“We’re ready!” Logan announced when she swung open the door. He and Izzy stood on her doorstep, smiles beaming from them both. Gibbs licked Izzy’s face, earning a giggle. Then he leaned his body against Logan’s legs, soaking up the attention, no sign of tension from what was said the night before.
She briefly wondered how heartbroken her dog would be once Logan left again. Because despite everything that happened last night, he would leave.
“Happy birthday, Peanut!” She tried to ignore that alluring cologne, but it swarmed around her.
Izzy swung her stuffed horse back and forth in a death-grip of a hug. Her long blond hair was braided into pigtails and they swung with her beneath a cowgirl hat that was almost too big.
“I still need to drop off Gibbs—”
“He can ride in the truck,” Logan said. “He seems to enjoy it. We’ll drop him off with your mom on our way.”
She scooped Izzy up in a big hug, rocked her back and forth while little legs swayed in the air. She continued until Izzy’s giggling filled the air, then set her down. “Are you excited to be all grown up?”
“I’m five!” Izzy shot out her hand, palm flat, displaying five fingers. “I can go to horse camp now!”
“You sure can.” She dared a look at Logan. She didn’t want him to know that their moonlit canoe ride haunted her all night long. Or that the ring he gave her rested somewhere beneath her dresser because she felt compelled to take it out of its hiding spot. “I’ll meet you guys at the truck. Just have to grab a couple things.”
Logan winked and said, “We’ll be waiting for you,” forcing her to look away. She wanted to be annoyed, but truth be told, a tiny part of her was thrilled. It meant that despite everything, he didn’t hate her.
Allowing Gibbs to trot after them, she closed the door. She’d gathered all her things earlier this morning, before the sun came up, and even wrapped Izzy’s present, something she always forgot to do until the last minute.
After one more failed attempt to fish the ring out from beneath the dresser, this time with a hanger, she relented. Maybe Cliff could help her move the heavy piece tonight. He was the least likely person to badger her about the reason she’d kept the ring in the first place, a question she refused to answer even to herself.
* * *
Horse camp was a fairly new addition to the Anderson Ranch, started up within the past five years. The idea had saved the ranch from foreclosure, and now dozens of kids from all over the country came throughout the summer. Abbie’d already researched it for the article she planned to write.
They drove beneath a wooden arch decorated with horseshoes and old wagon wheels, a picture she definitely wanted to capture.
After finding a parking spot, Logan briefly touched the top of her hand. “You seem nervous about something.”
Her first attempt to answer tangled up in her throat. She wasn’t prepared for the electrified sensation of his touch. She swallowed and tried again. “Vince doesn’t know I’m writing this article.”
“Seems like a common theme.” His lips sat in a straight, disapproving line.
“The Andersons aren’t interested in placing an ad. They don’t need one.” So Vince would be extra unimpressed that she asked their freelance photographer, Jillian Harper, to meet her out at the ranch later this afternoon. Izzy grabbed both of their hands and tugged them toward the welcome sign where a gaggle of kids waited. As requested, Mrs. Anderson had tied a few purple balloons in honor of Izzy’s birthday.
“Why is everything about ads with your uncle?”
“Without them, the paper wouldn’t survive. He considers a story about an annual horse camp filler.” Not something readers would rush to buy a paper over. Or so he’d told her a couple of weeks ago when she mentioned doing a write-up on them during her visit. But deep down, she suspected he wasn’t thrilled about offering free advertisement to a business that didn’t need the boost while it refused to return the favor to theGazette.
She wished her grandma were still here, if not calling the shots, at least able to give her advice. Before Logan pressed further, they were greeted by Mrs. Anderson herself.
“This must be the birthday girl! Welcome, Izzy.” Her attention turned from the little girl to the cowboy. “Oh my, we have a celebrity joining us today?” Martha Anderson’s hands clapped together as her smile spread wide across her face. “Abbie dear, why didn’t you warn me?”
“Last-minute arrangement,” she answered. But it didn’t really matter what she said, because Martha was fixated on the man in the spotlight. She might’ve told her that aliens had landed a mile over, and Martha would’ve just smiled at Logan in a distracted haze.
“He’s a bull rider!” Izzy piped up.
“He sure is. Ranked number one, you know. Our own local rodeo star!”
“I’m just Logan.” His attempt at humility seemed to win Martha over even more, but it made Abbie roll her eyes.
“Are you ready for horse camp?” Martha asked Izzy.
The bubbly birthday girl hopped up and down, her eyes twinkling. “Do we get to ride horses?”
That elicited a wide smile from Martha, and she reached out her hand. “We’ll get to that later today. First, we have to learn how to take care of them. Why don’t you follow Ms. Emily?”
