“What are these?” asked Logan, scrutinizing the pastries.
“Beef empanadas. I made tomato chutney to go with them.”
“I didn’t pack empanadas.”
“You packed beef, and I found some flour.”
“I was planning on making burgers.”
“They smell fantastic,” said Elroy.
“Suck it up, control freak,” Jade told Logan. “We’re having empanadas.”
She turned from the table and crossed to the refrigerator. Elroy helped himself to one of the hot pastries and slathered on the tomato chutney. He tried a bite as Jade returned to the table with a pitcher of iced tea.
“These are fantastic. You’re welcome to visit here any old time you want,” said Elroy.
Logan shot him a warning glare, but Elroy just grinned. “Taste them.”
Logan took a breath, telling himself to just go with the program. He was hungry, and Jade had produced food. Not a lot of problems with that situation. He helped himself to a pastry then poured a glass of the iced tea.
Elroy watched him as he bit into the empanada. It was delicious, indescribably delicious.
“See what I mean?” said Elroy.
Logan swallowed. “These are very good,” he told Jade. “Thank you for cooking.”
“Wow,” said Elroy. “Try to contain your excitement.”
“He’s probably worried I’ll try to poison him,” said Jade.
The thought hadn’t even crossed Logan’s mind. But he raised his brow. “Should I be?”
“No.” But she reached over and cut a bite from the opposite end of his empanada, popping it into her mouth. “See? Perfectly safe. Now tell me about Sam.”
Elroy kept on eating.
“What do you want to know?” asked Logan.
“Whether to get my hopes up. When he says he has connections, what does that mean?”
Logan let his gaze rest on her while he considered his answer. But doing that was a mistake, because once again he was struck by the vulnerability in her eyes. He was forced to admit she was acting exactly like any innocent person would. She wanted further investigation, and she hoped the people undertaking it were capable. Guilty people didn’t seek that.
“From what I understand, he’s a computer genius. He still lectures occasionally at universities, and he gives advice to a bunch of government agencies.”
“So, he knows people in government?”
“Definitely in NASA. Maybe others, I don’t know.”
Her teeth came down on her bottom lip.
“Does that worry you?” Elroy asked.
“Maybe. A little bit. Those guys from WNT seemed like they might be connected to the government. They hinted that they were.”
“WNT?” asked Elroy.
“The two guys I pointed out in the Twin Peaks lounge,” said Logan. “I assumed they were planning to hit on Jade.”
His answer clearly surprised her. “What made you think that?”
“The way they were looking at you. It seemed like they were following you. I thought they were too old.” He gave a shrug. “But you know how guys can be.”
“He’s saying we’re pigs,” said Elroy.
Jade smiled, and Logan liked it. He liked it too much. And he realized he was buying into her version of events, allowing for the possibility that Ewan and John had actually framed her for some bizarre reason. It was a dangerous path to go down, but now that he’d considered it, he couldn’t help noting that a lot of the evidence supported the theory.
He spoke up. “I’m saying it seemed like a reasonable assumption, since Jade is so…”
Elroy raised his brows. “So?”
“You know what I mean.”
Jade bailed him out. “I think the word you’re looking for is female.”
But Elroy wouldn’t let it go. “The word he’s looking for is hot.”
It was true. And it was frustrating. And it was getting more frustrating by the minute.
Logan was grateful when lunch ended and they went back to work. By late afternoon, the generator was up and running. They’d tested the connections, and everything was good to go.
There were only a couple of hours of daylight left, and they quickly packed up for the flight back to Mirror Falls.
“I’ll plan to be back late in the afternoon tomorrow,” Logan said to Jade as he carried the two drill cases through the front door.
“Wait. What?” she asked in obvious surprise as she walked beside him.
“I’ll try for late afternoon to give Sam the most—”
“What are you talking about?”
Elroy came up the stairs, glancing around the porch to check for any missed cargo.
“You might want to stay another night,” said Logan. “But you can decide that tomorrow, depending on how things are going with Sam.”
“You’re leaving?” She looked stricken.
“Of course I’m leaving.”
“You’re leaving me here alone?” She glanced worriedly from Logan to Elroy and back again.
“What else would I be doing?”
Elroy stopped to follow the conversation.
“Staying here,” she said. “With me. I can’t…I’m not… What am I going to do here all by myself?”
“You expect me to hang around and entertain you?”
“No. I expect you to…” She swallowed. “The generator, the propane. I don’t know how to work anything.”
“She’s scared, Logan,” said Elroy.
“Of course I’m scared. We’re in the middle of nowhere. There are bears, wolves, who knows what all.”
“The wolves aren’t going to hurt you,” said Logan. “They’re almost never seen.”
“That’s suppose to be comforting? That they’re ninja wolves?”
“You should stay,” said Elroy.
“I’m not staying.” Logan wasn’t a fool. Staying out here alone with Jade was seriously playing with fire. “You’re safer here than you are in New York City,” he told her. “A hell of a lot safer here.”
“She’s got a good point,” said Elroy. “She doesn’t know how to work anything. What if the generator quits? What if a propane bottle runs out? Not to mention a medical emergency.”
Logan turned on Elroy. “Then you stay.”
“I’ve got two flights tomorrow.”
“Maybe I’ve got flights tomorrow, too.”
“You have other pilots. I don’t.”
It was a reasonable point.
Logan turned to Jade. She looked quite terrified at the prospect of being left alone. Her fear was unreasonable. There was absolutely no danger.
Still, he realized he couldn’t bring himself to abandon her.
“I’ll stay,” he finally said.
Her relief was palpable.
It might have been her smile, or it might have been her tiny exclamation, but something sent a pressure wave bombarding his chest.
*
Darkness closed in around the cottage, and the moon rose steadily above the outline of the Rockies. Staring out the front window into the blackened forest, Jade tried to imagine what it would be like to be all alone out here. She’d never thought of herself as a wimp, but the vast wilderness was overwhelming. There might be more actual danger per square foot in New York City, but New York City had police officers and 911 service.
A mournful howl echoed long and loud across the lake.
The sound chilled her to the bone, and she twisted her head to glare accusingly at Logan.
“Those are coyotes,” he told her from behind an aviation magazine.
“You can’t possibly know that.”
“They sound different than wolves.”
“A howl is a howl, buddy.”
He lowered the magazine. “They’re also at least two miles away.”
“They are not.” They sounded to her like they were fifty yards away.
“Chicken.” He chuckled.
“Sensible,” she countered. �
��Those creatures have fangs and claws.”
“They’re about two feet high.” He demonstrated the height with his hand.
“You can tell that from their howls?”
The eerie sounds started up again.
“I can tell that from seeing them in the bush over the years.”
She moved to the sofa and sat down. “I think they’re wolves.”
“I know they’re coyotes. Teeny, tiny, little coyotes.”
She gave a shrug, knowing there was no point in arguing any further. “They can still easily jump as high as my throat.”
“You want to go outside and listen?”
She startled. “No. Is the door locked?”
“It doesn’t have a lock.”
“Why not?” Who on earth didn’t lock their doors?
“What would be the point? Wildlife can’t operate a doorknob, and if somebody’s stranded out here, we want them to be able to take shelter.”
“What if somebody wants to rob the place?”
“Then they’d break a window, open the door and rob the place. A lock’s not going to stop them.”
Jade hated to concede again, but he was right. There was nobody around to hear a thing, which was yet another point in favor of New York City. If you screamed, people would hear you. They might not help you, but at least they’d hear you.
“I’ve slept out here hundreds of nights,” said Logan. “I’m still alive.”
“Then the mathematical odds are catching up with you, aren’t they?”
“I didn’t take you for a pessimist.”
She wasn’t usually. “I’m having a bad week.”
He rose from the armchair. “I’m going to turn off the lights.”
“Why would you do that?”
“We’re going to go out on the deck and look at the stars. You need to see that it’s beautiful out here. And I promise you we will be alive when it’s over.”
She swallowed. “You expect me to go outside? In the pitch dark?”
“It’s a half moon.”
“Are you crazy? Wolves can see in the dark.” Couldn’t they? She was pretty sure she’d read that somewhere.
“There are no wolves.”
The howling started up again.
“I rest my case,” she said.
Logan chuckled as he crossed the room. “Coyotes that are two miles away don’t count for anything.”
He hit the kitchen lights and then the lights in the upstairs hallway.
“Wait,” she told him, quite sure she didn’t want to do this.
But he took her by the arm and led her toward the front door. “Last ones.” He flicked three switches all at once, and they were plunged into pitch darkness.
She grabbed on to him.
“Let your eyes adjust.”
She waited for a moment. Gradually, the front window came into view, with the moon and the stars outside.
Logan opened the door, letting in a cool, fresh breeze. He stepped out, urging her with him.
She listened closely for sounds of animals’ footsteps. But there was only the wind whispering rhythmically through the aspen leaves. The generator whirred softly at the back of the house.
“Have a seat,” he told her, pointing to a pair of wooden deck chairs.
She kept a tight grip on his arm. She knew he had to be laughing at her, but she felt more secure if they were touching. At least she could see him now. The moon was bright, and there were a billion stars in the dome of the sky.
“Sit,” he told her.
She eased herself into the chair. The wood was cool through her blue jeans.
“Lean back.”
She did, tipping her head to gaze upward.
The rugged mountains were a black outline. The moon was beautifully luminescent, and stars of many different sizes and hues fanned out in all directions. Despite her fear, it was a fascinating sight.
“I’ve never seen that,” she told Logan.
“The mountains?”
“Stars that look like they’re in layers. One, two, three, four. Can you see what I mean? I can’t believe there are so many.”
“You can’t see it in the city. It’s even obscured by the ambient light in Mirror Falls. But out here, you can see them all, especially on a clear night like this.”
“Okay, they’re beautiful,” she conceded. “We may be committing suicide, but they are beautiful.”
His chuckle was low, and his body moved with it, reminding her that she still had a hand on his arm. She should probably let go, but she liked the play of his biceps beneath her fingers. It was reassuring, even soothing. She didn’t want to lose that.
“Look.” He pointed to a bright streak. “It’s a shooting star. Well, a meteor, really.”
“Are you sure it’s not a UFO?”
“No wolves, no UFOs, just a beautiful night in paradise.”
Her nerves were calming down, and she had to admit she was enjoying the spectacle. “The meteor could land on us.”
“Mathematical odds are twenty billion to one.”
“Should we make a wish?”
“Wow, irrational fear to science to folklore in one breathless minute.”
They were both quiet for a moment.
Then Logan spoke, tone soft. “What would you wish?”
“Right now? To be cleared of all charges. If not for that, let me see, I guess to win the lottery.”
“Winning the lottery has the same odds as getting hit by a meteor.”
“Worse,” she said. “I never buy tickets.”
“That’ll handicap you.”
“What about you? What would you wish?”
“I don’t know. I have my health. I have my family close by. Maybe for a nice girl who loves Mirror Falls.”
“You want to get married?” For some reason, the answer surprised her. It also made her feel crass for wanting money.
“I grew up with most of the women in town. I never fell for any of them, and none of them fell for me. So, if I find someone, she’ll have to be from someplace else. And I’ve learned that Mirror Falls isn’t for everyone.”
Jade turned to study his profile. “I’ve never met a man who was looking to settle down and get married.”
He smiled. “I can’t imagine it’s that unusual.”
“Most of them are looking to get lucky.”
“You may be hanging around with the wrong kind of guys.”
“You may have a point.”
“What about you?” he asked.
“What about me?”
“Husband, kids, white picket fence anywhere in your future?”
“Not if I’m in jail.”
“Let’s say you beat the rap.”
“Let’s say I’m innocent.”
He covered her hand on his arm with his. “Have it your way.”
“Then, well, no.” She shook her head. “I’m not seeing it.”
She’d never come close to meeting the right man. She didn’t even know what the right man would look like. What would be good qualities in a husband? And how could you ever decide something for the rest of your life? What if you were wrong?
“Then you’re the first woman I’ve met who isn’t looking to settle down and get married.”
“Never been to New York City, have you?”
“I have not. Is it full of independent women hoping to stay single?”
“It is.”
“I thought they were all secretly trying to attract a cute boyfriend.”
“Boyfriend, yes. Husband, well…” She thought about her friends and then wondered about her conclusion. “You know, they very well might be looking.”
“Are you saying you’ve changed your mind about the marriage aspirations of most women?”
“I think I have.”
He paused, and the coyotes howled again.
“So, you don’t want kids?”
That was way further down the road than Jade had speculated. “I don’t know. Do coyotes ea
t kids?”
“They’d have to be pretty little. But a toddler, if they got the chance, probably.”
Impulsively, she socked him in the arm. “And you’re going to have little kids out here? Put them at risk of roving wildlife?”
“I won’t let the children rove anywhere. At least not at night. And I’ll teach them to shoot.”
“You’re going to make a terrible father.”
His arm tensed beneath her hand.
“I’m sorry,” she quickly put in. “That was a stupid thing to say. I’m sure you’ll make a wonderful father.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
“Logan.”
“I said don’t worry about it. You’re practically a convicted felon. Why should I care about your opinion?”
“This is true.” She tried to recapture the mood, but knew it was gone. “If anyone is at risk, it’s my kids not yours.”
“We should go to bed,” he said.
“Sure,” she agreed, regret forming in her stomach. “I’m really tired.”
They made their way inside the cottage. Logan turned on the upstairs hallway lights.
“This way.” He motioned for her to precede him. “Take a left at the top. The door at the end of the hall.”
Jade scrambled to think of something conciliatory to say. It had been so nice sitting out on the porch with Logan. It reminded her of the day they’d spent at the Bowen Valley Lodge. It had also reminded her of how much she liked him.
At the bedroom door, he reached behind her and flicked on the light switch, bringing a small bedside lamp to life in the wood-paneled room. It was roomy and airy, with a throw rug in the middle of the hardwood floor, a pine dresser and a king-size bed in a natural-wood frame. The comforter was dark plaid, and it matched two sets of curtains on the big windows. The stars were visible, and the sight made her sadder.
“Bathroom is through there.” He pointed to an en-suite door. “I’ll just get a few things out of it.” He started to move past her.
“This is your room?”
He stopped beside her. “I’ll sleep in Elroy’s.”
“Wait. No. I don’t want to kick you out. I can easily sleep in Elroy’s room.”
“No.”
“Logan.”
He drew a tight breath. Then he stared hard into her eyes, and she suddenly realized how close together they were standing.
“I don’t want you to sleep in Elroy’s bed.”
“But you want me sleep in yours?” The words were out of her mouth before she considered the impact.
An Extraordinary Match (The Match Series Book 3) Page 9
