by Toni Blake
She pursed her lips slightly, tried to look teasingly aloof. “Well, I pretty much asked you out, but you haven’t taken me up on it. You seem to like hanging out with me, but . . . only in a crowd.”
“Well, the reason for that is . . . complicated.”
She leaned her head to one side, not sure she liked the sound of this. With a guy, complicated was never good. “Complicated how?”
He hesitated a few seconds, now wiping down the bar, before saying, “Mike’s my best friend. And so . . . it only seemed right for me to sort of . . . get his blessing before getting involved with you.”
Okay, now she was starting to really not like the sound of this. “And . . . ?”
“He had some mixed feelings, and basically kinda wanted me to . . . take it slow, you know? So that’s what I’m doing. Out of respect for him and our friendship.”
“I see,” she said as her blood boiled. And she was trying not to let it show, because she didn’t want to seem crazy, or unreasonable, or as if she was so nuts about Logan that it was maddening. But the maddening part—the part that made her absolutely livid—was that her brother thought it was okay to dictate her dating life. After they’d known each other less than two weeks. And for God’s sake, she was thirty freaking years old!
“It’s only because he cares about you so much, you know? And he thought it might be weird if . . . if things didn’t work out between us or something, I guess.”
“Ah,” she said shortly. So Mike already had things “not working out” between her and Logan. And he’d felt free to put this idea in Logan’s head. “That’s just great.”
“Don’t be pissed at him,” Logan said with a sweet smile, and she realized her efforts at hiding her emotions clearly weren’t working.
So she got honest again. “I think Mike needs to understand that I’m an adult. He might not have seen me since I was five, but I’m completely grown up and capable of deciding who I socialize with.” At this point, it was all she could do to keep sitting on her bar stool without completely exploding in anger. She was learning to love her brother, but already she wanted to kill him.
Just then, the door to the Dew Drop Inn opened, admitting Rachel and all of her friends. Anna had gotten to know Tessa some already, and she remembered Amy from the moment she’d first arrived in Destiny. The other two she’d met at the wedding shower—what were their names? Jenny and Sue Ann? So many names to try to retain since her return.
And Anna truly liked Rachel’s group of companions, but like everything else here, she didn’t feel she was a part of them. Of course, how could she—they were lifelong friends and she’d just arrived. So even if everyone kept telling her how much she belonged here, she still felt—more and more—like she was on the outside looking in.
Rachel wore a feathery silver tiara on her head that said BRIDE, with a small veil of white netting hanging from the back, which looked completely ridiculous with her otherwise smart, stylish appearance—but she was laughing, smiling, and Anna could feel how deep her sister-in-law-to-be’s joy really ran.
“If you’d told me a few years ago that I’d be having my bachelorette party here,” she was saying merrily to the other girls, “I’d have thought you were crazy!” None of them had noticed Anna yet.
“You’d have thought we were crazy to even say you were getting married,” Tessa pointed out. “And living in Destiny.”
“True,” she said, settling at a table with all her girlfriends—who also happened to be her bridesmaids. “And look at me now—happier than ever. Crazy, huh?”
But maybe what was crazy was Anna thinking she could ever really be happy here. She was trying, but Mike was making it difficult. Lots of things were making it difficult. She might have been born here, but she wasn’t sure she was cut out for small town life in Destiny.
Just then, she realized Amy was looking at her, so she lifted her hand in a wave.
Amy returned it, but appeared a little awkward, maybe even sad.
That was when Rachel spotted her, too. “Anna!” she said. “Come join us.”
The truth was, as it had been since her arrival, that she felt more comfortable with Logan and honestly would have preferred staying at the bar near him—and of course she liked being near him for other reasons, too, even if Mike was doing his best to thwart her efforts. But she had a feeling that when in Destiny, it was best to do as the Destiny-ites did—and who knew, maybe before the night was over she’d feel a little more like one of the girls.
Amy watched as Anna, looking utterly sleek and gorgeous even wearing just a fitted silky red T-shirt, jeans, and more of the high-heeled strappy shoes she seemed to favor, climbed down from her stool at the bar and made her way over. How long had she been here? She’d obviously come early to spend time with Logan. And even that tiny tidbit of knowledge was enough to make Amy’s stomach ache.
“Hi, everybody,” Anna said, her smile bright and pretty and enviable. And, as usual, Amy hated herself for envying it—but she just couldn’t seem to control her emotions regarding Anna Romo.
“Hi Anna,” Amy said, joining in the other girls’ greetings and hoping like heck that it came off sounding natural.
After that, small talk ensued—Anna was nice enough to ask lots of questions about Rachel’s wedding next weekend, and talk turned to all the remaining little tasks that had to be accomplished between now and then, many of which Amy had volunteered to do. She even pulled out the list in her purse. “I’ll check on the cake and flowers Thursday. And I’ll be working on birdseed packets all week.” She was tying handfuls of it into pastel netting to be thrown instead of rice.
“If you need any help with that, I have plenty of time on my hands,” Anna offered.
And—wow—it was a nice offer. And Amy could use the help. And any normal, nice person would take her up on it, maybe even make a point of including her in activities so she could feel like a part of things. But Amy was beginning to fear she just wasn’t a normal, nice person anymore. Because she simply couldn’t face the idea of hanging out with Anna in her apartment working on wedding tasks. She froze in place, unable to answer.
“Actually, you won’t have time for that,” Rachel said to Anna, “because I was planning to enlist you for table decoration duty.”
And as Anna readily agreed, Rachel and Amy exchanged quick glances that allowed Amy to send an unspoken thank you with her eyes. Thank God for her friends or she’d never get through this. Even if she’d felt a bit of fresh embarrassment—as if she were wearing a big red “V” on her forehead—when she picked up Rachel and Tessa tonight, they were still there for her in every way.
“We need drinks,” Sue Ann said, playfully pounding her fist on the table.
“Maybe we can get Logan to wait on us,” Anna suggested.
To which Jenny cheerfully replied, “I’m sure he will if you ask him, Anna—I saw the way he kept looking at you at the shower.”
No, no, no, Jenny—stop. But of course Jenny wasn’t a mind reader, so she had no idea of the turmoil Amy was currently going through.
And as Sue Ann added, “From what I hear, he might make a better waitress than a bartender,” Tessa chimed in to say, “No, he looks too busy already—one of us should just go to the bar and order. Amy, Miss Designated Driver, will you do it?”
“Okay,” she said without hesitation. “What does everybody want?”
After taking drink orders from everyone but Anna, who already had a beer, she made her way over to Logan behind the bar.
“Hey there, freckles, what’s shakin’?”
Somehow that seemed like a loaded question just now, so she simply replied, “I’m playing waitress for the bachelorette party,” and ordered the drinks. Thankfully, they were all simple, since news that Logan was a terrible bartender had made its way around town like wildfire. And all of Destiny remained completely perplexed as to why he was doing this rather than resuming his position at the fire department.
As Logan assembled the
beverages, Amy said, “I hear Mike’s bachelor party is tomorrow. You don’t have anything . . . bad planned, do you?”
He cast her a mischievous look. “Who, me?” Then said, “Nah, keeping it on the straight and narrow. Bunch of us are swimming and grilling out at my place tomorrow, then we’ll head over to Bleachers tomorrow night.” Bleachers was a sports bar in Crestview where the guys had hung out for years.
“Sounds fun,” Amy said.
“And, uh, hey, not to beat a dead horse, but if you get a chance to talk to Anna tonight . . .”
And Amy could only sigh. And then the following words left her mouth without planning. “I don’t think you need my help with Anna. I think you’ve got her exactly where you want her.”
Logan flinched and—oh God—she knew it had come out too sharply. “Well . . . okay. You don’t have to snap at me about it.”
She sucked in her breath, blinked, tried to look natural. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I’m just . . . stressed.” Completely true.
“Rachel and Tessa both have you doing a lot for the weddings, don’t they?”
“Yes.” And though not the source of her stress, also completely true.
“Sorry I’ve asked about this Anna thing so many times—don’t worry about it.” Then he reached out and pressed his hand over hers where it rested on the bar. And as usual with Logan lately, the simple friendly touch shot straight up her arm and then seemed to explode through the rest of her body like a starburst. She just swallowed, hard, trying to quell any reaction that might show on her face.
“Um, okay,” she managed. But darn it, her voice came out softer than intended. “And . . . sorry I snapped, Logan.”
“No worries, freckles,” he said warmly, his blue eyes shining on her, giving her that wonderful, melty feeling. Or, well, it would be wonderful if he ever thought about her as a girl, a woman.
And then a brainstorm hit her. And she didn’t even stop to consider it—she just rolled with it. “I need to get out more.”
“Huh?” he said.
Take a deep breath. Keep rolling. “I was just thinking I need to get out more. Do you know any nice guys you could fix me up with?”
“Fix you up with?” he asked, sounding a little astonished. Which maybe made sense given that they hadn’t really talked about Amy’s love life since her break up with Carl a million years ago. And also since, realistically, she knew all of Logan’s friends.
But she just said, “Yeah, fix me up with,” anyway, like it was a perfectly normal, typical request from her. “I need to have more fun.”
“Huh,” he said again, still appearing dumbfounded. “I don’t know. I mean, you know pretty much everyone I do.”
But that was okay. Because this wasn’t about actually trying to make him jealous. It was only about . . . reminding him. That she was a female. Who liked guys. Who was capable of going on dates. In case he’d forgotten. And the look on his handsome face pretty much made her think he had. So . . . mission accomplished. Small mission though it was.
“Yeah, guess that’s true,” she said, watching as he finished the drinks and began loading them onto a round tray. “But if you think of anybody . . .”
He squinted at her. “Mind if I ask what brought this on? I mean, the truth is, freckles, I don’t even know what kind of guy you’d . . . you know . . . be looking for.”
Amy gave it a moment’s thought and told him, “Just someone who could maybe . . . broaden my horizons,” she said. Which wouldn’t take much, given that her horizons stretched only to the edge of Destiny. And she thought that sounded . . . adventurous. And being adventurous was an idea that suddenly appealed. “And as for what brought it on . . . who knows? Maybe it has to do with Rachel and Tessa getting married. Or maybe it’s about Anna coming back to town. I’m just realizing that . . . life changes and I have to change with it. There’s a world beyond the four walls of Under the Covers and maybe I want to explore it.”
“Huh,” he said yet one more time. Just that.
And as she picked up the tray to walk away, she realized how good all that had sounded, and how confident she suddenly felt, inside and out.
Maybe it’s true. Maybe I can change, be bolder, step outside the usual borders of my life.
Only . . . what that meant right now, she knew in her heart, was finding the way to do what Tessa kept telling her she had to: admitting the truth to Logan. And that still sounded unthinkable, but . . . maybe it was a teeny tiny little smidge more thinkable in this moment than it had been an hour ago. Maybe.
“Drinks,” she said, lowering the tray to the table and feeling a bit more festive than when she’d departed.
“How much?” Tessa asked, reaching for her purse. “First round’s on me.”
Which is when Amy realized, “Oh—I don’t know. He forgot to charge me.”
“Boy, Anita’s got herself a great bartender there,” Rachel quipped, shaking her head. “We’ll remind him next round.”
Amy took her seat next to Tessa and reached for the Coke Logan had poured for her while everyone else claimed glasses of wine or mixed drinks. Meanwhile, Sue Ann asked Anna, “Are you getting used to Destiny yet?”
Though Anna smiled, Amy thought it looked slightly forced. “Slowly but surely.”
And Rachel added, “The tougher part, I’m guessing, is getting used to Mike. Trust me, I know.” Both being strongheaded, Rachel and Mike had had quite a difficult time getting along early in their relationship.
Even as everyone laughed, however, Amy still thought Anna’s reaction didn’t seem completely sincere. Although she smiled as she said, “You could say that.”
And apparently Rachel could see through it, too—and had gotten to know Anna well enough to be up front about it. “All right—you don’t look happy. So what has the big lout done now that I don’t know about?”
At this, Anna let out a sigh, fiddled with her beer bottle, and said, “Well, the truth is, I just discovered that when he found out Logan and I were attracted to each other, he asked Logan to take it slow. As in, apparently, not even being alone with me.”
It was difficult for Amy to hide her elation as she sent up a silent, Thank you, Mike!, same as she had once before.
“And it’s freaking ridiculous,” Anna went on, picking up steam. “I mean, I’m a grown woman! And I’ve gotten by just fine without him up to now! And I wanted to come here and find my family and all—and everyone’s been great, don’t get me wrong—but for him to think it’s okay to try to run my love life in any way whatsoever . . . um, no. That’s majorly out of bounds.”
“Oh my God, what a jerk!” Sue Ann said, never shy about expressing an opinion. But then she apparently remembered where she was and tossed Rachel a sheepish glance. “Sorry, Rach. Normally, I love Mike.”
But Rachel just swiped a hand down through the air. “No need to apologize. He can be a jerk. And Anna, I’m so sorry he’s being so heavy-handed with you. You’re right—it’s completely over the line. But . . . I hope you can understand that it’s only because he loves you so much.”
It surprised Amy when Anna only let out another forlorn sigh. “That’s what Logan said, too, but it’s too much.”
“Um,” Tessa began uncertainly, “what was Logan’s reaction to Mike’s request? If you don’t mind my asking.”
Anna pursed her lips, looking unhappy. “Well, he was a lot more understanding about it than I am.”
“That’s Logan,” Jenny chimed in. “Loyal as a guy can be.”
“So you kinda gotta respect that,” Tessa added, “even if it’s unreasonable. Right?”
And the unchanged look on Anna’s face told Amy that maybe this hadn’t yet crossed her mind. “Oh. Hmm. I don’t know. Maybe.”
“They are best friends,” Sue Ann added, unknowingly helping Amy’s cause. “You don’t want to do anything to come between best friends, you know? Even if Mike is being a big buttinski.”
Anna dropped her gaze to the table for a moment before
raising her eyes again. “I guess that’s true.”
“And it’s not like he’s . . . forbidden you to see him or something,” Tessa pointed out. “He just said take it slow. And slow can be nice sometimes.”
Anna didn’t look like she particularly believed that part, but she still offered up a grudging nod.
Just then, the first note of Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream” blared from the jukebox and Rachel said, “I want to dance!”
And Jenny asked “Here?” No one danced at the Dew Drop Inn.
Yet Rachel looked aghast. “Look, this is my bachelorette party—my proverbial last night of freedom before I attach myself to the old ball and chain. If I say we dance, we dance! Now come on, girls—we’re dancing.”
Since Rachel was clearly in the mood to rule with an iron fist, everyone at the table started getting to their feet—except for Amy, who grabbed Tessa’s wrist and yanked her back down as well. When Rachel gave her a pointed look, Amy told her, “We’ll be there in a minute,” and when Rachel’s expression softened, she knew her friend realized this probably had something to do with her current dilemma.
“What is it?” Tessa asked as everyone else walked away.
“Something awful just hit me.”
“What’s that?”
“What happens after the wedding?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Mike and Rachel’s wedding is next Saturday night,” Amy explained. “And then they’re going to Italy. And even that night, they’ll be leaving the reception before everyone else anyway to go have wedding night sex. And so who’s to stop Anna from having her way with Logan after the wedding? I mean, if I were her I’d totally be putting the moves on him the second Mike walks out the door. Wouldn’t you?”
When Tessa cast a light scowl in response, Amy knew she agreed.
Which prompted her to add, “What am I gonna do? How am I gonna stop that?”
Tessa’s look came half speculative, half scolding. “You could take a chance and tell him how you feel.”
But Amy just let out a long, tired breath. Yes, she knew about that option already and thought it was clear she was choosing to bypass it. Even if it was beginning to seem more in the realm of possibility, more like a thing that, deep down, Amy knew had to happen eventually, one way or the other—she wasn’t ready to do it yet. She had to work up to it, over time. She had to find the right way, the right moment. It would be a very delicate, well-thought-out, well-planned operation. So she simply told Tessa, “Not on the table for right now.”