“Well, I’m the exception.” I head for the case.
“The couple must be free of false entanglements and embody the true nature of Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet,” Mama repeats into the phone to me. “Wow, that’s the best clue yet! I’m right here in the liquor room, and now I’m writing it down on a pad of paper?—”
“I don’t need a play-by-play, Mama.” I look out the back seat window of Mrs. Rattles’ SUV as we roll past the car dealerships along I-35 on our way home to Darcy.
Ginny’s in the shotgun seat, and she and her mother continue their argument over her older sister’s bridesmaid dress.
Mama’s shrill scream, in a tone only God could love, effectively stops even Helena Rattles from talking. She and Ginny whip their heads around to the back seat.
“She’s fine. Just overly excited as usual.” I give them both a thumbs up, and they withdraw their attention.
“Macey!” Mama gasps. “Ginny’s pregnant before walking down the aisle—that could be the entanglement! I know all about what that’s like. So maybe Logan and Gigi are the soul mates after all.”
I nearly throw the phone out the window. “Mama, I wish I’d never gone to that haunted truck for you. You’re just making things worse!” And I hang up.
95
That night, I take Ginny out for a mellow bachelorette party. We start at a baby store in San Antonio and then go to Mamacita’s for fajitas and chips. It’s just the two of us—her older sister and two cousins aren’t in town yet, and Mrs. Rattles has grounded Ginny’s younger sister for breaking curfew three nights in a row.
Ginny says Logan and Blake took Dave out tonight, too. And she said Dave swore they’d come to Mamacita’s also so we can all hang out together.
But the boys never show up. At first, I think it’s just Dave being Dave except…
“Dave just texted.” Ginny frowns as she looks at her phone. “He says Logan won’t let them come here. Says it’s too far from Darcy and he’s on a tight schedule.”
He’s avoiding me.
“He says he has to meet Gigi at the ranch by eleven or else.” Ginny looks up at me. “Does that sound fishy to you?”
I avert my eyes. “I don’t know. I mean, not necessarily…”
“Austen Macey Henwood.”
Stern Ginny is so much harder to lie to than Sweet Ginny.
“Yes, it’s fishy, and I know why.” I run a tortilla chip through the salsa bowl but don’t actually raise it to my mouth. “Logan and I got locked in Jane Austen’s cell yesterday, and…”
“How the hell did?—”
“Riley and Blake.”
Ginny puts her hand over her mouth, but a laugh escapes. “Is that their five-year-old way of trying to get you and Logan to talk?”
“It’s their five-year-old way of being annoying.” I take another chip and drag it through the salsa, and this time I just leave it in the bowl. “So the thing is…Logan and I almost kissed, Gin. And when I say almost, I mean if my daddy hadn’t stormed through the door like his hair was on fire, well…who knows what would have happened.”
Ginny eyes are huge. “He almost kissed you? Or you almost kissed him?”
“Both? But he was definitely not holding back. Thank God my father interrupted because now, at least, Logan can keep a clear conscience.” I furrow my brow. “He can, right? I mean, he didn’t cheat on Gigi. Not technically.”
“No, he didn’t.” Ginny doesn’t sound convinced. “But he clearly still has feelings for you, Mace. Did you try to talk to him?”
I shake my head. “I don’t know what to say. We had nothing to do in the cell, so I was reading this diary entry of mine to him, and it got us all hot and bothered. I think it just made us remember old times. Plus, I mean, isn’t the ball kind of in his court? He’s the one with the fiancée.”
“True. But you’re the one who always said you were never getting into a relationship. He probably thinks you’re still in that place.”
“Maybe. I kind of confessed I was feeling lonely these days.” I reach into my purse and pull out the bull ring. “And he gave his wedding ring back to me after we returned from Vegas. Like it wasn’t hard at all.”
Ginny takes the ring out of my open palm. “Such a perfect ring for Logan. Strong but vulnerable. I wonder what kind of band he’s going to wear for this wedding.”
