She hustled down the block to collect Gibbs early, determined to avoid her mom’s prying questions. “I’ll explain later.” Gibbs barked all the way to the car and down Main Street, excited about whatever mysterious adventure they were embarking on.
Racing across town, she pulled in front of the gate to the arena parking lot. A metal beam blocked cars from entering, and forced her to park there. She and Gibbs crouched beneath the barrier and ran across the dirt lot. She tried to remember where her car had been Saturday night, but now in the daytime, it wasn’t as clear as it’d been in the moonlight.
“Find it, Gibbs! Find my ring.”
The dog went to town sniffing the ground, despite his complete lack of understanding what he was looking for. Likely he thought it was a treat or a squirrel of some kind.
She recognized a tree and hoped she wasn’t wrong about its proximity to her parked car that night. The gloomy, overcast sky did little to reflect the ring’s stone and give away its location. She dropped to her hands and knees, feeling the dirt in case it got buried.
“What are you doing, Abbs?”
Palms and knees in the dirt, she froze, staring at the shadow of a man in a cowboy hat hovering above her. “Cliff?” Slowly, she stood and dusted herself off. Her white capris were hopeless. “What are you doing here? I thought you were done with the security job.” The last thing she would admit was that she threw her ring in a fit of anger and now it was quite possibly lost forever.
“I’m staying on a little longer.” He reached into his pocket and held out a small object. “Looking for this?”
“You found it?” She practically tore it from his hands and slid it back on her ring finger. “Oh thank you, thank you!” She threw her arms around her brother and squeezed. “Where did you find it?”
“Someone turned it in with the lost and found. You’re lucky they didn’t pawn it.”
“Have you talked to him?”
“He’s pretty tore up about all this, Abbs.”
Guilt clenched at her chest. She’d been so stupid to let Logan go, and now it might be too late. “I screwed up. Big time.”
“Yeah, I think you did.” Her brother gathered her into his arms and squeezed her tight. “What are you going to do to fix it?”
* * *
Any other person might’ve called a guy before flying halfway across the country to join him. But Abbie hadn’t been able to work up the courage. After receiving no responses to any of the couple dozen texts she’d sent him, the thought Logan might not take her call left her crippled.
Though she knew he’d never see her in the stands packed with a crowd this size, she stayed put through the entire event. The arena was twice the size as the one in Starlight, and Logan had never been the mingle-with-the-crowd type if he wasn’t expecting someone. She watched him ride, but he was bucked off at four-point-six seconds.
Even the announcer said it didn’t seem as if his head was in the game.
Unable to secure a VIP pass last minute, she waited by his truck. Without a score today, he’d duck out early, she had no doubt. She twisted the ring secured on her finger, searching for the confidence to say what she needed to.
“Abbie?”
“Hey.” She felt like that shy teenager again, seeing Logan in a different light for the first time. They stood there, so much unsaid between them. She wanted to run to him, to pretend everything was just as it was before she ever knew he lied to her about the house.
“Why are you here?” He was cautious, guarded. She couldn’t blame him. Her heart twisted. Loving a bull rider had never promised to be easy. Building a life with one harder yet.
“I was wrong, Logan.”
They locked eyes for a moment, but he stepped away to load his riding gear into his truck. “You came all this way to say that?” He didn’t sound amused or impressed. Just tired. Exhausted.
“I know why you bought the house.”
“So?”
“And I know why you couldn’t tell me.”
Logan shut the back door of the truck now that everything was loaded. “Doesn’t really matter now, does it?”
“I think it does.” But her pleading didn’t keep him from opening the driver’s side door. He was going to leave, and there didn’t seem to be much she could do to stop him.
“I meant what I said, Abbs. I’m done chasing you. The house is yours now, free and clear once you sign the paperwork.”
