Counting On It (Hearts for Ransom Book 1) (6 page)

A disaster is what she and Abby found when they finally ventured to the Slammers’ campsites. There were three tents properly assembled, but the other six lay around the area in puddles of canvas and poles. The tall red-head, Jesse, was getting ready to start on one of them while the others sat and watched.

“Excuse me,” she called, getting everyone’s attention. Well, almost everyone’s attention. She noticed Brody Gaines’ eyes immediately focus on Abby, who stood beside her.

“You guys will each have your own campsite now, so you’ll need to move a tent to each one before you set it up.” She waited for an explosion, but it came from the last place she expected.

“Dagnabbit! I told you guys to just wait!” Jesse yelled at his teammates, who, if their shocked expressions were any indication, had never seen him lose his temper before.

Logan stood up and walked toward her. “As you can see we…er…Jesse already has three set up here.”

Emily sighed. “Abby and I’ll help, but the rules are two tents to a campsite. I’m sure the youth you’re assigned to will need to have his tent next to yours.” She turned her attention to Jesse. “I’m really sorry. I hate that we’ll have to take two of these down.”

Jesse grinned bashfully at her, all traces of frustration gone. “That’s okay, Miss Scott. I’m sorry for yellin’ like that.  I just told these guys we should wait and ask you where they belonged before I set them up.”

“Why aren’t they helping you?” She addressed Jesse, ignoring Logan and the rest of the players.

He shrugged. “Guess they don’t know how to do it.”

“Well, it’s time they learned.” She turned to the men. “Please have each tent moved to sites seventy through seventy-eight. Just place one on each site. That center one,” she indicated an assembled tent, “can stay here on seventy-four. It’s Jesse’s. I think each one of you should help set up your own tent. Abby and I will show each of you how, and Jesse can, too, but he shouldn’t be putting up nine tents while the rest of you sit and gather dust.” She had spoken more forcefully than she meant to, but she refused to be embarrassed. They should be ashamed of themselves, anyway. Role models indeed.

Mumbling and unseemly language came from the group as the men stood and began doing as she had instructed. Logan even turned and started gathering the tent and poles closest to Emily.

“Jesse, if you’ll start at seventy-eight with whoever ends up there, and Abby starts here and comes your way, I’ll start at seventy. Then, when you two get finished, you can come help on this end. We’ll get these tents up in no time.” Emily had a reputation for being well-organized back at the hospital.

It wasn’t until Emily approached site seventy that she realized Logan was in the process of moving his tent there. Silently screaming to herself, she walked back to seventy-four to help him get the rest of his poles, and then went back to his new site.

“Haven’t you ever set up a tent before?” she asked him as she set about spreading the large square canvas structure.

Was he blushing? “I never had time for stuff like camping.”

She showed him how to stake each corner of the tent, pulling it tight. “Why not?”

He looked up from the stake he was hammering into the ground. “I just didn’t. I had other things to do.”

It suddenly dawned on Emily just how little she really knew about Logan Taylor outside of school. He had lived across town from her, in a rough neighborhood, had an older brother and mom—no father in the picture. That was all she knew. She had never bothered to find out what kind of life he had. Maybe it had been a difficult childhood.

“Don’t be over there feeling sorry for me, Scott,” he commanded, standing up and walking toward her.

She stood up. “Why would I feel sorry for you?”

“You know where I grew up. How I grew up.” Old, unwanted defiance returned. “I turned out just fine despite all of that. I’m the owner of a construction company. I make a good living and have a nice home now. I even have a car and a truck. I can afford more than I have, too, but I—”

“Whoa, Logan,” Emily stopped him. “I was actually just thinking about how little I knew about your childhood outside of school.” She returned his stare until his eyes softened. “Let’s just put your tent up. I need to help that guy over there.” She gestured toward the guy who had hit on her, patiently sitting on the ground beside his wadded up tent and poles.

Logan had just made a fool of himself. He thought she must have known he was trailer trash as a kid. He had defied the odds and worked hard to get where he was, and he didn’t like to be reminded of where he came from. His mom lived in a nice little house in Ransom now. He had seen to that himself. His brother, Trenton, had gone the way of their dad and disappeared, leaving a fifteen-year-old Logan alone with an agoraphobic mother.

He had since gotten his mom the best treatment he could afford, but she still rarely ventured outside of her home. At least her home was decent now. How could Emily have not known about his mom? He thought everybody did. Maybe he had just assumed people thought he was worthless and lived down to most of the adults in his life’s expectations, but he knew he had been a holy terror. Especially when it had come to Miss Perfect Scott.

They finished putting up his tent, with Emily’s instructions serving as their only dialog. Then he watched as she walked over to Mason. His first instinct was to go help them, but instead he decided to put his clothes and other stuff in his tent. He’d better unroll the sleeping bag and put it in there first though so he could fit the rest of the things around it.

Mason was smiling, self-confidence in his eyes when Emily approached him.

Fantastic. Her first tent had been Logan’s, and now this conceited ox of a man’s was her second? She should have paid closer attention and chosen the other end to start at.

“Let’s get your tent up.” She walked toward it.

He gave her a lazy chuckle. “You sure we can’t find somewhere private and get something else up?”

Emily had heard enough. She turned to face him. “Listen, Jason or whatever your name is, I don’t know how to make this any clearer. I am not interested in doing anything at all with you. I wouldn’t even be here helping you put up this tent if my boss hadn’t asked me to. As far as I’m concerned, you might as well go find somewhere private and take care of your little problem by yourself because if you’re waiting for me, it’s never going to happen. Got it?”

A feather could have knocked Logan over. He had been walking past on his way to retrieve his clothes when he caught Emily’s speech. It would be interesting to see the expression on his buddy’s face as he was on the receiving end. Mason was used to women dropping like flies, but Emily had just swatted back. He kept walking.

Emily stared at Mason. “Are you going to help, or should I get one of the other guys?”

He slowly stood up, a combination of disbelief and astonishment on his face. “What do we need to do first?”

She gave him instructions and he silently followed them until they soon had his tent placed nicely on the site.

He actually sounded contrite as she turned to walk away. “My name is Mason. Thank you for helping me.”

She turned back. “You’re welcome. Would you tell me his name?” She indicated the man at the next site. He was the giant with long, black hair.

“Sure. That’s Bo Daniels.” Mason smiled ruefully, all traces of flirtation gone. “He won’t bother you. He has a girlfriend.”

Emily stood straighter and headed to site seventy-two and Bo Daniels. This shouldn’t take her much longer.

Emily loved this time of evening. The sun was almost completely down, and the stars were lighting up, one at a time. She leaned back in the Adirondack chair and enjoyed the view. It was quiet. Abby had taken a shower and was lying in her bed on the couch reading a book, so Emily had the picnic area all to herself.

“Em?” The soft male voice startled her. She turned to see Logan.

“What’s the matter?” she asked. “Did one of the tents collapse?”

He shook his head, his features nearly hidden in the twilight. “No. The tents are all fine. I wanted to…Can I sit with you for a few minutes?” He indicated the chair next to hers.

She silently nodded. Something was up with him, and there was only one way to find out what it was.

“I need to apologize for the way I jumped down your throat earlier.” He had overreacted. “I should have realized that you wouldn’t have any idea of what my home life was like when we were kids. You, of all people, would have had no reason to care.”

She turned her head sharply and looked at him, able to see the solemnity of his expression. “What is that supposed to mean? Me, of all people?”

“Come on, Emily.” His voice was still quiet. “You lived the perfect life. You had a mom and dad who were healthy and cared about you.”

Her brow furrowed with confusion. “You lived with your mom, didn’t you? I’m sure she loved you.”

His gaze was fixed on the ground at his feet. “Yeah. You and I both had moms.” He raised his eyes, almost invisible in the twilight, and looked into hers. “But you never had to worry about going home after school, and finding your mom hiding in the bedroom closet and having no idea of how to help her.”

Emily heard the pain in his voice. “Why would your mom be hiding in the closet? Did somebody hurt her?” Had Logan grown up in an abusive home? Had his brother hurt him and his mother?

Logan shook his head. “She had…she
has
agoraphobia. She can’t stand to be around other people or in large open places.” He smiled sadly. “Kind of rules out everywhere, doesn’t it?”

“You know I’m a nurse, don’t you?” she asked, concern in her voice.

He turned his face back toward her. “I knew you worked at the hospital, but I figured you were in the administrative section. You were always so good with math and computers.”

“Nope. I’m an R.N. I’m very familiar with agoraphobia. How is your mom now?”

“I built her a house and got her out of that trailer.” Logan had a trace of satisfaction in his smile. “It was my company’s first project.” He cleared his throat and spoke gruffly. “She’s on medication and doesn’t have panic attacks as often as she used to, but she’s still stuck at home most of the time.”

Emily knew that different things could trigger panic attacks in people with the illness. It sounded like his mom only felt safe at home. “How does she do her shopping or go the doctor? Is she able to get out at all?”

Logan leaned toward her. “If she takes her medication, she gets brave enough to make it to the small grocery store at the end of her block once in a while. I’m always the one who takes her to the doctor for her appointments. She feels safe if she’s with me.” He stared at his hands for a moment before looking back at her. “You know Trenton, my brother, hit the road as soon as he could, so it’s just been Mom and me. I’m too busy with the company to give her all the help she needs, so I hired a woman about her age to go to Mom’s for a few hours every day.”

He felt guilty. Emily could hear it in his voice. “You’re taking care of her the best way you can, Logan. She wouldn’t want you to have your life revolve solely around her. It wouldn’t be healthy for either one of you.”

“Do you know she’s never been able to see me pitch in one single game?” His voice was full of emotion.

Her heart broke for the little boy she saw inside of the man, wanting to show his mom what he could do. “I’m sorry, Logan.”

His gaze met and held hers. “I have a confession. Our team sponsor is making us do this big-brother project for the publicity. He’ll pull his support and shut down our team if we don’t do it. It may sound juvenile to you, but fast-pitch softball is almost like a second career to some of us.”

“So, none of you want to participate in this project?” It actually sounded like their sponsor was blackmailing them.

Logan grinned in spite of himself. “Jesse really wants to do it. He wants to be assigned to a boy who needs strong guidance. He’s so easygoing, I’m afraid the rest of us will have to watch out for him.” He looked thoughtful for a moment. “I guess Brody is okay with it, but the rest of us are just marching to Haynes’ drum.”

“I understand,” she admitted sympathetically. “I am now the group’s nurse for the next two weeks because my boss told me if I didn’t step up, the whole project would be a bust.”

He grew excited. “You mean you could put a stop to this fiasco?”

Emily shook her head. “Logan, think about it. If one single boy is helped because you guys are doing this, could
you
be the one responsible for preventing it?”

He gave her words careful consideration before he responded. “I guess not.” Then he went on. “But a couple of guys…Mason, you’ve seen for yourself, and Jake…they’re not the kind of men any teenage boy should emulate.”

“Don’t you all have to be on your best behavior for the cameras?” He reluctantly nodded. “Plus the only two women you guys will have much interaction with are Abby and me, and you know that’s going nowhere fast. Maybe those two will surprise you.”

What Emily had said about her employment finally sank in. “Why are you even here, Em? I mean, you said you work at the hospital.”

She rolled her eyes. “You remember my parents are both teachers, don’t you?”

“Of course.” That had just been another part of her storybook life.

“For about twenty years they’ve spent their summers being campground hosts here at Boone’s. This year they’re celebrating their thirty-fifth wedding anniversary in late July, so they wanted a special summer.”

He waited expectantly.

“When I was idiotic enough to promise them anything they wanted, they requested that I take a two-month leave from the emergency room. They wanted me to come out here and take care of their summer job so they could go on a summer cruise in the Caribbean with some friends who own a private yacht. Aaron, the owner of Boone’s, had already made arrangements for the youth to come before he knew Mom and Dad would be gone, so here I am. Yahoo.” She sounded as thrilled as he felt.

He smiled at her. “I just realized something, Em.”

“That we’re both going to be insane by the end of the next two weeks?”

“That we’ve been having a civilized conversation without one single insult being thrown at each other. Think we set a record?” Logan chuckled.

“Maybe,” she conceded. “I’d better call it a night and get out of here before one of us can’t contain ourselves any longer and we revert to our normal behavior.” She started to stand up, but somehow her shirt was stuck to the chair. “Great,” she mumbled as she reached behind herself to try and free it from between the slats.

“What’s the matter?” Logan stood and looked over her shoulder, trying to see what she was doing.

“My shirt is stuck.” She tugged a little harder, afraid to pull too much for fear of ripping the fabric.

“Let me try,” he offered. He slid his hand down her back to where she had been diligently trying to work the shirt loose. She pulled her arm back around in front of her, out of his way.

Emily couldn’t help but notice his abs as he leaned over and tried to get her freed. And he smelled like the woods after a fresh rain. What was she doing, thinking about Logan Taylor like that? Had she already gone insane?

“I think I have it,” he told her. She felt his hand slide under the bottom of the back of her shirt and up to where it was caught, causing the hairs on her arms to stand on end. Was he caressing her back as he pulled his hand back down and out?

His face was directly in front of hers. “You’re free,” he breathed before gently kissing her. It was heaven—his lips soft, but firm against her mouth, his tongue exploring. It felt…Logan Taylor was kissing her!

She reached up and pushed at his shoulders while she firmly pulled her head away from him.

“What…why did you do that?” There was a tremor in her voice.

Still leaning over her, he shrugged. “I felt like it.” He decided to stick with the simple truth.

“I sometimes feel like walking through the woods and swinging from tree to tree, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to do it,” she told him, still shoving at his shoulders. She may as well have been shoving a tree for all the good it was doing her.

He finally stood up, then reached own and grasped her hand to pull her up.

“It was just a kiss, Em. We’re not standing in front of a preacher.” He had to get himself away from her before he grabbed her and did it again. At least she hadn’t whacked him upside the head like she would’ve in school—yet.

“Fine. I’m going to bed. Alone, I mean.” She was flustered as she began to walk away from him. “The kids will be here tomorrow, and I want to be on my toes.” She felt her equilibrium returning with each step she took. “You should be, too.”

“Goodnight, Emily,” was all he said before he turned and walked toward his site.

“Goodnight,” she told his retreating back before she turned and nearly ran to her motor home.

Abby was never going to believe that Logan had kissed her. Then, as she walked up the steps and opened the door, she realized she didn’t want Abby to know. She couldn’t fathom why, but she wanted to keep the kiss a secret. It would certainly never happen again. They couldn’t stand each other. Tonight had been an anomaly. Besides, he probably either had a girlfriend, or string of them, passing through his bed. Nope. The kiss didn’t happen. That’s what she would tell herself until maybe she’d start to believe it.