Counting Stars (A Donnelley Brother's Novel) (32 page)

Pulling away, he frowned
down at me. “What about?”

“That morning.” I
whispered, praying for strength and understanding. “I need to know
what was happening—between you and that—woman.”

Slowly, he nodded. “Do
you want to go for a walk?”

I nodded. “Sure. I’ll
grab my jacket.”

He waited by the door as
I dug through the closet for my light fall jacket. It wasn’t
painfully cold outside yet, but it was well on its way. Sliding my
arms into the beige leather of my jacket, I wrapped a white scarf
around my neck. “Ready.”

He smiled down at me.
“You’re adorable, you know that?”

I narrowed my eyes on
him. “Flattery is not going to get you out of this conversation,
mister.”

He chuckled, but the
grin that came with the sound didn’t meet his eyes. “I know, city
girl. Believe it or not, but I know when you’re serious. And when
you’re serious, there’s next to no changing your mind.” He opened
the door for me and as I walked past him, he said. “I’ll tell you
everything, Reese. But you need to understand that I had a life
before I met you, but that’s all it is, time lived and choices made
before you.”

Chewing the inside of my
cheek, I replied. “I know, Logan. I just want the truth—no matter
how painful.”

He nodded. “Okay.”

Closing the door, I
locked it before stepping down the front steps beside Logan. His
hands slid into mine, his thumb rubbing absently against the skin
over the back of my hand. “I’ve known Lexie nearly all my life. We
met in kindergarten and like most kids out where I lived we went
through the next twelve years together. It was rare that someone
new came or someone left. Lexie and I were friends and in grade
twelve, we went to grad together. I don’t know what happened
between us that night, but after that night, we were more than just
friends. We were a couple. A couple years later, my house was
finished and I moved out of the cabin I’d been staying in as a way
to get some privacy from my parents—mostly my Mom.” He shook his
head before continuing. “Anyway, when I turned twenty-six, I asked
Lexie to move in with me.”

“And she did?”

He nodded. “Yeah. I
thought we had a good life and a year later, I asked her to marry
me.”

Wow, hearing him say
those words really hurt my heart. Just knowing that there was
another woman out there that he’d loved enough to want to spend the
rest of his life with was killer painful. “What did she say?”

“She said no.” He
replied simply and I gasped. “She packed up all her stuff and moved
to the city.”

“She did?” My mouth was
opening and closing like a fish out of water. That was how shocked
I was.

“She did.” He confirmed.
“She said she wanted to experience more from life than what I had
given her.”

“What did you do?”

“I let her go.” He
stated simply. “It was what she wanted and I wasn’t going to hold
her back.”

“You didn’t chase her
down and demand she come back to the Ranch with you? You didn’t
call her phone so much that the ringer is almost dead?”

He quirked a grin. “No,
city girl. I’ve only ever done that for you.”

“You mean you’ve only
ever gone stalker for me.” I teased and he feigned offense.

“Stalker?” He shook his
head. “Ouch,”

“I’m kidding.” I leaned
into him and he pressed his lips to the top of my head. Seriousness
took over the play and I asked, “Why was she back?”

“Apparently she wasn’t
happy in the city. Before you arrived at the Ranch, she’d been
calling me off and on. I rarely stayed on the phone for long, but
then I met you and that changed. I explained that I wasn’t
interested in continuing with keeping contact when we returned home
from our month tour.” He toed the concrete. “I didn’t tell her
about you, but somehow she knew. That’s why she came back. She
thought that if I saw her again all my old feelings would come
rushing back, but the thing is that I never did feel for Lexie the
way I feel about you.”

“But you did love her.”
I whispered, holding my breath for his reply.

“I did.” He nodded and I
was surprised to find that the hurt wasn’t as bad as I’d thought it
would be.

“We all have a past,
Logan.”

“So you understand?” He
breathed.

“Of course I do.” I
frowned. “But why didn’t you tell her that you didn’t love her
anymore?”

He sighed. “Lexie is
really pushy. She’s always been that way. The best way to get a
point across to her is to say nothing at all.”

I shook my head,
laughing at his logic. I didn’t understand it, but it didn’t
matter. All that mattered is that Logan was here now—and he wasn’t
leaving without me. “I love you, Logan. Thank you for coming for
me.”

“I will always come for
you, city girl.”

I smiled, pulling in a
deep breath of crisp air. “I’ll never run away again.”

He pulled me in close to
his side. “So,” he bobbed his head. “This is where you lived?”

“Yeah, right next door
to Kat.”

“It’s a nice place.”

“It was perfect for my
life before you.” I smiled up at him. “But now I know where I
belong, and it isn’t here.”

Pressing his lips to
mine, he murmured. “I’m a lucky man.”

Sprinkling
black olives over the tray of chips, Kat followed behind with
cheese. She leaned in close to me, talking low under her breath so
Logan wouldn’t hear her from where he was playing Candyland with
Macie (or learning to play).

“He’s cute.” She moaned.
“I mean, hot. Yeah, he’s smoking.”

I grinned. “I know.”

“And he’s so nice.” She
lifted her chin in his direction. “Look at him with Macie—he
definitely wants kids.”

“Yeah, he does want
kids.” I sighed. “Maybe one day.”

“I hope that day comes
quickly!” Kat bumped her hip with mine, winking. “The two of you
would make super adorable babies.”

I flushed red.
“Kat!”

“What?” She raised her
voice. “Logan, don’t you think you would make adorable babies with
my friend, Reese?”

Logan’s eyes settled on
mine. “I don’t think, I know.”

If I got any hotter, I
would surely combust into flames. The way my man was watching me
now made me think he was thinking about making babies right this
minute—um—no.

Kat continued. “Awe,
sweetie! He said he knows.” She turned her attention back to Logan.
“So, when should I expect to hold my first niece or nephew?”

“Kat!”

“Soon, hopefully.” Logan
chuckled. “Just got to get Reese on board.”

“Reese has always sat on
the fence with this one.” Kat shrugged. “But as soon as it happens
she’ll know it was perfect all along. Girl would make a great
mom—she can tear through freezes on a hot day like it’s nobodies
business. And if you play Barbie’s and Hot Wheels like you play
Candyland then you’ll make an awesome dad!”

Logan raised a brow,
“Barbie’s and Hot Wheels, huh?”

“Oh yeah,” Kat nodded
exuberantly as I shook my head. “They’re all the rage!”

“Alright Kat, head in
the nachos now. We’ve gotta load these babies and show Logan how
it’s done right.”

Kat stiffened,
“Puhlease,” she raised her brows at me. “I can make kick-butt
nachos in my sleep!”

Logan chuckled.
“Kick-butt?”

Kat winked. “You start to modify your profanities when
you realized that little ones are like parrots, they repeat
everything.
”

I left Logan and Kat to
their very odd conversation as I finished dressing up the nacho
chips. Placing them into the oven, I called. “They’re almost
ready.”

Kat jumped to attention.
“I’ll grab Frozen for Macie and she can watch it while we play a
board game.”

“Sounds good!” I called
as she dashed up the stairs.

Macie giggled, blinking
up at Logan as she belted out in song, her arms open wide as she
spun around in a circle. “Do you wanna make a snowman?”

Logan glanced out the
window with a frown tugging down the corners of his lips. “Um,
there’s no snow yet, Macie.”

I laughed, holding my
belly. “She’s singing to you,” I gasped. “It’s from Frozen.”

“Oh,” Logan nodded.
“Right.”

Kat reappeared from
upstairs. “She sang didn’t she?”

“Yep,” I laughed. “It
was so cute.”

“It never fails.”

The chimer dinged on the
oven and I went to check to the nachos. Placing them on the stove,
I felt Logan behind me. He kissed my bare shoulder, left exposed
from my bat-winged shirt, and moaned. “Those look amazing.”

“I told you my favorite
dish was nachos.”

“I can see why.” He
inhaled again. “But they still don’t compare to Christmas.”

Kat pulled me close,
hugging me tight. “I’m going to miss you, but the next time you
appear in my house, it better not be in tears!”

I laughed, hugging her
just as tight. “I’m going to miss you too! And you guys can always
come and visit us, too!”

“There are plenty of
cabins you can stay in if you don’t want to stay in the house with
us.” Logan stated.

Kat waved, “Oh no, if we
come, we’ll be staying with you.”

Logan nodded, grinning
widely. “Wouldn’t want it any other way.”

She looked back to me.
“I love you. Call me when you get there.”

“I will.” I promised. “I
love you too.”

Macie turned to Logan
and her little lower lip hung low in a pout. “I’m gonna misses
you.”

Logan ruffled her hair.
“I’ll miss you too, kiddo.”

Macie beamed, scurrying
back inside the house. We all laughed, but Kat teased, “Well, I
think someone thinks you’re cute, Logan.”

He shook his head at
Kat, “She’s your daughter, Kat.”

Kat beamed proudly,
winking at me. “Oh, I know.”

I waved, as I walked to
the truck with Logan. My car was latched onto the tow dolly he’d
brought with him from home. Obviously he hadn’t been joking when he
said he wasn’t leaving without me in the passenger seat.

Over my shoulder, I
called to Kat. “I’ll call you.”

“Drive safe!” She yelled
as I climbed into the truck. Logan closed my door and I watched as
he walked around the front end to his side, waving at Kat, he
jumped in beside me.

Closing his door, he
grinned at me. “We’re going home, city girl.”

“Finally,” I breathed,
resting my head back against the seat. Logan reached into the back
seat, pulling a blanket up into the front.

He handed it to me.
“Snuggle up, baby. It’s going to be a long ride.”

Pulling the blanket onto
my lap, I leaned over the center console to press my lips against
his. “It’s going to be a beautiful ride, Logan.”

He moaned against my
lips, agreeing. “A beautiful ride, city girl.

. . .
Derek, it’s been a while since I’ve talked to you.
Actually, it’s been a few months. I still think of you (I’m sure
you know this) but I haven’t actually talked to you lately. So, I
figured I’d make a little date in my mind with you to let you know
what’s going on in my life.