“I’m just more of a homebody, I guess,” she said.
“Is that the story you’re sticking to or will I get the real answer if I pry a little more?” he asked, leading the way to the bar in the corner of the room.
“I’m sticking.”
He’d see about that. “Fine. What are you drinking?”
“Oh, just a diet...” She started in midscan around the room, and abruptly turned. “A martini, two olives,” she told the bartender.
Logan turned to look at what she’d seen. The ex stood talking to a group several feet away. His arm was draped around the waist of a woman who Logan would guess was five months pregnant, maybe six.
Neil and his new wife: the real reason she avoided these events. He didn’t need any more explanation than the expression on her face.
“Sticking, huh?” he whispered, before handing her the drink and ordering his own. “A beer please.” He laid several bills on the bar and left the change.
“Which table are we sitting at?” She accepted her martini and took a gulp.
“Not that one,” Logan said, nodding toward the table where her ex-husband stood. Taking his beer, and placing a hand on her back—bare in the open dress, he realized—he led her to the other side of the room. Holding his breath, he checked their tickets for their assigned table number. Fourteen. Far away from the ex and his new wife.
“There you are,” came Darlene Dawson’s unmistakable voice from behind them.
Turning, he smiled.
“Hi, Leigh, it’s great to see you. I have to say, I was shocked when Mr. Walters here called to ask for the additional ticket. We can never get you out to these events. You look beautiful,” she said, more than a hint of curiosity in her bright blue eyes.
“Thank you. The center looks wonderful, Darlene. You sure know how to organize an event.” Leigh sipped her martini.
“I’m pleased with it,” she said. “And Mr. Walters saved the day by agreeing to participate.” She lowered her voice. “So, Logan, here is your guidebook. All your lines and tasks are outlined.”
Logan quickly tucked it into his jacket pocket.
“Thanks again! You really are a dear for volunteering to help,” Darlene said as she dashed off.
“I’m not sure volunteering would be the word I would use,” Logan muttered as he pulled out a chair for Leigh.
“Thanks,” she said as she sat.
“Leigh!”
“Oh no,” she groaned as Logan turned in his seat.
The pregnant redhead was approaching, her baby bump the only indication that she was expecting, as she glided gracefully across the room in silver three-inch heels.
Leigh’s smile looked forced. “Angela, hi.”
“Hi, yourself. Wow, I’m shocked to see you here,” Angela said, but her eyes were on Logan.
“Angela, this is Logan.”
He extended a hand.
“Nice to meet you,” she said, looking from him to Leigh. “So, Leigh, you haven’t gotten back to me about available space and I hate to be pushy but I have to make a decision soon about where to send the kids if you aren’t able to take them.”
Leigh hesitated. “Oh, well, as I said last week, I’m still not sure....”
Available space? At the day care? The woman couldn’t possibly be serious. She expected Leigh to take care of her ex-husband’s children? Children she hadn’t been able to give him?
“Please let me know as soon as space opens.” She patted her belly and laughed. “Three spaces actually.”
Leigh’s face contorted in a painful effort at a smile, and Logan squeezed her hand under the table. The nerve of this woman was too much.
“I’ll be sure to let you know as soon as anything opens up,” Leigh choked out.
“Great, thanks. Enjoy your evening. I can’t wait to find out who the murderer is.”
As she walked away, Logan turned to Leigh. “Do I get to choose who I kill?”
Reaching into his jacket pocket, he scanned the game play booklet Darlene had given him.
Leigh placed a hand over his, covering the book. “She’s not a bad person.” She drained the contents of her martini glass and reached for the glass of champagne on the table.
“I don’t care how many spaces become available, you cannot agree to watch those kids. I can’t believe they would even ask.”
“I run the only day care in town.”
Logan tilted her face up to look into her dark eyes. “You do not need to watch those kids.”
“Welcome, everyone!” Darlene’s voice at the podium made it impossible to say anything else. “Thank you all for coming out. Tonight we have a fun-filled murder-mystery event, the first one we’ve ever tried at the community hall, and I think it will be a great success. I’ll remind participants to consult their booklets for how to proceed throughout the evening. Enjoy the dinner and I hope we all make it out alive,” she said.
At the chorus of applause, waiters appeared from the corner of the darkened room with the salads.
“Logan!” a woman said from the next table.
Logan recognized the waitress from the café on Main Street. He hadn’t been back to Joey’s since the day he’d met her.
He couldn’t remember her name and he searched his memory for the image of her name tag. “Hi...”
“April,” she said.
“Right, from the diner, I remember. Sorry, I’m not great with names.”
“No worries. I’ve been hoping you’d stop into Joey’s before you left town, and I’ve been meaning to stop by the B-and-B to thank you.”
Thank him? He couldn’t remember helping her with anything. “For?” Logan asked.
“For cluing me in to my boyfriend’s romantic streak, which got me to go on that haunted hike. Jonathan proposed,” she said with a wide smile, extending her left hand in their direction.
The single solitaire sparkled in the low light of the candles on the tables. “Wow, congratulations, April, that’s great,” Leigh said.
“Yes, congrats. Glad I’m so good at spotting romance a mile away,” Logan said, looking pointedly at Leigh, who just sat there staring at him.
Across the table, Danielle O’Connor from Dog Eared Books waved, catching their attention. “I thought that was you, but without the beard, I wasn’t sure,” she said, leaning forward, past the large centerpiece of black and white roses.
His clean-cut look was quite the transformation. He hadn’t even remembered what he looked like without the beard. Klip and Dye on Main Street had done wonders cleaning him up, and Leigh’s appreciative assessment the evening before had revealed she approved of the new clean-shaven appearance. “Have you changed your mind about the desk yet?”
“Desk?” Leigh glanced between him and the bookstore owner.
“The Cutler rolltop in my store,” Danielle explained. “He thinks he can get his hands on it, but he’s out of his league!”
“Oh,” Leigh said. “Wow, have you met everyone in town?”
“Almost.” Logan winked.
Across the table Danielle laughed as she opened her purse and reached inside. “I did find one for sale in Boston. Some family-estate sale—it was posted two days ago....” She handed the listing across the table to him.
Logan studied the picture. “She’s beautiful,” he said. “Enduring.”
“I wouldn’t imagine she’ll last long. I’d call about it right away if you’re interested,” Danielle said.
“I will, thank you.” He appreciated her thoughtfulness, but with the possibility of a move, buying the desk didn’t seem likely.
“My pleasure. I wanted a way to repay you for your help with those grant-application forms. It turns out we may qualify for one after all. Fingers crossed.”
Lei
gh looked at him. “Grant applications?”
“Yeah, I just mentioned that there may be some government funding available seeing as the store is housed in a government building and it’s been in business so long.” Taking a sip of his beer, he leaned back in his chair.
“Wow.” Leigh’s expression was one of disbelief and—dare he hope?—admiration?
“What?”
“You’ve been busy, that’s all,” she said.
“I’ve had some free time,” he said with a shrug, resting his cast on the back of her chair.
“So, what else have you been doing during your time here?”
“Mostly I’ve just been falling in love...” He watched her swallow hard. “With this town...and the people in it.”
* * *
LOGAN’S DISAPPEARANCE from the table was so brief that only Leigh noticed, and while he was gone her mind reeled. Falling in love with the town and the people in it... Her heart had all but stopped as he’d said it, and now she couldn’t force the words from her mind. What exactly had he meant? Was he falling in love with her, as well? Did that mean that no matter what happened in court, he could take a chance on creating a new home with her?
A week from now that court could decide that his daughter would live permanently with her mother in California and he’d be moving there, as well. Would she consider moving with him? But...the open adoption.
Then again, what if the case went his way?
She didn’t have time to ponder the idea as he took his seat next to her again and the lights in the community hall immediately went out. Gasps and a loud scream could be heard echoing on the walls of the center, before the lights flickered back on. Immediately, three actors dressed as policemen were stationed at each of the entrances to the community center. Leigh shot a quick glance at Logan, and the wide grin he wore spoke volumes.
She opened her mouth to speak, but he placed a finger on her lips.
“Shh.”
Darlene Dawson appeared once more at the microphone, suitably panicked. An older man in a trench coat followed behind her across the stage. “Sorry for the interruption, everyone, but there seems to have been a murder.”
The crowd uttered the appropriate shock and horror and Leigh eagerly awaited what would happen next. Though she knew the murderer was Logan, she was intrigued to see how this would play out.
This was turning out much better than she could have anticipated and she was having fun. The handsome man beside her had a lot to do with it. More than she wanted to admit. Falling in love with the town and the people? She stole a glance toward him.
The short man in the trench coat took the microphone, adjusting it to his height. “Hello, everyone. I’m Detective Adams and I regret to inform you there is a murderer in your midst.” He paused, checking the folded piece of paper he held in his hand. “As you may have noticed, we have assigned police officers to all doors and no one will be permitted to enter or exit until the murderer is in custody. As of right now, everyone is a suspect and will not be permitted to leave the room without an escort. Not even to go to the washroom.”
A murmur ran through the crowd. From the table across the room, Neil stood. “I can’t find my wife,” he said in concern.
Leigh whipped her head around to face Logan, her eyes wide. “You didn’t,” she whispered.
Suppressing a smile, he avoided her gaze as he shrugged.
Oh, he did. She laughed. The temptation to kiss him was overwhelming. Of course she’d never wish Neil or Angela or their family any real harm, but in this fake, safe situation, she couldn’t help feeling intense satisfaction.
“I’m sorry to inform you, Mr. Conway, but it was your wife who was murdered this evening,” the detective confirmed.
CHAPTER NINE
LEIGH INHALED, BREATHING in the sweet aroma of cheesecake and cinnamon buns escaping through the front door of her grandmother’s bakery. She shuffled her feet through the crunchy leaves on the wide, brick-patterned sidewalk on Main Street far too early the next morning. The late night the evening before hadn’t been a great idea, but despite her tired eyes and the slight throbbing in her brain, she couldn’t bring herself to regret it. However, the kids would be arriving in less than an hour and she’d neglected to prep the day before. The front door of Ginger Snaps was locked, but she could see her grandmother behind the counter, placing the pastry trays in the showcase. Seventy-four, and the only day she didn’t work was Monday when she visited her friends at the seniors’ complex. She knocked once and waved.
Ginger unlocked the dead bolt. “Come on in, honey,” she said, ushering her inside.
Leigh locked the dead bolt behind her and followed her grandmother into the kitchen. “Need some help?” She had to hurry, but she hated that her grandmother always worked this early shift alone. She was seventy-four, after all.
“I’ve got it all under control.” Ginger Norris set the tray aside and hugged her. When she pulled away, flour covered the front of Leigh’s purple sweatshirt. “Oh dear, look at the mess of you,” she said, grabbing a dish towel and fanning at it.
“It’s okay, don’t worry.” She’d pulled on her yoga pants and an old Brookhollow High sweatshirt that was a million years old. Certainly not the evening gown she’d been wearing less than eight hours ago. She yawned.
“Tired?”
“I’m barely awake,” she said, helping her grandmother move the croissants from the cookie sheet to the Plexiglas display case.
“Late night?” Her grandmother’s tone was a little bit know-it-all.
It was only seven o’clock in the morning; how had her grandmother heard about her evening already? “Yes, I went to the murder-mystery party at the community hall—as if you don’t already know.” Leigh rested her hip against the counter.
“You usually skip those things.”
“Yeah...well...Logan Walters—the guest at the bed-and-breakfast I told you about—well, he was cornered by Darlene Dawson a few days ago, and he didn’t want to go alone.” She toyed with the fringed end of the sweatshirt.
“This is the man you’re helping with his book?” Her grandmother continued to work, but Leigh knew she had the woman’s full attention.
“Yes.” She hadn’t told anyone about her helping Logan except her grandmother, and at the time it hadn’t seemed like a big deal. Today it did.
“I thought he would be gone by now.”
Any day now. “Not yet.”
“Soon?” The hopeful note in her grandmother’s voice caught her attention.
“The book is almost finished and his hand is healing nicely, so yes, soon.” Her attempt to hide her disappointment failed and she quickly changed the subject. “Anyway, I didn’t get my usual baking done last night, so I’m going to need a box of gingerbread cookies.”
Her grandmother stopped working and turned to face her. “Be careful, Leigh. You have big plans. Can he really fit into them? Please don’t give up on your dream of adopting for the possibility of a shot with this man you’ve only known for a couple of weeks.” The older woman’s warning was gentle but firm.
She didn’t need reminding. She was closer than ever to having a baby, and she wasn’t losing sight of that. “I know, Grams. Don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten,” she said. “Besides, it’s not what everyone thinks—I’m just helping him write his book.”
A week ago that had been true. Now she wasn’t convinced. Especially when her chest tightened at the thought of typing The End on his manuscript.
“Sweet girl, I’ve seen that look before...on your mother’s face...when she tried to convince me your dad was just her boss. They were just assigned together, she’d say. Yeah, right. They were in love before that first plane landed. I knew better then and I suspect I’m right again now.”
Leigh lowered her gaze. There would be
no fooling her grandmother about her growing feelings for the man.
Ginger lifted her chin. “I don’t want to see you get hurt. Lord knows you’ve had your share of heartache.”
“Believe me, Grandma, it’s nothing,” she lied, desperate to push aside her feelings for Logan. For the sake of the open adoption process, she couldn’t even entertain the thought of involving someone else at this stage, for fear of ruining the progress she’d made.
“Well, for the sake of your future, it should stay that way,” her grandmother warned. “Be patient, Leigh. The right man is out there. Logan Walters is not him.”
* * *
MAIN STREET WAS quiet and still in the early morning. Exactly what Logan’s conflicted mind needed. Despite the late night and the even later session of staring at the ceiling that had followed, he was wide-awake. A cool breeze rustled the leaves at his feet as he continued to walk, with no direction or purpose except to calm the frazzled thoughts plaguing him. A chapter away from the end of his series, surprisingly a week before the deadline he’d been certain he’d never make, and he wasn’t feeling the relief he’d expected. Finishing the book meant leaving Brookhollow, leaving Leigh. Beautiful, caring, amazing Leigh. A woman he shouldn’t feel so connected to after only two and a half weeks of knowing her, yet the chemistry between them was unmistakable.
He might have been oblivious of the romance developing on the pages of his manuscript, but there was no denying it in his own life. A romance that hinged on the success of his court hearing in two weeks time.
He couldn’t ask her to give up her life here to follow him, to take a chance on a relationship that might possibly be what they’d both been missing. Could he? And could he really trust what he was feeling? At one time, he’d also believed in his feelings for Kendra.
Scanning the storefronts, Logan spotted Ginger Snaps, her grandmother’s bakery. Despite his confusing, conflicting thoughts, a warm smile spread across his face as he remembered the night before. He warmed at the thought of Leigh. He’d never before met anyone quite like the beautiful brunette with the big brown eyes and gentle laugh. Her troubled past only seemed to magnify her kindness and her ability to maintain a positive outlook on life.
Falling for Leigh Page 14