TAKE A CHANCE (Chance Colorado Series) (4 page)

Allie allowed Desi to lead her forward, keeping her eyes focused ahead of her, refusing to acknowledge Dulcie’s comment. That was the thing about her family. Always had been. Even one of her favorites like Dulcie. Right in the middle of the most mundane conversation, the Flynns could always manage to serve up a load of guilt, whether they meant to or not.

“Well, would you look at that,” Desi murmured. “Who is
that
hunk of gorgeous?”

Dulcie shrugged. “Probably somebody from up at the resort. You see who he’s with, don’t you? I heard she’s been hanging out at the bar up there pretty regular.”

“He is flat out drool-worthy.” Desi tugged on Allie’s arm. “You think you could move any faster in those darn shoes?”

“You are
not
going to tell me that you’re in a hurry because of him?” Dulcie stopped in front of them, blocking their path, hands on her hips. “Honest to God, Desdemona Flynn! What’s wrong with you? I swear, girl, you have the worst taste in men ever.”

“I have excellent taste in men,” Desi said with a grin. “It just leans more toward the bad-boy end of the scale. Anyway, just because he’s hanging with a skank doesn’t make him all bad.”

Dulcie shrugged. “Fine. You can think whatever you want. But I have to think that any guy hanging with Shayla Jenkins is only after one thing.”

Shayla Jenkins?

Allie stumbled to a stop and peered around her cousin to scan the growing crowd just ahead of them. The guy Desi ogled was out there somewhere with Shayla Jenkins? How was that even possible? And how was Shayla still a Jenkins?

“Maybe you should just kick those things off,” Desi suggested, tugging at Allie’s arm once again. “We could move a whole lot faster.”

“No, I’m fine,” Allie answered, her thoughts a million miles from her feet. “You said that guy is with Shayla? But what happened to Shayla and Logan? When I left town, they were all but a done deal.”

“Oh, sweetie… you
have
been gone a long time, haven’t you?” Dulcie patted her arm as they started walking again. “That whole relationship blew up a year or two after you moved away. In fact, I remember
the
ugliest scene down at the Dairy Dipper one afternoon that summer—”

“Logan made a scene?” That seemed so unlike the quiet young man she remembered.

“Oh, no, not Logan. It was his grandma! Right after Logan and Shayla broke up. Dot has always been such a pistol anyway, and that day she was parked at the Dairy Dipper when Shayla walked up, all wiggling her butt like she always does. Well, let me tell you, Dot O’Connor jumped out of her pickup and went after Shayla, who took off running, squealing like she thought she was done for.” Dulcie could hardly get the story out for giggling. “And Dot was so mad, if she could’ve caught up with that girl, it very well might have been the end of her!”

“I remember that,” Desi added with a smile. “Had the whole town talking for weeks. Then again, it doesn’t take too much to set tongues wagging in Chance. That much hasn’t changed a bit since you left. And it’s Shayla Jenkins-Gold now. Hyphenated, mind you. Now hush up, you two. We’re going to just casually saunter on over there like normal people and see if we can find out who Mr. Gorgeous is.”

“You go ahead and saunter,” Allie said, pulling her arm from Desi’s grasp. “I need to go check on Mom and Matt. I’ll catch up with you guys later.”

Though she did want to check on how her mother was holding up, what she really needed was a moment to absorb what she’d heard. After all these years of assuming nothing ever changed in Chance, it was as if the ground had tilted under her feet. Something had indeed changed. Something she’d never expected.

Not that it made a difference to her one way or another, she reminded herself. Those old feelings she’d had for Logan were a thing of the past. Besides, she’d just spent the last few months swearing off men entirely.

“Absolutely, you’ll catch up with us later,” Dulcie agreed. “We already planned to stop by your house after all this hoopla is over. Desi and I have something we want to talk to you about.”

With a wave, Allie hurried forward to assist her mother in finding a seat among the quickly filling folding chairs.

“Here,” her mother said, scooting into a row with several open spots. “I’ll leave the two on the end for Mama Odie and Papa Flynn.”

“You better grab a seat, too,” Matt urged, scanning the crowd. “I’d say they didn’t plan on nearly enough chairs for the number that’s showing up.”

From the looks of the people streaming in their direction, her brother was right.

“I’ll stand for a bit,” Allie answered. “I just want to make sure all the people who really need seats get them.” Several of those people headed their direction had to be at least as old as her grandparents and standing would be a real hardship for them.

“People who really need seats?” Matt dropped his gaze pointedly to her feet. “Your call, Allie. But you wouldn’t catch me standing through this whole thing if I were wearing those.”

She was about to make a crack about how much she’d like to see him wearing high heels when an expression she couldn’t identify flitted across his face as he stared over her shoulder. She turned to follow his gaze and spotted their grandparents headed in their direction, their grandfather wearing the full dress uniform he’d had packed away since World War II.

“God, I love that old man,” Matt muttered under his breath.

Allie had to agree. They had indeed been blessed with the best grandparents ever. Odd as a three-dollar bill, there was no denying that, but both of them were the very definition of a loving family.

“Allison, Matthew,” Papa Flynn greeted each of them as he waited for Mama Odie to hug both her grandchildren.

“Papa Flynn,” Matt countered, with a respectful dip of his head. “Thank you for wearing your uniform to honor Danny today. It would have meant a lot to him.”

“Didn’t just wear it for Danny,” the old man replied gruffly. “To my way of thinking, you’re a hero, too, boy.”

Allie backed away, her eyes filling with tears as her grandfather slowly lifted his hand in salute to her brother. Matt’s silent return of the salute sent her tears brimming over the edge, and she tried to discreetly wipe her cheeks before anyone noticed.

Next to her, Mama Odie reached up to give Allie’s hand a squeeze, her own eyes blinking more rapidly than usual and suspiciously shiny.

“Though there’s joy in dedicating this building to honor Danny, we knew it wouldn’t be an easy day,” Mama Odie said. “Seems like just yesterday the three of you boys were climbing through my poor fruit trees, carrying on like wild little monkeys. Danny and Matty and Logan, all skinned knees and mischievous grins. We’d never see one of you without the others trailing right behind—usually on your way to raid my cookie jar, if I remember correctly.”

“Only because you were the best cook in town,” Matt said, dropping a kiss on the top of his grandmother’s head.

"Pure flattery," Mama Odie said dismissively, but a smile twitched at the corners of her mouth. "It's all changed so much over the years. Though, as your grandfather says, the three of you are all heroes in your own ways. You and Danny off to fight a war and Logan coming back home to take over as a firefighter. We've always been proud of you all."

“Speak of the devil,” Susie said quietly, her eyes fastened on the walk behind Allie. “There’s Logan now. I wonder how he’s holding up through all this.”

Allie’s head snapped around at her mother’s mention of his name. She couldn’t have stopped herself from reacting, even if she’d had the presence of mind to try.

Second most handsome man in Chance
,
she corrected her earlier appraisal of her brother. Second. Because, big as day,
the
most handsome man in town was headed directly toward them, his intense gaze focused on their little group.

Logan O’Connor.

Her first love. The man against whom she’d compared all others for years. Compared them and found every single one of them wanting. The man who’d never even realized she existed beyond being his best friend’s annoying little sister.

Logically, she’d known she was likely to see him here today. But it was pure, crazy emotion, not logic, that sent shock waves zinging down her spine at the sight of him striding confidently toward them. The same crazy emotion that had pushed her to wear her best dress and these uncomfortable high heels.

It was beyond ridiculous of her to react this way, her heart pounding in her chest like she’d been running uphill. He was nothing more to her than her brother’s best friend. Nothing more than a memory out of a long-gone childhood. Sure, he’d been her first crush, but she wasn’t that same impressionable teenager anymore. She was over him. For a fact, after Drake’s betrayal, she was over all men. Chester was the only male in her life now and, considering the scratch he’d left on her hand this morning when she’d tried to pet him, most days, even he was one too many males for her taste.

Logan drew closer, his deep voice rumbling in his chest as he spoke her brother’s name and extended his hand in greeting.

The sharp, enticing aroma of soap and aftershave wafted from where he stood, tickling her nose and flooding her with memories of all the times she’d watched him and Matt together over the years. Her knees trembled as she breathed him in and she reached out to wrap her fingers on the back of the chair next to her, just to steady herself.

She wasn’t supposed to feel like this. Not after all these years. Not about him.

Seeing him in person, standing just a few feet away from him, focused everything into sharp clarity. The dawning realization hit her like a punch to the stomach.

No wonder walking away from Drake hadn’t devastated her. In spite of having lied to herself for the past eight years, one thing was crystal clear in this moment. She might as well be seventeen again. All the feelings she’d denied were still there, bubbling just below the surface.

It would appear she wasn’t as over her crush on Logan O’Connor as she’d thought she was.

* * *

As much as Logan dreaded the next hour, he was here now and there was nothing to be done but to face the music.

Literally.

Over the drone of his pickup’s engine, he could hear the haunting strains of stringed instruments. He reached down, turned off the engine, and twirled the keys around his finger as he stared through the windshield at the gathering crowd. Sure enough, a small cluster of elegantly clad musicians sat near a long buffet table cranking out the Celtic music his sister liked so much.

It would seem that Danny’s grandmother had spared no expense in dedicating the community center to her grandson’s memory. What a shame she hadn’t arranged for a cover band to play AC/DC. Now
that
would have made Danny happy.

Logan opened the door and stepped out into the dirt parking lot, a constant stream of self-encouragement running through his head like background music.

Put one foot in front of the other. Just do it. Time to man up. Time to face the music.

With a sigh, he brushed away all the clutter in his mind. It was time to accept that there weren’t enough clichés on the planet to turn this moment into anything other than the painful ordeal he’d dreaded since he first heard the news. Today he’d be forced to accept that one friend was gone forever. And the other? The other might as well be gone, too. After Logan had deserted his best friends, he could hardly expect to encounter anything but contempt from the man he’d have to face today.

Making his way across the parking lot, memories of his friends buzzed around his head like angry bees around a hive. All their lives had turned out so very different from what they’d imagined as they were growing up together.

Danny was gone, leaving them with nothing more than their memories of him and his name emblazoned in gold on a big sign in front of the new community center.

Matt, who’d been at Danny’s side as he’d breathed his last, and who had very nearly met his own end in that ambush, waited somewhere out there in that crowd.

As for Logan, while his best friends had fought for their lives in a foreign land, he’d been safe at home, plodding along with his mundane life as if everything was business as usual.

Maybe if he’d left school and joined the Army with Matt and Danny, things would have turned out differently. Maybe if he’d valued his best friends over the woman who turned out not to value him at all, his whole life would have been set on a different path. Maybe he could have made a difference. Maybe Danny would be alive today.

Too many
maybes
haunted him with their siren call of second guesses.

While his friends had chosen to fight for their country, he’d stayed behind for the woman and now he had to live with the consequences of his poor choice.

“Logan!”

He looked up to find his younger sister hurrying in his direction, her brow wrinkled in a perfect imitation of their mother. He was in for either a monumental lecture or a big dose of worried sister, neither of which he was in any mood to deal with right now.

“Hey, Katie-Kat.” He flashed his best smile in hopes of heading her off. “You’re doing that frown thing again. You’re going to end up with permanent wrinkles before you’re even legal.”