Chapter Twenty-Two
Nine months later
Macey
I stare at the blank page of my diary. In a few more pages, this journal will be finished. Maybe then I’ll actually have the courage to start a novel.
“Macey, good news! You’re taking the day off.” Ginny bursts into The Cowherd. “George is taking your shift, and your brother’s going to work in your office on the books.”
“Really? How do you know all of this?” I’m already coming out from behind the bar.
“Logan set it up. He said every time you technically have a day off from the bar, you spend it helping somebody else. Which is true, Mace.” Ginny grabs my hand. “So we’re going to spend the afternoon tubing on the river!”
“That sounds amazing.” I wave at George as he walks in through the door.
“I know. Let’s go to the store in town and buy new bathing suits first.”
Ginny starts walking so fast I have to nearly jog to keep up with her.
“Is everything all right?” I ask her as we hustle down Main Street.
“Of course. Why?”
“You seem…tense.”
Beep!
We both jump at the honking directly to our right. I turn, prepared to tell off the driver.
Dave and Logan are grinning at us from Logan’s truck.
“Get in,” Dave says with a wave.
“We’re shopping first,” Ginny says.
“We’ll go with you,” Logan says as he hops out and opens the back door for us.
I smile up at him. “Thanks for thinking of this.”
He winks. “I had selfish motives, too, you know.”
“Oh, really?”
He nods as his hand goes to the empty belt loop on my jeans. “We haven’t seen each other much lately.”
“I saw you this morning.”
“Outside of the bar, I mean.”
He’s right. I’ve been working more than normal since my father’s accident last year. I keep saying things will stabilize, but I’m still waiting for that moment.
I lean into Logan’s strong shoulder. “I’ve missed you, too, cowboy.”
* * *
As I float lazily down the Guadalupe River with Ginny, Logan, and Dave each on their own separate rafts, Ginny grabs onto my float to hold me back with her.
“What is it, Gin?”
