It was, indeed, Emma thought as she watched him walk to the stairs. “Good night, Papa.”
“Good night, sweetheart.”
Emma let out a sigh of contentment. How wonderful that he could now manage the stairs on his own.
Over the next several days, Emma went for her regular morning ride on North Beach and met Logan consistently, at the end of his patrol. They became accustomed to the “coincidence” of bumping into each other and established a habit of riding back to Main Station together. Conversation was never strained as they discussed research methods, naturalist philosophies, and what Emma might expect from her teachers and fellow students when she began her formal education in the fall.
With each passing day, she felt more inspired and confident about her future at university. It was Logan who made it so. He assured her that most high school graduates were not nearly as educated as she.
They also discussed their personal histories. Logan described his upbringing on a large commercial farm on the Saskatchewan prairies,where the land stretched from one horizon to the other, as far as the eye could see. It was incredible for Emma to imagine such vast stretches of land, having grown up on a narrow strip of sand in the open Atlantic, barely a mile wide.
As for Logan, the way of life on Sable Island was equally astounding. He never failed to be amazed by how fast the fog could roll in off the water and make everything disappear.
“I think you should start a petition,” Logan suggested one evening as they discussed the inhumane treatment of the horses when they were removed from the island and shipped to the mainland.
“And get thirty-five signatures?” she asked, referring to the population of Sable. “That’s if I’m lucky. Not all the men would sign it.” Her blood began to boil, and she scribbled furiously on the page in front of her. “Some take a disgusting pleasure in rounding up the horses.”
Logan leaned close and lowered his voice in front of Emma’s father, who was reading in his chair. “I think I know the ones you’re referring to,” he whispered.
She looked at him and nodded, and they said nothing more about it as they flipped through another journal.
“You could gather names when you start classes at Dalhousie,” Logan suggested, circling back to the idea of a petition. “By the end of the first week, you might have enough to make a difference with the politicians.”
“That’s brilliant,” she replied. “I’m going to do that.”
Sitting close to Logan on the sofa, Emma was aware of their elbows and thighs touching. He nudged her playfully with his shoulder, and they grinned at each other, then glanced cautiously at her father, who was starting to nod off in his chair.
“I should probably go,” Logan whispered.
“Yes, I think it’s time to call it a night.”
Emma stood and walked him to the door, where he donned his jacket, buttoned it, and then looked at her surreptitiously.
“Will you come outside with me?” he asked, still whispering. “Just for a minute.”
There was a thrilling intimacy in his eyes, and she couldn’t resist.
“All right.” Emma strove to be quiet as she opened the door and followed Logan down the porch steps.
Outside, the moon was full. The sky was dusted with stars. Waves crashed thunderously onto the beach beyond the high dune.
Emma tipped her head back, closed her eyes, and inhaled the fresh, salty fragrance of the Atlantic. “Summer is so brief here. I want to soak up every moment.”
When she opened her eyes, Logan was standing before her, his gaze level with hers. “Emma ... I think you’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”
Her cheeks flushed with heat, and she remembered her first impression of him on the beach when she’d judged him as a heartbreaker. Now that she knew him better, she was letting down her guard, and so far, she had no regrets about that. The past week had been wonderful, like a dream.
“I don’t know what to do with myself when I’m around you,” he added.
She laughed nervously. “What do you mean?”
“I don’t know. I feel like I’m going to trip over my own feet. You’re all I think about every minute of the day. I can barely sleep when I know I might see you on the beach the next morning. I’m always so glad when you’re there, galloping toward me. I don’t know what I’d do if you didn’t show up. I’d probably wither away and die.”
Emma frowned. “Don’t joke about that.”
“I’ll hate it when you leave for school. It won’t be the same after you’re gone,” he replied. He took hold of her hand, opened her palm, and Emma gasped when he kissed it. He held his lips there a moment,and she felt his breath become trapped against her flesh. Shivers of delight rippled through her.
“Logan ...” She wasn’t sure if she was warning him to stop or pleading with him to continue.
