Page 63 of Her Cowboy Blind Date

She closed her eyes. “I can’t, Zach. Not yet.”

“I’m not following. What’s going on?”

“I can’t tell Sam about Jarrod. It’s too soon.” Their romantic relationship was too new and precious to pollute with her past mistakes. Jarrod had conned her. She was the naïve idiot who’d thought she knew best. The idiot who’d ignored her sister and others who’d questioned her decision to get involved with Jarrod.

“The secret is out in the wild. You’re exposed, and someone will tell Sam about the article.”

“Not if Logan and Dad can kill it off fast.”

Her brother shook his head. “Billie had a secret that caused trouble in our relationship. You were there, at my birthday party, when everything started to unravel.”

“But Billie’s secret was different.”

“True, but there was still a big fallout. I had trouble navigating the situation. It worked out in the end, but it was hard work to get there.”

Her lower lip trembled. Tears hovered, threatening to spill through her lashes. “What if Sam rejects me when he finds out about Jarrod?”

“What if Sam hears about the Logan situation from someone else?”

“That shouldn’t happen. No one on campus said anything this morning. Not even the Logan fans.”

“How are you going to explain sneaking around with Logan behind Sam’s back? Can you explain how you knew Logan in Australia?”

She reached for a tissue and blew her nose. “I don’t know. I don’t want to think about it.”

“You’re not a kid anymore. These types of problems can’t be ignored.”

She couldn’t talk to Sam. Couldn’t risk exposing her selfishness and stupidity. It was because she cared too much, was too invested, that she needed more time. She prayed Sam wouldn’t hear about the Logan situation until she was ready to share her side of the Jarrod story.

CHAPTER 13

The following evening, Sam sat across the table from Becky and Cindy in the cafeteria. Fish was on the Good Friday dinner menu. He ate his serving of battered fish and fries, listening to the girls chat about inconsequential things.

He couldn’t work out what was going on in Becky’s head. She must know about the Logan story. Mrs. Alleghany couldn’t keep her mouth shut on boring gossip, let alone juicy gossip.

No one else seemed to know anything about the story — unless they were too polite to say anything in front of him. The link to the Australian news site was gone. He’d searched online for the story and drawn a blank.

The story was fake, but the photos were real. The pond. The petting zoo. He recognized the Gilead locations. It was plausible that Becky and Logan were friends.

He was puzzled by the Australian photos. Two different locations that were hundreds of miles apart. It had to be more than a coincidence.

He’d given Becky time to bring up the Logan topic. Last weekend, Logan had told Sam he was heading home to California on Easter Saturday.

Sam dived in and interrupted the girls’ conversation about their upcoming ranch vacation. “Becky, are you having dessert?”

She shook her head. “I’m full from fish and chips.”

“Fish and fries,” Cindy said.

“Nope.” Becky continued shaking her head. “They’re hot chips. Fries are skinny chips.”

“Fries come in all sizes,” Cindy said.

“Not in Australia. Or England. Or New Zealand—”

“In America they’re fries. Period.” Cindy grinned, claiming victory in the fries war.

“Getting back to dessert.” He switched his attention to Becky. “If you’re skipping dessert, can we go for a walk before we’re needed at the auditorium?”

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