Cricket Cove

by Haddix, T. L.

  “Some. But that nightmare is still lingering a bit. I’m sorry.” She’d had a violent nightmare early that morning that had left her curled up in a sobbing ball of misery. All Logan had been able to do was hold her and try to break through the dream’s grip.

  “Don’t apologize. I know how it is. Sometimes the dreams are almost worse than whatever event caused them, in a way.”

  “I thought I’d moved past the nightmares. Guess that was a little naive of me, huh?”

  He smiled as he parked, then leaned over to give her a peck on the lips. “A little. But it shows me that your optimism is returning. And I’m here for you, no matter what. Love you.”

  She returned his smile. “Love you. Now feed me!”

  When Sunday came, Logan was full of nervous anticipation. “It’s just a birthday party. I shouldn’t be so damned nervous,” he told Archer as they waited in the living room. He knew that wasn’t true, though. He had big plans for today, and he was scared to death they’d fall apart. He’d told no one, not even Archer, in the event that his brother would try to talk him out of it on the grounds that he was moving too fast.

  Logan and Amelia had walked up from her trailer couple of hours ago, and he’d quickly been shooed into the living room. John, Owen, and Archer were there, as well, with John on the floor playing with his daughter. Ben and Ainsley had sent their regards, but she was feeling a bit under the weather, and they’d stayed in Lexington.

  Logan was trying to watch John and Molly surreptitiously. He was amazed that such a small baby was laughing and interacting the way Molly was. Archer, who was seated beside him on the love seat, nudged him in the ribs.

  “First off, you’re right to be nervous. Birthday parties in this family can be dangerous. And second, what are you staring at? You look like you’re trying to figure out a puzzle.”

  Logan scowled and batted Archer’s elbow away. “I just didn’t think babies were very… interactive, I guess.”

  John smiled up at him. “She’s a bundle of energy. Until she goes to sleep, and then she’s dead to the world. Eli was always easy to wake up, but Molly? She’s like Noah. You could take her into a crowded bar and I think she’d snooze right through the ruckus.” She cooed at him and John tickled her belly, making her laugh.

  Logan shook his head. “Did you hear that? She’s laughing. Like a regular human. How is that possible?”

  “Logan, you’ve never spent any time around babies, have you?” Owen asked, his face reflecting his amusement.

  “No, sir.”

  “Sir? You’re still calling him ‘sir?’” Archer teased. He turned to Owen. “I thought that made you feel old.”

  Amelia’s father shifted in his chair, stretching his legs out in front of him. “It seems to keep your brother in line.”

  The three of them laughed at Logan’s muttered curse. “That’s not funny,” he protested, though he couldn’t hide his amusement.

  Raised voices sounded from the front porch, young raised voices. John scowled and stood, bringing the baby with him. “What now? Those two have been driving us crazy. Here, Logan, hold her.” Without waiting for Logan to protest, he plunked Molly down in his lap and hurried from the room.

  Logan sucked in a breath and eyed the baby warily, both afraid he’d hurt her with his grip and, at the same time, afraid he’d let her fall. “Oh, God. She’s moving. What do I do?”

  Molly looked up at him with a toothless smile, her hand going to her mouth to be sucked on as she studied him.

  Archer was no help, as he was laughing so hard Logan swore he heard his brother snort a time or two. He looked to Owen for advice.

  “She likes to stand up. Just put your hands under her arms, fingers on her back, thumbs in front, and lift her straight up. She’ll do the rest.” Owen demonstrated, and Logan carefully maneuvered so that he was supporting her. When he raised his hands, Molly surprised him by giving a solid push off his legs. Once she was up, she smiled and gurgled at him, kicking her legs with delight.

  “Well, look at you.” He repeated the movement and again, the baby “jumped.”

  “She also gets a kick out of being held straight up in the air on her belly, then lowered quickly,” Archer said as he wiped his eyes.

  Logan eyed him, doubtful, but when he saw Owen nodding, he shrugged. “Okay. What do I do?”

  “Lift her over your head, straighten your arms, then lower her. Don’t go too fast, but don’t go too slow, either,” Archer said.

  “If I break this baby, I’m blaming the two of you. Ready, Molly?” Taking a deep breath, he lifted her. As soon as he had her dangling in the air above him, she started chortling. When he lowered her, he was amazed to see her flatten out just like a paratrooper would after jumping from an airplane. “I’ll be damned. Did you see that?”

  He raised her back up, then lowered her quickly. A split second of shock washed over her face as she started to drop, then her smile widened and she gave what he would consider a giggle.

  “You’re just a little paratrooper, aren’t you? Look at that form. Strap a parachute to your back, and you’d be ready to jump.”

  “She would do it,” Emma said as she came into the living room. She snapped his picture as he raised and lowered the baby again. “John and Zanny are going to have their hands full with her, I think.”

  “Probably. She reminds me a bit of you,” Owen told her as she leaned against his chair. “Even that young, you were fearless.”

  Logan’s arms were starting to tighten. “This is good exercise, actually.” When Molly gave a tiny yawn, he lowered her so that she was lying against his chest. She drew her knees up, and he carefully adjusted her, cradling her close. “Is this okay?”

  Emma took some more pictures. “Oh, I’d say it’s very okay. She’s going right to sleep.”

  He leaned down so that he could see, and sure enough, Molly’s eyes were almost closed. When she saw him looking at her, she perked up for a moment, giving him a smile that made him realize how much she looked like Zanny.

  “Oh, my God. Look at that.” He looked at Archer. “Did you see that?”

  “See what?” his brother asked. “The bundle of cuteness you have on your chest? Yeah, I noticed.”

  Logan shot him an exasperated look. “Obviously that, but the smile. Did you see the smile? She looks just like Zanny.”

  When everyone in the room looked at him as though he were nuts, he fought to find the right words. “She’s a baby. It’s one thing to see Sydney and know she looks like Emma, or to see Ben and how much he looks like you,” he told Owen, “but she’s just a baby. How can she look so much like Zanny and be so young?”

  Emma tilted her head and sat on the arm of Owen’s chair. “She always has, to some degree. You’ve just never paid attention to her before now. And to be fair, she’s starting to develop features that she didn’t have before. So she looks more like Zanny now than she did when she was born.”

  Rachel stepped in to tell them lunch would be ready in five minutes. “Come on, birthday boy. It’s almost time to get your hat.”

  Logan gave an exaggerated groan. “Amelia’s insisting on that, is she?”

  Rachel’s grin was cheeky. “You are family, and it is the rule.”

  Emma stood and offered her hand to Owen. “Come on, Daddy. Let’s go browse the goodies.”

  Logan carefully scooted to the edge of the love seat. “Can you take her?” he asked Archer. “I don’t want to drop her.”

  “I’ll be glad to take her.” Archer lifted the baby into his arms like a pro. The softness on his brother’s face spoke volumes, and Logan smiled.

  “You can’t wait to have one of your own, can you?”

  Archer shrugged as he settled Molly in against his shoulder, rubbing her back. “We’re not in too big of a rush,
but sooner rather than later.”

  Logan detoured down the hall, looking at the portraits that lined the walls. He stopped in front of a picture that had been taken when the kids were still young, with Amelia being about two years old. John came in with Eli and joined them.

  “What are we looking at?”

  “Logan just realized that babies look like their parents,” Archer teased softly. “If I had to guess, he’s wondering what his and Amelia’s kids might look like.”

  Logan shot him an irritated glance, but since his brother was right on the money, he couldn’t argue. “I know kids look like their parents. I mean, I look just like our old man. Archer’s kind of a mix, I guess. But it just struck me how odd it must be for parents. Do you find it disconcerting?” he asked John.

  “It’s a little odd,” he confessed, his hands on Eli’s shoulders. “Take Eli, for instance. Just like his brother and sister, when he smiles, he’s all Zanny. But when he’s being serious, he looks just like Ben.” He pointed to a black-and-white portrait a little farther down the hall of a young boy Logan assumed was Owen. “And I think when Noah gets older, he’s going to look so much like Dad it will be scary. Campbells have strong genes.” He tousled Eli’s blond hair, and Eli grinned up at him, showing the gap where he’d lost a tooth.

  “Yeah, when I go anywhere with Uncle Ben, everybody thinks I’m his.” He giggled.

  John wrapped his arms around him and lifted him off the ground, burying his face in Eli’s neck to blow a raspberry and send the boy into belly laughs that echoed through the hall. “You’re my baby boy. I won’t let Ben have you. But he’s right, the resemblance is that strong. It’s like looking into the past and the future at the same time. Come on, buddy, let’s get washed up for dinner.”

  Once they were gone, Logan looked at Archer, waiting for his brother’s teasing. It didn’t come.

  “You aren’t as scared by the whole concept of having kids anymore, are you?” Archer asked quietly.

  “It still terrifies me,” Logan hedged.

  “But not like it did.”

  He shook his head. “No, not like it did. It still bothers me, thinking about what might happen if we have kids and something happened to Amelia or to me.”

  Archer settled the baby in more securely, then put his arm around Logan’s shoulders. “You’ve seen how this family bands together. Do you think any one of the people in this house would let your children go through what we went through, Lo?”

  “No, I don’t. And I guess that’s what changed the way I feel. I don’t want to be a single father, or have Amelia be a single mother, but if worse came to worst, I know our kids would be loved. And I guess I’m wondering what they’d look like. I never thought I’d say that.”

  “I never thought I’d hear you say that. I’m glad I did, though.”

  “What if I’m not father material?”

  Archer chuckled. “You raised me, and I turned out pretty well.”

  Logan looked at him askance. “I guess you did.” He couldn’t argue with the statement, as he knew it was the truth. “Let’s go have a birthday dinner. Everything else will sort itself out.”

  “I’ll put this little sweetheart down in her playpen and be right there.”

  Logan got to the dining room just as Owen was bringing in a platter of fried chicken. His place setting was decked out with a special plate and a glass that was shaped like a goblet. When Logan pulled a small velvet box from his pocket and placed it on the center of the plate where Amelia would sit, Owen sucked in a breath.

  “Is that what I think it is?”

  Logan swallowed. “It is.” He put the napkin back over top of the box, hiding it.

  To his surprise, Owen’s eyes grew a bit misty. “Good.” He clapped Logan on the shoulder as he went past on his way back to the kitchen, and Logan gave a sigh of relief.

  When Archer came in a moment later, he didn’t see the ring box. Logan wasn’t about to point it out to him. The rest of the family came in, save Amelia, and took their seats.

  “Close your eyes,” she called from behind him.

  “They’re closed.”

  “Rachel? Are they?” she teased.

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  He heard her come up behind him, and then she lowered something in front of him, her arms coming around him as she set it on his plate. “You can open them now,” she told him, kissing his cheek. When she kept her arms around him, only pulling back far enough that he could see what she’d done, Logan reached up to touch her hand.

  The sight that met his eyes when he raised his lids made him give a snorting laugh. “Oh, my God. What in the heck?” On his plate sat a camo boonie hat, decorated with Amelia’s special touch. There was a small ruler and a drafting compass, a mechanical pencil, a tiny computer complete with mouse and keyboard, a rolled-up newspaper, and an itty-bitty stack of books. The hatband was a red ribbon with white hearts.

  Keeping one of his hands on Amelia’s, he examined the hat, tremendously amused and touched. “Most of this is self-explanatory, but what’s the ribbon supposed to represent?”

  “You, silly. You were born on Valentine’s Day, after all. Love you,” she whispered in his ear.

  Logan shook his head. “I don’t even know what to say. Thank you.” He turned his head and gave her a quick kiss. “Love you.” He donned the hat to much applause and a few catcalls.

  Despite his jocularity, his heart was hammering so hard he thought he was going to be sick as he waited for Amelia to sit down.

  “What’s this?” she asked as she moved to put her napkin in her lap. He saw the moment when it clicked for her, and her hand jerked to her chest as she dropped the napkin.

  Silence spread around the table as everyone realized what was going on. Logan felt his breathing stop as he watched to see how she would react. He put his arm across the back of her chair and waited.

  For long seconds she stared at the box, and then she reached down as carefully as though it were a snake that would bite if she moved too fast. He saw her swallow as her hand closed around the velvet. A tear tracked down her cheek as she opened the box.

  “Oh, Logan.”

  It was his turn to swallow when she turned glistening blue eyes to him. “Do you like it?”

  “Is this… Does this mean… What does this mean?” she whispered.

  “It means what you think it does.” He took the ring from its velvet nest and held it out. “I’d like very much to marry you.” She sniffed wetly, and Logan wiped her tears away with his thumb.

  “You want to marry me?” she asked, her voice rising to end in a squeak on “me.”

  He nodded. “I do. I love you. And I want more than what we have. I want everything.”

  “With me?”

  “Yes, silly. With you.” He smiled at her stunned expression. “I love you. So what do you think? Will you marry me, save me from a life of scowling and being ornery?”

  She laughed, and her hand came up to touch his cheek. “I don’t think anything can save you from being ornery. I can’t believe you want to marry me.”

  He gave her a smacking kiss and grinned down at her. “You couldn’t believe I loved you a few weeks ago. Why not say ‘yes’ and give it a chance to sink in?”

  “I could end up going to trial for murder.”

  “You could.”

  “Gee, Logan, way to get romantic there,” Archer muttered.

  He didn’t take his eyes from Amelia. “It’s true. I’m not going to pretend life is going to be roses and puppies and rainbows. But I still want to be with you more than I’ve ever wanted anything in my life,” he told her. “So how about it?”

  She nodded. “Okay.”

  It took a minute to process her response. “Okay?”

  “Yes.”r />
  He stared down at her, not realizing he’d shed a tear until she wiped his cheek. “You’ll marry me?”

  “If you want me to, yes.”

  This time the kiss they shared was deeper. “Guess,” he whispered.

  The smile that crossed her face was soft and radiant. “Then may I please have my ring?”

  He slipped it onto her finger and kissed her again. “Absolutely.”

  Chapter Forty-Nine

  Amelia had often heard the expression “floating on cloud nine,” but she’d never thought it was a real thing. As she sat beside Logan, too giddy to eat as she stared down at the diamond solitaire he’d placed on her finger, she couldn’t believe she wasn’t dreaming.

  “Earth to Pip,” her father called. “Are you going to eat, or are you going to sit there all day staring at your hand?”

  “It won’t go away if you look up,” Emma teased.

  “Fine, I’ll try to eat something. But I can’t promise I won’t miss my mouth with the fork.” She laughed along with her family and smiled at Logan. “I love it. Thank you.”

  “It isn’t the biggest ring in the world.”

  She shook her head. “Doesn’t have to be. It’s perfect. Though it isn’t the smallest ring you could have picked out, either, not by far.”

  They were almost ready for the birthday cake when there was a knock on the door.

  “Wonder who that is?” Sarah asked. She looked to Owen, who shrugged.

  “No idea. Let’s find out.” He went to the front door and greeted the visitor. When Amelia heard Sawyer Evans’s voice, she tensed and reached for Logan’s hand, gripping it tightly.

  “Mr. Campbell, I’m sorry to disturb you, but I just got out of a meeting with the prosecutor and I thought Miss Campbell would want to know what he’s decided. Is she here?”

  “She is. We’re in the dining room. Come on in.”

  Owen’s face was inscrutable as he led the younger man into the room.