“By...?”
“Mr. Walters. He insisted and he said not to let you change anything. He said all invoices were to be sent to him in New York—now and for anything else Ginger may encounter.” Lindsay’s voice was firm as she repeated the instructions.
Logan was doing that for them? “But...I couldn’t possibly let him.”
“Look, I know you probably think he’s done more than enough by saving’s Ginger’s life, but don’t look a gift horse in the mouth, as the saying goes.”
Leigh stood still, shock and confusion clouding her foggy mind. “Is that true? Logan saved her?”
With a glance toward the resting patient, Lindsay pulled her out of the room. Ginger’s eyes were closed, but it was hard to tell if she was asleep. “The truth is, the paramedics say that her heart rate was dropping quickly. If Logan hadn’t arrived when he did, then yeah, we could have lost her. You okay?” she asked, placing a hand on her shoulder.
“Yes,” Leigh whispered.
“So, did you want the cot?”
“No.” If the costs were being taken care of by Logan, she didn’t want them to be higher than absolutely necessary. The man had already done enough. He’d saved her grandmother’s life.
“Okay. Well, here, he left this for you,” she said, handing Leigh a folded medical-chart sheet.
Leigh unfolded it and the sight of the familiar chicken scratches made it hard to breathe. “Don’t be stubborn. Get a cot and call if you need anything else. I’ll stick around town, just in case you need me.”
Unable to control her emotions any longer, she let a sob escape her lips.
Lindsay gave her a big hug. “It’s been a rough morning, but she’s fine. In a few days she’ll be good as new.”
Lindsay’s words of encouragement did little to calm her fears, but she nodded as she pulled away. “Thanks, Lindsay.”
Lindsay winked as she opened the door. “I’m not the one you should be thanking. I’ll go get you that cot.”
Leigh resumed her place in the chair next to her grandmother’s bed, and a moment later the door behind her opened once more. “That was fast,” she said as she turned, then stopped. “Neil.”
“I came as soon as I heard,” he said, offering a quick hug, before turning his attention to Ginger.
Seeing him here at the hospital was the last thing she’d expected, but the feeling of support from him had a calming effect on her. “Thank you, but it really wasn’t necessary,” she said.
“Of course it was. We’re still family. How is she?” he asked quietly, so as not to disturb the sleeping woman.
We’re still family.... That caught her off guard. After years together, he was right; Ginger was someone who meant a lot to him. “She did have a heart attack, and they’re keeping her overnight to run a few tests.”
His eyes widened. “Does she know that yet?”
Leigh shook her head. “I figure I’ll let the doctor tell her.”
“Probably best.” He nodded. “Dumb question, but how are you holding up?” He reached for her hand and squeezed it. It was the first time they’d been alone together since the divorce, and this was definitely the most intense moment they’d shared. Strangely enough, all she felt was comfort from his presence.
“I’ll be okay. I’m staying with her tonight.”
He lowered his voice as he said, “Look, I want to apologize about Angela. I keep telling her to stop asking you to watch the kids, but she insists you’re the only person she trusts to watch them.”
“I’m sorry, Neil. I just don’t know—”
“You don’t have to explain. I understand why you can’t do it. And I don’t want you to stress over it, okay? You have enough on your plate, especially now. Leave Angela to me,” he said.
For the first time, the idea of watching his children didn’t seem so terrible. We’re still family, he’d said. Maybe it was his words or maybe it was just his being there when she needed a friend and a hug, but all of a sudden moving forward as friends seemed a lot easier. She could do this for him, couldn’t she? “You know what...um...I’ll be hiring Ashley full-time in the new year, so I’d love to offer the space to the kids.”
“Really? Are you sure?” He didn’t look convinced. “It’s a lot to ask.”
“It’s okay, really. But, I’ll warn you—I only have space for three, so please stop having children.”
He nodded with a smile. “Understood. Thanks, Leigh. So, I...uh...saw Logan leaving just now.”
“He was the one who found Grandma. He called the ambulance,” she said, so grateful that he’d been there when he was.
“Oh, wow. Well, I guess I probably shouldn’t tell you how much he annoys me.”
Leigh’s smile was the first one she’d been able to muster since receiving the news about her grandmother. “He has a way of growing on you,” she said, fighting the tightening in her chest.
“As long as you’re happy.” Neil shifted uncomfortably and Leigh just nodded, unable to tell him that in the past twenty-four hours, she’d struggled to find even a glimpse of happiness.
“If you need anything at all, don’t hesitate to call us,” he said, kissing her cheek as he let himself out.
“Thank you,” she said, watching him leave.
From across the room, her grandmother said, “And I thought my heart attack was the unexpected part of the day.”
* * *
UPON OPENING HIS eyes the following morning, Logan felt a moment of panic. He hadn’t heard anything from Leigh at all the day before after leaving her at the medical clinic and he’d struggled to catch pieces of information from others as he wandered around town feeling helpless. This hadn’t exactly been the way he’d been hoping to extend his stay in Brookhollow.
Rolling out of bed, he wrapped his cast in a plastic grocery bag and stepped into a hot shower. Images of Ginger Norris lying on the floor of her bakery had repeated in his mind, and his few hours of sleep had been plagued with disturbing, nonsensical nightmares. He just hoped the woman recovered well and fast. He knew how much she meant to Leigh. He’d shut off the water when the room phone rang. Leigh? Tossing a towel around his waist, he rushed to answer. “Hello?”
“Hi, Mr. Walters. Sorry to bother you, but, well, there’s a reporter from the Brookhollow View, the local newspaper, here. She’s asking for a few minutes of your time.” Victoria Mason sounded apologetic.
“Why?”
“You’re kind of the talk of the town, being the local hero and all.”
“Seriously?” Logan sighed. “Will she leave if I say no?” The last thing he wanted was thanks or praise or worst of all—publicity for helping the woman. He’d left New York to keep a low profile, and here he’d created a buzz in the small town without meaning to. He’d simply done what anyone else in the town would have in his situation.
“Honestly, probably not. Did you want me to try?”
“No, that’s fine. Tell her I’ll be right down.” Logan replaced the receiver and ran a hand over his stubbly chin. The local media? Now what had he gotten himself into? “No good deed goes unpunished,” he mumbled, reaching for his jeans.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
“...THE AUTHOR WITH the broken wrist then proceeded to call 911 and stayed with the injured woman until the ambulance arrived....” Rachel read from the Brookhollow View, following Leigh into her kitchen. “Have you read this yet?”
“Yes,” Leigh said. A number of times. Each time her heart had swelled with the knowledge that if he hadn’t been there...
“What an amazing man,” Rachel said, sitting at the table. They’d just finished bringing in Ginger’s items and setting them in the spare guest room where the doctors and Leigh had insisted she stay for at least a few nights while she recovered. The older lady lay on the couch in the living
room asleep, still determined that after a quick nap, she was heading home. “And to think we all thought he was grumpy...and rude.”
“He was grumpy and rude in the beginning,” Leigh pointed out, though she didn’t for a second believe it. Logan was neither grumpy nor rude. He was caring and kind and in love with her. And apparently still in Brookhollow. Next door.
Leigh poured two cups of raspberry-flavored hot chocolate and carried them to the table. “Fine, I’ll admit it...we were all wrong about him.”
“And...?” Rachel pressed.
“And he’s actually very kind and caring.”
“You’re forgetting handsome, smart, generous...”
She wasn’t forgetting. She just didn’t want to acknowledge any more of Logan’s good attributes. The day before, being angry with him had given her a reason to distance herself, to put up a barrier between them. His unintentionally hurtful words had given her something to go back to whenever her heart started pounding at the thought of him. Now she had nothing. Nothing left to protect her open heart from the pain of his leaving. “I’ve noticed.”
“So, what are you going to do about it?” Rachel asked, sipping her hot chocolate.
“Nothing.” Leigh said the painful words with a shrug. “I mean, what can I do? He’d be gone by now if Grandma hadn’t gone into the hospital yesterday.” She lowered her gaze to her cup and toyed with the glass handle. “Besides, if he doesn’t get custody of his daughter next week, he’s moving to L.A.”
“Now that the adoption hasn’t happened, you could go with him.” Rachel’s words echoed Logan’s sentiment and the reoccurring thoughts she’d had herself.
Leigh shook her head. “I have the day care...and now Grandma. Here.” There was no way she could move to L.A. and leave her grandmother now that her health was failing.
“Okay, well, what if he does get custody?”
She refused to get her hopes up just to have them shattered again. No, it was best to let Logan leave and get on with her life, her responsibilities...her loneliness and longing for a family. “I can’t even think about any of this right now,” she said, hearing her grandmother call from the other room.
“Okay...” Rachel sighed as she stared at the photo of Logan in the paper. “I just hate that once again, everything you’ve always wanted is just slightly out of reach. It’s not fair.”
Rachel was right. It wasn’t fair, but no one ever promised life would be.
* * *
THE RINGING CELL phone in his hand was a sense of torment as Logan glanced around the room at the Brookhollow Inn for a final time the following morning. Everything was packed and near the door, ready to go...but he couldn’t bring himself to leave. Yet the still-∆3unanswered call from Clive reminded him of one of the many important reasons he had to get back to the city. On the last ring, he answered. “Hey, Clive. I know the ending wasn’t exactly what I’d outlined in the synopsis, but—”
“New York Times bestselling author saves local bakery owner,” Clive said into the phone, interrupting the long list of explanations he had for the abrupt change in his series ending. “Logan Walters rescues a woman having a heart attack just days before his long-awaited comeback with the release of Dark Heart, the fifth book in his Van Gardener series—an act of altruism or a publicity stunt?”
What? Seriously? “Where are you reading that?” Logan asked through a groan, rubbing the back of his neck. How had the story made its way to Clive in New York? He hadn’t expected the Brookhollow View to have an online version.
“The New York Post...the Times...you name it, the story’s there. What are you doing in that small town, Logan? Have you forgotten why you’re there? Actually scratch that. Better question—have you forgotten you’re a writer, not a superhero?”
Good question. “That story was supposed to only have been published locally. I had no idea it was being leaked to the city papers.” Logan sat on the edge of his bed. So much for keeping a low profile until book five in his series released the following week. He searched his mind, trying to remember exactly what he’d said to the reporter of the Brookhollow View. In his tired, anxious state the previous morning, he hoped he hadn’t said anything stupid.
“I think you’re missing the point. Should I even ask if the book got finished? I’m meeting with Winston Brooks tomorrow, but even with this article and your local hero status, I’m not sure I can get another extension, Logan.”
His editor, Winston Brooks, had been the one to convince H and S Publishing to consider his series again after his long absence. The man was a fantastic editor and Logan was happy to be able to say, “It’s done. Didn’t you get the file I sent last night?” He’d spent the day in his room at the B & B, doing a final edit on the manuscript while sitting next to the window hoping for any sign of Leigh.
“Yes, but I thought you were messing with me, so I didn’t open it. Seriously?” Clive’s relief eased some of the tension. “You mean it’s done? Early?”
“Yes, man. What do you think I’ve been doing out here all this time?” Logan asked sarcastically.
“After seeing this article today, I wouldn’t even hazard a guess. So you’re home—here in the city?”
“Not yet.”
“On your way back?”
“Sort of, yeah...I’m leaving here shortly.” He should have been back in the city by now. He wasn’t sure why he’d stayed the extra day. Clearly, Leigh and her grandmother were fine. They didn’t need him. He’d just wanted to be sure. But now, two days and no word from Leigh couldn’t be any more clear. She didn’t want to see him or talk to him. Probably easier for everyone, but the realization still hurt.
“Great, see you when you get here,” Clive was saying. “Oh, and, Logan?”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t lose sight of what’s important... No more distractions, okay?”
What was important? Securing this comeback to gain footing for his court case...winning the court case so he could continue to raise his daughter and not have to move to L.A...to maybe convince Leigh to give them a chance? How connected everything was, yet one broken link would negatively affect everything that was important. “I’ll see you soon,” Logan said, disconnecting. Picking up his coat from the chair, he did a final scan of the room and headed for the door. No sense putting off leaving any longer. He swung it open and paused. “Leigh?”
“Hi,” she said, hand poised to knock.
“Hi.” Man, she was a sight for sore eyes. He had been missing her badly for the last few days, but he hadn’t even realized just how much until she was standing right there in front of him.
She eyed the bags on the floor near the door. “You’re leaving now?”
“Yeah. Sorry, I was going to come say goodbye, see how Ginger was feeling.”
“Were you?”
She did know him well. “No, I wasn’t. I was going to sneak out of here as fast as I could, before I said or did something to hurt you again,” he said, lowering his voice as a couple of inn guests walked passed them in the hall. Now was his final opportunity to say something right, to apologize. “Leigh, I am so sorry for what I said the other night. I was wrong. You’re going to make a terrific mother and that baby will be lucky to have you.”
She shook her head. “The birth mother decided on the couple.”
He couldn’t believe it. “Oh, Leigh, I’m so incredibly sorry....” He enveloped her in a hug. He squeezed her tight, breathing in the scent of her jasmine shampoo. She’d been through so much. And now her grandmother wasn’t well. When were things supposed to get easier for her?
“It hadn’t been a certainty anyway.” She moved away from him.
“Which is why you kept it to yourself.” He understood now and he felt even worse for forcing her secret out of her.
She nodded. “Anyway, I wanted to say th
ank you again for being at the bakery yesterday and for everything else.”
“I’m just glad I’d been there. In all honesty, I went with the intention of doing battle with Ginger for some muffins,” he said, unable to resist touching her cheek.
She smiled and, reaching behind her in the hallway, she picked up a paper bag and handed it to him. “She said to give you these.”
He didn’t have to open it to know what was inside. “And all I had to do was save her life,” he said with a smile of his own.
“I also wanted to let you know that I really appreciate your offer to pay the medical costs, but I can’t let you do that.”
“They’re already taken care of,” he said firmly. “Consider it payment for your story assist, if that makes it easier.”
“I said payment wasn’t necessary.”
“Leigh, please give me the satisfaction of knowing I was able to help make things even a little bit easier, okay?”
He could see her struggle with her pride, but she finally nodded. “Okay. Thank you, Logan.”
“Anything for you,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper.
They stood like that in silence for several moments. “Well, I won’t keep you any longer. Um...thank you again, and I really am sorry about your wrist.”
“Falling off that ladder was the best thing that could have happened to me,” Logan said.
“I seriously doubt that.”
Logan rested his hands on her shoulders. “Okay, maybe not falling off the ladder, but meeting you was.” He stared into her brown eyes.
“I’ll miss you,” she whispered, dropping her eyes.
Lifting her chin, he gently stroked her cheek. “What if I want to see you again?” New York, L.A.—it didn’t matter. Other couples made the long-distance thing work.
“Once you get back to the city, you’ll be busy with your book release and the court case.”
“When I got here, I couldn’t wait to finish this book and get on with my life...then you and that ladder changed everything. Now this court case just got even more important to win so I can keep Amelia and make a home with her here.”
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