Cowboy Truth: Cowboy Justice Association #3 (13 page)

A
va found Logan’s treehouse tucked into a back corner of the lawn about two hundred feet from the house and barn. Peering up into the tree, she realized with dismay there was no ladder to access the house.

She was going to have to climb the damn tree.

She hitched her purse higher on her shoulder and reached up for the lowest branch, digging her sneakered toe into a knothole in the thick bark. She muttered a few impolite words as her foot slid down and she had to do it all over again. This time it held and she swung herself up on the branch, swinging her leg over it so she was in a straddle position.

One deep breath and she reached for the higher branch as she stood on the other, hiking her leg up as high as she could reach. By pushing with both her hands and feet she found herself kneeling on the upper branch. A peek down to the ground made her dizzy and she closed her eyes for a moment so the world would stop spinning.

If Logan wasn’t up here she was going to kick his ass when she did finally find him. That was if she lived through this. She still needed to inch across the branch about a foot and a half to get to the opening of the treehouse.

And it was an impressive structure. It had been partially obscured from the ground by branches and thick leaves, but this close she could see it was about twelve by twelve in size and tall enough for a grown man to stand in. It looked professionally made with windows and a peaked roof with real shingles. If she wasn’t about to plummet to a horrible death she would have taken the time to admire his craftsmanship.

Right now all she wanted to do was to live through this. Hopefully Logan would know an easier way back down to the ground because she didn’t have a clue how she was going to manage that now she was up here.

She carefully dragged her left leg forward and then her right, balancing on the branch until she was finally at the entrance. She slowly reached up for the doorknob and twisted it, praying it wasn’t locked. The door fell open and she collapsed in a heap on the treehouse floor grateful for something solid underneath her.

She looked up to see Logan about four feet away, reclining on a bed and holding a liquor bottle. He held up the bottle with a grin.

“Ava, come have a drink with me.”

His voice didn’t sound slurred so she couldn’t be sure if he was drunk. A second look at the bottle showed about a third of it was gone. If it had been unopened when he’d started he probably wasn’t sober.

She crawled the few feet and climbed up onto the bed, really just a mattress on the floor. To make it more inviting, Logan has fashioned a cushioned headboard and the bed was covered with clean linens, blankets, and oversized pillows.

She slid her purse off her shoulder and settled back, giving him a sour look. She wasn’t in the best of moods after risking her life. “Everyone is looking for you. I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

He scowled and took another drink straight from the bottle. “I came up here because I didn’t want to talk to anyone. You weren’t supposed to find me.”

“Well I did,” she retorted. “Not that you make it easy. I almost killed myself climbing the tree.”

He took a swig, his forehead crinkled in confusion. “Why didn’t you use the ladder?”

Ava wanted to smack Logan hard despite the fact that she was here to comfort him. He was obviously delirious, drunk, or both. “There is no ladder,” she snapped. “Or I would have, of course. Did you climb the tree?”

“No,” he shook his head. “I used the ladder.” Logan started to smile and then to laugh, his entire body shaking. He pointed to the far side of the treehouse. “There’s another door there. That side of the tree has pieces of wood nailed to the trunk so you can come up. Did you really climb the tree?”

Ava had to grit her teeth to keep from kicking him in the balls. “I did. It’s not funny, you know. I could have killed myself.”

Logan was still chuckling, his patented grin spread across his too handsome face. “More likely you would have spent the next six months in a plaster pantsuit but that’s not the point. You did climb the tree and you did find me.” His smiled disappeared. “What did you want?”

She didn’t want to tell him people were gossiping about him but he’d lived in this town long enough to know that secrets were hard to come by. “I heard what happened today. I thought you might need some company.”

“Company, huh? I can’t imagine why you would think that. I came up here to be alone. That’s what I am, Ava, alone.” He held out the bottle to her. “Since you’re here, you might as well have a drink.”

She wrinkled her nose and shook her head. “Uh uh, I don’t drink Wild Turkey.”

He held it closer. “If you stay, you drink. If you don’t drink, you leave.” He jerked his head toward the entrance. “The same way you came in.”

“You’d make me climb down the tree?” she gasped. “That’s mean.”

“I can be sweet. If you want, we can burrow down under these covers, just the two of us. I’ll show you just how nice I can be. I’ll have you screaming so loud we’ll scare the birds from the trees.”

She took the bottle from his outstretched fingers and grimaced. “I think I’ll pass on the sex, if you don’t mind. I can only imagine how many women you’ve brought up here and seduced.”

“Seduced?” Logan laughed. “Honey, women come to me, not the other way around. I haven’t had to lift a finger to get a woman in my bed since I was in my teens. Just so we’re clear, I’ve never brought a woman here. This is my space.”

And she’d invaded it, clearly. He didn’t look angry but he didn’t necessarily look thrilled either. He obviously found her funny, but for all the wrong reasons. She hated being this attracted to a man this boastful about his prowess with women but what could she do? Attraction wasn’t something you could control. It was there whether she liked it or not. The only thing she had control of was how she reacted to it.

Maybe. She hadn’t had much control about coming here to be with him. It had been a compulsion she couldn’t deny.

He was watching her closely, his eyes a trifle glazed, probably due to the alcohol he’d already imbibed. She lifted the bottle to her lips and took a drink, the fiery liquid scalding her throat as it slid down.

She made a face and her eyes started to water. “Ugh! That’s terrible. How can you drink that and not puke?”

“It’s an acquired taste, good girl,” Logan mocked. “Have another. Who knows? You might start to like it.”

Her belly was already starting to heat up but she shut her eyes and took another drink, smaller this time. She’d heard about enjoying the mellow smoothness of a fine whiskey but at the moment she’d give anything for a caramel latte.

“That’s just nasty.” She pushed the bottle back to him, and he lifted it to his lips. He took a long swallow before setting the bottle between them. He reached to his left and placed a Western guitar on his lap, strumming the strings idly.

Leaning back against the cushions, Ava didn’t say anything. She let him have his quiet while he played a few tunes, one after the other. Finally, he took another drink and handed the bottle to her. After she had made another face and shuddered as the whiskey heated her insides, he looked up at the ceiling.

“My mom left when I was a senior in high school,” he said abruptly. She shoved away the urge to respond and waited for him to continue. He drank deeply from the bottle. “I went to school one day and when I came back she was gone. No note. Didn’t take anything with her. Just gone. She never came back. I waited for her but she never did.”

He played the guitar again and she recognized the tune of
Puff the Magic Dragon
. It had been one of the first songs she’d learned to play on the piano as a child. His mother abandoning him must have been a horrible moment in his young life. Ava couldn’t imagine her mother leaving her like that. No wonder he didn’t get serious with women.

“I like that song,” she said. Not sure how to reply to his revelation. She’d known his mother was gone but not the circumstances.

Logan studiously avoided looking at her. “She taught it to me. It was just me and her for a long time. My dad up and left when I was ten. Only when he left, he packed all his things and said goodbye. He said he’d write to me.” He plucked at a string. “He never did. I never heard or saw him again.”

Her heart squeezing in her chest, Ava wanted to reach out and comfort him. Somehow she knew he wouldn’t welcome it at this moment.

“She started drinking after he left. Not so much she couldn’t work, but enough I knew she wasn’t happy. I wasn’t enough to make her happy.”

Pressing her lips together, Ava batted at a stray tear, hoping Logan didn’t notice. He wouldn’t appreciate the pain she felt on his behalf.

“I think she really loved my dad.” A bitter expression crossed his face and Logan shook his head. “Wait, not my dad. John Wright. I think she really loved him. I don’t know if she loved my real dad.”

Logan drank from the bottle before handing it back to her. She winced but took another drink, already getting used to the fire it created.

“Wade, Lyle, and Aaron are my brothers. Half-brothers anyway. I don’t know how I feel about that.” He turned to face her, his eyes almost black from emotion. “How am I supposed to feel about this?”

“I don’t know,” Ava admitted softly. “I don’t think you’re supposed to know this soon. You need to give yourself time.”

Logan laughed but it wasn’t a happy sound. “Time? Yeah, that’s what I need. Time. Do you know that I waited for months for Mom to come back? Every day I’d come from school and I’d hope and pray she’d be back. I never gave up hope until the day I left for the Army.”

“I bet she would have been proud of your military record. I heard you’re some kind of hero.” This time she did reach out to him and place her hand on his. His gaze dropped to where their fingers were joined but he didn’t pull away.

“In combat, a hero is somebody who does something stupid and lives to tell about it. In my case, I saved some of my fellow soldiers by risking my own life. I had a death wish back then.” Logan set the guitar beside him. “It wasn’t even my idea to go into the Army. It was Sheriff Frank Jesse’s idea.”

Logan sat up restlessly. “After my mom disappeared I started doing stupid shit. Hanging out with troublemakers. Looking back, it was obviously a cry for attention. Anyway, me and a couple of kids broke into the drug store and stole some candy and soda. Kids’ stuff really but the sheriff caught us. I guess he saw something in me because he made a deal. If I kept my nose clean and graduated from high school, then joined the military, he wouldn’t arrest me.”

“Did he arrest the other kids?”

“He did. Said they were ‘punks’, I believe. He was right. I’ve arrested every one of them while I’ve been sheriff. The ones that aren’t dead or in prison already.”

“So you joined the Army?” Ava wanted to keep Logan talking. It seemed the only way for him to work through what had happened to him today. She also had to admit she selfishly wanted to know more about this fascinating, complex man.

“Yep. Sheriff Jesse said if I did five years he’d make me a deputy when I came home. It seemed like a good deal. I didn’t have any other ideas as to what I wanted to be. Of course I ended up doing ten years because of 9/11. Frank taught me everything he knew about being a lawman. He kept his promise.”

That would be important to Logan after everything he’d been through. He’d only surround himself with those who kept their word. She understood now why being up front with women was so important to him. She also understood his frustration with Christina. She’d gone back on her word about no strings or commitments. Logan would never trust her again.

It also sounded like Sheriff Jesse was the closest thing to a father figure Logan had had at the time. It was amazing that he’d turned out as normal as he had.

“Logan,” Ava began, still unsure as to what to say or do when faced with the truth about this man’s life. He’d borne more than she could have imagined but come out the other side, obviously stronger and better for it. “I don’t know why your parents left but I’m sure it didn’t have anything to do with you. Things happen and life gets difficult. Whatever it was, it wasn’t about you.”

“Both of them?” he asked drily. “They both left me but it didn’t have anything to do with me? Then Daddy Dearest could have told me when I didn’t have anyone, but did he? Fuck no. Shit does happen, good girl. Bad shit. But what the fuck would you know about it? What bad thing has ever happened to you?”

His jaw was tight and he didn’t look at her. She was shaking inside, recognizing his tightly controlled anger but knowing he wasn’t mad at her. He was furious at the world and she just happened to represent it at the moment.

“Nothing,” she conceded. “Nothing like you. My father is a pain, my sister is a piece of work but it’s not even in the same league as what you’ve had to deal with. You win.”

He quirked an eyebrow. “Funny, this is one I gladly would have let someone else win. I’m sorry I got mad. It’s not your fault. It’s nobody’s fault.”

Ava nodded her head. “It’s somebody’s fault, Logan, but not yours or mine. It’s their fault. This has to do with them. Their shortcomings as human beings. No one else. You don’t blame your issues on others, do you? No.” She answered her own question.

“Why are you here again?” Logan queried, lifting the bottle to his lips.

“I came to make you feel better,” she admitted. “I think I may have done the opposite.”

“I felt shitty when I got here and I feel slightly less shitty now. Could be you or could be the booze.” Logan held up the bottle. Most of the amber liquid had been drained. “Doesn’t matter which.”

He held out the bottle to her and she drank from it only semi-reluctantly. The whiskey had warmed her inside and made her feel slightly drowsy and mellow.

“I really was worried about you.” Ava settled back against the pillows as the room seemed to be undulating before her eyes.

Logan rolled over on his side, a smile playing on his lips. “If you really want to make me feel better, you could get naked. Naked women always make me happier.”

She started to sit up sharply but the room spun and she had to lie back down. “Don’t be a jerk. I’m not taking my clothes off.”