Emily’s voice carried across the male chattering. “Abby and I have set up the tables so you can all sit down and enjoy your watermelon.” Aaron had surprised everyone by dropping off several large ones early that morning. A local farmer found out what they were doing at the campground and donated enough to feed twelve hungry boys and their grown counterparts.
Logan made sure he walked close enough to Emily to be heard as they traversed the path between the horseshoe pits and pavilion. She nodded in response to his raised eyebrows. He slid her the credit card he’d been carrying in his front pocket all day. This time tomorrow, Trevor would have some new clothes and a decent pair of shoes.
“What size shoes?” Emily asked in a hushed voice.
“Eight” he answered. He and Pastor Rhinehart, who seemed very pleased by Logan’s gesture, had finally figured out that Trevor’s feet were about the same size as Kaleb’s—seven and a half. Learning about growth spurts at an early age, Logan added a half-size for room to grow. He wondered what the boy’s response would be. Something told him he’d need to tread lightly or he would offend Trevor. Logan could still see the pride in his eyes as he told of how hard his grandmother worked.
“Hey, Logan, your phone is ringing,” Mason hollered from the back of the line.
“I’d better get it,” he told Trevor, who was walking beside him. “Why don’t you go ahead and sit with Bo and Seth? I’ll be there in a minute.” It hadn’t taken long to realize the other boys avoided Seth like he had the plague. Did they think abuse was contagious?
Leaving Trevor walking beside Seth and trying to engage him in conversation, Logan made it to his tent just as the phone stopped mid-ring. It had gone to voice mail. Before he could pick it up to check, the ringing began again. He answered it.
“What were you thinking, Mr. Taylor?” It was Sam Haynes himself.
“I beg your pardon?” The old guy must have finally gone around the bend.
“Thank goodness I screened the pictures before letting the paper use them. This would have not been the publicity we needed. The one they’re using is bad enough.” He sounded downright indignant.
“Mr. Haynes, I’m sorry, but I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“You and that woman. Why, some of those photographs are scandalous! And I run a bar. I’ve seen just about everything.”
“I still don’t understand. Me and what woman? What photographs?” If the old man didn’t explain himself in a minute, team or no team, Logan was through listening to him.
“Ms. Carlson sent me yesterday’s pictures this morning—as a courtesy. There are several photographs of you with a woman straddling you. They’re indecent. Do you think I want to advertise Sloopy’s as a bordello?”
Oh, no. He and Emily had been seen—photographed—last night when they…in a very private moment. He was suddenly very furious, himself. “That was on my own personal time, and a very private moment. I want every picture—every picture destroyed.”
A humorless laugh came from the phone. “I have destroyed all but the one they insisted on putting in the paper. She’s still sitting beside you and you’re just kissing her. It’s going to be in today’s Razor, Mr. Taylor. Two lovers sneaking away from the boys for a few moments of intimacy. Did Al not make it clear to you that absolutely everything you do during these two weeks is subject to being photographed and reported?”
“I thought that meant anything pertaining to the boys.” He might not have made this deal if he realized the extent of it. What was next? Were they going to follow him into the shower house? The toilet?
“For me to get the deal with the paper, it had to be every aspect of your time there.” Sam Haynes became even more brisk. “Let me cut to the chase. You are romancing that woman, I take it?”
“I don’t see how that’s anybody’s business.” They could take all the pictures they wanted, but he’d be hanged if they were going to pry every feeling out of him.
“Let me put this another way. You are romancing that woman. Decently and discreetly, of course. You’re not putting on a show for the boys, after all. It seems that the paper wants to play up the romance angle as a side story to the mentoring program. You and that woman are both sacrificing time you could be spending together just to help those boys. So, unless you want to be the man solely responsible for the destruction of your team, you will charm the socks—but nothing else—off of that woman.”
Logan’s mind whirled. He wanted to tell Sam Haynes what he could do with his publicity and his sponsorship, and even his flippin’ bar, so bad he could taste it. Then he thought of his teammates. The old coot had him over a barrel, and he knew it. And while Logan wasn’t exactly sure he didn’t want to romance Emily, he didn’t like being told he had to.
When all was said and done, he once again had no choice. “Fine. But ‘that woman’ has her own life. She hasn’t done anything to deserve this. Order the photographer to make sure Em’s—the woman’s face is hidden. I know they can do that. It’ll make it more mysterious and capture more attention.” He had no idea if what he was saying was true, but it sounded good to him.
The line went quiet for a minute. “I like that, Taylor. The star pitcher and his mystery woman sneaking off for their stolen moments. I think the paper will like it, and the public will eat it up. I knew I could count on you.”
Only after he blackmailed Logan—again. “Is that all?” He had just about reached his limit.
“Just make sure your actions are appropriate for the newspaper—no more sexual interludes.”
Without another word, Logan disconnected the call, then shut his phone off.
There was one obstacle, a huge obstacle, in his path to charming Emily. Emily. She would never go for a fake relationship just to save the team. She didn’t care about the team. Maybe their relationship didn’t have to be fake. Just maybe they felt something for each other—besides desire—and his newest assignment from Haynes would serve as the catalyst for something very special. He made his decision.
Emily Scott had better watch out. With any luck at all, she was about to be swept off of her feet.
Chapter 15
“I can’t take these.” Trevor dropped the plastic bags full of clothes onto the tent floor.
“There are just a couple of pairs of jeans and a few shirts—some new underwear and a pair of tennis shoes. I promise there’s nothing expensive in these bags.” Logan picked them up and held them out again. “Please, Trevor. Take them. I know your grandma is working hard to get you what you need, but I don’t have anybody who needs me to buy things for them, and I can afford to. Just let me do this.” He tried one more time. “Please?”
Trevor looked at the bags warily. “None of those jeans that cost thirty bucks or shoes that cost a hundred dollars?”
Logan shook his head. “I’ll give you the receipt. You can look for yourself. These are just plain, everyday clothes.”
Trevor started to take the bags, then pulled his hand back. “What about Grandma? How’s she gonna feel? She wants to get me stuff like this, but she can’t afford to.”
He had thought of that. “Remember Pastor Rhinehart told you I own a construction company?”
Trevor solemnly nodded.
“I’ve been thinking. I think your grandpa could work on jobs he within reach. I always need somebody to mind the office when we’re on site, and I bet he could do some outdoor work for me too, if he’s good with his hands. I’d like to come to your house and offer him a job.”
Trevor’s shoulders started shaking and tears built up in his eyes before they silently trickled down his face. “You…you’d do that for my grandpa?”
“I’d do that for you.” Logan wasn’t finished, either. “My mom is sick, Trevor. She needs somebody to stay with her during the day and help her with things. I think I can afford to pay your grandma more than she’s making cleaning houses, and she won’t have to work quite as hard anymore.” Shelly had been talking about relocating to southern
Kentucky to be closer to her grandchildren, and with Trevor’s grandmother there, Shelly’s obligation to Logan’s mom would no longer be holding her back.
Hope was starting to show through Trevor’s tears. “But you don’t even know my grandma and grandpa.”
“I know you. People who have raised you have to be pretty special because they’ve made sure that you are.” It was all that Logan had to offer.
Trevor threw his scrawny arms as far around Logan’s shoulders as he could reach, squashing the bags of clothes between them. “Thank you, Logan.”
Logan let go of the bags with his right hand and roughly ran his hand over the top of the boy’s head. “It’ll be okay now, Trevor. You’ll be okay now.” He wasn’t sure if he was talking to Trevor or himself.
The twelve-year-old boy stepped back and took the bags of clothes from Logan. “I’ll be outside as soon as I change.” He wiped his face with the back of his hand and grinned.
“I’ll be out there waiting for you. We’ll show ‘em how it’s done when we play kickball pretty soon.” Logan ducked and walked out of the tent.
He was surprised to find Bo sitting alone on a table.
“Where’s Seth?” he asked.
Bo gestured toward the tent. “He doesn’t want to play kickball. I’m not going to tell him he has to, either.” He looked sadly at Logan. “That boy is plain scared, is what he is. I think someone—maybe his dad—beats him. And I can’t do a cotton pickin’ thing about it.”
Logan thought of how he had felt about Trevor’s situation and making things better for him. “I’m sorry, Bo. I don’t know what to tell you, but if you wait here for Trevor, I’ll go get somebody who might.”
Bo silently nodded.
Logan jogged away, toward the field where Emily and Abby had helped set up a kickball diamond. Sure enough, Abby was standing beside Brody and Luke.
“Abby, can I talk to you for a minute?” he asked as he stopped beside her.
She gave him a suspicious look.
“I’m not up to anything, I promise.” He crossed his heart. “This is something important, and I don’t know who else to ask for help.”
“I’ll be back to cheer you guys on,” she told Brody and Luke. She followed Logan several feet away from everybody else.
“It’s Bo and Seth.” He’d just get straight to the point.
She sighed, and tears welled in her eyes. “If you’re going to tell me he’s being abused, you don’t have to. I knew from the moment I saw him.”
“Can you help?”
Abby sadly shook her head. “I’d have to witness the abuse, or he’d have to tell me what happened. I can’t just call and report what I see and why I think he’s acting the way he does. Protective Services need facts, not opinions, Logan.”
Logan thought for a moment. “Then, can you help Bo? He’s not dealing very well with his inability to make things better for Seth.”
“Like you did for Trevor.” A small smile broke through her woebegone expression.
“That’s different. His problems are something I can help with. Seth’s aren’t.” Logan didn’t know who else to ask for help. Abby had been a counselor for at least the past couple of years. He’d found out at their class reunion.
She looked into his eyes. “Okay. I’ll talk to Bo and see if I can help him. Maybe he can’t do anything long-term for Seth, but he can give him these two weeks of safety and fun to remember. And I’m going to talk to Pastor Rhinehart myself and make sure Seth’s situation is being investigated. If it’s not, I’m getting in touch with one of my friends at Protective Services and finding out why. We don’t have to just forget about him.”
Logan felt like hugging her, but he knew for a fact she’d bop him. “Thank you, Abby. I have to go get Trevor so we can get back here and play ball, but Bo is sitting over there waiting. Seth doesn’t want to play and Bo’s not going to make him.”
“I’ll walk with you. Let me tell Brody and Luke I’m leaving, though.”
Logan watched as she walked back to the two of them. He scanned the field and saw the other pairs, laughing and goofing around with a couple of balls. Then he saw her. Emily was laughing at something Paul Findley had told her. She really was beautiful. He felt a twinge of guilt as he thought about seeking her out later, but remembering he wasn’t sure it was merely for the benefit of the team eased it a little.
“I’m ready.” Abby was back and ready to go see Bo.
“So, what’s up with you and Em?” she asked after they had taken a few steps.
He looked at her. “Honestly?” She nodded. “I don’t know.”
“But you want to find out?” Abby was Emily’s best friend for a reason. She might be little, but he had seen for himself how big her bite could be. Heaven help him if she found out about the newspaper picture thing.
An awful thought came to him. If Em or Abby either one saw the Razor, it was over. Em would kill him, and Abby would make sure he wasn’t still kicking.
“Do you know if Em gets the paper?” He hoped the abrupt change of subject didn’t arouse her suspicions.
She shook her head. “Emily refuses to read or watch the news while she’s out here. This has always been her oasis—ever since we were kids and came out here with her parents. She figures if she doesn’t know it’s happening, then it isn’t. Why?”
“I just wondered. You know since the photographer and reporter from the Razor are here, I thought she might be following their story.” He sure hoped not.
“If she is, she’s not sharing it with me, and her motor home isn’t that big.” She chuckled. “Now, since I’m not about to let you get away with changing the subject, tell me. Do you want to find out what’s up with you and Em?”
He answered honestly. “I think I do.” He just wished those blasted newspaper people were out of the picture.
Chapter 16
“Come take a walk with me.” Logan had appeared at Emily’s side.
She looked around the empty pavilion. “What about Trevor?” They had all just cleaned up after dinner, and gone back to the tents for some kind of story activity Pastor Rhinehart had planned.
“He’s with Bo and Seth. It’s okay. It seems to help Seth when Trevor’s around, and Trevor doesn’t need to spend every waking moment with me to know I care.” He put his hand on her arm. “Please take a walk with me.”
She looked at him, carefully considering his request. “Okay. We’ll walk on the Sweet Gum Trail. It’s only half a mile long and shouldn’t be too dark yet.”
“Lead the way.” He took her hand in his and laced their fingers together as they walked to the trailhead.
“How did Trevor like his clothes?” She’d noticed he was wearing them.
“I didn’t think he was going to accept them at first, but after I told him about his grandparents, he was fine with it.” He tugged her a little closer.
“What about his grandparents?” Emily knew only that he lived with them, and they were nearly destitute.
He told her about the jobs he was going to offer them as soon as he got home.
She stopped in her tracks and looked at him in amazement.
“I’m going to kiss you,” she informed him.
“Not if I kiss you first.” He gathered her into his arms and tenderly kissed her lips. Her hands snaked into his hair and pulled him tighter against her, wanting—no, needing—more. Logan didn’t disappoint her. He tilted their heads to deepen the kiss, and if he pulled her any tighter against him, she wouldn’t be able to breathe. She could barely accomplish that as it was.
“What are you doing to me?” he murmured between kisses, then put his hands underneath the back hem of her blouse and started to slide them around to the front.
Suddenly he froze. He dropped his hands and broke off their kiss before he stepped away.
“What’s wrong?” She was confused by his actions.
“I’m sorry, Em.” He gently kissed her again. “This just isn’t the time or place for d
oing what I want with you.”
Her heart soared. He actually cared enough to not give the other men reason to think she was “easy”. After all these years, could the two of them be feeling something…romantic for each other?
They resumed their walk, once more holding hands.
“Tell me about your job,” Logan requested. “Your real job—not this one.”
“I’m the day-shift head nurse in the emergency room at Ransom Hospital.”
“How did you get away for this long, then?” Hadn’t she said she was there for a couple of months?
An ironic little laugh escaped her. “I told you about my mom and dad’s anniversary present. The fact is, they tricked me. They asked if I would give them anything they wanted, and fool that I am, I said yes.” She remembered the joy on their faces. “They wanted me to use all my saved vacation time and days off to come here so they could go on their cruise. They’d been trying to get me to take a vacation for over two years, and they really wanted to visit the Caribbean. I guess, in their eyes it was a win-win situation.”
“So, you’re here because they tricked you?” He chuckled.
She frowned. “I don’t like being tricked. I don’t like games. It’s only because they’re my parents that I can live with it. Otherwise, I’d have been out the door.”
Logan’s stomach rolled. If…when she found out about the pictures in the paper, any chance they might have would be gone—even if they did discover that they wanted to be together. Look how long she had been angry with him over the crap he pulled in high school. She’d only just seemed to get past that. Earlier, it had been all he could do not to strip off his shirt and use it as a blanket so he could make love to her right there on the path. He remembered the photographer just in time.
Nope. She wouldn’t forgive him for this. Even if he weren't faking his feelings, which he was beginning to realize he wasn’t, it wouldn’t matter.
Counting On It (Hearts for Ransom Book 1) Page 8