He slammed his truck into Park, turned the engine off and headed to the house.
He walked up to the door and knocked. It only took a moment for it to jerk open. And there was Ryder. He didn’t know whether he was relieved or not that it was his friend who answered the door. “Damn,” Ryder said. “You look rough.”
“I feel rough.” He met his friend’s eyes, and it felt like...like he might just know. “We need to talk.”
Ryder shrugged, and tilted his head back toward the house.
“Not in there. Outside.”
“All right,” Ryder said.
“I need you to hear me out,” Logan said when his friend had stepped out onto the porch and closed the door behind him.
“I wasn’t planning on not.”
“Yeah, but you might not want to hear what I have to say.” He took a long, harsh breath. “You need to buy me out.”
“Okay.” Ryder said nothing more after that.
“That’s it?”
“You just told me to hear you out. Don’t be obnoxious.”
“You need to buy me out,” he repeated. “Because... Look, I have to tell you... Something happened with Rose.”
“Is this the part where you confess to me that you’re sleeping with my sister?”
Logan took a step back. “Did she tell you?”
“No,” Ryder said. “But I’m not an idiot. And you two are about as subtle as a rockslide.”
Logan felt like he’d been whacked upside the head. “Why the hell didn’t you stop me?”
“Was I supposed to? Was I supposed to grab you by the dick and lead you into town, shaming you on Main Street? Put you in a chastity belt? You’re grown-ass people. What you do is not my responsibility, nor is it my business. Rose knows her mind. As much as it pains me. And it’s been pretty obvious to me that she’s had a thing for you for... Well, a long while.”
“She didn’t,” Logan said. “But I’ve had one for her. Probably a hell of a lot longer than is okay.”
Hard look. “Did you touch her then?”
“No.”
“Then it’s not a problem, is it? You didn’t touch her before it was legal. You didn’t touch her before she wanted you to.”
“Well, it’s over. That’s the thing.”
Then Ryder’s face turned to stone. “Did you break my sister’s heart?”
And that question was asked with such gravity, such intensity, that Logan knew whatever lack of response he had gotten out of the admission that he had slept with Rose, he was about to get it here.
“Yes.”
“There we have a problem,” Ryder said. “Because you’re right. I can’t let you just hang around here if you broke her heart. And I have some choice words for you on that score.”
“Which are?”
“Stop being a raging fucking idiot.”
“I’m not being a dumbass. It just is what it is...”
“Right. Just like it was what it was with me and Sammy, right? Except you were full of all kinds of advice then. But you know what, I don’t know that I would have taken that advice if I’d realized you couldn’t take it. And the Daltons were right there...”
“My mom died,” he said through gritted teeth. “I just did my best to make a life out of that.”
“Except what if your mom was wrong, and what Tammy Dalton said is true and Hank didn’t know? What if he didn’t reject you or her?”
“What does it matter? She and I were all I needed. And I wanted to protect her reputation. I...”
“That’s noble, and no less than I expect out of you, Logan. But it’s an awful lot of baggage to carry that just doesn’t need to be carried anymore. And if it’s for nothing, then maybe you breaking my sister’s heart is for nothing.”
“It’s not. You want her to have better than me, believe me.”
“Better than a decent man who works the land and treats her with respect? Why the hell would I want better for her than that? Better for her than a man who cares about the same land I care about and won’t take her somewhere far away? You’re my best friend. You’re one of the best men I’ve ever known. You’re...about the only asshole I’d ever think was good enough for her.”
“Because I... Look, I paid for my mom to go on that trip. The Christmas before. It was my gift to her. I wrapped it up and put it under the tree and it might as well have been a loaded gun. Maybe if I hadn’t done that none of our parents would’ve gone.”
“Is that supposed to shock me? I’m sorry that you’re wandering around feeling that way, but I don’t... Maybe the pilot could’ve gotten sick. Maybe my dad might’ve decided not to go. Something could’ve come up at work. One of the kids could’ve gotten sick, and they could’ve decided to stay home. Any number of things could’ve come up to prevent them from going that day, and any number of things could’ve enabled them to go. But nothing came up. And they did go. And there’s just nothing anyone can do about that. There’s no amount of what-if that brings anyone back. I’ve never been able to play the what-if game. It just doesn’t work. I’ve had a lot of problems in life. And you know it was... Well, it took Sammy telling me she was going to go off and have a baby with another man for me to finally do something about the fact that I was in love with a woman that I wouldn’t let myself have. But I’ve never done the what-if game. Because that’s the kind of thing that drives a man crazy, Logan, and I can see that you’ve damn well driven yourself there.”
“You were supposed to get angry at me.”
“Oh, I’m plenty pissed at you.” Ryder paused. “Oh. For what? Was I supposed to be pissed at you for sleeping with her? Got it. I was supposed to punch you in the face and tell you to never touch her again. Or, I was supposed to get mad at you
