Page 24 of Whiskey and Wildfire

I smiled, happier than I thought I would be to see family again. “See you soon.”

I ended the call and stared at my phone for a moment, my mind reeling. My mother was here, in Sagebrush. After five years of barely any contact, she’d suddenly left my father and shown up out of the blue. And she was supportive of me. It was a lot to process.

I quickly texted her the ranch address, then pocketed my phone and looked around at the half-finished fencepost. There was no way I’d get this done before she arrived. I’d have to explain to Mr. Baker why I was cutting out early.

As I gathered my tools, my thoughts drifted back to Logan. What would he think about my mother being in town? Would he want to meet her? The idea made me both excited and nervous. It wasn’t like we were together. There’d be no reason for him to meet her. Then again, once the Baker’s found out she was in town, I had no doubt the entire family would invite her over for dinner at the very least.

I trudged back to the barn, my boots kicking up little puffs of dust. The heat was oppressive, and I could feel sweat trickling down my back as I walked. My mind was still reeling from the conversation with my mom. Part of me was thrilled to see her after so long, but another part was terrified of what her presence in Sagebrush might mean for my carefully constructed life here. And another part of me, the part I didn’t want to admit, was still mad at her for not standing up for me in front of everyone. Shemight’ve accepted me, but up until five minutes ago, I’d never known.

As I approached the barn, I saw a familiar SUV pulling down the driveway. It was Logan’s. Seeing me, he pulled off to the side and rolled his window down, that bright smile of his making my heart do a little flip. Fuck he was handsome.

“Hey,” he called out as I got closer. “You’re back early. Everything okay?”

I nodded, trying to keep my voice steady. “Yeah, just got a surprise call and need to head into town.” I wasn’t quite ready to tell Logan about my mom yet. “Nothin’ serious.”

“Do you want a lift?” he asked, gesturing to the passenger seat. “I’m headed that way.”

“It’s alright. Someone is picking me up.”

Logan’s face darkened, his smile fading. “Oh. Gotcha.”

I knew what he was thinking the moment he spoke. “It’s not like that.” I didn’t know why I was smoothing things over. It wasn’t like Logan and I were together. “It’s… just business.”

“Well, I hope it goes well,” he replied, trying to smile once more.

“Thanks.”

Logan looked like he was about to leave, but then he stopped. “Say… do you want to hang out tonight?”

I stared at him, everything in my heart and body shouting at me to tell him yes. But I swallowed it down, forcing myself to remain calm.

“Probably not tonight.”

“Oh. Yeah. Okay. No problem.” His eyes darted around, avoiding making contact with mine. “Well, have a good meeting. See ya.”

The SUV pulled away and I felt my heart sink. I didn’t like making him upset, but it was too hard to resist him right now after everything that had happened. Plus, my mom was in towntoo and that was stressful enough without having to resist Logan too. No, right now, we just needed to stay apart. I had too much on my plate and he had his own life to work on. Maybe once we were both done figuring things out, we could try again.

For now, it was better to be alone.

Chapter 10

Logan

The bell over the door jingled as I stepped into Dolly’s. The moment I did, a familiar voice rang out.

“Well, hey there, sugar!” Dolly called, her signature red acrylics flashing in the sunlight as she waved. “Been a minute since I saw your face in here!”

“Hello Dolly,” I replied, stepping up to the counter. There was a smile on my face, but it was hard nice to smile around her. She had enough vibrance to fill an entire room by herself. “Has Lucas showed up yet? I’m meeting him for lunch.”

“Well, he’s in here darn near every day,” she grinned. “Him and Beau eat here all the time. They really cash in on that free meal for bringing me that prize winnin’ barbecue. Although I’m startin’ to think those free meals are gonna put me out of business with the way they eat.” She gave me a wink. “Do you wanna grab a table or eat up here with little ol’ me?”

“You don’t mind? Even after we tried to steal your pie recipe?”

“That’s all in the past, sugar.” She pointed a single red claw at me. “But you better behave or I’m liable to get a little crazy.”

I nodded. “Yes ma’am.”

I settled onto a stool at the counter, the vinyl seat squeaking beneath me. Dolly bustled around behind the counter, her beehive hairdo bobbing as she moved.

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