“And very romantic,” Julia said.
“Well, our hot springs aren’t quite that accessible,” Aidan said, “but believe me, they’re off the scale in terms of providing a romantic setting. Lush foliage, waterfalls, completely secluded.”
“Oh, yeah,” Logan said. “It takes some time and exercise to find them, but they’re totally worth the effort once you’re there.”
Aidan continued describing the hike to the hot springs but Logan tuned him out. His mind had already returned instead to thoughts of Grace and the day they’d spent making love in the rain forest. He wished again that she were here with them enjoying the day and realized he hadn’t yet brought her into Tierra for lunch or dinner. She would love it here, and he vowed to bring her soon.
Strange that his desire for her continued to grow instead of diminishing as he’d once thought it would. He was beginning to wonder if he would ever grow tired of her.
Logan walked into the lounge at five o’clock and was greeted by Aidan, who grabbed his arm and said without preamble, “We need to talk.”
“What’s up?” Logan said amiably. He was in a cheery mood, having spent the past two hours with Grace in her room. In her bed, to be more accurate. He followed Aidan to the far end of the bar, where Brandon was sitting alone, nursing a bottle of beer.
“Sit down,” Aidan said to Logan, pointing to the stool next to Brandon. Then he nodded at Brandon. “Go ahead. Tell him.”
Before Brandon could speak, Joey appeared in front of Logan. “What’re you drinking, boss?”
“I’ll have what he’s having,” Logan said, pointing his thumb toward the bottle in front of Brandon. “Thanks, Joey.”
Aidan grabbed his own beer and stood behind the two men. “I want you to listen to Brandon.”
Logan turned and eyed his brother. “I will, as soon as he says something.”
Brandon swiveled his stool around and faced Logan. “Aidan seems to think you might have a problem. So here’s the deal. I want you to look across the room, over by the windows, where my mother is sitting with your father.”
Logan picked out the couple in the crowd, then smiled. “Yeah, I’ve noticed they’ve been hanging out with each other, practically since the first day we all got together. You think we’ll be hearing some kind of announcement pretty soon?”
“That’s not the point,” Aidan said sharply.
Logan whipped around. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
Brandon grinned at the two of them. “It’s such a kick to see you guys together. How does anyone ever tell you apart?”
“That’s not the point, either,” Aidan groused.
Brandon laughed and turned back to Logan. “It’s about my mom. She likes to play matchmaker.”
“Are you listening?” Aidan said pointedly.
Logan ignored him. “Go on, Brandon.”
Brandon nodded. “For the past half-hour, while Aidan and I have been talking here at the bar, Mom’s been chatting with that pretty redheaded cocktail waitress. She’s over there at the bar right now.”
Logan didn’t have to look to know he was talking about Grace. “Yeah, I know her,” he said, his voice edged with suspicion.
“When I mentioned to Aidan that Mom had this thing about making sure everyone in her life was happily married and having babies, he thought I should warn you.”
Logan turned his stool slowly around until he was facing Aidan. “You’re kidding. That’s what the big emergency is?”
To his credit, Aidan held up both hands in surrender. “I admit that hearing Brandon talk about it now makes it all sound a little far-fetched. But you didn’t see the way Sally was talking to Grace. They were tight and it looked serious. They were making plans, I’m telling you.”
“You’ve lost your mind,” Logan muttered, shaking his head. Joey brought him his beer and Logan took a long, hard drink.
Aidan scowled. “Okay, maybe I got a little carried away in the moment.”
“Maybe?”
Brandon jumped in. “Hey, I’m right there with you, Aidan. Believe me, I watched Sally take down both of my brothers and I was determined not to let it happen to me.”
“But you’re happily married now,” Logan said in protest.
“I know.” Brandon laughed. “I’ll be damned if Mom didn’t show up at my hotel in Napa one day, say a few words, and the next thing I knew I was walking down the aisle, happy as a clam.”
“There she is,” Aidan whispered loudly. “Check it out.”
Logan rolled his eyes again, but turned in time to see Grace walk over to Sally’s table and hand her a note. Sally stood and gave Grace a hug, then slipped the note into her small purse. Then Grace walked back to the drink station to place an order.
“Okay, that was weird,” Brandon admitted.
It was, Logan had to admit. Frowning to himself, his gaze locked on Grace, he wondered what the note was all about.
“What the hell is she up to?” Logan wondered aloud.
“Thank you,” Aidan said, gazing skyward, then back at his brother. “I feel slightly vindicated. I hope you’re going to get to the bottom of whatever’s going on.”
Logan nodded, unsure of what to say or think about what he’d just seen. So, for now, he kept quiet and sipped his beer as he mulled over the possibilities and considered his next move.
Hell, it wasn’t like Sally had magical powers or anything.
Oh, for God’s sake. The fact that his mind had actually put those words together in a sentence meant that he had just stepped into the loony zone. Right next to his brother. The difference was, Aidan really belonged there; Logan didn’t.
Contrary to Aidan’s opinion, there was nothing going on between Sally and Grace. Sally was a lovely lady who took a friendly interest in all the people around her, including Grace. That was all that was going on there. Who knows, maybe Grace gave Sally her phone number so they could keep in touch. Or maybe the note held the name of some store where she liked to shop. Who the hell knew? And who cared? Besides Aidan, of course.
The real problem was that Aidan didn’t trust Grace. He thought she might be after Logan’s money. Logan knew it wasn’t true but he hadn’t done a good enough job convincing his brother. But what would be the point? This thing with Grace was temporary and he knew it. All too soon, she’d be leaving Alleria and Logan behind.
But in the meantime, Aidan had glommed on to Brandon’s matchmaking conspiracy theory. Great. And Grace wasn’t helping matters much since it did look like she really was going to Sally for advice. And Sally seemed happy enough to help Grace. But help her with…what? Perform a voodoo marriage chant? Sprinkle his dinner plate with aphrodisiacs? He almost laughed out loud at the thought. Grace was too down-to-earth, too literal, to buy into anything so absurd. And damn it, Sally was, too. This was all Aidan’s crap and Logan needed to call him on it. Besides, the bottom line was, there was absolutely nothing that Grace-or Sally, for that matter-could do to coerce Logan into marrying her.
He would just need to do a better job of convincing Aidan of that. And then he would get off Logan’s back about his relationship with Grace.
And yet, Logan had to admit that seeing Grace slip Sally that note had struck him as a little odd. But he was sure it could be easily explained. All he had to do was ask Grace about it and she would tell him the whole story. He knew Grace had a hard time lying, so it wouldn’t be difficult getting the truth out of her.
But not tonight. Tonight, all he wanted to do was make love with her. Tomorrow would be soon enough to question her about Sally and the note. It was probably something completely innocent, but he knew his brother would continue tormenting him until Logan found out the truth.
