Page 37 of Destined for the Cowboy

Tris had had her share of heartache in her life, but she couldn’t begin to imagine what it must feel like to know not even your own parents, neither of them, wanted you.

“And in most cases,” Lark added kindly, gently, “depending on age and situation, what happened will be part of them for the rest of their lives.” Was that a warning? Tris wasn’t sure, and before she could decide Lark went on. “And now I have a question for you. Why does this matter to you enough to ask me?”

“I…” Tris’s voice trailed away. But something about this woman, about the way she was looking at her, made Tris say the words she’d never admitted even to herself. “I like him. A lot.”

There, she’d said it. Out loud.

“Now that,” Lark said, sounding oddly satisfied, “I understand.”

Tris let out a long breath, feeling oddly lighter. As if what she’d said had somehow eased some tension inside her she hadn’t even really been aware of. Or at least hadn’t recognized, because she had never expected to feel it.

She liked—really liked—Logan. And now that she’d put it into words, and spoken them, it felt so…right.

She smiled at Lark. The woman had clearly learned about more than just children in her career. “I don’t know how you did that work as long as you did.”

“It was worth it, when things went well, and I got the right child into the right situation. I only left when outside things began to seriously get in the way of that. And now,” she said with a smile so happy and warm it lightened Tris’s mood, “there’s nothing in the way and almost all my endings are happy.”

“I’m so glad,” Tris said, meaning it.

They were walking out of Java Time when Lark paused and turned to face her. When Tris looked at her, she said, “If you can get him to tell you that story, to let it out, that alone might work wonders for him. As alone as he’s been, he’s probably never had the chance.”

Tris thought about everything Lark had said all the way home. And kept thinking about it after she was there, bits of the conversation flowing through her mind as she went rather mechanically about the bit of housekeeping she’d been putting off.

…what happened will be part of them for the rest of their lives.

She wondered just how much of Logan’s reticence and isolation stemmed from that sad childhood history. She guessed a lot. He wasn’t used to being welcomed. He wasn’t used to being valued, not just for what he could do, but for who he was as a man. As a person whose company people would enjoy.

If he could ever break loose and let them see the person beneath the withdrawn exterior.

If.

She realized, now that she thought about that very kind and gentle tone Lark had used, that she had been warning her.Warning her any effort she made might be useless. And that, Tris guessed, was the voice of experience talking. How many had she been unable to reach in that time with CPS? How many times had she run into a wall as strong and impenetrable as Logan’s?

It’s his story to tell, not mine.

Yes, Lark was a good person, the very best kind to be doing what she did. The kind you could trust, even if you were a terrified, abused kid.

If you can get him to tell you that story, to let it out, that alone might work wonders for him.

And she wanted that for him. Wanted him to be free of what was holding him back.

And you? Do you want to be free of what’s holding you back, too?

“One step at a time,” she murmured to herself.

Of course, she couldn’t get him to do anything if she never saw him. It had been a week since that lovely day at the Baylor ranch, but it felt like an eternity. She told herself it was because of all the extra work she’d had to do to wind up the year, but somewhere deep down that little voice she often had to quiet was telling her it was more than that.

And now she was, except for some meetings and a couple of extra tutoring sessions she’d be doing through the summer, free.

Free…to do what? Chase down Logan Fox and force him to talk to her? She recoiled at the thought. This did not seem like something that should be forced. But she wasn’t sure what else to do.

And late that night, as she lay in the dark unable to sleep, she pondered the fact that this—and he—had become so important to her. She even wondered, for a moment, if perhaps seeing her brother’s newfound happiness had somehow opened her up to seeking some of her own.

The one thing she was certain of at this point was that when the idea of seeking happiness formed in her mind, the only person she could think of was Logan Fox.

Chapter Twenty

This was thefifth night he’d slept out here on the deck.

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