Chapter 9
Logan followed Emma as her warm hand squeezed his. He was relieved to see that her family had left two chairs together for him and Emma. Her family already gave them strange looks with how ‘attached’ they were, having only just met in person, so he wasn’t sure it would have gone down too well if he’d dragged her onto his lap to keep her close.
From the moment she’d opened the door, his heart had beat wildly in his chest with emotion that he’d never felt before. He certainly hadn’t expected Emma to recognize him, but she had, and that filled him with joy. Just like the emotion behind her greeting filled him with hope, and he’d known that he’d made the right decision to come and see her.
What surprised him was his own response to her. He’d never in his life been one to cling to someone but, with Emma, he couldn’t let her go.
His beautiful girl was even more beautiful than he imagined—there was a slim, wild beauty about her. Emma’s thick auburn hair hung in long graceful curves over her shoulders, her facial bones were delicately carved, and her full mouth gave him plenty of ideas. It gave him ideas that he was too overwhelmed to even contemplate, especially since he sat with her family in the kitchen.
He glanced at Emma, and smiled, wishing they were alone so he could tell her what it meant to him to finally be with her. He had manners though and would sit with her family for a short time before he took his leave with Emma.
The B&B where he stayed would have to do because he had a feeling that if they stayed at Emma’s home, they’d constantly have someone listening or trying to interfere.
He smiled at Martha when she placed a cup of coffee on the table in front of him, not wanting to alienate her. After all, she was Emma’s mom.
“Thank you.” He reached for it, and warmed his hand around the cup without taking a drink.
Martha sat opposite, and asked, “Have you been back in the States long, Logan?”
Emma squeezed his hand as she clung to him. He couldn’t complain though, because he clung just as tightly.
“No, ma’am. Just four nights, two of which have been spent in town.” Logan offered a nervous smile to Emma.
“You’ve been in town for two nights?” Emma frowned.
“The first night, I arrived late. Then the weather was bad yesterday...but, I did get a glimpse of you at work,” he admitted.
Emma froze and faced him. “The handsome man that Betty told me about.”
He grinned. “Probably. I wanted to make sure you were okay. Your letters suddenly stopped, and I worried about you.”
“Oh,” Bree started while she sniffed into a Kleenex, and continued, “That is so sweet. And please ignore my tears. Someone only has to say hello to me and I’ll burst into tears at the moment. But...honestly, the fact that you’d come to see Emma as soon as you got back is beautiful. She’s been upset about you.”
“Bree?” Emma moaned, looking overcome with emotion.
Logan let go of Emma’s hand and wrapped an arm around her shoulders instead. She snuggled against his chest while he held her tightly.
Bree rolled her eyes. “Don’t get me started. It’s the truth.” She faced Logan. “Since your letters stopped, she’s been really worried...I want to see my sister smile again.”
He dipped his head, and placed a kiss to the top of Emma’s head. “I’m sorry you worried, Emma.” He cupped her beautiful face in his hands. “I promise you that I never stopped writing.”
Emma nodded. “Neither did I.” She slipped her hand into his and kissed his palm. “We’ll talk about it later.”
Gabe cleared his throat, and asked the question that Logan thought would have come from her mom, “I don’t get the connection you guys have. I mean, this is the first time you’ve met, and it’s as though you’ve known each other for years, as though you’ve been in a relationship…” He trailed off as he waved his hands in front of him.
Logan placed his hand on his thigh with Emma’s fingers intertwined with his, and answered, his gaze unwavering from Emma, “I don’t get it either.” He smiled. “Emma’s special, and she gave me something to look forward to on mail day.”
“Until they stopped,” Emma whispered.
A lone tear slipped down Emma’s cheek, so he reached out and used his thumb to wipe it away. “Don’t think about that now.”
He wanted to say so much more to her, but not in front of her family. What he had to say was for Emma and her alone, although, he did wonder what had happened to the letters. Now that he knew that she hadn’t stopped writing to him, it would be niggling at the back of his mind until he knew what had happened to them.
A very small part of him wondered whether her family had anything to do with it. Could they have destroyed Emma’s to him, and gotten to Emma’s mail before she had? He didn’t want to think that, considering they were her family, but it was the only possibility that he could think of.
“You know what?” Emma jumped up, and startled him out of his thoughts. “We’re going out.” She grinned down at him. “Right now.”
Logan tried to tamp down his happiness, but it was hard as he let Emma tug him up from the chair.