The Returning Hero (17 page)

“Don’t overthink this.”

She stared at Brett over the top of the car, where he was leaning. “I’m starting to think this wasn’t such a good idea, that’s what I’m thinking. Why didn’t we just tell him that you would be coming?”

Brett sighed and walked around the car to her, and pulled her into his arms. “Because he would have said no, and he would have been angry before he even arrived.”

She held on tight to him before stepping out of his embrace and clipping on Bear’s leash. “Come on then, let’s go and get this over with.”

“You’ll be fine. Just be yourself, and I’ll deal with Logan if things don’t go as planned.”

Jamie shut her eyes, took a deep breath, then walked off through the park and to the river where she’d organized to meet Logan. For all her talk originally about wanting to be honest, about wanting Logan to know, she wasn’t feeling so confident anymore. She would do anything to protect her relationship with Brett, and this felt like doing the exact opposite of what she should be doing.

“Once bitten, twice shy,” she muttered to herself.

She looked across at Bear, wondering why he’d stopped walking, why he had his head cocked to one side, watching her. Jamie dropped to her haunches to give him a cuddle.

“I’m sorry, boy. I keep forgetting that you’re always trying to figure out what I’m saying.” She unclipped his leash, knowing it was about time she trusted him. “Let’s go find your friend, huh? Off you go,” she instructed, flinging her arm out in the signal Brett had taught her.

Bear gave her a look, like he was making sure he’d understood her properly, before trotting off ahead. She might be feeling more confident as a dog owner, but her knees were positively knocking over the idea of seeing Logan.

“Jamie!”

She looked up and saw him, standing by the river, hand held up in the air. Bear paused, looked back at her, clearly asking if he was allowed to run over to the other dog.

“Go see,” she told him, walking faster herself and watching as he bounded off to say hello.

It was now or never.

“Hey, Logan,” she called out when she was near.

“Hey,” he replied, closing the distance between them and kissing her on the cheek.

It didn’t feel anywhere near as awkward as she’d been expecting, seeing him after what had happened, but she knew everything would change when Brett appeared.

They both watched the dogs sniffing and playing, happily getting to know one another again.

“Do you think they remember each other?” she asked.

“Yeah,” Logan said, jamming his hands into his pockets. “They’ve spent months at a time in the same place, and I don’t think they forget. They probably have better memories that we do.”

“Want to take them for a wander?”

Logan nodded and gave the dogs a whistle. “Jamie, about what happened…”

“Logan, I don’t want you to apologize. There was nothing about the other day that went as planned.” Jamie touched her hand to his shoulder, squeezing slightly. “I’m sorry I put you in that position. It was wrong and we should have thought it through better instead of just springing the news on you.”

He stopped and stared at her, like he wasn’t sure what to say.

“You’re going to hate me for saying this, but Brett? He deserved a black eye. I’m only sorry about the way I spoke to you.”

She sighed, shaking her head. “But that’s it, Logan. Brett didn’t deserve it. I’m as much to blame as he is for what’s happened between us. You can’t not attribute some of your anger toward me.”

“Jamie, sweetheart, you’re a widow. You’re probably lonely.” His expression was kind but it also annoyed her, like the fact she’d lost her husband meant she couldn’t make up her own mind about how she felt or what she did. “Brett took advantage of you, so it is his fault.”

She knew she had to tell Logan the truth, now, before Brett turned up, because this conversation wasn’t exactly going as planned. “Logan, Brett and I met before I even knew Sam. Pretending like us being together isn’t partly my fault is just patronizing.”

His eyebrows shot up and his face seemed to visibly harden. “I’m not sure I’m following you.”

“Do you remember, years back, Brett telling you about a girl he’d met? A girl he spent weeks looking for?”

Logan laughed. “Yeah, and he never found her.”

“But he did,” she told him, voice low. “That girl was me, and I’d just started seeing Sam when Brett finally tracked me down.”

“You two weren’t…”

“No!” Jamie said, not wanting him to imagine the situation being worse than it was. “I remembered him, of course I remembered him, but he never said anything about looking for me, about the night we’d met. Because he could see how happy Sam was, and he took the high road and walked away. Until recently, he never even told me what had happened.”

Logan shook his head. “I think we need to keep walking.”

Jamie fell into step beside him, wanting desperately for him to understand what she was trying to say.

“Brett and I have always had feelings for each other, but nothing would ever have happened while I was married to Sam.” She took another deep breath. “I loved Sam so much, and nothing could have jeopardized our marriage, but with him gone and Brett back?”

Logan didn’t say anything, but she knew he was listening.

“The fact that something has happened between us now is okay, Logan, because we’ve done nothing wrong.”

“Sam has only been gone…” He shrugged. “Whatever I say isn’t going to make a difference, is it? You’ve clearly already made up your mind.”

Jamie slowly shook her head, but she panicked when she saw Brett walking in their direction.

“What?” Logan asked, looking over his shoulder. “What the hell is he doing here?”

“Don’t overreact, he wanted to come and make things right with you.”

“I should just leave,” he muttered.

Jamie looped her arm through Logan’s to keep him in place. “No, you’re not. Because we’re all adults here, and you guys are best mates. You’re not falling out because of me, and you need to promise me that you’ll listen to what he has to say.”

She watched as the dogs ran over to Brett, running circles around him then bounding back off to the river to inspect the ducks again.

“Hey,” Brett called out.

Logan stiffened, but she didn’t let him go.

“Geez, your eye really came up,” Logan said.

Brett shrugged. “Guess I deserved it.” He passed them each a coffee from the cardboard tray he was holding. “I just want this coffee to go better than our last attempt, so can we all keep our fists to ourselves?”

Brett had angled his body slightly to watch the dogs, and Jamie knew Logan was watching him.

“You must miss Ted even more when you’re around these two,” Logan said.

Brett’s eyes were nothing short of honest when he turned back, the look in them enough to break Jamie’s heart. “It’s easy for someone else to tell me he was just a dog, but I miss him like hell. All the time. I don’t think I’ll ever stop thinking about the way he died, about what I lost that day.”

They all stood and sipped their coffee.

“Jamie told me, about her being the girl from all those years back.”

Brett took another sip of his coffee before sending a smile in her direction. “I need you to know that I would never have come between Jamie and Sam, but I love her, Logan. I always have. This isn’t something new for me, it’s just something I’ve never acted on before.”

Jamie could hardly breathe, she was terrified of what was going to happen now. Of what Logan was going to say. How his reaction could change everything.

“Did you come here wanting my blessing, or do you not care either way?” Logan asked.

“If I didn’t care, I wouldn’t have told you the other day, and I wouldn’t be standing here now,” Brett told him. “I’m not going to walk away from Jamie, but then I’m not planning on walking away from you, either. Not after all we’ve been through. I just want you to try to understand.”

Logan started to walk, slowly, and they both started to move, too. The dogs were having a ball and they followed them along the gentle curve of the river.

“I think I just need some time to get my head around all this,” Logan confessed, running a hand through his short hair. “It’s not that I want to be the one that comes between you two, I just need to process it. It’s a lot to take in.”

Jamie couldn’t help the smile the spread across her face, and the wink Brett gave her made her heart race. It was a baby step, but it was a step in the right direction.

“You both mean too much to me to lose either of you. So if you need time?” she said. “Take as much as you need.”

“And you really think Sam would have been okay with this? That he wouldn’t want me to do everything and anything to protect you? To stop you from making a mistake?”

“Logan, you don’t need to protect her, because I’m not going to hurt her,” Brett said, stopping at the same time Logan did. “Me walking away? That’s what would hurt Jamie. And I love her.” He smiled at her, eyes connecting with hers. “I love her, man.”

Logan tipped his head back, eyes closed, before shaking his head and looking first at Jamie and then at Brett. “Just give me time. I just need time to wrap my head around all this.”

Jamie knew when to change the subject, and that time was now. They’d told Logan what they needed to tell him, and it had gone down without anyone having their teeth knocked out, so now they just needed to hang out.

“Want to let the dogs have a swim?” she asked.

Logan laughed. “You ever had Bear in your car, soaking wet?”

Brett was laughing, too, and she couldn’t not join in. “A quick swim and then a long walk so they can dry off, then,” she suggested.

The guys exchanged looks and kept laughing, even as she told Bear to jump in and he did so with a massive bound, like he was a professional lifesaver. Ranger was barking on the sidelines, glancing back at Logan, waiting for the command. When he got it, he launched into the water, too, both dogs swimming toward a group of ducks.

“What’s so funny?” she asked.

Brett’s cheeky smile made her glare at him. “You. For thinking for a moment that you’ll ever get your dog out of the water.”

“What do you mean? He’s so obedient.” she said, annoyed with the way they were both grinning at her. “You told me he’ll obey me at all times, Brett. Was there something you neglected to tell me?”

“Even Sam couldn’t ever convince that dog to get out of the water. You? Not a chance.”

Jamie threw her hands up in the air. “Maybe you could have told me that
before
he showed off his dive?”

“Nah, this is going to be way more entertaining,” Brett said with a laugh.

“The joke’s on you,
Brett
,” she told him, hands on hips. “Because you’re in the back with him if he’s still dripping wet when it’s time to go home.”

Logan was almost rolling on the grass he was laughing so hard.

“On second thought, he won’t be wet, because we’ll be using your T-shirt to dry him,” she said.

“I take it all back,” Logan said, still smiling. “You guys are perfect together. I’ve never seen Brett bossed around like this—ever.”

Jamie grinned, but she had to move fast when Brett burst into a sprint and hurtled toward her.

“Don’t you dare!” she squealed, running as fast as she could to get away from him. “Logan, help!”

Brett grabbed her around the waist, almost knocking the breath from her, before tossing her over his shoulder and leaving her powerless to do anything other than try to kick him.

“Take me anywhere near that water and I’ll kill you,” she hissed.

“Oh, baby, I like it when you talk rough,” Brett whispered, slapping her on the backside.

“I mean it, Brett. Logan!” she screamed for him to help her again, but he never came to her rescue. “Logan!”

“Hey, you told me not to interfere,” Logan called out. “This is me not interfering.”

“Bear!” she yelled. “Bear, help me. Get Brett. Get Brett now!”

The dog who was supposed to be impossible to get out of the water leaped out with as much gusto as he’d leaped in, his big bark echoing around the park.

“Good boy, Bear!” she told him, still upside down over Brett’s shoulder.

Brett stopped moving and put her back on her feet, watching the dog as he wagged his wet tail and kept barking.

“Jamie?”

“Get him, Bear!”

Bear launched at Brett and knocked him to the ground, giant paws landing square on his chest before he took him down.

“Just licks,” she told him. “Lick Brett.”

Her dog did as he was told, and now it was her laughing, watching Brett pinned to the ground with Bear lying on top of him, soaking wet, pleading with her to make it stop.

“Who’s wet now?” she asked.

Logan held his hand up for a high five, and she gave him one back. This was how it was supposed to be—Brett and Logan getting on like they always had. And she felt good. Ever since Sam had died, she’d been like a fish out of water, but all that had changed, and she couldn’t have been happier.

“Come on, Bear, let him go,” she commanded. “That’s no way to treat your new daddy.”

EPILOGUE

J
AMIE
LOOKED
AROUND
the large table and couldn’t wipe the smile from her face. A year ago, she’d been a widow, and even her friends had struggled to know what to say to her, or how to treat her. And now? Now she was married to a man she could be herself with. A man who wasn’t scared by the fact that she would always love the husband she’d lost, who was okay with her wearing her old wedding ring on her other hand, because Brett had loved Sam, too. Perhaps even as much as she had.

A tap on a glass made her turn to her new husband, eyes locking on his as he grinned and leaned sideways to give her a quick kiss.

“What are you doing?” she whispered to him.

“I’m about to do my speech, unless you want to go first?”

A speech?
She hadn’t even thought about speeches, had been so preoccupied with her vows that she hadn’t even considered having to speak in front of everyone at the table.

She watched as Brett stood up beside her, their friends and family lowering their voices until they were eventually surrounded by silence.