Page 56 of Final Escape
She blinked, suddenly more aware of her surroundings.
At some point during the fireworks she’d shivered in the cool mountain air and Logan had laughed, draped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. And without a thought, she’d snuggled closer and rested her head against him.
Now, she pulled away to look up at him and found him studying her in return, his eyes like molten silver in the moonlight and the dimples bracketing his mouth deepening, and she suddenly wondered if he’d been watching the fireworks at all.
She’dcertainly been distracted by the lovely warmth of him next to her and the jittery sensation of awareness that had been dancing in her heart than she had been over the firework display in the valley.
She glanced around and realized that the other people around them were gone, and just a few stragglers were heading up the path. “Where’s Penny?”
“She left a few minutes ago because she figured the truck was blocking other vehicles. Don’t worry, though, I’ll take you home.”
He rose smoothly to his feet and held out a hand to help her up. She ended up close—too close—and wavered between hoping for a kiss, and needing to step back into her own personal space.
The air between them felt charged. Expectant. As if the earth was ready to shift in a new and exciting direction...and then he released her hand and the moment was over.
“Um...thanks,” she murmured, suddenly feeling a little shy. “This was a great evening.”
They folded the blanket and walked back up the path to the parking area, where a few families were still bundling children into seat belts. One of the moms glanced at him, then did a double take, and Carrie steeled herself for trouble.
But the woman just raised a hand in greeting. “Hey, Logan, good to see you. Say hi to Penny for me, okay?”
“Thanks,” he called back. “I’ll do that.”
At his pickup, he leaned in front of Carrie to unlock her door, then opened it for her and stood back, waiting for her to climb in.
She hesitated, feeling renewed empathy for this kind and gentle man. “I was afraid there’d be a scene back there,” she murmured. “I was ready to go toe-to-toe with her.”
He gave a low laugh. “Now you and Penny both, I guess. Thanks—but sometimes it’s just better to ignore those things.”
“Maybe.”
A faint smile touched his mouth. “I guess I just want the evidence to lead to the killer and the facts to be clear to everyone. End of story. I can’t possibly stop what everyone thinks in the meantime. And to paraphrase Shakespeare, if I protest too much, it just makes me seem all the more suspect.”
Startled, she turned back to him.Shakespeare?
He gently brushed a hand against her cheek. “I just hope this is all over soon, because I can only imagine how tough it is for you, not knowing what happened to Billy.”
* * *
PENNY WAS ALREADY INthe downstairs office, getting ready for the first group of passengers on Monday morning, when Carrie tapped on the door and stepped inside. “Here’s Murphy,” Carrie said. “And I’m off to school. Tell Logan that I still do appreciate the loan.”
“I will. He won’t be here today, though. He has errands in Billings, and might not get back until late. He said to tell you to keep Murphy tonight, unless you’re tired of his company and want to send him home with me.”
“I’ll be happy to keep him. I hadn’t realized how quiet that apartment was until I had a dog for company.” Carrie reached down to stroke Murphy’s head. “My cat completely ignores me. Will you need me to work this afternoon?”
“Absolutely, since Logan will be gone. We could actually use you to cover Tina’s float trips in the middle of the week, if you could—afternoon and evening. And once Logan is cleared by his doctor, we’ll need you even more, if he goes off to rodeo again.” Penny looked up from her computer screen and leaned back in her chair, her voice laced with worry. “I honestly don’t know what to wish for anymore. That he totally heals so he can go risk his life again, or that he doesn’t—at least until this season is over—so he has to stay here and be safe. But I guess it’s all in God’s hands.”
After hearing about Logan’s rodeo career, Carrie had tried to carefully distance herself, while still maintaining a friendly business relationship. But the more time she spent with him and his sister, the more she found herself being drawn into their world.Andthe more she found herself hanging on every word where he was concerned, wanting to learn more about this complex, caring man who had managed to come through false accusations and even a trial, without being embittered toward the community that had so wrongly judged him. A man who had shown her nothing but kindness and concern.
“Logan has never mentioned how he got hurt,” she ventured.
Penny shook her head. “And he won’t, unless you badger him. He’s always been like that. Our dad tends to make quite a bit out of whatever ails him. Logan is just the opposite.”
“Can you tell me what happened?”
“I’d normally just leave it to him. But he probably isn’t going to, and you should know since you work for us now.”
Carrie looked up sharply. “Is it bad?”
