Page 63 of The Runaway Bride's Vow

Chapter Twenty-One

Another yawn escaped his lips.

A couple of days later, Logan was on his way home after his shift at the firehouse. It had been an unusually quiet night and still he hadn’t gotten much sleep. His thoughts had kept him awake late into the night.

In the darkest hours, he’d used his phone to read Brooke’s emails over and over again until his battery threatened to die. He told himself to let her go, but there was something holding him back. He hadn’t been himself since Brooke had left. It was as though he’d lost a piece of himself the day she drove away.

His brain told him to block her number. His heart said he should ask her to come home. If he were to do the latter, he had no clue what would come after that. So, he did exactly what he’d been doing since she left on their wedding day—nothing.

Before he headed home, he’d messaged Margie to see if he could stop by. She’d agreed. His excuse for the impromptu visit was that Kaylie had forgotten her favorite stuffed animal. In truth, he just needed to see his little girl and give her a hug.

When Margie opened the door, she gave him a strange look. “Are you feeling all right?”

He nodded. “I’m fine.”

Margie stepped back so he could enter her modern-style home with lots of tall windows and beautiful finishes. As he passed by her, she asked, “Have you gotten any sleep lately?”

“Do I look that bad?”

“No. You look worse.”

Just then Kaylie ran into the room. With a big smile, she jumped into his arms. He lifted her up and gave her a big hug. “I missed you, kiddo.”

“I missed you too.” Kaylie leaned back to look at him. “I miss Brooke too. Can we go see her?”

He stifled a sigh. “We can’t.”

“Because you’re mad at her?”

He shook his head. He was no longer mad. If anything he was confused. As his daughter continued to stare expectantly at him, he knew he had to give her a satisfactory answer, or she’d never let the subject go. “Brooke isn’t home.”

“Where is she? At work?”

“No. She went to visit her family.”

“Where do they live?”

“In Iowa.”

“Iowa? Where’s that?”

“A long ways away.”

“Oh.” The sadness showed in his daughter’s eyes. “Is she coming back?”

“I don’t know. I think so.”

“Can we see her then?”

“We’ll see.” Remembering her teddy bear, he held it out to her. “Buster really missed you.”

Kaylie snatched the bear from his hand and gave the stuffed animal a big hug. “I missed him too.” When he put Kaylie down, she said, “I have to put him to bed. I’ll be back.” She ran out of the room.

Margie held up the coffee pot. “Do you want some?”

“Yeah. That would be great.”

She poured it into a large travel mug and handed it to him. “Just bring it back next time.”

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