Northern Fascination (13 page)

There were two options as far as he could tell. Jenna could come here or he could go there. She had made it clear she wasn’t coming here. His life was here, which left them with nowhere to go.

He pushed away from his desk and paced from one end of the room to the other, and then back again. Think, Logan, think. His great-grandfather, Jebediah, stared relentlessly at Logan from his portrait on the wall. It was almost as if Logan could hear him speak. “Get outside your comfort zone. Think outside the box. Be bold. Be daring. I didn’t discover gold sitting on my duff.”

What did Logan really have here? A house that wasn’t a home. A family wound so tight,
feelings
was a dirty word. A job he did because it was expected of him. Years of the same.

He thought about how efficient he’d been working in Good Riddance before he’d taken his vacation. He’d done the same damn thing there that he did here—he’d answered emails, reviewed reports, signed off on documents, handled and delegated problems. An idea took root and he began to jot down notes. The internet was alive and well in Good Riddance. He could teleconference and handle his business from there. In actuality, there wasn’t a damn thing he did for work in Atlanta that he couldn’t do in Good Riddance. True enough, his parents were going to come unglued, not because they’d miss him but because they’d label his behavior as unacceptable.

Did he dare? The real question was did he dare not? Was he going to sit on his ass and do nothing while the best thing that had ever happened to him slipped away from him? Even if Jenna was willing to sit around and wait for him, why would he want to waste any more time?

He began to make a list of what had to be done. Jenna had waited long enough. He was nearly finished when Martina opened her door and poked her head in. “Got a minute?”

“Sure.”

Martina came in and sat down across from him. “Okay, look, cuz, we’ve got to come to an understanding. My friends are about to string me up and run me out of town. I keep fixing you up with them and you keep standing them up. Something’s gotta give.”

“Yeah, I’m sorry about that.”

“You are?” Obviously Martina had expected an argument.

“Yeah, I’ve put you in sort of a bad spot.”

“Are you okay, Logan?” She peered at him. “You just haven’t been yourself since you got back from Alaska. Maybe you shouldn’t take any more vacations. They seem to screw with your head.”

Martina, being the most unorthodox of his very traditional family, seemed the perfect person to talk to about his new life. “I’m getting married. At least I hope I’m getting married.” He was pretty sure Jenna wouldn’t turn him down when he showed up. Surely she was tired of waiting for him.

Martina shook her head, as if to clear it. “Logan, did you just say you were getting married?”

“I did.”

“Don’t you have to date someone first?”

“Do you remember Jenna Rathburne from high school?”

“Peppy blonde, big—” she held her hands out in front of her own modest chest “—cheerleader? Yeah, I remember her… Jenna? Get out. I knew you had a thing for her—”

“You did?”

“Well, sure. You’re marrying
Jenna?
”

“I certainly hope so. And I’m moving to Alaska.”

“You’ve got some big blanks to fill in for me. And your parents are going to stroke out. They’ll think you’ve lost your mind. Heck, I think you’ve lost your mind.”

More like he’d finally woken up. “My mind’s pretty sound but my heart’s a goner.”

Martina stared at him. “That’s it. You’ve definitely lost your mind.” She grinned. “It’s about time.”

L
OGAN SAT AT THE
round mahogany table in his father’s corner office overlooking the Atlanta skyline. His great-grandfather Jebediah Jeffries seemed to be watching him. Only today, it seemed as if Jebediah had a different look in his eye. That unrelenting stare seemed to have softened. Logan could’ve sworn there was a glint of approval in the old man’s eyes.

His father, immaculately turned out in his Brooks Brothers suit, read through a stack of papers. He didn’t look up until Martina and Kyle slid into place at the table. Martina mouthed “good luck” to him. Last, but certainly not least, his mother came in and sat next to Martina. His mother wasn’t normally part of their business meetings but since this was personal, he figured he’d just go over it the one time. And since his family was all about business, the office seemed the best place to break the news.

Davis Jeffries peered at him over the top of his glasses. “You wanted a meeting?”

Logan nodded. He’d gone over it several times in his head. “I’d like to propose restructuring my position. When I was in Alaska a couple of weeks ago, I realized how much more efficient I was in my job without the in-office interruptions. Therefore, I’d like to begin telecommuting.”

Davis frowned. “We’ve always come into the office every day.”

“True. It would be a change, but there are new, more efficient ways of doing business. We have to change with the times or get left behind. I would, of course, come in for the quarterly board meetings.”

“You only want to come in quarterly?”

Martina looked steadfastly at her hands folded in her lap. Logan was certain it was to keep from laughing at what she knew was coming.

“Well, the second part of the restructuring involves me relocating.”

His mother spoke up. “You want to move? You just redid your condo.” She shot Martina a “you’re-falling-down-on-your-job” look. “And I thought you were starting to have more of a social life.”

“Mother,
you
had my condo remodeled.”

“Because there’s no other woman in your life to organize that kind of thing.” She and his father maintained a very traditional marital division of labor. “Well, where are you thinking of moving? Buck-head? I know it’s a little more upscale.”

“Alaska.”

“Alaska?” His mother looked horrified.

“Alaska?” His father appeared puzzled.

Kyle’s mouth simply gaped open.

“Good Riddance to be precise.”

“You want to run our business from a remote bush town?” his father said.

“We can give it a shot. If it doesn’t work out, I’ll tender my resignation.”

“Alaska?” His mother was still stuck there.

“And if we don’t want to
give it a shot,
as you so cavalierly put it?” Davis managed to inject a wealth of derision in one sentence.

“Then I’ll tender my resignation now. I, of course, will cover the position, from Alaska, until you can find a replacement.”

His mother had recovered her voice. “Logan Charles Jeffries, why in the world do you want to move to Alaska?” She made it sound synonymous with Hades.

Logan grinned. “Because of a woman, Mother, why else? I’m in love. I’m going to get married if she’ll have me.”

“Jesus,” Kyle breathed.

“No, her name is Jenna,” Martina said.

“Davis, do something,” his mother said. “Our son needs help. He’s lost his mind.”

“I’m getting a life.”

“Jeffries don’t fall in love,” his father said.

His mother nodded. “Listen to your father.”

His father steepled his fingers in front of his face, a calculating look in his eyes. “Let’s not be hasty. What’s her family in? Oil? Gas?”

“I’m not sure what her family does, but she does nails.”

“Building supplies?” His father nodded slowly. “It’s a growing segment.”

“No. Nails. Finger nails. Mani/pedis she calls them.”

“Dear God.”

“Sweet Jesus.”

While his father and Kyle invoke a higher power, his mother did one better.

“I feel…faint.” And then she collapsed, toppling right over and landing in Martina’s lap.

Well, that had gone better than he’d expected.

“Y
OU’RE GOING TO HAVE
to tell him, Jenna,” Merrilee said as Jenna settled in the chair next to Merrilee’s desk at the airstrip office. The sun, in its brief appearance, glimmered through the window.

“I’m going to, Merrilee. I told him I’d let him know. But it seems to me that if he was so worried, he could’ve picked up the phone and called now, couldn’t he? Or, let’s see, there’s email. Texting. Web-camming. Good old-fashioned letters. But nothing. I haven’t heard a word from him.”

“Have you ever thought that on his end, he’s thinking the same thing? You haven’t contacted him. Communication is a two-way street and you’re the one with the big newsflash.”

Tears gathered in Jenna’s eyes and Merrilee handed her a tissue, patting her hand in the process. “I’m so sick of crying,” Jenna said, sniffling. “These hormones are killing me.”

She’d never been one to cry, but she’d cried more in the past two weeks than she had in her entire life. And she was tired, all the time. Skye had assured her the tears were all the hormonal changes and in a couple of weeks, she should level out. She hoped so. Between the mood swings and the tears, she could hardly stand herself. No wonder Logan hadn’t contacted her. And that made her want to cry all over again.

“Look, hon, go next door and get you and Junior something to eat. Dalton should be landing any minute and then I’ll come over and have lunch with you. Go and save me a seat.”

Jenna went. As usual, Gus’s was packed because Lucky had the soaps running. And Rooster’s bookie business had been cranking. Apparently there were a lot of bets as to the baby’s sex, weight and if and when the daddy was going to show up.

Sitting at her usual table, Jenna dabbed at her eyes. She hadn’t told Logan yet because she wanted him to come back for
her,
not because she was carrying the next Jeffries. She knew he had to walk his own path, she just wished he’d walk it a little faster.

“I
T’S ABOUT DAMN TIME
,” Dalton said without preamble.

Logan grinned and shrugged, shaking the other man’s hand. “Hey, it takes a little bit of time to turn your life upside down.”

“I guess. We’ll all be glad to see you. And I’m glad you got here today instead of tomorrow. I just won a hundred bucks.”

“Rooster?” The wagers had probably started the day he left town as to how long it would take him to pull his head out of his posterior and make it back.

“Yeah. He’s got a quite a few bets going. You are here to stay?”

“If Jenna will have me.”

“Well, this should be interesting.” Dalton’s smile held a sly edge, but that was nothing out of the ordinary.

Half an hour later, they rolled to a stop on the air strip. Logan climbed out of the plane before Dalton had killed the engine, eager to be back. He knew exactly what Merrilee had meant and how Jenna felt. He’d come home.

He didn’t wait for Dalton, crossing to the airstrip in record time. He walked in and Merrilee jumped up. “So, you’re the surprise package coming in. Thank goodness. It’s about time.” She hugged him. His own mother hadn’t even hugged him when he left. But then again, she was pretty disappointed in his decisions, and that was putting it lightly. “I was afraid we were going to have to kidnap you and drag you back.”

“Where is she?”

Merrilee nodded toward the connecting door. “Gus’s.”

He was halfway across the room.

“Logan…” He looked back over his shoulder. “She’s missed you.”

“That’s good to know. I’ve missed her, too.”

“Welcome home.”

Yeah, yeah. He wanted Jenna. Nodding, he pushed open the door to Gus’s.

“Well…”

“It’s about time.”

“Holy smokes.”

“He’s back.”

“Someone hand me the remote.”

“But this is a good part.”

“Hit the Mute. This is gonna be even better.”

The televisions and the whole room went quiet. Kind of like the first night he was here and wanted to walk her home. He didn’t mind providing the entertainment, as long as he got what he wanted. And what he wanted was Jenna.

He looked to the table in the back right corner, his gaze tangling with hers.

“Hi,” he said.

“Hi. You came back.”

“Yeah. I left something important.”

“Merrilee could’ve shipped it for you.”

She wasn’t going to make it easy. “Nah. It doesn’t work that way.”

“Why are you here this time?”

“For the same reason I came the first time.”

“Logan, you don’t get it. The town’s not for sale.”

“
You
don’t get it, Jenna. I came for you.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a jeweler’s box. “I love you, Jenna.” He hesitated. “I don’t know your middle name—”

“Louisa.”

“I love you, Jenna Louisa Rathburne, and I’d be the happiest man alive if you’d do me the honor of becoming my wife.” How was that for getting in touch with his feelings?

She glared at him. “Did someone call you? Who called you?”

What the hell? He was standing here like an idiot. This wasn’t turning out at all like he’d planned. But then again, his plans seemed to go awry when they involved Jenna. “You don’t want to marry me?”

She pushed to her feet, her eyes swimming with tears. “I wouldn’t marry you if you were the last man on earth.” She marched to the door. He started after her.

“Don’t you dare follow me, you stalker.”

“You said it’d be romantic if I flew all this way for you, not stalkerish. Make up your mind. Besides, what happened to
I love you, Logan?
”

“That was before.”

Dammit. He was confused and he didn’t like being confused. “Before? Before what? Before I actually turned everything upside down to come back to be with you?”

She walked out the front door of Gus’s.

There was a chorus of “Follow her” all around him.

Merrilee gave him a gentle push from behind. “It’s going to be okay. Go get her.”

Logan caught up with Jenna before she reached the door to the Bed & Breakfast. Everybody streamed out of Gus’s behind him.

He caught her arm, turning her to face him. “What’s going on, Jenna? Sometimes I have a hard time following your logic but this time, I’m really missing an important piece of the puzzle. Help me out, honey.”

She shook off his hand. “This is humiliating. Everybody knows why you’re here.”

“Sure they do. Because I just told you I loved you in front of damn near everyone. And then I proposed.” He’d never seen her cry before. Her blue eyes were brimming.

“But I want you to want to marry me because you want to, not because of the baby.”

“I almost followed that… Wait. Did you say baby?” He felt sort of dizzy. Had he heard… “Baby?” He looked over his shoulder. “Did she say baby?”

“Uh-huh,” Merrilee said, nodding.

He turned back to Jenna. “Baby? We’re going to have a baby?”

“You didn’t know?”

“We’re, you and I…” He made a rocking motion with his arms. “Us…for real?”

“You didn’t know.” This was a statement rather than a question. A hint of her sunny smile curved her lips. “You really didn’t know about the baby.” Her smile blossomed. “You want to marry me because you want to marry me.”

Laughing she flung herself into his arms and kissed him like he’d never been kissed before. She wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned back. “Yes, Logan, we’re going to have a baby.”

Joy like he’d never known before filled him. He picked her up and whirled her around. Holding her tight, he grinned at his new neighbors and announced, “We’re going to have a baby.”

Merrilee beamed at him. “On behalf of everyone here, welcome to Good Riddance, where you get to leave behind what ails you.”