Falling for Leigh

“Get many cuts and burns?”

“No. Why?” she asked, casting him a puzzled look.

“That’s an aloe plant,” Logan explained. “Shouldn’t you have an entourage of kids?”

“A college student works with me part-time. She’s doing a practicum for her childhood-education certificate. Gives me time to run errands.” She poked her head around the corner quickly. Angela was still there.

Logan leaned around the corner. “Okay, tell me where I’m supposed to be looking.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You better tell me, or I’ll blow your cover.”

“Fine,” Leigh snapped. “Last building on the corner, upstairs window.” She waited, hands on her hips, ignoring the plants.

“All clear,” Logan said.

Leigh let out a sigh of relief and stepped away from the shelter of the building.

“Why are you hiding from someone?”

She read the amusement in his dark eyes as he studied her. “I’m not, really,” she said with a shrug, as she moved around him, checking both ways before crossing Main Street.

Logan followed. “Okay, fine...let’s see.” He paused, appearing to think. “I know, it’s an angry day-care dad looking for a tax receipt. No, wait, it’s someone suing you for that hazardous front porch step of yours.”

“There’s nothing wrong with your creative juices now.”

“I can keep guessing, I’ve got all day. I should be writing, but someone pushed me off a ladder.”

“Okay,” Leigh said, holding her hands up in defeat as he matched his step to hers. “It’s my ex-husband’s new wife.”

He stumbled and paused to get his balance before keeping up with her again. “Wouldn’t have guessed that one.”

“Can I point you in any certain direction, Mr. Walters?” She refused to elaborate, despite the intense curiosity written all over his handsome face. At least curiosity softened the sharp edges of this man she’d only known for a few days.

“I don’t know. Where are you headed?”

Leigh thought fast. “The gynecologist.”

Logan smiled.

Huh, dimples—hadn’t noticed them before. They should make an appearance more often, she thought.

“You’re getting better with the lies. I’ll catch you later. Same time, gazebo?”

“Sure thing.”

She watched as he dashed off down the block before heading in the opposite direction.

Moments later Leigh stepped into Dog Eared Books. It was discouraging to see the going-out-of-business sale posters in the window behind their annual Halloween decor of orange lights and pumpkins carved in the images of bestselling books. The bookstore had been in Brookhollow for over fifty years. Grandma Norris had taken her there for the first time on her fourth birthday, when she and her parents had stayed longer than usual after the holidays. She’d filled almost another full suitcase full of books for her trip overseas to the new mission her dad had been appointed to, and they had been such a comfort—she remembered that clearly even though she’d only been four years old.

As a teenager, after her parents sent her to live with her grandmother to attend Brookhollow High, she’d visited the store almost every day, spending the money she earned from her part-time summer job at the Theatre Under the Stars drive-in.

“Hello,” she said, stepping over boxes of books in the entryway. She would miss the landmark once the store closed in the new year.

Danielle O’Connor came from the back storage room, another box of books in her arms. “Hi, Leigh. Sorry for the mess. Just trying to reorganize some things.”

Leigh scanned the labels on the boxes near the wall. “Those are books for the library?”

“Yeah, they’re all fairly new—novels released this year. There are some children’s books in there, as well. You’re welcome to take a look.”

“Thank you, but trust me, I’m running out of space for more books.”

“That’s not possible,” Danielle said. “You just have to build higher shelves.” She gestured to the floor-to-ceiling bookshelves along the first floor of the two-story space.”

“I guess so,” Leigh said with a laugh. “Anyway, I did stop by for a couple of specific novels. Do you think you could search your database to see if you have them? They’re seven or eight years old. If they’re already packed away, don’t worry.”

Danielle moved to the other side of the counter to her computer. “Romance?” she asked with a knowing smile.

“Actually no...um...mystery?”

“You—mystery?” Danielle raised an eyebrow.

Leigh shrugged. “Thought I’d broaden my horizons a little.”

Daniel shook her head slowly as she clicked on the mystery tab and they waited for the page to load. “Name of the book?”

“Danger Within by...um...Logan Walters.” She wondered if somehow news had already spread through town about Logan’s visit.

If Danielle had heard, she didn’t reveal it. “Here it is...part of the Van Gardener series, right?”

“That’s it. Do you have the complete set?”

“Yes, as a matter of fact, I just put them on the fifty-cent table outside.”

Leigh suppressed a cringe. Logan would certainly take a blow to his ego if he knew the first four books of his popular series were reduced to the quick-sale bargain table.

If he found out she bought them, she’d claim she’d spent at least a dollar on them.

“Great, I’ll take them all.”

* * *

THIS TOWN REALLY had changed a lot since the last time he was here, Logan thought as he left the sports museum, Legend’s, with a signed NFL jersey he’d paid a premium for. Most of the items in the museum were rare collectables, things that used to belong to Don Jamieson, the late NFL quarterback who used to own Legend’s when it was a sporting-goods store. Logan wasn’t that into sports, but he knew his agent would love the signed jersey. He owed the man a good Christmas gift after the headache of a year they’d suffered.

As he turned the corner of Main Street and Commerce Avenue, he came to a halt as a long line of children getting off a school bus blocked his path.

The young schoolteacher smiled. “Sorry, we’re almost at the end of them,” she said, continuing to check off her list of students as they went past, up the stairs to the... Logan glanced at the building, shielding his eyes from the midmorning sun. Library. At three stories, it was by far one of the largest buildings in Brookhollow.