Counting On It (Hearts for Ransom Book 1) (19 page)

She looked into his eyes, which were dark with emotion, and slowly nodded.

“I promise I’ll never say anything like that to you ever again.” He finished the last few buttons on her shirt. “I need to get used to having somebody else care about Mom, don’t I?”

“She said you told her about me.” Emily watched while Logan picked up his shirt from the floor and slid it back on. “Why haven’t I met her before?”

He took her hand and led her to the living room, where he sat on the couch and pulled her onto his lap. “I guess I was still…embarrassed. Mom is different. Not like your mom was. Sometimes she says or does something that doesn’t make any sense, and then she doesn’t remember it later.”

“Didn’t you tell me once that she’s on medication?” She wrapped a lock of his thick, dark hair around her finger.

“Yeah.” He slowly ran his hand up and down her arm. “She has panic attacks if she doesn’t take it.”

“I bet if you read the side effects of the medication, you’ll find out her behavior and memory loss are to be expected.” Emily placed her head on his shoulder. “You know, I’m used to seeing people with all kinds of medical and psychological conditions.”

“I know.” He pulled her head up and kissed her lips. “Mom chewed me up one side and down the other after you left. She told me how you helped her get out of the bathroom and into the examination room without anybody seeing or bothering her. The doctor you called was great. Mom wants to start seeing her.” He cleared his throat. “Because of how you treated her, she even trusted the x-ray technician enough to go with her to have her arm done. She took my mom through the employees’ hall and they didn’t run into anybody. That other nurse—Debbie—told her how you had done it.”

“Please stop, or I’m going to start thinking you came over here out of gratitude.”

Logan turned her head until he was looking into her eyes. “I am grateful for what you did for Mom, but I came over here because I love you, and I didn’t want to lose you. The next four and a half months are going to be the longest time in my life.”

She pulled away from him. “You mean after what we just did—almost did—we still have to wait? You still aren’t sure about how I feel?”

“I think it was a sign that we’re supposed to wait. I promise if you still love me, we will take up right where we left off, and it will be even better because we waited.”

She considered his words. “Okay, but when the middle of December gets here, you’d better be prepared. None of this stopping just when it’s getting good because we don’t have protection.”

A groan emanated from deep in his throat. “I assure you we won’t stop just when it’s getting good.”

“Okay.”

“Good.” He gave her a quick kiss. “So, will you come to Mom’s with me this Sunday? We’ll take a bucket of chicken with us and have a nice meal together.”

“I’d like that.” He loved her. All was right with her world.

“He thought broil meant the same thing as boil so he melted the handle on my very best cooking pan,” Linda Taylor told Emily. Both of them laughed about Logan’s childhood culinary efforts.

“But at least he took care of me.” She turned her gaze to a grade school picture of Logan. “He’s always been the only one to take care of me.” She leaned forward in her chair and placed her hand over Emily’s on the dining room table. “I hope you understood that he was on autopilot the other day at the hospital. When his brother left, it put all of the responsibilities on his shoulders. And he was still a child.”

“We’re good,” Emily told her. “He’s just going to have to learn to share you with me.”

“I’d like that,” Linda replied, patting her hand. “Would you like to tell me about your mom and dad, or does it still hurt too much?”

Emily thought about it—what they would want her to do. “My dad was a government and history teacher at Hazard Middle School. He loved his job, but he loved Mom and me more. Mom taught fifth grade in the same building. She was a nurturing mother.” Emily remembered the day she’d spent at their house. “It might sound strange, but the one person I’ve wanted to talk to the most about their deaths has been my mom.”

“You spent a lot of time together, didn’t you?”

“Yes. Every summer they were the hosts at Boone’s Sites, the campground where Logan and I…reconnected. My friend Abby went with us a lot, but we’d only have each other to rely on. It was like our own little world.” Emily smiled sadly. “Dad and I used to go fishing. When it rained, we’d stay inside and play poker. Ask Logan about that sometime.” She chuckled, then sobered. “Mom and I liked to walk on the trails together. I think we knew those trails so well we could have walked them in our sleep. All three of us liked to read, and when I got older we’d read the same book, and then argue about it.”

Linda pulled her uninjured arm back toward her and supported her cast for a few moments. “At least you’ll always have those special memories.” A lone tear slid down her cheek. “Logan will have the memory of coming home and trying to talk me into coming out of the closet to eat bologna sandwiches with him. Or of his brother telling him ‘tough luck’ and walking out the door when Logan told him he didn’t know what to do.”

Wanting badly to comfort her, Emily stood up and walked around the corner of the table. She knelt and hugged Linda as well as she could without jostling her left arm. “We can’t change the past, but we can live our lives now and alter our courses for the future.”

Linda returned her hug. “My boy did a good job picking you to fall in love with. I always knew when he brought a woman home, she’d be the one he settled with, so it’s going to be nice having a daughter.”

Emily sighed as she stood up and returned to her chair. “Your bull-headed son won’t believe I truly love him unless I can still tell him I do in December.” Maybe she could find an ally here. “Can you believe that?”

Linda gave her a speculative look. “He’s a smart man. I imagine waiting is every bit as hard on him as it is for you, so he must have a mighty good reason for doing it.” She smiled brightly. “Don’t you worry none. If you two love each other now, you’re still going to love each other in December.”

“Are you two in here hatching some diabolical plot to kill me off and steal my fortune?” Logan walked in through the back door and stopped to plant a kiss on his mom’s cheek before leaning down to kiss Emily’s lips.

Emily’s eyebrows rose. “You have a fortune?”

“You,” he told her. He couldn’t believe how well she and his mom had hit it off. His mom had talked to Emily like they were best friends from the minute they walked in the door.

“Well, I can’t very well steal myself, can I?” Emily asked. “So I don’t think it would be beneficial to kill you off.”

“I told her how you got to be such a good cook,” his mom said.

“You didn’t tell her how I ruined your pan?” He would never forget the mess he made.

“I’m just glad you had figured it out before you
boiled
our steaks the other night,” Emily teased.

“Ha, ha.” He plopped into the chair across from Linda.

“Your yard is all mowed and trimmed, Mom. Is there anything else you need to be done that Margaret can’t manage?” Trevor’s grandmother had been a godsend.

“No, son, that was all.” Linda looked at him proudly. “I sure do like your choice in girlfriends.”

“Think she’s a keeper?” he kidded, earning himself a kick in the shins.

“She’s definitely not somebody you should ever throw back.” His mom turned her smile toward Emily.

“I don’t plan to, Mom.” He looked into Emily’s eyes and hoped she could see how much he loved her.

She saw it.

Emily turned and scrutinized her red dress from the side again, hoping the mirror wasn’t lying. Because it fit her perfectly, and she looked pretty darn good.

“I can’t believe I let you talk me into going to this stupid thing again.” Abby stomped out of the bathroom, her blonde curls bouncing with every step. “I told you last year not to even bother asking me again.”

“You look gorgeous,” Emily told her. And she did in her dark blue dress. The sparkling fabric made her blue eyes shine—or maybe that was her frustration. “Come on, Abby. Brody’s taking you.”

Abby snorted. “That’s the only reason I’m going, I hope you know. My man looks hot in a tux.”

The hospital fundraiser was held on the third Saturday of September every year. Since a lot of bigwigs came, the administration went all out and threw a fancy bash. Men wore tuxes and the women dressed to kill.

After a few grumbles about a “penguin suit”, Logan had agreed to take her. Somehow, it had turned into a double date with Abby and Brody. That was okay, though. It would be more fun.

Emily was looking forward to the party. She had fit into Logan’s world. It was time he tried visiting hers. Not that it mattered. He came first, and if she couldn’t have an upscale social life every once in a while, it would be no great loss.

It was probably him knocking on her door. She walked over and opened it.

“Wow.” She turned and called over her shoulder. “Sorry, Abby, but if you want to see a man look hot in a tux you’re going to have to check out Logan.”

“Hi, beautiful,” he growled, pulling her into his arms and kissing her.

“Excuse me,” Brody called from behind Logan. “I’m still out here.”

Logan reluctantly eased out of their kiss, taking a few steps to the side. “Nag, nag, nag, Gaines. You’d think you were somebody important.” He led Emily into the house with Brody following him.

“Hey, hot stuff,” Brody greeted Abby.

“You know all the right things to say.” She launched herself into his arms and initiated a kiss that had Emily blushing and Logan clearing his throat.
They
evidently weren’t waiting six months.

That made her think. “Logan,” Her words were spoken for his ears alone.

“What?” He gave her a quick kiss.

“It’s been three months, and I still love you.”  She kissed him. “I’ll still love you after three more of them.”

“I’m counting on it, Em.” He pulled her against him. “I’m counting on it.” His mouth was on hers, and she was instantly unaware of anything except him…and how he was making her feel.

“Okay.” Abby’s voice was a harsh interruption. “Not that I’m totally against it, but are we going to stay here and have a make-out session, or go to this stupid party?”

Logan gave Emily another quick kiss and turned to the others. “It’s important to Em, so let’s get this show on the road.”

After deciding it would be much more comfortable to ride in Brody’s car than Logan’s Mustang, it wasn’t long before they pulled into the parking lot of the Deluxe Entertainment Center. One of the men at the front door quickly opened the doors and helped Abby and Emily out before running around to take the keys from Brody to park the car.

“Valet service?” Logan murmured into Emily’s ear as they walked through the exterior doors.

She smiled up at him. “I told you they go all out for this.”

“Well, allow me to escort you properly, then.” He crooked his arm so she could casually grasp it, and led her into the large room, where the party was in full session. Although he hadn’t doubted Emily’s word, he still felt a surge of relief to observe the sea of penguin suits. Logan had never liked standing out in crowds like this one. The sparkle of Emily’s red dress caught his eye. With the wonder that was Emily on his arm, he wasn’t going to be able to fade into the woodwork after all.

“It’s nice to see you here, Emily,” Dr. Foster greeted her. The tall, trim man with auburn hair and dark blue eyes looked her over from head to toe. “You look as beautiful as ever.”

Okay. Logan was three seconds from decking this guy.

“Logan Taylor, this is one of my bosses.” Emily had seen the look in Logan’s eyes. “Dr. Foster, this is my boyfriend.”

Dr. Foster amiably stuck out his hand and grinned. “Lucky dog,” he drawled as Logan reluctantly returned his greeting.

“I know.” He’d better rein himself in. He was with a beautiful woman, and other men were going to look at her. She had chosen to be with Logan, though, so there was no reason for him to go all out whacko on her and start pummeling people.

Emily introduced Dr. Foster to Brody and Abby, and after they had exchanged greetings, he excused himself and disappeared.

“Well, who do we have here?” Mandy Little, the ER nurse on second shift—who had quite the reputation as a “loose” woman—was supposedly speaking to Emily, but she was focused on Logan.

“
I
have my boyfriend, Mandy, so unless your butt wants a personal introduction to my foot, go hit on some other woman’s guy.” Emily had spoken in the same genial tone of voice she had used with Dr. Foster. After a frustrated look in Logan’s direction, and glare at Emily, the buxom blonde strutted away.

Logan was flabbergasted. And he’d worried about himself getting jealous?

As if she read his mind, Emily smiled wryly. “Don’t go getting big-headed and thinking I’m going all psycho every time another woman looks at you. Mandy is the hospital floozy, and if I hadn’t warned her away from you, she’d have been trying to get you into the broom closet all evening.”

“I don’t care why you told her,” he admitted. “I just admire your flair.”

“Come on. There are some people I want you to meet.” She laced her fingers with his and pulled him toward a group of people. Wondering about Brody and Abby, he glanced over his shoulder to see them deep in conversation with a few other people, one of whom Logan thought looked familiar. Maybe he was one of Brody’s colleagues.

“Hi, Emily!” A tall, thin woman greeted her.

The rest of the group added their welcomes. Logan recognized one of them as being the nurse who replaced Emily the day he had chased her off and almost lost her for good. He didn’t particularly like remembering that day.

“Logan, these are my friends and co-workers, Willow Simpson;” The thin woman with long, straight, black hair smiled at him. “Debbie Boone—she’s Aaron’s niece.” Debbie was the nurse who had helped his mother. She was a large woman with shoulder-length, brown hair and kind, blue eyes. “And Butch Dagon.” A giant of a guy with a blonde crew cut and a big grin stuck out his hand. Logan automatically shook it. This guy was even bigger than Bo.

“That is Willow’s husband, Troy, and the man beside Debbie is Dane Reynolds, her fiancé. Butch hasn’t found anybody that suits his taste yet,” she teased.

Butch stepped over and threw an arm around Emily. “I tried with this one, but it seems she’s already taken.”

Emily elbowed his side, which didn’t seem to faze him. “Stop it, you loon, or I’ll go tell Mandy you’re over here lusting after her.”

Butch immediately released Emily and comically gagged. “I don’t do recycled, Em.”

Logan took it all in, chuckling. He could tell by their rapport that there was no reason for him to be worried about Butch.

“In case you didn’t already know it or figure it out, this is my boyfriend, Logan Taylor.” Emily proudly linked her arm through his. She was with the most handsome man in the room, and she knew it.

“Don’t you pitch for Sloopy’s Slammers?” Butch asked him, the big guy’s brows furrowed with curiosity.

Emily couldn’t help but feel guilty as she listened to Logan’s response.

“I used to when the team existed.” He didn’t want Emily to remember the whole publicity mess.

“You mean the team split up?”

Dane Reynolds frowned. “I followed the tournaments and wondered if you had just been beat out early in the rounds.”

“The Slammers will be back next summer.” Logan was confident. They had been state champions, so somebody would want to sponsor them. “We’re just changing sponsors.”

“Good,” Troy Simpson said. “I wasn’t going to say anything, but Sloopy’s sucks. They have the worst food of any bar and grill in town, and I’m pretty sure their beer is watered down.”

Willow giggled. “Sloopy’s Slammers is a funny name for a baseball team.” Emily bit her lip. Even with all that had happened, the name still sounded silly.

“They are…were a fast-pitch softball team, Darlin’,” Troy corrected her.

Logan listened, enjoying blunt opinions instead of fake flattery. He looked at Troy Simpson more closely. There was something familiar about him…”Don’t you own the Simpson’s Auto Parts stores?”

Troy grinned at him. “All three of them. I’m hoping to open the fourth down in Kentucky next spring.”

“I have a buddy, Cooper Grayson, who works on cars in his spare time. He buys all his parts from your store—says he can always get what he needs, even if you have to order it.” Logan had found Coop up to his elbows in auto engines on many Sunday afternoons.

“I know who Coop Grayson is,” Butch announced. “He’s the third baseman for the Slammers.”

Troy gave Logan a speculative look. He pulled out his wallet and removed a card from it. “Here’s my card, Logan. I think Simpson’s Slammers sounds pretty good, and I’m always looking for different methods of advertising. There are too cotton pickin’ many billboards in this area the way it is.” He smiled and nodded. “I think we just may be able to help each other out.”

Logan took the card and looked at it. Simpson’s Slammers. Coop would be happy for the team to be promoting the business, and they did need a sponsor. “I’ll call a team meeting sometime next week and we’ll let you know.” He looked around the room until he saw Abby and Brody. “Brody Gaines over there is kind of our legal representative, so it might be him that calls you to set things up.”

“Brody Gaines is here?” Butch asked excitedly. “He stole more bases than any other player in the league last year,” he explained to his puzzled friends.

Emily smiled at Butch. “We doubled with him and Abby.”

“You came with Brody Gaines, and Abby is datin’ him?” Butch asked incredulously. “Can I meet him? Do you think he’d give me his autograph?”

Emily was mystified. She had seen Butch get excited about football and basketball, but he’d never mentioned fast-pitch softball in her presence. He obviously followed the sport, especially the Slammers, though.

Logan chuckled. “I’ll go see if I can get him over here for a few minutes.” Brody would kill him. An autograph? The poor guy had never gotten used to the females in the crowd clamoring around him before and after games, asking him to sign his name—sometimes on interesting objects or body parts. He’d always insisted he was just a lawyer playing ball. “I’ll be right back.”

He was happy to find Brody and Abby were between groups, each with a glass of wine in their hands. Maybe he’d better have Brody set his down before he told him about Butch.

“Are you having a good time?” Abby asked him once he reached them.

It was about to get significantly better. “I met the people Em works with. They’re a really great group. Troy Simpson’s wife is one of them.”

“Troy Simpson?” The name must have sounded familiar to Brody. And he had just set his glass down.

“He’s the owner of Simpson’s Auto Parts.” He waited for it to sink in. “He wants to set up a meeting. The man is very interested in sponsoring the Slammers.”

Brody’s grin would have lit up a Christmas tree, and had he been wearing his team jersey, he’d undoubtedly be getting flocked by women.

“Um, Brody, there’s something else.” Logan couldn’t wait to see the expression on his buddy’s face. “One of the nurses who works with Em is a really big fan of Brody Gaines and wants your autograph.”

Brody immediately rolled his eyes. “She does not.”

Logan nodded. “
He
does too.”

The look on Brody’s face was priceless. Logan knew exactly what he was thinking. A few seconds later his friend confirmed it.

“A…
man
wants my autograph?” Logan would have paid just about anything for a camera. He decided to put poor Brody out of his misery.

“It’s not like that. Butch is just a big fan because of your stolen base record.”

Brody’s eyes narrowed. “You did that on purpose.”

Abby, who had listened to the interchange, burst into laughter. “I’m sorry, Brody, but that was funny.”

“Ha, ha.” Brody glared at Logan. “Lead the way. If the man is silly enough to want my autograph, I’ll give it to him. But I’m not a major league baseball player, for cryin’ out loud.”

Logan could hear him muttering as he and Abby followed him to the group with a still excited Butch in it.

“Mr. Gaines, I’m one of your biggest fans!” he exclaimed, shaking Brody’s hand so enthusiastically Logan was glad it wasn’t ball season. Brody might have a pulled muscle.

“Thank you.” Brody managed to reclaim his limb. “I just play ball as a hobby, though. I’m really a lawyer.”