Page 46 of A Cowboy's Trust
Petra opened her mouth…then closed it. She frowned. “Well, shit.”
She couldn’t help it. Tansy snickered. “Hoisted on your own petard?”
The glare she got was quick and evil. “What does that even mean?” Petra demanded.
“Not exactly sure,” Tansy confessed. “Other than I don’t think you want a big wedding.”
“But you do want to get married.” Sydney said it as more of a statement than a question. “What we need to brainstorm is how to do that in a way that works for you and Aiden. Period. Because that’s who this is important for. You two. Family expectations are good to think about?—”
“And then ignore,” Tansy suggested.
Petra snorted. “Please. You’ve met my parents.”
“It’s more your brother I was considering,” Tansy said. “I can see him now, stuffing his pockets with tissues because he knows he’ll bawl his eyes out during your wedding. No one wants to see that, so we should come up with that brilliant alternative Sydney assumes we’re capable of.”
“Do you need to check with Aiden before we put on our planning caps?” Sydney asked.
“One minute.” Petra pulled out her phone and tapped a quick message. A second later, she grinned. “He says, and I quote,Abso-fucking-lutely. Tell me when and where and I’ll be there.”
The three friends exchanged grins.
Sydney hopped up and came back with a notebook from somewhere. “I’ll be the Jake stand in. Toss out your worries, Petra. We’re about to do some problem-solving so you can get hitched.”
The chill inside Tansy’s gut had vanished, washed away by the rock-solid friendship enveloping her. An injured young man still lay in a room down the hall. Others with dangerous needs might show up at High Water unexpectedly. Maybe every time things changed, Tansy would have to do a mental and emotional reset.
But with the warmth of the fire and the warmth of friendship enveloping her, and maybe, just maybe something special brewing between her and Jake—Tansy was ready.
Those first hoursafter Logan’s arrival passed, sliding into days. He’d avoided serious consequences from his head injury, but he still slept an astonishing amount.
Tuesday, Jake walked into the spare room and found Logan sitting in bed with an expression on his face that said the kid was calculating how to cut and run, in spite of all the reassurances they’d given him.
“Good to see you’re awake,” Jake offered, taking a single step into the room. “Need help getting to the bathroom?”
“Think I can make it on my own. Is it okay if I get up?” The kid made a face. “Do I have clothes to wear?”
Jake gestured to the top of the dresser. “Loaners for now. They might be a little big, but they’ll do until we can take you shopping.”
Logan started shaking his head then obviously thought better of it, reducing his motions and rubbing a hand over the back of his neck. “I won’t be staying long.”
“Repeating this conversation all the time is getting fucking annoying.” Jake folded his arms over his chest and glared. Maybe a little tough love would convince the kid. “You are not going anywhere until you’re at one hundred percent. Then you can make up your own goddamn mind, but until then, stop making this more difficult than it should be.”
Logan’s eyes widened. Then his lips twitched and he dipped his head to hide his expression, which was more amused than frightened.
Yeah. Jake needed to work on his scary face a little more. “Get dressed if you feel up to it. Jinx is already off to school, but everybody else is having a lazy morning. They’re helping with wedding prep if you can believe it.”
Logan didn’t say anything, but curiosity had slipped in.
Jake left him alone and went to rejoin the others gathered at the kitchen table, coffee mugs in front of them, breakfast plates pushed to the side. Three of the ranch hands had already left to do chores or chill on their own. Only Brett remained, sitting beside Kevin as they shared a low, intense conversation.
From where she stood at the counter, Tansy twisted and lifted the coffee pot in question.
He nodded then spoke for everybody to hear. “Logan’s looking much better. He plans to join us.”
“Thank God,” Petra said with complete sincerity before turning thoughtful. “I wonder how good his handwriting is.”
“I don’t know why you’re fussing about that so much. You can use literally any font that has ever been invented and a printer, and yet you want someone to physically address envelopes.” Aiden ducked as Petra aimed a mock punch at his arm. “I’m not saying that I won’t be first in line to volunteer, but you have to admit, the computer girl wanting to do everything by hand is slightly odd.”
“It’s for our wedding,” she pointed out smugly. “It’s supposed to be?—”
