Page 75 of A Heart Falls Cowboy Christmas

16

Thanksgiving dinner at High Water had been loud and lovely, but Jinx was nervous enough that in spite of all her favourite foods being served, she’d only picked at her plate.

No one had noticed. Between all the people at the table talking constantly, Jeffrey singing to baby Jaden, and Grandpa Zach discussing a new invention that involved highspeed somethings to adapt ATVs into self-driving units, Jinx was happy to fade into the background.

Her anxiousness was for a good reason, and one that was easily solved. As long as she kept her courage up.

Sneaking away was simpler than expected in the chaos of the after-dinner cleanup.

“Come with me.” She nabbed Logan by the hand and tugged him toward the door while everyone was easing into recliners or setting up for cards at the now clear table.

They slipped on shoes and eased out the door, poor Dixie looking mournful as Jinx ordered her to stay.

Jinx kept hold of Logan’s hand, barely relaxing her grip when he raised a brow.

“Just keeping you moving,” she quipped.

“No problem. Any place in particular we’re headed?” he asked.

The answer was one that she’d thought about in far too much obsessive detail for weeks. “Loft.”

“Ah.” Logan grinned. “Talk time.”

Jinx kept them moving.

Over the past six weeks they’d gone on a number of dates and had done a good job of following the advice they’d been given. They’d shared stories from their past. They’d talked about what was important to them, even inching into dreams and ideas for the future.

Talk time had also involved kissing and cuddling, and Jinx was ready to go out of her mind.

Time for some real chatting to go down.

She all but bullied Logan forward until they were in the highest loft, the one only reachable by a ladder.

She closed the trapdoor behind them.

Logan waited but raised a brow.

Jinx took a big breath then headed to the corner where she’d spread a thick picnic blanket. She’d also brought in a couple of pillows and, on impulse, a couple of the flameless candles she had in her room.

The kicker was the one real candle she’d placed on the seat of the broken chair doubling as a table.

She settled on the blanket. Logan eased down beside her, his expression wary.

It was time. It was past time.

Jinx squared her shoulders, sitting crossed-legged as she allowed her gaze to fall to her hands. She rolled the lighter in her fingers over and over. “When we talked a while ago, I told you that the last foster home I was in, no one touched me sexually. Like, I wasn’t raped. I wasn’t molested.” Her throat tightened, and when Logan laid a soft hand on her arm, she pushed forward. “I was emotionally abused and physically hurt under their roof, but it was their son who caused that to happen. He was the one who broke bottles and put them where I’d step on them when I tried to run away.”

Logan went so still and quiet, she already knew where his brain was going.

She met his gaze and pointed a finger straight into his face. “You are not allowed to track him down and beat him up or whatever else is playing out in your mind. I already told my caseworker the specifics of what happened, and Danielle has dealt with it. He’ll never torment another girl in foster care.”

“He’s still a threat to society at large. Assholes like that don’t change,” Logan said. “But leaving him aside for a minute, what do you need? Why are you telling me this now?” He tucked his fingers under her chin in that way that sent goosebumps flying over her skin. “You can tell me anything, even the stuff that makes you sad. But you’re not sad right now.”

“I’m not.” Jinx clenched her fists, squeezed her eyes tight and let out a savage growl. It helped give her the impetus to finish her truth. “I’m pissed beyond belief.”

She opened her eyes. Logan had a furrow between his brows, and he blinked rapidly. “At me?”

“No, of course not. At him. And at all the things that did happen that I don’t want to relive. In therapy, Kevin said sometimes leaving things in the past is the best way to get over them.”