Those eyes widened. “You what?”
Gibbs came back to her side. That magical ball of fur always seemed to know when she needed to squeeze him tight. He tried to crawl in her lap but failed. Still, he managed a lick to her cheek before he hopped down. “Vince won’t print the horse camp story. Flat-out refuses.”
“So, naturally you had to quit?”
She shrugged. It hadn’t been until that heated moment with her uncle that she realized how much leverage she had. Still, she hadn’t expected things to go so south. “Good news is you’re off the hook for the interview.”
He didn’t say anything to that, and his silence caused her to look over. She couldn’t read that blank expression, but something important was going through his mind. He asked, “What’re you going to do?”
“I’ll figure something out.” She laced her fingers around her knees. “I have some money saved up, and Cliff’ll let me stay here until I get it all sorted out.” She’d been tempted to tell Christy to pull her offer, but the chances of it being accepted were so dismal she didn’t see the point of another text. Mrs. Hampton would never be won over with an offer fifty-thousand low. She wasn’t exactly known to be the sympathetic type, especially about an offer with some silly letter from a girl with a childhood dream of living there.
“You could start your own paper,” Logan suggested.
“What?”
“Yeah. Write your own. See which one really does better.”
She shook her head. “Even if I had the money, which I definitely do not, I’d never do that. Vince is family. My grandma would hate it.” Grandma would hate seeing all this animosity happening now. “Maybe it’s time to face reality. Find another dream to chase.”
Tears threatened the corners of her eyes. She’d never had another dream.
“Abbs.” She hadn’t noticed him standing, much less walking over to her. But she didn’t fight him when he pulled her to her feet and wrapped her in his arms. “Everything will be okay. You’ll see.”
“I don’t know, Logan.”
He kissed the top of her forehead. “You can’t give up on your dream. I won’t allow it.”
Despite the world falling apart around her, she felt calm in his embrace. Protected. She’d missed this feeling so much. “Logan, I—” The mistake had already been made, tilting her head back and daring to look in those smoldering eyes.
With a gentleness a bull rider should never have, he traced his fingers along her cheek and trailed them down her neck. Such strong emotion swam in their shared gaze. Happiness, hurt, joy, anger. Love.
She could lie to herself all she wanted, but her heart knew better. It would always belong to Logan Attwood, no matter how far away he went.
He tipped her chin up, and slowly brought his lips to hers. He gave her the chance to break free and run, as she should. It was the only way to protect her heart from shattering. But she was helpless to do anything but await his kiss.
Finally, his lips met hers. Softly. Reminiscent.
He trailed a few kisses along her cheek to her ear, stopping to whisper, “I’ll always love you, Abbs. Always.” The next kiss made her dizzy. Her fingers tingled as they wrapped their way around the back of his neck and combed through his hair. She didn’t know what any of this meant, but it felt like hope.
Chapter 14
Logan
“We’re at the rodeo!” Izzy’s feet bounced against her booster seat in Cliff’s truck. The excitement in those blue eyes was as pure as Logan’d ever seen it. It made him smile, and Abbie, too. Then they smiled at each other. She must’ve noticed the heat in his gaze, because pink crept onto those soft cheeks.
The memory of that kiss had them both a little dizzy, it seemed. But they had yet to talk about what it meant.
“She’s been going crazy all day,” Erin said about Izzy. “I thought she was excited for horse camp, but this is something else. I thinksomeonetold her some stories about the rodeo.” Her pointed stare was aimed at him, but a smile spread on her face.
He wondered if Abbie had told anyone about that kiss—mostly whether she’d told Erin.
“It’s not too late to sign her up for the mutton busting,” he said. “I think she’d have a blast.”
“No!” Erin said. “I’m not putting my daughter on the back of some wild sheep.”
“Pleeeeease!” Little legs bounced with even more vigor than before. “Iwantto ride a sheep.”
“Oh, come on,” Abbie said. “Izzy is fearless. Besides, she has to wear a helmet.”
