I exhale.
“But it wasn’t perfect for Gigi and me. Even though I love it.”
I bite my lip. “I’m sorry the whole thing blindsided you in public like that. It really wasn’t my intention.”
I hold my breath and look at his mouth. The pulse in his neck looks like it’s going to jump right out of his skin, and he turns away from me to drum his fingers on his knee.
“I guess it all worked the way it was supposed to.” I breathe out the next sentence like I’m being held at gunpoint. “I’m your past, and Gigi’s your future.”
The pain of the statement cuts through my throat and chest like the sharpest blade of a knife. Logan goes so quiet I nearly ask him if he’s okay.
It’s at least thirty seconds before he answers me. “I guess I’ll have the ‘something old’ gift that every wedding’s supposed to have.”
Even though that’s just for the bride. But I don’t say anything.
Logan shifts toward me and faces me head-on like he’s trying to tell me something. It’s right there in his eyes, but I can’t read him.
“I’m not sure what else to say.” I gnaw at my lip like I’m going to tear it off.
Logan stands up abruptly and turns away from me, but not fast enough. The pain in his eyes nearly blinds me.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” I ask his back.
“Yeah. Let’s go to sleep, okay?”
“I’ll be up in a minute. You go.”
He walks across the pebbled river’s edge, turns for the wooden steps, and disappears.
And I let the tears that were lodged in my throat tear out of me.
73
I can’t wait for the Hunt County Fair. The target contest is a great distraction from the Make Your Match contest, which is on my last nerve. But I promised Ginny I’d ask Mama for help.
So, after theater rehearsal this week, I ask Mama if she can do some research.
My mother’s thrilled to be asked. I take her to the bar with me, and she voraciously dives into Vivian’s diary while I pour Dye a drink and check on this week’s shipments.
“Here!” Mama shoves the diary into my hands.
I look down at the open page. “What?”
Mama takes Vivian’s diary back from me and flips forward a few pages. “Cemented in the West. See? Not in New York City.”
“What?!” I grab it back from her. “Where did you see that?”
She leans over The Cowherd bar and shows me the clue. “The love will be cemented in the West.”
I sigh. “Mama, keep looking. Logan and Gigi met in West Texas, and Ginny is the one who needs hope right now. I know you and Daddy are Team Wild, but…”
“We are not!” Mama’s so indignant she actually takes off her prescription shades to glare at me. “We’re on our daughter’s side, and if our daughter wants Ginny and Dave, then that’s who we’re rooting for, too!”
I look over at Dye, who gives me the thumbs-up. “I’m Team Ginny, too, darlin’. I’m even going to the County Fair for the first time since Donna left me. You know why? I want to see you beat the crap out of that Manhattan girl in the target contest.”
Mama pumps her fist in the air and then returns to the diary and starts flipping through it. “Listen to this: ‘Tis a blooming flower of cacti origin once the spirit exits.”
Mama looks up at me and beams.
