All of Me (The Bridesmaids Club Book 1) (25 page)

“Yes, but I didn’t want her to worry about it.”

“You’re kidding? She expected to see her photo staring back at her and her name splashed across the pages. She wouldn’t have been half as worried if you’d shown her what you’d written.”

Logan followed Dylan onto his front porch. “It’s not my story I’m worried about. Jilly isn’t happy.”

“I don’t expect she is. You took what she thought was her story and published it first.”

“She’s writing another story.”

“Do you know what she wrote?”

“No.” Logan stepped inside Dylan’s home and looked around. “You still haven’t unpacked everything?” About eight boxes lined one wall of the living room. They’d been sitting there for the last six months. Logan didn’t know if Dylan hadn’t unpacked them because he didn’t have the time or if he wasn’t sure he wanted to stay.

Dylan glanced at the boxes on his way through to the kitchen. “I emptied another one last weekend. I’m not in a hurry, especially if I find somewhere to live in Bozeman.”

“A snail moves faster than you when it comes to unpacking. Even if you move, it would be good to get everything out of their boxes. Do you want me to give you a hand?”

“Does it look as though I need help?”

Logan sat on a kitchen stool and leaned against the counter. “Everyone needs help now and then.”

“If you want to be useful you can put the coffee machine on and make us a drink. I’ll start the barbecue. You look as though you could do with a decent meal.”

“Do I look hungry?”

Dylan frowned. “You look like death warmed over. What’s going on?”

“Life.”

“Been there, done that. Care to elaborate?”

Logan added water to the coffee machine. He hadn’t slept much over the last few days and had eaten even less. “I may have destroyed the most important thing in my life.”

“I hope you’re referring to Tess and not the beaten up truck parked outside?”

“You know I am,” Logan muttered.

“Just checking.” Dylan took two huge steaks out of the fridge. “When the coffee’s ready bring it outside. If I don’t get these on, we’re never going to eat.”

Dylan walked across the room and opened a set of French doors. The best part of Dylan’s home was the views. A wraparound deck overlooked the Bridger Range. They’d spent hours outside with their feet propped up against the railing and the sun setting over the mountains. Watching what nature did best was the best therapy either of them had ever had.

Logan looked in the fridge. Dylan might be a little slow at unpacking boxes, but he always had plenty of fresh food. Within a few minutes, he’d put together a huge salad.

He made two cups of coffee and put them on a tray with the salad. He opened the door onto the deck and nearly choked on the smoke coming off the barbecue. “You trying to get the fire department out here?”

“Any complaints and I’m eating half your steak.” Dylan glanced at the bowl of salad in Logan’s hands. “You made that out of what’s in my fridge?”

Logan’s mouth tilted into a smile. “I’ve been helping in the café.”

“Looks like it.”

“Do you have any avocado oil? It makes a great dressing with lemon juice and black pepper.”

Dylan flipped the steaks. “You sure you’re feeling all right? You sound like Martha Stewart.”

“Scoff all you like, but the dressing will make the salad taste incredible.”

“I can’t believe I just heard you say that. Come with me.” Dylan turned the barbecue down and walked back inside. “One of my sisters sent me a fancy food basket when I moved in. There’s lots of stuff in there I’ve never used.”

“Where do your sisters live?”

“Two are in Los Angeles and one lives in San Francisco. The Army was a piece of cake after dealing with their issues. Being a big brother isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.” He opened a cupboard door and reached inside. “Here it is. Help yourself to whatever you need. I’ll check the steak.”

Logan started working his way through the bottles. He found avocado oil, red wine vinaigrette and a jar of lemon-garlic salad dressing. He left the avocado oil on the counter and put the rest of the dressings in Dylan’s pantry.

He squeezed the juice of a lemon into a jar, tipped in some oil, then added ground black pepper. After a quick whisk with a fork, he had the tasty dressing ready.

He balanced the dressing on top of a couple of plates with the knives and forks, and headed onto the deck. “You want to eat out here?” he asked Dylan.

“Might as well. It’s good to get some fresh air after being cooped up inside my truck for two hours with your mom and Tess.”

“It couldn’t have been that bad?”

“Not really,” Dylan admitted. “Once Tess got past the fact that she was coming with us she wasn’t so bad. Things got a little heated after they read your story.”

“Where’s Tess now?”

“In her apartment.”

Logan stared at Dylan. He was supposed to have looked after her, not let her fend for herself.

Dylan picked up one of the plates and put a huge steak on it. “Before you get all high and mighty about Tess, you should know that Sally’s with her. She brought an Irish Wolfhound to stand guard. The dog’s built like the Great Wall of China. Nothing’s going to get past him.”

“Are you sure?”

“As sure as I can be from the other side of town. Why don’t you go and see for yourself?”

Logan wasn’t sure that was a good idea. “She hates me.”

“Okay, so maybe I understand her reluctance to talk to you. You almost blew her new life to shreds. Not bad for someone who eats at her café all of the time. Didn’t you say you were her friend as well?”

“I am her friend.”

Dylan snorted.

“Whose side are you on, anyway?”

“Don’t know. I’m still trying to figure out if your idiot tendencies stem from a mental deficiency or plain stupidness.” Dylan passed Logan the second steak. “Put some of that fancy salad on your plate. It might help your brain cells to multiply.”

If Tess thought today was a nightmare, Monday could be worse. “The Chronicle’s publishing the story Jilly wrote in Monday’s paper.”

“Wasn’t she your friend, too?”

Logan attacked his steak with his knife. “I didn’t steal her story. I’d already been investigating the Senator and I’d spoken to his ex-wife. Jilly had no idea what would have happened if she’d gone in half prepared to fight the Senator.”

“And you enlightened her?”

“Has anyone ever told you you’re a pain in the ass?”

Dylan smirked. “All the time, that’s why I’m your friend. You make me look good.”

With how he felt at the moment, Logan would make anyone look good.

Dylan opened another deck chair and sat down. “I don’t imagine Jilly took the news of your story very well?”

Logan sighed. “She screamed down the phone at me, then came into the office and tried the same thing. Security evicted her.”

Dylan, the man who never showed any emotion, burst out laughing.

“It’s not funny. She won’t tell me what’s in her story. If she says anything about Tess things could get bad around here. I’m going to be in so much trouble with Tess that she’ll never speak to me again.”

“Here’s a news flash for you. You’re in trouble now. Tess, on the other hand, doesn’t deserve any of this. You’d better hope Jilly has some kind of conscience tucked up her sleeve.”

“I’m not counting on it.” Logan didn’t know what Jilly might or might not say in her story. He was planning for the worst, and that involved suggesting Tess go back to Seattle with his mom. Tess wouldn’t listen to him, but she might listen to her friends.

“Have you seen Molly and Annie since you got back?”

Dylan narrowed his eyes. “Why?”

“I want Tess to go home with mom for a few days. She won’t go if she thinks it’s my idea. I thought Molly and Annie might be able to help.”

“You sure you’re not taking your neurotic tendencies too far?”

Logan knew he wasn’t. Dylan would do the same thing if he knew what Tess had gone through three years ago. “If Jilly’s story isn’t as bad as I think it’s going to be, Tess should be okay. Otherwise, the easiest thing for her to do would be to leave town for a while.”

“Tess doesn’t strike me as wanting to take too many easy options.”

“That’s why I need Molly and Annie to help.”

Dylan shook his head. “If you want my opinion, I think you’re underestimating Tess. She’ll be okay.”

Logan went back to eating his dinner.

“You’re not going to change your mind, are you?”

“Nope.”

Dylan picked up his cup of coffee. “Sounds like you’ve got some fast talking to do. You’d better hope Molly and Annie are in a receptive mood.”

Logan hoped more than that. He hoped Tess actually listened to them and his mom didn’t mind a house guest. That was a lot of people to convince, but he’d been up against worst odds before.

***

Tess looked at the stubborn frown on Logan’s face. “I’m not going anywhere,” she growled. “And I don’t appreciate you going behind my back and organizing what you think is best for me.”

“I know what I’m talking about.”

“So do I. It’s my life, so butt out.” Tess was so angry she couldn’t sit still. She paced backward and forward across Logan’s living room, wondering what she’d ever seen in him. Molly and Annie had woken her out of a perfect Sunday sleep-in to ask her what she thought about going to Seattle. They had everything planned out, too planned out.

“You could be in danger. I don’t know who supplied Senator Gibson with drugs. They might not like one of their high profile clients being investigated.”

“I don’t care about any of that. I’m not running away to Seattle with your mom.”

She could see Logan reining in his temper, trying to plaster an understanding expression on his face. “I know you don’t want to go with mom, but it makes more sense than staying in Bozeman.”

Tess threw her hands in the air. “Only to you. You’ve got no right to tell me what to do. You knew what would happen before you wrote your story. Now you tell me your friend is publishing another story tomorrow. You’re ruining my life and you want to tell we what I should do? Forget it. I’m not listening.” She turned to stomp out of the door. If she stayed a minute more, she’d say something she’d really regret.

“I’m only doing this because I care about you.”

“Care? You care about me?” Tess turned around and glared at Logan. “I can’t believe you even mentioned that word. You pushed yourself into my life, made out you were a nice person. All the time you were digging into my past, putting together a story that would put you on the front page of every newspaper in the country. I bet you even took notes after you left the café. I was stupid to think you were different to any other reporter.”

“I am different,” he bellowed. “I wrote the story because I wanted to stop the Senator doing the same thing to someone else.”

“As if I really believe that. You wrote the story because Jilly was going to beat you to the front page.”

“I had to print the story before she made a mess of everything.”

Tess planted her hands on her hips. “How do you think that made her feel? She’s your friend and you still wrote your story. What kind of person does that make you?”

“A person who cares about you.” Logan turned his back on her and stared out of the window. “I couldn’t let her write the first story.”

Tess took a deep breath. She knew better than to trust anything Logan said. He was a low-life reporter who’d stumbled onto a story. A front page story that could win him another award. “I don’t believe you. You could have gone straight to the police, but you chose to write your story. You’re no better than Jilly. You just had more facts to back your story up.”

She picked up her jacket and keys.

Logan turned around. “Where are you going?”

“Home.”

“You can’t go. We haven’t finished discussing this.”

“Yes, we have. I’m not going to Seattle and I’m not talking to you again.” She walked out of the living room and headed toward the front door.

“Tess, wait.”

She wasn’t waiting for anything Logan Allen might or might not say. She closed the front door and walked out of his life. Forever.

***

“What are you doing?” Annie stood beside Tess, staring down the same stretch of sidewalk Tess had been looking at.

“I’m waiting for the newspaper to be delivered.”

Annie looked at her watch. “Isn’t it usually here by now?”

“That’s what I thought. Did Logan tell you to hide it again?”

“Not this morning. Why are you so annoyed with him? He’s only trying to help.”

Tess stalked back into the kitchen. “He’s not helping. He’s created a huge mess, all because he wanted his story on the front page of the newspaper. He doesn’t care about who he steps on to get there.”

“That’s not true. He wouldn’t have sent you to Yellowstone with his mom and Dylan if he was like that. He didn’t even mention your name in Saturday’s story.”