Page 128 of Tragic (Lark Cove 3)

Adam had been emailing me for months. It wasn’t often, but about every three weeks, I’d see his name pop up in my inbox. I’d hoped that in time, he’d realize I wasn’t going to respond. I still hadn’t blocked his email address, mostly because his messages were a minor irritation I forgot about immediately after hitting delete. But if he’d resorted to hassling Logan, then my avoidance tactics weren’t going to work.

“Ugh. I’ll call him later.”

“He’s, um, also getting a call from Kaine.”

“What?” If not for the fact that I moved like a sloth these days, I would have shot out of my chair. “You told Kaine?”

He held up his hands. “If Thea’s ex-husband were emailing her boss after she’d already told the guy to piss off, I’d want my friend to tell me about it too.”

When I’d called Kaine earlier, he’d been cryptic, saying we had something to talk about later. Now I knew what that something was. He’d gotten tipped off to the emails I’d been hiding from him. Busted.

“Is this how it’s going to be now?” I asked Logan, holding back a smile. “You’re always going to be on his side.”

“Hey, it’s about damn time.” He grinned. “You and The

a gang up on me constantly. And that’s just with stuff around here. Let’s not even talk about all of your alliances at work. This was my shot to take back some of my power and I took it.”

“Whatever.” I crossed my arms, pretending to be mad. It lasted about five seconds before I broke into a laugh.

The truth was, I was happy that Logan and Kaine were friends. I’d been nervous after Kaine had blown a fuse the day of the Christmas tree hunt. I’d figured that Logan would go all overprotective, worrying about my safety with Kaine and warning me about getting involved with a man who had anger issues.

But like he often did, Logan Kendrick surprised me. He’d never once mentioned Kaine’s outburst. He’d simply asked if things were okay. I’d told him and Thea all about the incident in Bozeman, and they’d been nothing but supportive.

They understood that Kaine’s anger had all stemmed from pain. And slowly, he was healing.

I was proud of how Kaine had taken the lead in his family’s dynamic. He talked to his mom almost daily. And he’d had two phone calls with Isaiah in the last few weeks. Though they had both been short, mostly just saying hello, followed by uncomfortable silence before hanging up.

It was progress. Still, I didn’t like that Kaine had any kind of animosity in his life, especially from someone he clearly loved.

“What’s that look for?” Logan asked.

I unfurrowed my forehead. “Oh, I was just thinking about Isaiah. And Kaine.”

“Give them time. From what I can tell, Kaine’s put a lot of this behind him. Mostly because of you. I think the question now is not whether Kaine will ever forgive Isaiah. It’s whether Isaiah will forgive Isaiah.”

“I wish I could help.”

“You can’t fix this one, Piper.”

“You’re right.” I nodded and waved it off. “Anyway. I didn’t mean to talk about something so serious. It’s just been on my mind.” And the fact that ever since their confrontation, Kaine had stopped proposing.

He still kissed me and touched me at every opportunity. He made love to me almost every night. He told me he loved me. He looked at me and the rest of the world disappeared, just like I’d always wanted. So why, when I was so desperate to say yes, had he stopped asking me to be his wife?

I’d found the ring he’d bought for me hidden the other day. I’d just happened to be doing his laundry—and snooping. I’d found it tucked into the pocket of a pair of jeans he never wore.

He hadn’t gotten rid of the ring, so why had he stopped asking? Had this entire debacle with his family changed his mind?

Today was the last day of the year, and I didn’t want to go into the next with so many unanswered questions and loose ends.

I needed to call Adam and put an end to his emails once and for all. Then Kaine and I would need to have a serious conversation. I pushed up and out of my chair, determined to make the last hours of this year count.

“That look is scaring me,” Logan teased.

“I have a phone call to make.” First, I was going to deal with the man I’d divorced. Then I’d deal with the man I wanted to marry.

“Don’t tell Adam I said hello.”

I giggled and waved good-bye to Logan. “See you at the bar.”