All of Me (The Bridesmaids Club Book 1) (19 page)

He glanced at Jilly.

“You go. I’ve got to catch up on my emails anyway. It was nice meeting you, Annie.”

Logan pushed his chair out and followed Annie to the other side of the room.

“What are you doing bringing another woman in here? I thought you liked Tess?”

Annie had dropped her voice to a hushed whisper. She looked annoyed. He wouldn’t have minded if he’d done something wrong, but he couldn’t work out what her problem was. “Jilly’s a friend. I wanted to introduce her to everyone.”

“You’re going to get yourself into trouble. You don’t introduce a female friend to another female friend. Especially if the second female friend has feelings for you.”

Logan took a few minutes to work out what Annie had said. “Are you telling me Tess likes me?”

“Of course she likes you. She makes you muffins and leaves them on the door handle. She never left your side at Mrs. Thompson’s funeral.”

The funeral had been four days ago. Connie and her family had been devastated. During the service he’d thought about his own mom, about how he’d feel if it had been her that had died. He thought about the children and soldiers that had died in Afghanistan.

Just when everything became too much, he felt Tess’ hand slide into his. She’d held his hand for the rest of the service, until the hearse had left the Church and everyone had said goodbye. “Tess was being kind.”

Annie rolled her eyes. “She doesn’t date anyone. She’s forgotten how to tell a man she’s interested.”

Logan could sympathize with Tess’ lack of practice. His social life was worse than hers. Which would account for why he kept turning up at the café instead of asking her out on a date.

“Oh, no.” Annie looked across the room. “Tess is at your table. She’s talking to your friend.”

Logan watched Tess’ face as she refilled their coffee mugs. She frowned, then looked across the café at him.

Annie pushed his arm. “You’d better sort out the mess you’ve created.”

He couldn’t work out what mess he’d created, but then he wasn’t much of an expert. Especially when it came to relationship messes. Apart from the frown on Tess’ face, she looked fine. He didn’t know what Annie was worried about.

He walked back to his table and smiled at Tess. “Hi, Tess. This is Jilly. She’s a friend from Seattle.”

Tess looked between him and Jilly. “We’ve met. Nice to meet you, Jilly.”

If Logan hadn’t known Tess for as long as he had, he could have been forgiven for mistaking her greeting as a friendly hello. But he knew better. The smile on Tess’ face was about as genuine as the Van Gogh sunflower painting on the wall.

He held his coffee mug toward Tess so she could refill it. “Jilly was asking me about The Bridesmaids Club. She read the second article I wrote and wanted to come and meet you.”

Hot coffee sloshed over the edge of his mug and onto the floor. Tess looked horrified. “Sorry, Logan. I’ll go and get a cloth and wipe up the mess.” She disappeared out the back of the café in two seconds flat.

Jilly stared at the kitchen door. “What’s Tess’ last name?”

“Williams. Why?” Logan put his coffee mug on the table and grabbed a couple of paper napkins to start mopping up the mess.

“I’ve seen her face before, but I can’t place her. Where did she live before she came to Bozeman?”

“I don’t know where she lived. Her grandparents owned this building and left it to her after they died.”

Tess came back holding a damp cloth and started cleaning the floor. “You don’t need to clean up the mess, Logan. I can do it. I’m sure you’ve got other things you need to do.”

Logan frowned at Tess’ bent head. It wasn’t like her to want to get him out of the café.

“Tess is right,” Jilly said. “I promised my editor I’d check in with her before one o’clock. It was nice meeting you, Tess.”

Tess stopped wiping the floor. She sat as still as a sniper in the middle of a war zone. Her head slowly lifted and for or a split second Logan saw nothing but panic in her eyes. Then she blinked and the panic disappeared.

“You’re a reporter?” Tess’ face had gone white.

“For the Seattle Times. Have you lived in Bozeman for long?”

Tess looked confused. “I don’t understand?”

“Your accent,” Jilly said. “It’s not from around here?”

“I’ve lived in lots of different places.” Tess looked at the dishcloth in her hand. “I don’t want to keep you from your editor. Have a nice day.” And before Logan knew what she was going to do, Tess left.

Jilly picked up her bag and slipped her cell phone into the side pocket. “I’d better get going, too. Are we still meeting for dinner tonight?”

Logan stood up. “Seven o’clock in the restaurant at your hotel.” He followed Jilly out of the café. “Try not to work too hard this afternoon.”

She smiled and waved her hand at the street in front of them. “I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but there isn’t a lot happening here.”

“I guess you’ll have to dig below the surface, then. There must be a billionaire’s ranch you could write about?”

Jilly tilted her head to the side. “Billionaires are over-rated. I’m looking for something real. I’ll see you at seven.”

Logan watched her throw her bag on the back seat of her rental and drive down Main Street. He needed to get back to work, but before he met Jilly tonight he needed to see Tess. He wanted to explain, tell her that Jilly was his friend and nothing more.

And if she asked him why he was telling her that, he didn’t know what he’d say. Because saying anything would let Tess know that he cared about her. And caring about anyone was a dangerous thing to do.

***

Tess sat on a wooden seat in Bogert Park. A group of children were kicking a ball, yelling and rolling around on the grass as if they didn’t have a care in the world.

“They look like they’re enjoying themselves.”

Tess looked up at Molly and smiled. “Thanks for coming.”

Molly sat down beside her. “I’m sorry I couldn’t make it sooner. I was in the middle of a photo shoot when you called.”

“What were you taking photos of?”

“Cowboys.”

The wistful note in Molly’s voice made Tess stare a little closer at her. “Is everything all right?”

“I used to think it was. My sister told me Montana would be good for me. The big blue sky and wide open spaces would give me a place to heal. But some days I feel so alone that I want to cry.”

“Have you told Becky how you feel?”

“Becky has her own life,” Molly said. “Being a florist
keeps her busy. When she’s not buying flowers at auction or putting together bouquets, she’s working on her accounts.”

“What can I do to help?”

“There’s nothing anyone can do,” Molly sighed. “What’s happening is coming from inside me. I need to do something, but I don’t know what.” She looked across the park, then smiled at Tess. “But that’s enough about my worries. What do you want to talk about?”

“Logan brought a friend into the café today.”

“From the look on your face I’d say the friend was female and not male?”

Tess nodded. “She’s a reporter with the Seattle Times.”

“Oh, dear.” Molly squeezed her hand. “Do you think she knows?”

“I don’t think so. But what if she finds out? I don’t want anyone thinking I’m a drug dealer or a murderer.”

“Anyone who knows you won’t think that. It was a long time ago. People forget things.”

Tess stared miserably across the park. “They don’t when the man at the center of the story is a Senator and it’s an election year.”

“I don’t know what you can do. Have you spoken to Logan about what happened?”

“He’s a reporter. I told him a little bit, but not who was involved.”

Molly sighed. “Do you trust him?”

Two months ago that would have been an easy question for Tess to answer. Now she felt as though an honest answer would betray everything she’d been so angry about.

“Tess?”

She dropped her head to her chest. “I trust him.”

“Talk to him. Tell him what happened. If his friend finds out about your past, he might be able to stop her from publishing a story.”

“It won’t help. Evie’s death hit the headlines around the world. People who didn’t have an opinion about anything suddenly wanted to know who killed the supermodel.”

Molly passed Tess a tissue. “You don’t have a choice. Logan’s the only person that might be able to help.”

“I don’t think he even realizes I was a supermodel. He sees my baggy t-shirts and worn jeans and doesn’t look any further.”

“That’s a good thing, isn’t it? He likes you, not some photo-shopped woman with silicone breasts and no wrinkles.”

Tess smiled. “I’m glad you didn’t say boobs.”

Molly laughed. “I’m making an effort to be more articulate. I’ve been hanging around cowboys for too long.”

“How’s the book going?” Molly was putting together an illustrated book about cowboys. Tess had been with her on a few of the photo shoots, except they weren’t your normal studio portraits. They were real shots of real men and women who lived their life on the land.

“I finished taking the last images today. I’ve formatted some of the photos and they look grand. I just hope I find a publisher who’s interested in buying the book.”

Molly’s last book had been a huge success. It had raised thousands of dollars for an eight-year-old girl’s bone marrow transplant.

Tess was worried about the frown on her friend’s face. “You could always try self-publishing?”

“That’s true. There’s always another way to reach your end goal. Now, what are we going to do about you? What would your end goal be?”

Tess looked up at the sky and remembered a time, not so long ago, when she’d asked herself the same question. Her end goal then had been to turn a run down ice cream parlor into an amazing café. But beneath her noble end goal there’d been something far bigger than anyone had known.

She’d bought herself time, hidden herself away where she didn’t think anyone would find her. From the moment they started The Bridesmaids Club, Tess’ time had been running out. And she didn’t have anywhere else to hide.

“My end goal is to stay in Bozeman.” Tess sat taller in her seat as she watched more children running around. “I did nothing wrong. Evie’s life ended because she made bad choices and I won’t do the same thing. I’ll do everything I can to keep the story out of the papers. If Mr. Big Shot Senator wants to pick a fight, he’d better be prepared to lose.”

“Good for you,” Molly said. “Let’s go back to the café and work out how we’re going to win your battle.”

Tess held Molly’s arm as they marched across the park. If there was one thing she was good at, it was making plans and sticking to them. And this time, she’d make sure she had an alternative plan for everything that could go wrong.

***

Tess knocked on Logan’s front door. She was about to put into action steps one and two of her plan with Molly. Step one was to tell Logan about her past. Everything.

Step two was slightly more complicated. Molly said that knowing your enemy was more important than knowing your friends. They didn’t talk about how she knew this, but Tess was happy to go along with Molly’s superior knowledge.

So as well as telling Logan who she used to be, she was supposed to be finding out about his friend, the reporter from Seattle.

Logan opened the door. Tess stared at the casual trousers and cotton shirt he had on. He’d had a shave, maybe a shower. He didn’t look like a man settling in for a relaxing evening at home. He looked like a man about to go on a date.

“I didn’t mean…” Tess closed her mouth and tried again. “I hope you didn’t change your plans for me?”

Logan frowned, then looked down at his clothes. “I’m going out later. I’m glad you called. I wanted to see you.”

“You did?”

Logan held the door wider. “Yeah. Come in. Make yourself at home.”

Tess looked around the living room. Nothing had changed since she’d last been here and met his sister. It was only a few weeks ago, but it felt like a lifetime.

“Have a seat on the sofa.” He glanced at her laptop and her backpack. “It looks like you’ve come here to study.”

Tess put the laptop on his coffee table and her backpack on the floor. “It’s not studying, exactly. More like background research.” She wiped her hands down her jeans, then started to undo the zip on her pack.

“Do you want a drink? I’ve got coffee and hot chocolate. Or tea. Mom’s arriving tomorrow and she likes a cup of tea.”

Tess shook her head. “I’m okay.”

Logan sat on the edge of one of the chairs. “What did you want to see me about?”

Tess took a deep breath and pulled the magazines out. She left them face down on the table. She’d thought about what she was going to tell him for most of the afternoon. She should have written it down, made notes or something.

“I wanted to tell you about me. About what I was doing before I came to Bozeman.”