He cursed, drew back his arm and threw the bottle against the wall. It shattered and liquor cascaded to the floor. Logan walked out of the den to find his brother Sully standing in the hallway.
“Just got in. Avery left?” he asked.
“Yeah. Shouldn’t be surprised, but I am.”
Sully just shook his head. “Well I’m here. I know she’s a damned sight prettier but you know I always have your back.”
Logan didn’t know what to say. He was broken in a way that his father had never been able to break him. “I love her. And I lost her, Sully.”
*
Avery ignored the call from Rachel, but then Savannah and Rachel showed up at Booze’s where she sat in the back of the bar at a dark table. She felt small and broken. She’d pushed Logan away. Hurt him. But it was better to do it now than later, she thought. She had no idea what to do next. She who always had a plan had no idea what she wanted anymore.
“What is going on?” Rachel asked, sliding in next to Avery.
“You look like a mess,” Savannah said.
She had been trying not to cry but it kept coming in waves, surprising her.
“My parents canceled. I realized that you can’t trust anyone and broke up with Logan. Now I can’t go home because my house is on his property and I can’t go to Austin because my parents canceled the hotel,” she said. “And I can’t seem to stop rambling.”
“Oh, honey, I’m sorry,” Savannah said, sliding into the booth across from her.
“Me too,” Rachel said, putting her arm around Avery’s shoulders. “What are you going to do?”
“I have no idea,” Avery said. “I mean I’ll have to figure something out but right now I’m feeling sorry for myself.”
“Well snap out of it. Breaking up with Logan seems dumb to me,” Savannah said. “You love him.”
“I know that,” she said. “But I’m not sure I can ever trust myself not to disappoint him the way… I wasn’t even that surprised when I read the email. Even after all the calls and emails, well the two calls and emails. I just thought this time would be different.”
“They aren’t going to change,” Rachel said. “I think Logan might be—”
“No,” Avery said. “It’s not fair to Logan for me to keep doing this to him. I keep saying he’s a celebrity or he’s got another life somewhere else but I’m the one who is the mess. And Logan needs a woman who can give him the kind of love and support that he never had. He’s a really great guy. He needs better than me. I’m always going to be afraid that I will let him down.”
“But you haven’t yet,” Savannah pointed out.
“No, I haven’t,” Avery said. “I’ll figure it out. Sorry I worried you both.”
“You’ll figure it out,” Rachel said. “What are you doing for Christmas? Want to come and join me?”
“No,” she said. “I won’t be fit company. I’ll be okay.”
Her friends stayed a bit longer, but they both had lives to get back to. She was the only one who was alone. She wished she’d handled things with Logan better. She drove home and saw that the lights were on at the mansion and there was music blasting. Logan seemed to be moving on.
She entered her house and went to bed. Lay there staring at the ceiling filled with regret. Eventually she drifted off to sleep no closer to figuring out what she was going to do or if pushing Logan away was the biggest mistake she’d ever made.
*
Logan was the first to admit that he didn’t take compliments easily but tonight while his mansion was filled with kids from the local schools and their families it was easy to see that he’d at least found a way to make the Calloway name good for something other than as a warning of what not to do.
Eli was his co-host for the event and Harlan and his brothers were all helping talk to kids. He hadn’t limited the invites to just kids who lived in the Barrels. Having heard about Avery’s parents had made him realize that it wasn’t just kids from low-income areas who might be in need of mentors. He thought the evening was going well. He ducked into the kitchen to find Rachel working on a tray and she looked up and smiled at him when she saw him.
“The food is delicious,” Logan said. “You’re really a great caterer. Eli and I are both excited to have you run the restaurant at the winery once it is built.”
Rachel got a funny look on her face. “It will be a great opportunity and I appreciate you giving me a chance,” she said. “I wanted to thank you for coming to find me yesterday. Avery is a mess and she needed her friends.”
“I thought she might.”
“Her parents are always letting her down like that,” Rachel said. “It shouldn’t have been a surprise that once again they did it. I think she regrets getting upset with you.”
“What do you mean?” he asked. Her parents had promised her this time they would follow through. She had told him more times than he wanted to recall how much she was looking forward to seeing snow for the first time and that this Christmas was going to be a good one.
“They canceled the trip,” Rachel said. “That’s why Avery was so down on herself yesterday.”
“I didn’t realize that,” Logan said. He thought that Avery’s actions made more sense now. He understood pushing everyone away to protect himself. He’d done that for years until Avery had sassed herself right into his heart.
“Oh. Maybe I shouldn’t have said anything.”
“No, you were right to,” Logan said. “I love her and I’m going to show her she can count on me.”
“I think she loves you too,” Rachel said.
Logan hoped she did. “Would you be able to get her to come to the square tomorrow afternoon?”
“I will try,” Rachel said. “Why?”
“I’m going to give Avery the Christmas she’s always wanted.”
“What is that?”
“A white one. With lots of snow,” he said. “I have to go and make some calls.”
Logan hurried out of the kitchen and didn’t go back to the party but to his office to start making calls to some practical effects people he knew and asked for contacts in Texas. Logan was touched when many people were willing to help him out. Once he had everything set up for the next afternoon, he realized that making it snow in Texas might be easier than convincing Avery to take a chance on him and to believe in their love.
*
Rachel had asked her to come by and pick up some cookies that she’d promised to deliver to the Whiskey River retirement community. She couldn’t leave the shop. Since Avery hadn’t planned to be in town she was available to help and getting out of the house was a good idea since all she’d been doing was stewing in her own regrets.
Not a good place to be. She’d already made up her mind to go to Logan’s house when he was back home, apologize and see if he was willing to start again.
She noticed that there were a bunch of people standing off to the side of the square and that there was a fire truck blocking the main parking lot, which made her worry that something was wrong.
She jumped on the group text with Savannah and Rachel.
Avery: What is going on in the square?
Savannah: I don’t know. Just got here.
Rachel: You wouldn’t believe it if I told you.
Avery parked her car and hurried over, stopping when she got to the edge of the park in the middle of the square. It was covered in snow. And she tipped her head back realizing that it was snowing. It was cold day in Texas but nowhere near cold enough for snow. She looked around trying to figure out where it was coming from but all she saw was a man in a thick wool coat standing at the foot of Booze’s statue waiting for her.
Logan.
He had a scarf wrapped around his neck and as soon as he saw her he walked toward her.
She realized all at once how much she loved him. She’d broken up with him because she was afraid he’d let her down or she’d let herself down, never realizing that he couldn’t. Logan wasn’t the kind of person who wo
uld promise anything and not deliver.
She ran to him and jumped toward him and he caught her, swinging her around in his arms.
“You made it snow for me,” she said.
“I did. It’s ridiculous that a woman your age hasn’t seen snow,” he said. “And I wanted this to be the Christmas you dreamed it could be.”
“It is,” she said. “I’m sorry about yesterday.”
“It’s okay. I’ve been known to react the same way when disappointed,” he said.
“Not it’s not okay. I was afraid that you’d flake on me. Afraid of what I felt for you—I love you, Logan. I know it’s only been a month of dating and you might think it’s too soon but I love you. I was afraid that if I let myself say it out loud then I’d expect more from you than you could give me.”
Logan set her on her feet, cradling her face in his hands. “You can never expect too much from me, Avery. I love you with my entire heart. I never thought I’d say those words to anyone. I never thought I’d be able to believe that I could find someone to share my life with. Will you marry me?”
“Yes,” she said. “Are you sure? What if I flake again?”
“I am sure,” he said. “I’m the one man who will never let you down.”
“I know that. But what if I let you down?” she asked voicing her one true fear.
“As long as you stay by my side we can work through anything. Will you do that?”
“Yes,” she said. “Yes, I will.”
He kissed her then. The kiss was strong and passionate and he held her in his arms like he’d never let her go. And she held him back the same way. She had to do better. She couldn’t let him down again.
There was some applause and a catcall and when Logan lifted his head she saw that his brothers were standing on the sidelines waiting. She was getting a family with Logan. It wasn’t the one she’d thought she’d find but it was even better than the imaginary one that she’d concocted. Because they were real and they would always be there for her.
Soon Logan waved and families and kids piled into the square. She stood to one side as Logan posed with a family for a photograph and she felt a snowball hit her in the middle of her back. She turned to see Sully standing there with another snowball in his hands.
“Hey, little sister, welcome to the family,” Sully said.
“Thanks.”
She bent down and made a snowball and tossed it back at him and soon she was in a snowball fight with some kids from the elementary school, as well as Sully—who took a lot of hits—and Finn and Logan. She was cold and tired and so very happy when Logan took her hand in his.
“Let’s go home,” he said.
The faint scent of lavender surrounded her and she just smiled at the idea that Felicity’s ghost had been here with them enjoying the snow.
“Yes let’s.”
Epilogue
One year later
Avery Calloway was a little surprised when her husband strolled into the Calloway Foundation office on December 23rd wearing a Santa hat.
“Logan! I wasn’t expecting you,” Avery said looking up at him. They’d talked on the phone over the last few weeks while he’d been filming in Vancouver, and he hadn’t been sure he’d make it back home before Christmas Eve. The last year had shown Avery that with the right man in her life she could have the dream family she’d always wanted. And she had a secret she had been waiting to share with Logan.
“Good. It’s getting harder to surprise you these days,” he said, coming around the desk and taking her in his arms.
He wore a pair of faded denim jeans that hugged his lean hips and thighs. Like any son of Whiskey River he wore this year’s limited edition hand-tooled Kelly boots.
She skimmed her gaze up his body noticing the demure leather belt, sans large buckle. Logan wasn’t a cowboy and never pretended to be. He had on a designer blazer and T-shirt that had a photo of the two of them from last Christmas that Sully had captured when Logan had gone down on one knee to ask her to marry him. She loved that image of the snow falling and Logan sharing his heart with her. The T-shirt clung to his lean abdomen and pecs.
Their eyes met and she had that feeling of joy and love washing over her. She’d missed him so much. Logan had been moving his base of operations to Whiskey River but he still had to go to the West Coast for meetings and locations for filming.
He seemed tired to her. There was a bit of stubble on his jaw and she ran her fingers over it. He still oozed sex appeal and he was standing in her office waiting for something from her.
“Good idea on coming home. I think you beat the ice storm they are predicting for later today.”
“Thanks for your approval on my actions,” he said with a wink.
“I believe in giving credit where it’s due,” she said.
“What else do you believe in?” he asked. “I think we’ve added lazy days spent in bed, that coffee from Riva’s makes any day better…”
“And my husband. I believe you are very good man and…” she said taking a deep breath, looking up at him. “That you are going to make one hell of a father.”
“Father?” he asked his voice low and in his tone she heard the excitement, nervousness and love.
“I just found out this morning. I tried to call you on set but they said you were in rehearsing,” she said.
“I asked them to cover for me so I could surprise you,” he said, lifting her off her feet and then sitting down on her chair and cradling her on his lap. “I can’t believe we are going to have a baby.”
“Me either,” she said. “But I did sort of suspect it might happen given we haven’t been using condoms lately.”
“Me too. Are you sure?” Logan asked. “You aren’t afraid I’ll be like Danny?”
“Logan, you could never be like him. Your entire life you’ve protected everyone. I love you and know we are going to have the craziest family ever.”
“Not perfect? Like your image from childhood?” he asked.
The last year they’d really gotten to know each other and grown so much closer. “No. I want a family that is my idea of perfect—like you and me.”
“Me too,” he said, lifting her into his arms and carrying her down the hall to make love to her.
Later when they were sitting on the couch in the living room of the big Whiskey River mansion they called home, Avery realized that her dreams of family hadn’t been realistic because she’d never thought sitting next to a man, wearing matching socks and singing Christmas carols could be this perfect.
The End
Eager to head back to Whiskey River?
Check out the rest of the series!
Book 1: A Texas Christmas Past by Julia Justiss
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Book 2: A Texas Christmas Reunion by Eve Gaddy
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Book 3: A Texas Christmas Homecoming by Nancy Robards Thompson
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Book 4: Once Upon a Texas Christmas by Katherine Garbera
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About the Author
USA Today bestselling author Katherine Garbera is a two-time Maggie winner who has written more than 60 books. A Florida native who grew up to travel the globe, Katherine now makes her home in the Midlands of the UK with her husband, two children and a very spoiled miniature dachshund.
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