Chapter One
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Logan Westfall washome.
For fourteen years, he’d limited his visits to twice a year in spite of his mother’s unrelenting schemes to get him back more often. He loved his family, but his demanding work schedule rarely allowed for days off.
Now that he was home for good, Enid Westfall was ecstatic. Of course that enthusiasm was dampened considerably by the fact that his father’s triple bypass was the reason for his return.
The doctors tending to his father insisted that he make some serious lifestyle changes. No more heavy lifting, working out in the heat all day, or spending 12 hours on his feet during the summer months. And most importantly, no stress of any kind, even the non-physical kind. Considering Darren Westfall owned and operated one of the largest landscaping businesses in the county, his only options were to sell, close it down, or have one of his sons take over.
Though he wasn’t the oldest, the family assumed Logan would be the one to step into his father’s shoes. He was the only one who ever showed an interest in the family business, working for his father every summer and enjoying it.
Grant, at thirty-eight, was footloose and fancy-free, traveling the world and working odd jobs to pay his way. Grant was the eldest son, born to Darren and his first wife, Glenda, who died in a car accident when he was only two years old.
Darren met and fell in love with Enid Kressler three years later. After a whirlwind courtship, they eloped and had Logan the following year. Two years after that, his younger brother Brayden was born. As a resident physician at the local hospital, Brayden was already fully committed to a career he loved. Medicine was his calling, his passion.
No one in the family asked Logan to step up. He just did it. Like everything else in his life, when Logan Westfall made a decision about something, he didn’t hesitate, procrastinate, or question. He dove right in to the deep end.
However, he wasn’t impulsive. Every move he made was well thought out and well planned. It was what made him so successful as vice-president of finance at the Fortune 500 Company he worked for in Dallas. Well, used to work for. Within a week of his father’s heart attack, surgery, and instructions to completely overhaul his entire way of life, Logan had packed up his condo and begun the process of looking for a place to live in his hometown.
While it wasn’t as large as the Dallas area, Diamond, Texas had around forty thousand residents. When he was a teenager, Logan couldn’t wait to escape the city that felt more like a small town.
Now it appeared he had come full circle.
He pulled up in front of his parents’ house, noticing that the yard looked pristine and well kept as usual. Logan hoped his father hadn’t harassed his employees too much when they took over the job he typically handled.
Bounding up the front steps, he knocked on the door of his childhood home before walking inside.
“Mom, why is the front door unlocked?” he called out. “It’s not the 1950’s anymore.”
“It’s unlocked because I was expecting you,” she retorted, walking out of the living room. “And your father is being a pain in the ass, so I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to answer the door.”
Darren Westfall’s voice drifted out of the living room. “I heard that.”
“I meant for you to,” Enid answered. “Please go in there and distract that miserable man. He’s not used to being cooped up and he’s driving me nuts.”
Grinning, Logan nodded and left his mother in the front hall.
“So I hear you’re doing your best to send Mom to the funny farm,” he quipped.
His father muted the television and tilted his head back from his position in his recliner. “Yeah, it’s kinda fun to torture her now that I’m home all the time. Reminds me why I married her.”
Confused, Logan frowned. “What?”
“She’s feisty.”
Shaking his head, Logan sat down on the couch, leaning back against the cushions and throwing an arm along the back.
“How’s the new place?” Darren asked.
“Not bad. It’s on the outskirts of town, so it’s nice and quiet.”
“So I guess you’re still determined to throw away everything you’ve built so you can take over my dream.”
With a sigh, Logan answered, “It’s not just your dream, Dad.”
“Then why didn’t you work with me after you graduated college. You know I would have given you a job.”
