“Brie, no,” Logan argued, playing along perfectly.
“I’m going to move soon—I don’t know when—but I will. If you and I were still together, it would hurt so much worse then. You have to stay away from me.”
“No,” Logan said. “I love you.”
“I can’t keep loving you,” I said, connecting my eyes with his to make sure he knew I was still lying. “It would be too painful later. Please leave me alone.”
I spun on my heel and walked away from him. I passed Jack and my dad and kept my expression vacant. I picked up my discarded shoes, slipped them on, and walked up the trailer steps and pulled open the door. Only when it shut behind me did I collapse on the couch, putting my head in my hands.
I’d never done anything like that before. EVER. My chest and stomach hurt. Maybe I didn’t like my dad at the moment, but I still loved him. You’re clearly showing your love for your dad since you just put on a giant production that was a total lie. I curled up in a ball on the couch, squeezing my eyes shut while I waited for Dad to come back.
It was official: I had just become a traitor.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
You can scratch a cowboy out of your brand book, but not out of your heart.
My “breakup” with Logan was puzzling Mom and Dad. They still grilled me even though the showdown had been a week ago.
It would have been funny if I hadn’t felt so nauseous constantly because I was living a complete lie. I was grounded and only allowed to leave the house if I was going to the job site. Dad’s deadline to move the horses seemed to be approaching faster and faster. I’d seen flashes of the horses through thick trees at the back of the property, so Logan and Jack hadn’t moved them yet.
Today, Mom said Amy could come over, but I couldn’t leave the house. I’d even had to use Mom’s phone to call her.
“Hey, prisoner,” Amy said as she came into my room.
“Hello, visitor,” I said.
Amy sat on my brown swivel chair and I sat up on my bed. I had been lying down reading while I waited for her to come. We were both in shorts and T-shirts and the door to my balcony was open.
“I think I might have something for you,” Amy said quietly.
“Oh, really?” I said. I got up and closed the door to the balcony and quietly shut my bedroom door.
Smiling, Amy reached into her oversize brown satchel and pulled out a small pink cell phone, the present she’d promised me in her e-mail yesterday. (I’d been allowed to check e-mail once last night on the family PC.) She tossed it to me.
“Yeeees!” I said. “Thank you so much!”
“Please, you’d do the same for me.”
“I would, and here.” I rummaged through my purse and found twenty bucks. “This is enough, right?”
“More than enough,” Amy said. “Thank you.”
“Oh, the lengths you must go to when you have a secret boyfriend,” I said, grinning.
“I already charged it for you,” Amy said, her tone barely above a whisper, “and you have five hundred minutes. So go on, call him. You should, like, go over by your balcony, but don’t go outside in case your mom is out there. I’m going to turn on your TV and talk to it.”
I giggled. “I can tell you’ve done this before.”
Amy shrugged, smiling. “Maybe once or twice.”
I got up and tossed Amy my TV remote.
She turned on the TV and I dialed Logan’s number. Please answer! I thought. I know it’s a strange number, but it’s me!
“Hello?”
“Logan!” I said.
Amy waved at me. “Shhh,” she said, finger to her lips.
“Logan, oh, my God, it’s me. I’m on a burner cell that Amy got for me so we could talk. If I hang up on you for no reason it’s because my mom came into the room. Okay?”
“Got it,” he said. “Hi.” His tone was so soft and gentle. It made me miss him more. I wanted his arms around me, strong and tanned. I needed to smell his cinnamon and sweet hay scent.
“Hi. Are you busy?” I kept my voice low. I leaned my back against the wall next to my balcony door. I slid down so I was sitting on the carpet.
“Not for you. Walking to the alley behind Watson’s right now.” A door slammed and the background noise from the store vanished. “Okay. All clear here,” Logan said.
“I miss you. So much,” I said.
“You have no idea how much I miss you,” Logan said. “I can’t believe we’re even talking right now.”
“I know,” I said. “How did it go with your dad when you got home?”
“I don’t want to rub it in,” Logan said. “But honestly, my dad was okay. We talked for a long time. He liked you so much when you guys met each other at dinner. He let me talk about you for, oh, a little while.”
“What did you say?” I asked.
“I told him that I’d found an amazing girl who, when I first met her, irritated the crap out of me.”
I laughed softly. “I know I did.”
“But even after all that, there was something about this girl that was different. Something that I’d never felt about anyone else.”
“Logan.”
“I told him that I was pissed about how he had been treating your dad. I made sure he understood that I am completely on the side of the horses.”
“How did Jack respond to that?”
“We argued a little at first. I finally got him to see that he wasn’t accomplishing anything that he wanted to. Writing, calling, showing up and harassing your dad wasn’t going to make him side with the horses. It just pissed him off. I think what really got my dad was when I told him that your dad took that anger home with him.
“I ended our talk by saying that no matter how busy my dad is, he always used to know every little thing that Holden and I were doing. But he had been so busy harassing someone that he never noticed that I’d not only met my dream girl, but I was in love with her.”
“I love you,” I said. “So much. Thank you for saying all that to your dad, Logan.” I glanced at my bedroom door. “I better hang up since Mom is still practically on patrol. But I’ll have this phone and this number. I can text from it, too. It’s going to be under my mattress on silent, but you can call or text whenever you want.”
“Okay,” Logan said. “I’ll see you soon.”
“I hope so.”
We said good-bye and I snapped the phone shut. I double-checked to make sure the ringer was off and got up. I smiled at Amy as I slid the phone under my mattress.
“So?” she asked, smiling. “How was it?”
I flopped onto my bed, lying on my back with my feet crossed in the air. “Perfect,” I said. “Having a phone changes everything. But it also made me want to see him that much more.”
“You will,” Amy said.
We hung out until dinnertime and Amy headed home. She promised to come over the next day to keep me from dying of boredom.
I checked my phone before I went to bed.
Two new texts:
I’ll be thinking abt u tonight.
And
Amy and I need to arrange a jailbreak for you.
I smiled and texted him back.
Thinking abt u too. And yes, get me out!☺
The next morning, I dressed in jean shorts and a red tank top and came downstairs after Dad had left for work. He’d given me the day off. I had been shocked, but I definitely wasn’t going to argue about it!
In the kitchen, I found Mom staring at her laptop screen.
“What’re you working on?” I asked. She motioned me over and slipped her glasses up on top of her head.
“Cropping these photos.” She pointed to the laptop. “They’re just gorgeous, Brie.”
I looked over her shoulder. They were the photos from the cave. Mom had snapped one of me grinning as I stood under a massive stalactite and next to a giant stalagmite. The intimate photos made me feel as if we were back in the cave.
“Hey, Mom?”
&
nbsp; She looked up at me. “Why do I feel you’re about to ask for a favor?”
“Because you have freaky Mom-radar,” I said. “Can I meet Amy in town for coffee? Just for a couple of hours, max.”
Mom sighed. She looked back at her screen and then at me.
“Amy. Coffee. Home. Deal?” she asked.
“Deal!” I said. “I promise! Thanks, Mom.”
I grabbed the house phone off its cradle and dug into my pocket for the scrap of paper that Amy had written her number on last night. I didn’t have my cell to speed dial it, and I had no idea what it was from memory.
The phone rang twice.
“Hello?” Amy answered.
“Hey,” I said. “You busy this morning?”
“Nope. I don’t have to be at work until two.”
“Perfect. My mom said I could come into town and have coffee with you as long as I came home right after.”
“That sounds great,” Amy said. “I’ll, um, make sure to let everyone know.”
I almost broke out into a little dance in the kitchen. Amy was calling or texting Logan right now to tell him about coffee.
“Thanks, Ames,” I said. “See you in a bit.”
I hung up the phone and grabbed my purse.
“Brie?” Mom called.
I turned back to her and she held out something gold and shiny.
“I get my phone back?” I asked.
“Not really,” Mom said. “You’re getting it because you’re going out. When you get home, it goes back in the drawer.”
I didn’t even try to argue. All I cared about was getting to Beans. “Okay. Thanks, Mom.”
“Sweetie,” Mom said.
I stopped mid-step and turned to face her.
“I don’t necessarily agree with it, but do what Dad asked about Logan, okay? For now.”
“Okay.” I hated lying to my mom. She was the rational one in the family. If I told her what I was planning to do, she would probably try to help. I would ask her to let me see Logan, but I had just gotten permission to leave the house. It was way too soon to ask.
I’d have to convince Mom to let me see Logan, but I couldn’t wait that long. The week that had already gone by was too much time. I owed Amy for all the minutes that I kept buying for the burner phone.
I headed out the door and grabbed my bike. I wasn’t wasting another moment.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Minding one’s own business is the best life insurance.
I spent almost every day for a week having coffee dates with Amy, which really meant coffee with Logan and Amy, who was there both because she was our friend and because Logan and I didn’t want to get caught out alone. But last night I’d texted Amy and had invited her over for a girls’ day. I wanted to spend more time with her and I also wanted to thank her for covering so often for Logan and me.
Mom had given me my phone back this morning and I didn’t use it once in front of her. I’d set it on vibrate and had texted Logan the second I made it to my room.
Got my phone back!!!!!!☺ I want to come have “coffee” but don’t want to push it. Staying home today for girls’ day w Amy. Miss u so much!
He texted me back within minutes.
So happy abt ur phone! Good idea to stay home at least for a couple days. I’m out in the field plowing with dad so my reception isn’t great. I’ll be out here until midnight at least. Miss u more!
The message made me smile. It felt like I had lost a limb when I’d been without my phone—the burner was great but not like mine. Tires crunched on gravel and I looked out to see Amy’s car pull up to our house and, a few seconds later, a car door slammed.
I trotted to the end of the hallway and went down the stairs to the first level. Mom and I reached the door at the same time. Mom bumped me with her hip, reaching for the door. “I’ve got it,” she said, grinning.
I bumped her back. “I’ve got it!” Giggling, I managed to unlock the door and open it.
“Amy,” I said. “Hurry up and get in here so you can document this! My own mother is trying to hip check me practically out of the room.” I darted away from Mom, running to the base of the staircase.
Amy came inside and broke out into laughter. I got a tiny running start and slid along the foyer floor in my socks and bumped right into Mom.
She grabbed me, wrapping her arms around my chest and drawing me close to her.
“Aw, my baby,” she said. “I just love you so much!” She started planting big, noisy kisses on the top of my head.
“Mom!” I tried to wriggle away. “Stop it!” Even as I fought her, the hug felt good. I hated it when my mom and I weren’t a hundred percent okay.
I heard a click and Amy lowered her phone. “Annnd, sending this photo to my FaceSpace album,” she said.
“No, no!” I managed to slip out of Mom’s arms and grab Amy’s phone. I looked at the screen. A happy face and Your photo has been uploaded! stared back at me. Amy had caught me trying to wriggle away from Mom as she kissed my head.
I handed Amy’s phone back to her, shaking my head. “Just you wait. I’ll get a pic of you when you’re least expecting it.”
Amy rolled her eyes and we all laughed.
“Anyway,” Mom said. “Hi, Amy.”
Amy grinned. “Hi, Ms. Carter. Are you sure you don’t want me to leave you two alone?”
No, no, I mouthed.
“You know that you’re welcome here anytime, Amy,” Mom said. “And what have I told you a million times?”
“Umm,” Amy said. “Oh! Sorry, Nicola.”
“That’s better,” Mom said. “Have fun, girls!”
Amy and I headed for my room. Once inside, I gently closed the door. Amy put her tote bag on my purple recliner.
“You came prepared,” I said, peering into her bag.
“Beyond prepared. Check this.”
Amy reached into her bag and started putting items on my bed.
“We have,” she said, “copies of every tabloid from Watson’s, sunscreen, shades, an e-reader, hats, and a fully charged iPod with a ‘tanning on the balcony’ playlist.”
I laughed. “This is awesome! I totally forgot—I made a giant pitcher of strawberry smoothies. Want some?”
Amy nodded. “Please!”
I left my room and went downstairs. I stopped just short of the kitchen once I heard Mom talking on the phone. I peeped around the corner.
“A thousand words by Monday,” Mom said, her head bent as she scribbled something on paper in front of her. “Thank you.” I could hear the excitement in her voice. She hung up and I darted into the kitchen.
“Yay!” I said.
“Brie!” Mom spun around, a hand over her chest and wisps of brown hair flying. “You scared me!”
“That sounded exciting,” I said as I went to the fridge and opened the freezer.
Mom smiled. “I got another writing job. An editor called me because he had seen my photographs of the cave that we explored. He wants more shots of the falls and an article about visiting this area.”
“That’s awesome, Mom. I’m so happy for you,” I said. “Okay, Amy’s waiting upstairs.” I motioned with the pitcher of smoothies in hand.
“What are you girls up to?” Mom asked.
“Catching rays and reading gossip mags,” I said.
Mom smiled. “That’s great, sweetie. Here, take these cherries up for a snack. And don’t get sunburned, okay?”
“We have tons of sunscreen,” I promised.
I took the bowl, grabbed two red Solo cups, and a big spoon to stir the smoothies.
“How good does this look?” I asked Amy once I reached my room.
She took off the lid and looked inside. “It looks like it needs to be in my stomach.”
Laughing, I poured cups for both of us.
We moved our stuff outside. The balcony was big enough for both of us to spread out and have side tables at each end.
“This was an awesome idea,” Amy said. “Thanks fo
r inviting me over.” She shimmied out of her shorts and pulled her tank top over her head.
“Aw,” I said. “That bikini is so cute!”
It was cherry red with tiny white polka dots.
“Thanks!” Amy said, smiling.
“Do I even want to know how much you paid for it, eBay queen?” I asked, smiling at her.
I adjusted my black string bikini and sat on my towel.
“It’s Tara Salvadore,” Amy said. “Brand-new. Retails for over two hundred and fifty dollars.”
I let out a low whistle. “Fifty?”
Amy shook her head. “Fifteen. It would have been less, but I got in a bidding war with some idiot who drove up the price.”
“Fifteen bucks. Geez, Amy. Shouldn’t you be saving for college?”
We laughed and I took a sip of my smoothie.
“Wait, wait! We have to do a toast,” Amy said. “Then sunscreen.”
“Oops, sorry,” I said. I held up my cup.
“To us for being friends and finding each other in this crazy thing called life.”
“Definitely yes,” I said.
“Finally, to having the best time of our lives! Cheers!”
Amy and I tapped our red cups together and I took a long drink. The temperature was perfect to be outside. It was in the mid-seventies and there were only a few wispy clouds.
“Would you?” I asked, holding up the bottle of Hawaiian Tropic sunscreen.
“Of course.” Amy scooted over and rubbed sunscreen all over my back and along the tops of my shoulders.
We switched and I did the same for her, making sure to really cover her super-fair skin. Then we each coated our arms, chest, stomach, and legs.
“Want me to put on the playlist I made?” she asked.
“Yes!” I said. “I have mini speakers that I can grab from my room.”
“Awesome,” Amy said. “I’ll wait on the music. I brought it for two reasons. The first is because you and I needed an amazing playlist for today.”
“For sure,” I said, rubbing my hands together to soak up excess sunscreen.
“Second, it is perfect for drowning us out when we talk about boys and stuff.”
“That’s super-smart about the music.” I went and retrieved my speaker/dock combo. Seconds later, one of the hottest songs of the summer came out of the speakers.
Wild Hearts Page 15