abby and Logan and knew he had lost another chance with her. Oh well. He had plenty of women to keep him warm in Billings.

“So what are you up to Kyle? Not spying on girls anymore, are you?” Abby teased, secretly pleased at the feel of Logan’s arm possessively tight around her.

“No, not anymore. I just take their pictures now.” He replied, grinning wickedly.

“Oh that’s great! You went into photography after all?” she asked. Kyle had never gone anywhere without his camera, even having a special case made for his saddle so his cameras wouldn’t break on long trail rides.

“Yeah, but I stopped trying to market my wildlife shots and moved into commercial photography. Pays better.”

“He better be ready to step up and take over the reins at the ranch though.” His father mumbled.

“Hey, I can do that too. I’m multi-talented.” He said suggestively, and Abby laughed at that.

“You better settle down and quit spreading your multi-talented self around.” Celia commented, reaching out and hitting Kyle on his leg.

“It’s hard to do that with all those beautiful women running around.” He raised an eyebrow at his mom.

“You shoot for magazines?” Logan asked, slowly warming to the conversation. He had known Kyle as long as he knew his parents, and he never thought much of him as a person, and found it hard to believe that he had come from Tuck and Celia, the two most down-to-earth people he knew. All Kyle seemed to want was a good time, but he had made a success of himself.

“Yeah, mass-market stuff. Glamour, Cosmo, Elle, that kind of medium.”

“He’s contributing to the myth that women need to be sticks to be attractive.” Celia said sarcastically.

“I’m not contributing to it, I’m just banking on it. America perpetuates the myth all on its own.” He replied, standing up. “I’ll catch ya’ll later. I’m going to go mingle.” He leaned down and kissed his mother, hugged his father, shook Logan’s hand, then bent down to Abby in another hug, whispering softly in her ear, “If you ever need me, you know where to find me.” She nodded.

She knew Kyle well, and knew that he was actually a terrific guy. Growing up, he had been almost painfully shy. He had been full of bravado and talked big in front of the other guys they had hung around with, but when it had been just the two of them, he had another side that Abby knew was the real Kyle.

He had an appreciation for nature that rivaled her own, and he was very poetic, very artistic. She was sad that she had let their friendship lapse. When she came back from Boston, she would work to remedy that.

“Yep, that’s my boy. Big time photographer.” Tuck said, but Abby could tell he was proud.

“Does he ever come out to help at the ranch?” Abby asked, watching his tall form sweep some girl into an upbeat two-step.

“At spring muster he comes down for two weeks or so to help out. Calls it his vacation time, but what he needs a vacation from is beyond me.” Celia put in.

“Oh come on now Celia, can’t be all fun and games standing around taking pictures of beautiful women all day long.” Tuck replied, the look on his face suggesting something different.

“Oh sure, because that’s work for a hot blooded young man?” she asked sarcastically.

“It could be.” Logan said under his breath with a laugh, and Abby giggled.

“Well, I guess we’re gonna get going. We’re staying in Bozeman overnight then heading back up to Missoula in the morning.” Tuck said, getting up from the hay bale. “We just came down to see if you were here, and to see Kyle. Logan, give me a call next week, and we’ll talk some business.”

Logan and Abby stood and said goodbye, Celia telling Abby that she’d call her mom and tell her that she thought Abby was too thin, but otherwise doing fine. Abby hugged her fiercely. “Thank you for caring.”

“Baby doll, you’re like the daughter I never had, of course I care. This time, don’t let time go by without keeping in touch, you hear?” Abby nodded, blinking back tears. They watched them weave through the crowd, Celia shaking her behind to the music, Tuck’s hand at her back.

“They’ve been married forever, and yet they still seem so in love.” Abby marveled, as if that were a foreign concept to her.

“That happens when you find your soul-mate.” Logan leaned down to whisper in her ear, the warmth of his breath raising goose-bumps on her arms.

“Is that what we are Logan? Soul-mates?” she asked tremulously, longing for it to be true. He wrapped his arms around her, bending to whisper fiercely in her ear, “By God I’ll make you believe it eventually.” He moved her through the crowd, intent on leaving. He was going to put a stop to all the doubt in her mind if it killed him.

Abby let him usher her through the crush of people, then they were in the truck, heading home. He had almost sounded mad, and his face was set as he drove the miles back home.

“Logan? Are you mad at me?” she asked slowly, struggling to control her anger. How can he expect her to be certain of anything when the rest of her life was in complete turmoil?

He was silent, gathering the reins of his own temper. When would she see what was in front of her face and know that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her?

When he didn’t reply, she crossed her arms over her chest and went on.

“You have to forgive me Logan if I have a hard time believing in soul mates, or happily ever after. Besides my parents, I don’t exactly have role models to suggest otherwise. Most everyone I know has been divorced at least once.”

“You were married to a bastard.” He ground out between clenched teeth.

“You’re absolutely right, Logan, I was married to a bastard, let’s not forget. A bastard that I had been with for a long time and I know nothing else. I can’t just forget that.” She shot back, but regretted it when the look of pain crossed his features.

That was the problem, he thought. She couldn’t forget him and let Logan take his place. Well, he would take care of that, he was damn tired of fighting a ghost, a memory of a marriage gone bad.

They didn’t say anything, for fear of saying something they would regret. The miles passed in a stony silence and when they pulled into LM and Logan took the road leading to her cabin, Abby turned to him, about to apologize, but something in his face made her stop. He was staring out the windshield, his mouth set in a grim line as he slowly brought the truck to a stop.

“Logan?” she asked hesitantly. He looked at her then, and the rage in his eyes made her gasp.

“You have a visitor.” He spat out.

Abby turned to face the cabin and let out a low moan. Steve was standing on the porch. Her first thought, How did he find me, was spoken out loud by Logan, but he drew all the wrong conclusions.

“How did he find you Abby? Your parents wouldn’t have told him. Did you talk to him?” he asked angrily. Her lie came back to haunt her, though she hadn’t told Steve where she was. She nodded slowly.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” he said, all the hurt and anger he felt reflected in his voice.

“You don’t understand Logan. I didn’t tell him where I was, and I didn’t want you to know I talked to him, because I was afraid of this reaction, the one you’re having right now.” She lashed out. She watched Steve start down the steps, coming toward the truck.

“So I’m supposed to believe he just magically found you? What, sent out a private investigator?”

It was a viable answer, and he knew it, but he was hurt that she hadn’t trusted him enough to tell him she had talked to him.

“It might be. Let me take care of this.” She warned as Logan opened the truck door and got out. Abby scrambled to get her door open and ran around the front of the truck.

“Abby, what’s going on? Who’s this?” Steve demanded, motioning to Logan.

“Steve, just go inside the cabin. I’ll explain later.” Abby pleaded, reaching for Logan’s arm. He shrugged her off, and looked down at her, contempt in his eyes.

“No Abby, tell him who I am. Tell him what’s going on.” he said, spitting the words through clenched teeth. If he was so important to her, why did she not just tell him who Logan was?

“Who is he, Abby?” Steve demanded again, saw the way Abby was trying to draw the guy away, and put two and two together.

“Are you sleeping with my wife?” he had the gall to say, then with a roar Logan punched him, knocking him to the ground, at the same time Abby shouted “Wife! What do you mean, wife!”

“Logan!” Abby screamed, then knelt down at Steve’s side. Logan had knocked him unconscious. “Damn you, I would’ve told him everything! I just had to do it in my own time.” She yelled up at him.

He stared down at her, his eyes cold, almost black in the light from the porch.

“Now you have all the time in the world to tell him.” He said, then turned on his heel and got back in the truck. He reversed in a spray of gravel, then turned the truck around and sped down the road. The last she saw of him was his taillights going around the corner.

Chapter Ten

“Honey, for someone whose divorce is finalized, you sure look dejected. Quit staring out the window and come eat something.”

Abby turned from the window and faced Joyce. Her friend had a plate of food in her hand, and was setting it down on the little table in front of her couch. Abby wrapped her arms around her waist and sat down. She felt cold, couldn’t seem to get warm since that night two weeks ago when she last saw Logan.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Joyce asked, sitting in a chair that faced the couch, curling her legs up underneath her. Abby shook her head. Joyce sighed, running a hand through her mahogany tresses.

“Abby, you need to talk, girl, you can’t just sit around and wallow.”

“I know, and maybe when it doesn’t hurt so terribly, I will. I feel like my heart has been ripped out.” She said hollowly. She reached for her fork, but just pushed the food around on her plate. Good old take out from Pastrano’s, Abby’s favorite Italian restaurant, and she couldn’t even enjoy it.

Since coming back to Boston the day after that disastrous night, food had turned to ash in her mouth, and she hadn’t spoken to anyone but Joyce and her lawyer. She hadn’t seen Steve either since that night, and had no idea what the hell he’d been doing there at the ranch.

“When do you go back?” Joyce asked, trying to get something out of her.

“I’m going back tomorrow. If I stay any longer, the cost of keeping the Rover in long term parking will break me.” She replied.

She was going back to Whitefish after all, to move back with her parents, try to rebuild her life there. Bozeman was too close to Logan, too close to more memories she had to escape. A year ago she had been one of the wealthiest women in Boston, able to go anywhere she wanted.

Would she trade all the wealth in the world to be back with Logan? Absolutely. She had stopped being furious with him th
e second she saw his taillights retreating in the dark.

“Abby, please, please talk to me! You won’t talk to your mom or dad, your friend Kassey calls here trying to talk to you, but you always tell me to tell her you’re not around, and it’s eating you up inside.”

Abby kept up her perusal of her food, thinking that the last thing she needed was to talk to Kassey, who probably just wanted to give her a piece of her mind.

God knows what Logan told them all. Even thinking his name hurt, because it brought his face into focus in her mind. She heard Joyce get up from the chair, and then felt her take her shoulders and draw her into an embrace. And the flood gates opened. Abby dissolved into her tears, tears she hadn’t let shed in two weeks. Joyce held her while she cried out her torment, shoulders shaking with the force of her sobs.

“Joyce, it hurts so bad! I feel like someone took my heart out and filled the empty space with cold fire.” She sobbed, her whole body trembling. Joyce rocked her, not saying anything. Abby needed to get it out, and Joyce wasn’t about to speak and give Abby a chance to close down again.

“Did I ever tell you how I felt the first minute I looked at Logan?” she sniffed, feeling the tears flowing freely down her cheeks. Joyce shook her head and said
“no” softly.