Ginny searched her friend’s light-blue eyes that were so much like her mother’s. Brittany saw things in black and white. There was no gray area for her. Which was the biggest reason Ginny could never tell her the truth about her relationship with Jacob.
She pulled her hands from Brittany’s and stood, restless to move. “How can I stay at the Salts' house when Lacey clearly doesn’t want me there?”
“Who are you staying for?” Brittany asked. “You or the baby?”
Ginny wanted to say both, but she knew that would sound selfish. But the fact was that Celeste Salt took care of her. She didn’t make Ginny do chores like Marisol would do if Ginny were home. She didn’t pester Ginny to get a job or help out with family expenses. And she wasn’t constantly asking what Ginny was going to do when the baby was born. Marisol had hit Ginny with that one last night when she’d shown up with cranberry scones and a forced smile. Ginny loved her older sister and was grateful for everything Marisol had given up to raise her, but she couldn’t think about the future yet when she was still grappling with the past.
“I’m staying with the Salts for the baby,” Ginny answered. It wasn’t just the right answer. It was true. What did she know about pregnancy and babies? What did Marisol know? The answer to both was nothing. Celeste Salt had given birth to three children and was always helping with her niece and nephew, too. She was an all-around great mom. The kind of mom Ginny wished she’d had; the kind of mom she’d lost in another tragic car accident.
Yes, her baby would be lucky to have Celeste Salt as its grandmother.
No, her baby was lucky to have Celeste Salt as its grandmother. Ginny had already decided this baby was Jacob’s, and nobody was going to change her mind about that. Not even Lacey Salt and her need to lash out.
“Then you have your answer,” Brittany said, again making this easy—right or wrong. There was no maybe. “And you don’t let Lacey make you feel bad about doing what’s best for your baby.”
Ginny faced her friend and again wished she could tell Brittany the entire truth. But Brittany was right. The only thing that mattered was making things right for the baby inside her. Even if that meant changing what she considered as truth.
“Thanks.” Ginny forced a smile she didn’t really feel. “I think I knew that all along. It just helps to hear it from an impartial voice now and then.”
Brittany grinned and pushed to her feet. She had her mother’s graceful build and her father’s strong chin. And right now she was the only truly good thing Ginny had in her life. Someone she desperately needed to hold on to.
Brittany’s gaze skipped past Ginny and narrowed. “Whoa. Hot military man at one o’clock. We don’t get many of those in Storm. I wonder if he got off the wrong bus.”
Ginny turned to look toward the man dressed in camouflage setting a duffel on a picnic table fifty yards away. He lowered to the bench, pulled off his cap, and scrubbed a hand through his dark hair. And the minute he did, Ginny knew who he was.
“It’s Logan Murphy.”
“I thought Logan Murphy was still in Afghanistan. He’s not supposed to be home for another week, right?”
“I don’t know.” But wondering gave Ginny something to think about besides her miserable life, and right now she’d take whatever she could get.
She crossed the grass toward the man and stopped several feet away. He was staring off at something to his right—a bird or a squirrel, Ginny wasn’t sure which—and he didn’t seem to notice them.
Ginny heard Brittany move up behind her and cleared her throat. The man slowly turned his head toward her, and Ginny’s stomach gave a little lurch when she caught sight of the piercing blue eyes she used to daydream about when she was fourteen, sitting in the high school stands, watching him play baseball.
“Logan? Logan Murphy? I can’t believe it’s you.” Ginny hadn’t seen him in nearly six years, but she always remembered him as being larger than life and wildly handsome. She’d had a brief crush on him in middle school. The kind of crush a girl that age doesn’t know what to do with. And just seeing him again made her blood warm in a way it hadn’t done since she was a preteen.
He didn’t answer. Just slipped his cap back on and stared at her as if he didn’t know who she was. And as her gaze skipped over him, she realized something was different about the man before her. Yes, he was more gorgeous than ever—strong jaw, straight nose, perfect lips—and he was bigger, stronger, more muscular than the boy who’d left Storm all those years ago, but this was something else. Something vacant in his pretty eyes that hadn’t been there before.
“We probably look different,” Brittany said at Ginny’s back. “Logan, I’m Brittany Rush, and this is—”
“Ginny Moreno.” The blank look quickly fled, and warmth flashed in Logan’s eyes as he pushed to his feet and reached for Ginny’s hand. “I remember you.” The ghost of a smile pulled at the corner of his mouth. “I definitely remember you.”
His palm was calloused and rough, and when his fingers closed around hers, she realized the pinky on his right hand was skewed at an odd angle, as if it had been broken and hadn’t healed properly. But she was too distracted to look because the sound of his voice—deep and rugged—sent a flush of heat all across Ginny’s cheeks. And his skin pressed against hers where he held her shot tingles straight up her arm in a way she didn’t expect.
“Um...” Words caught in her throat as those tingles spread all through her body. “I...”
“What are you doing in the park?” Brittany asked. “Do your parents know you’re home? Your dad said you weren’t due back until next week.”
“Ah. Yeah.” Logan let go of Ginny’s hand, and she tried not to be disappointed at the lack of contact as he tugged off his cap and scrubbed his hand through his hair again. “That’s because my dad doesn’t know. I caught an early flight. Didn’t want to make a big deal out of it.”
A nervous expression crossed his features, distracting Ginny from the odd tingles still trickling through her body. Something was up with Logan Murphy, but she didn’t want to be pushy and ask. Just the fact he was here in the park instead of at Murphy’s Pub reconnecting with his family, though, told her it was something big.
Brittany’s phone buzzed in her pocket, and she jumped at the sound, then winced as she pulled it out and looked down at the screen. “Shit. Sorry. I have to take this.” She pressed her phone to her ear. “Grams? Yeah. I’m here. I—oh damn. No, no. It’s okay. I’m on my way. Give me ten minutes.”
She quickly hit End and shoved the phone back in her pocket. “Gin, I’m so sorry to bail on you but I totally forgot I was supposed to help Grams with the booth layout for the Founder's Day Picnic.”
“It’s okay.” Ginny turned toward her friend. “We can get coffee another day.”
“Are you sure?”
“Totally. Go. I don’t want to wind up on Marylee Rush’s bad side because I monopolized your attention, so don’t you dare tell her you’re late because of me.”
Brittany gave her a quick hug. “You’re the best. I’ll make this up to you.” She let go of Ginny and looked toward Logan. “Welcome home. I know I won’t be the only one to tell you that.”
Brittany took off at a run back across the park before Logan could answer, and when she was gone, Ginny looked his way and noticed he’d sat down again and was now leaning his elbows on his knees and running his hand through his hair once more.
Stress and worry radiated off his muscular body in waves, and as Ginny took in his wrinkled uniform and matted hair in need of a washing, she couldn’t help but notice that the man looked wrecked.
She’d been wrecked for weeks. She knew how it felt. Whatever had brought him home early was definitely not good.
Slowly, she sank onto the bench next to him, but was careful not to touch him, just in case. For whatever reason—probably because she knew what it was like to suffer alone—she didn’t want to leave him.
“So, um, I don’t think you can hide
out in the park much longer. Sorry.”
He huffed a sound that was half chuckle, half snort and dropped his arm. “No, I guess not. Once Marylee Rush finds out I’m home the entire town will know.”
“Word does spread fast in this place.” She bit her lip, then said, “Is there a reason you don’t want to go home?”
He leaned back against the picnic table and stared out at the leaves blowing in the trees. And she couldn’t help but notice the lines etched into his face that aged him way beyond his twenty-four years. “I spent all of my childhood trying to come up with a way to get out of this damn town. I told my father I never planned to come back, even on leave. Can you imagine hearing that from your son? That the place you called home wasn’t good enough?”
“Yes, actually, I can. I said the same to Marisol several times when I was in high school. When you’re a kid stuck in a small town, life seems to pass you by. Everything that happens is happening out there, and you’re trapped in one place watching it from the sidelines. It’s only when you get out of that town that you realize the things that really matter are the things that happen back in the place you were so desperate to escape.”
“Yeah. That exactly.” Logan shook his head. “They say you can’t ever go home. I guess I’m almost afraid they’re right.”
“You can always go home,” Ginny whispered. “If you really want to. That’s why they call it home.”
Logan turned sad blue eyes her way, but they warmed all over again when he looked at her. And as his gaze held hers, Ginny felt a spark flicker inside her chest. There was something broken in him, something she didn’t understand, but it called out to her in a way no one had been able to do since the accident. And though she didn’t know what it meant, for the first time in weeks she felt something other than grief.
She felt alive.
Chapter Four
Mallory let the screen door close behind her and dropped her purse on the kitchen table, more tired than she’d been in weeks.
She’d tossed and turned most of the night, too stressed over what had happened at Luis’s house to get much sleep. Then she’d been up early at the bed and breakfast and they’d been so busy with tourists flocking to Storm on a sunny Saturday that she’d stayed later than she was scheduled.
“Mallory?” her mother called from the living room. “Is that you?”
“Yeah,” Mallory said in a weary tone. “I’m home.”
Joanne Alvarez walked into the kitchen wearing a pale-green cotton dress Mallory’s dad had once said made her look frumpy and unattractive and eyed her daughter with concerned green eyes. “Honey, what’s wrong? Did something happen at the bed and breakfast? You look upset.”
Mallory shook her head and quickly turned away so her mom didn’t see too much. Pulling open the fridge, she reached for a soda and quickly popped the top. “Nothing happened. I’m just tired. Long day.”
She could tell from her mom’s silence that Joanne didn’t buy it, and just as she expected, when she turned back, her mom tipped her head and softened her expression. “Sit down, Mallory. We haven’t had a talk in quite a while. I think it’s time.”
Mallory only just bit back a groan. A heart-to-heart with her mother wasn’t something she was much in the mood for right now, especially when she was still so raw over what had happened with Luis. But she knew not to brush her mom off. Her father had been doing that to her mom for years and Mallory hated it. She’d vowed long ago not to be like Hector Alvarez.
She pulled out a chair and sat on the cracked seat. The table was dinged and battered from years of use, and as Mallory’s gaze skipped over the small kitchen with its brown Formica and aged appliances, she realized just how little her father had truly cared about this house and the people in it. No, the only thing Hector Alvarez ever cared about was himself, which was why it’d been so easy for him to walk away.
Mallory’s mom set a bowl in front of Mallory then sat in the seat beside her. Her hair was twisted up into a knot and she was wearing more makeup than normal. Makeup that made her look ten years younger. But before Mallory could tell her mom that, she noticed the candy in the bowl.
She eyed the M&Ms like they might just jump up and bite her, then looked at her mom. “When did you get these?”
“I’ve had them.”
“Hidden?” Hector hadn’t approved of Joanne or their kids eating sweets. At least not the kind that cost money.
A sly smile spread across her mom’s face. “Some situations call for candy, and something tells me this is one of those situations.” Joanne propped her elbow on the table and rested her chin on her hand. “What’s going on, baby? You didn’t look happy when you came in last night and you look less happy now. Did something happen with Luis?”
Just the mention of Luis’s name sent all those thoughts and fears rushing through Mallory all over again. She pushed the candy away.
She couldn’t exactly tell her mom that she and Luis had discussed sex, or that he’d turned her down. Her mom would flip out if she knew all that. And she definitely didn’t want to get in to the whole Lacey thing and how that made her feel. So she decided the safest thing was just to hedge. “Things are just...complicated right now.”
Joanne sighed and leaned back in her chair. “I know you really like this boy.”
“Mom. Don’t start.” Mallory rubbed her suddenly throbbing temple.
“What? You already know what I’m going to say?” Her mother’s voice carried a sharp tone. “Believe me, you don’t. What I was going to say was that I know you really like this boy, and if he’s the one, then it shouldn’t be complicated. Figure out what’s so complicated and fix it.”
Surprise rippled through Mallory. Joanne had never approved of Mallory dating Luis long term. Not because he wasn’t a good kid, but because she didn’t think a high school romance should be serious. Joanne had met Hector Alvarez in high school and ran off with him as soon as they graduated, and their life had been far from perfect. In fact, now it was nothing but ruins.
She looked at her mother and blinked several times. “Just...fix it?”
A soft smile spread across Joanne’s face, and she rested her hand over Mallory’s on the table and squeezed. “Do you want to fix it?”
Tears burned Mallory’s eyes, and she nodded.
“Then fix it. There’s nothing so bad in this world that it can’t be fixed with communication. If he treats you well and respects you—”
“He does.”
Joanne’s smile spread to encompass her whole face. “—then talk to him about whatever’s bothering you. Relationships take work, honey. They’re not easy.”
Mallory couldn’t help but think about her parents’ relationship and how hard her mom had worked over the years to fix what was broken between them. But how could you fix something when the other person didn’t respect you? That was the key in every relationship, and Mallory knew Luis did truly respect her. If he didn’t he would have said yes to sleeping with her even when she wasn’t totally sure that was what she wanted. Instead he was protecting her by making the tough decision she couldn’t.
Warmth filled her chest. Luis Moreno wasn’t at all like her father. He was worth fighting for. So long as he wanted to fight for her.
She needed to see him. To talk to him about last night and make sure everything between them was still solid. Because she loved him. It had hit her in the night when she hadn’t been able to sleep. She loved him, and she didn’t want to lose him to Lacey or anyone else.
Mallory pushed out of her chair and grabbed her purse. “I need to run to the country club. Can I borrow the car?”
Joanne smiled and rose, then moved toward her purse on the kitchen counter. She fished out her keys and held them toward Mallory. “Say hello to Luis for me.”
Mallory grabbed the keys and made it halfway to the door, then stopped and rushed back to kiss her mom’s cheek. “Thank you. And that dress doesn’t make you look frumpy at all. It makes you look totally curvy and
hot and brings out the green in your eyes.”
Joanne laughed as Mallory sailed back for the door. “Well, then I’ll be sure to wear it more often.”
Mallory backed the ancient Olds out of the driveway and prayed it didn’t die before she got to the country club. The engine coughed when she pulled into the parking lot, but for the first time in a long time she didn’t wish she drove a Bug or a Beemer or a convertible like some of the other cars in the lot. She was too anxious to talk to Luis to notice anything around her.
She shoved the car into park, jumped out, and rushed for the country club’s main entrance. Everyone in this town knew everyone else, and even though her family didn’t have a membership, she waved at Adam Glenn, a boy a year ahead of her in school who was seated behind the counter. “Hey, Adam. I just need to talk to Luis for a few minutes. I’m not staying.”
Adam rolled his eyes and went back to whatever he was doing on his phone. “He’s working, Mallory. Don’t distract him too long.”
Mallory smiled and headed for the locker rooms that opened to the pool deck. “I won’t.”
Her nerves buzzed as she wove her way through the women’s locker room, but this time it was a good buzz, not a bad one. She’d decided on the way over that she was going to tell Luis she loved him. It was totally spur of the moment and crazy, but she felt it was time he knew, especially with all the weird stuff happening with Lacey and the way they’d left things last night.
She pushed the door to the pool open and looked toward the lifeguard chair, but Luis wasn’t there. Her gaze scanned the water, then the pool deck, and finally she spotted him. And when she did, her heart dropped straight into her shoes.
He sat on a chaise lounge in nothing but his red lifeguarding swim trunks, facing Lacey, who was wearing the skimpiest white bikini Mallory had ever seen and was laid out before him like an offering. They were both laughing and talking, and neither had any idea she was there. But when Lacey reached out and grabbed Luis’s arm, pulling him toward her, every fighting instinct Mallory had roared right to the surface.
Crosswinds: Episode 3 Page 5
