Page 21 of The Wounded Mountain Man

Logan smiles. "He's such a good guy."

"He is." I nod, proudly admiring our paint job—we went for a vintage American vibe with soft teal, cream, and cherry red. "They all are."

"How did Hattie take it?" Logan asks.

"I knew that if I asked, she'd likely be too proud to accept the help. So I didn't ask. She's kept us well-fed all day, and the guys have made it abundantly clear to her that since she's a military spouse, she's family, so there's no way they couldn't help her."

Logan beams as he stares into my eyes, looping his arms around my shoulders. "I'm so proud of you."

"Oh, yeah." I lower my voice to a husky whisper so none of the guys overhear. "Do I get a reward?"

His eyes glimmer. "You do. Name it."

"Okay." I lean in until my lips are a breath away from his ear. "Tonight, we ditch the timer."

He shakes his head, chuckling. "Fine. But if your face is in pain, and not the good, sexy kind of pain, we're stopping."

"Deal."

"Deal."

"I'm so excited for you," Logan says, clutching my hand tightly.

We've just submitted the necessary applications for me to start a vocational training program at the center in the fall. I could have asked Logan to hand the paperwork in for me, but I wanted to come in and do it myself. This is a major step forward, and I feel it's the right path.

"I still can't believe the center is willing to cover all the costs," I say as we make our way to Logan's office.

"They do great things sometimes," he replies.

"And you have no idea who the owner is?"

He shakes his head. "Nope. The official owner is an LLC, but the actual owner of the LLC remains a mystery."

"Any ideas?"

"None. I've done some digging, spoken to staff, even asked Tex about it. No one actually knows who owns the place. Wild, huh?"

"Totally. About as wild as me starting school again."

"Ooh." He claps his hands together excitedly as we reach his office. "That means we get to do some back-to-school shopping."

I chuckle. "I don't think that'll be necessary."

"We could drive down to LA, take the kids, make a day of it."

"You want to drive two hours just for school supplies?"

"Come on. It'll be fun."

"We'll see. We still have some time left before we need to make concrete plans."

"Okay. But I'll keep pushing."

I give him a kiss goodbye. "Oh, I have no doubt you will."

"You off to the diner?"

"Yep. Replacement motor for the exhaust fans arrived yesterday. Tex and Lance are giving me a hand installing it."

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