Can't Let Go(24)

He imagined, wherever she was now, that she was shaking her head at him, yelling for him to do something already. And Blake would be standing by, telling her to give Logan time—he had always been a slow worker.

He watched her fold the blanket up neatly and set it aside. She was going to take it—but he could tell that she held no hope of ever using it.

There was nothing he could do, though. He was convinced that he had made the right choice all those years ago. Walking away had been the only option. He would never have been able to live with himself if he had been the reason Abby never spoke to her father again. Especially now, after having seen them together.

But he could have fought. He could have gone back to her, once he’d finished school—Logan could have proven to her father that he was worthy of his daughter.

There were so many things he could have done differently.

With a heavy sigh, he turned, forgetting what it was that he had come out to ask Abby in the first place. The image of her sitting on the bed and staring at the baby blanket with a blank look in her eyes was more than enough to haunt him.

Seeing the girl he’d once known to be full of life in such anguish was nearly impossible to take.



~*~



The rest of the day passed quickly. They finished packing up the few remainders in the rest of the house and at the end of the night, Logan returned to the motel while Abby stayed behind—claiming only to have a few last minute things to take care of.

But the truth of it was, she needed just a few minutes there—surrounded by the comfort the house provided her.

She sat on the edge of the couch, looking around, filling herself with memories. She’d taken a week’s vacation when they first moved in so that she could help paint and arrange things. It seemed strange that now, not even two years later, she had just performed the reverse task.

The quiet was suffocating, but she didn’t move. She felt as if she needed to be here—she felt as if she would find answers.

When nearly an hour had gone by, though, she gave up, thinking herself foolish. She sighed and rose to her feet, deciding against returning to the motel. All she faced there was another sleepless night, and she’d had enough of those this last week to last her a lifetime.

The memory of waking in Logan’s arms crossed her mind and she sighed, trying her hardest to push it away. The only reason she’d slept so well, she tried to convince herself, was that she had already been so tired. Exhaustion had overcome her. It had nothing at all to do with Logan. Nothing to do with the way she seemed to fit perfectly within his embrace or the way it all seemed to feel so natural.

It was, pure and simple, just a mechanical response. Her body had reached it’s breaking point, and it had only been coincidence that Logan had been there.

Abby swore softly as she stumbled, knocking a box over. She heard the unpleasant sound of glass breaking and she swore again, bending over and picking it up. She opened the box and found a frame laying face down and she shook her head, angry with herself for being so clumsy.

She turned it over, at first not paying attention to the photo that had been in the frame. But then, as she went to set it aside so that she could clean up the glass, she gasped, nearly dropping it.

It was the photo from the baseball game. Abby stared at her reflection, tears forming in her eyes. There was Logan—younger than he was now, but still devastatingly handsome. It seemed like an eternity ago.

But she remembered it with perfect clarity.

They’d been caught on the “kiss-cam” that day—the crowd around them cheering happily as their lips had met. Hayley had insisted on taking a picture, but Abby had been feeling playful, not used to being in the spotlight. It had always been Hayley who had shined. Abby had always been somewhere in the background.

She remembered his kiss, then. Remembered the way it always felt like the first time—always exciting, always spine-tingling. If ever she was upset or angry—all he had to do was kiss her and instantly, she would forget about whatever was bothering her. How simple it had been. Effortless, even.

That wasn’t to say that she and Logan hadn’t had problems.

But as she stared at the photo, she found them hard to remember. All she could think of was his kiss.





Chapter Eight





Logan unloaded the rest of the boxes while Abby arranged the shipping information inside the post office. They had already met with a real estate agent to put the house on the market, and Abby had spent the majority of her night cleaning the house—much to Logan’s annoyance, once he had discovered that she had stayed much longer than a few minutes, as she had promised.

It was hard to believe that already a week had gone by since she’d arrived. Soon she would be returning home—back to her life. Her life that was going to be very different now that it didn’t include Rumor. She wondered what it was going to be like—how she was going to go on through her daily routine without including Hayley.

She wondered if it was going to be difficult to relegate thoughts of Logan Sheppard to the back of her mind, as it had been the first time around. She wondered if Eric would notice.

Logan was leaving in a few short hours. Abby was beginning to accept the idea that she would never see him again, almost welcoming it. She needed to create some distance—it was the only way she would be able to let go. She wouldn’t be able to move on with her life until he was out of it.

She would be following soon thereafter—flying out from Louisville rather than Nashville this time. The extra half-hour would allow her some time to cope with what she was leaving behind—and she was sure she would need it.

After paying the fees, she stepped out into the fresh air, breathing it in. It was going to be difficult to leave all of this behind, she mused, knowing she wasn’t just talking about the natural beauty of the state. “So I guess that’s it then.” His voice startled her and she jumped, her eyes fluttering open. She’d brought back her sunglasses, needing the extra protection they gave her.

“I guess this is it,” she repeated, nodding. A breeze lifted her hair from her shoulders, but she stayed still. “I just—” Her throat was closing up, tears threatening to come. She took a deep breath. “I just wanted to say thanks, Logan—you know, for being here.”

“I’m just sorry it was under such horrible circumstances.”

“That’s life,” Abby said with a shrug. “Thanks for all of your help.”

“You should know I’d do just about anything for you, Abby.”

“Just about anything,” she repeated, tears now in her eyes. His words were a reminder of the one thing he couldn’t do—and that was stay.

He hadn’t been able to stay for her.

A tear escaped, rolling down her cheek, escaping the sunglasses. Logan reached forward and wiped it away, allowing his hand to linger just a moment longer than necessary. Abby felt herself unwillingly lean into it, burning the memory into her mind. She needed something to hold on to—anything to remind her that it had all been real.

“We don’t have to do this, Abby.”

“Oh, Logan,” she reached up then, taking his hand in hers and drawing it to her lips. She kissed the back of his hand very gently before releasing it. “Yes, we do.”

“Abby—” She shook her head, backing away.

“Go on, Logan. Don’t make this harder than it has to be.”

“But I—” Another breeze stirred, causing Abby’s hair to whip around wildly. She was continuing to back away from him, creating more and more distance. “I love you, Abigail Lewis.” He said quietly. And though he knew she couldn’t have heard him, she paused, taking one last look, before turning around and disappearing out of sight. He watched, waiting for her car to leave the parking lot—hoping against all odds that she would change her mind and return to him.

But a few moments later, he saw her familiar silver rental pull into view. He watched as she hesitated for a moment before turning out into traffic, disappearing among the various other vehicles.

She was gone—it was over.

Logan tried to ignore the sudden ache in his chest, but it coursed through his veins, taking him over.

Finally, he drew in a long, ragged breath before descending the stairs and heading to his truck. His flight would be leaving soon and he still had quite a drive to the airport. But he seemed to lack any motivation to go on. The thought of returning to his life—his monotonous, boring life—it pained him.

But he climbed into the truck and made the drive to the airport, knowing it was his only option. He was an adult now—he couldn’t go hide away somewhere and pretend the world didn’t matter like he had done the last time he’d lost her. No, he had responsibilities. People were counting on him for more than just their serving of alcohol now.

It was a long drive and he was fortunate to find that his flight was on some sort of weather delay. Apparently there were some threatening storms rolling around out west, he discovered from the other passengers as they all sat aboard the plane. Everyone around him was anxious to get wherever it was they were going, but Logan didn’t care. What was he returning to?