An Uninvited Bride on his Doorstep by Ava Winters
Chapter Seventeen
Logan led Winona outside. Both of them were flushed from the dancing and the kiss, and the cool night air was a welcome caress on his cheeks. He said nothing for a while, fascinated by the feel of her hand in his and the sight of her next to him, her auburn hair flowing in waves over her shoulders while her dress flowed in similar waves around her legs.
She met his eyes and blushed. In the soft moonlight, the rose in her cheeks contrasted prettily with the blue of her dress and the burnished brown of her hair. She smiled up at him and squeezed his hand. He grinned and squeezed hers. She giggled softly and he laughed with her, then wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. She leaned against him and sighed softly. A moment later, he felt her own arm snake around his waist.
They continued to walk in silence until the noise of the dance was a dim echo in the background. When they reached the edge of town, Logan turned so they walked along the outskirts.
“So, what is this?” Winona asked.
“What?” Logan replied.
“This. Us.” She smiled at him, but her eyes were earnest and searching. “That kiss wasn’t a kiss of convenience.”
“No,” Logan agreed. “It wasn’t.”
When he didn’t continue, Winona asked again, “So what was it?”
He opened his mouth but couldn’t say the words he knew she wanted to hear, the words he so desperately wanted to say. He swallowed and finally said, “I like you, Winona.”
She smiled wryly at him, and his cheeks flamed. “I mean …” he stammered. “I really like you. Like, a lot.” Blast it, why couldn’t he just say he—
He was pulled from his thoughts when Winona suddenly stood on her tiptoes and kissed him. This kiss was far softer and less urgent than the one they shared in the dance hall, but it carried just as much of the love he couldn’t manage to put into words. She pulled away after a moment and lifted a hand to caress his cheek. “I really like you a lot too, Logan.”
He chuckled and hung his head, then pulled her close to him. She melted into his embrace, laughing softly. “What are you laughing at?” he asked.
She shook her head. “I think it’s painfully adorable how hard it is for you to say what you mean sometimes. You’re going to have to learn not to be afraid of me.”
“I’m not afraid of you,” he said. “I just …”
Just can’t believe I found you.
Just can’t believe I love you.
Just can’t believe you’re in my arms right now.
Just can’t believe the world can be so perfect even though nothing’s really changed.
It had changed, though. Since Winona, everything had changed. He and his brothers were happy again for the first time since their parents died. The ranch was in better shape than it had ever been and if Jay turned out to be right about the cattle after all, they would be far more comfortable than they had ever been. He gazed at the woman in his arms and wondered again how he could be so lucky.
She looked up at him. “Just what?”
He shook his head. “I’ll never be able to explain it.”
She caressed his cheek again. “I know. Try anyway.”
Blast it, why couldn’t he just tell her he loved her? What was he waiting for?
“Thank you,” he finally replied. “You’ve made my life so much better since I met you.”
She smiled again. There was tenderness still in her smile, but now there was a touch of sadness as well. “I’m glad, Logan,” she said.
They began walking back to the dance. Logan looked at his feet for the first few minutes, ashamed he couldn’t admit his feelings. After a minute, he felt Winona squeeze his hand and look up at him. She smiled, this time without sadness, and said, “It’s okay. We have time.”
Those five words meant as much to Logan in that moment as the other three would have. He smiled back at her and stood taller. His chest swelled with pride as he walked back with his wife—his wife!—to the dancehall.
His good feeling quickly faded when they entered the building. Gregory and Jay stood on the outskirts of the dance floor. Gregory kept a protective arm around Louise Sawyer, who clung to him like a raft at sea. They cast an anxious glance at Logan and Winona then turned back to the floor, where the majority of the attendees clustered around two newcomers.
One of the newcomers was an older man. He was tall, taller than Logan and despite his advanced age, held an erect bearing that accentuated his height, so he seemed to tower over everyone present. His hair was silver white and impeccably combed. His suit was also impeccable and was fashioned of a material that seemed softer and more vibrant than the wool suits common among high society. He smiled at the crowd in the genial, patronizing way Logan had seen politicians smile.
His smile stopped well below his eyes. A sharp, piercing blue, they scanned the crowd, stopping when they fell on Logan. Logan felt the hairs on the back of his neck prickle under the old man’s gaze. His eyes seemed to bore through Logan, who felt his grip on Winona’s hand tighten reflexively.
The older man turned and said something to the other newcomer. This man was younger, around Logan’s age, and though not so tall as the other man, carried himself with the same royal bearing. His hair was combed in a similar style as well but was a jet black that was as dark as the older man’s hair was light.
There was no mistaking the resemblance in those piercing blue eyes. After his father spoke to him, the younger man also scanned the crowd. His eyes stopped on Winona and a flash of pure hate ran through them before being replaced by an equally powerful lust.
Winona gasped and squeezed Logan’s hand, and in an instant Logan knew who they were. The younger man approached them, his eyes never leaving Winona. Logan stepped protectively in front of her, but Jude Koch ignored him and lifted a hand in invitation to Winona. “Winona,” he said, in a voice that dripped with honey and venom, “It’s so good to see you.”
Winona didn’t respond. She looked at the floor and trembled slightly and Logan felt a surge of anger at Jude for daring to frighten his wife. He glared at Jude and said, “I don’t think she wants to talk to you, Jude. Why don’t you—”
“May I have this dance?” Jude asked, not even glancing in Logan’s direction.
Logan felt the back of his neck grow cold. His hands slowly clenched into fists. How dare he? How dare he ask his wife to dance in front of him like that? How dare he frighten Winona?
Winona shook her head and shrank away slightly. Out of the corner of his eye, Logan saw Heath Ross take a step forward, but Audrey’s arm shot out and stopped him.
“Winona, please,” Jude repeated. “Let me have this one dance. I still love you. I—”
The ice in Logan’s veins grew white-hot and before he could stop himself, he reached out and shoved Jude hard in the chest. Jude’s eyes widened from the force of Logan’s action and he fell hard, skidding backward to a stop a few yards away.
Gasps and cries echoed through the crowd. The music stopped as even the band looked on in shock at the two men. Logan blinked and looked around at the sea of disapproving scowls and looks of horror that showed on nearly every face. Gregory and Jay shifted uncomfortably on their feet. Louise clung even more tightly to Gregory, but a moment later was wrenched away by her parents, who led her quickly to the other side of the building. Gregory didn’t confront them but the pain in his eyes crushed Logan.
He turned back to Jude who grinned smugly at him from the floor. He opened his mouth to tell the blasted cur to find his way out the door and he didn’t care what anyone had to say about it. He stopped when a shadow fell over Jude. He looked up to see his father gazing at him, his expression inscrutable.
Sterling spoke in a voice as rich and poisonous as Jude’s, tinged with a slight German accent. “Are you so uncouth as to assault a gentleman in public who has done you no wrong? Apologize to my son.”
“That’s all right, Father,” Jude said. He grinned evilly at Logan. “A man can’t help his upbringing.”
Logan started forward but a strong hand gripped his arm, stopping him. He turned to see Gregory holding him. “Let it go, Logan.”
Logan turned to Jude. Jude stared contemptuously at him. “That’s right, Logan. Let it go.”
Logan’s hands clenched into fists, and he nearly wrenched his arm away from his brother so he could beat Jude senseless, but a softer hand gripped his other arm. He turned to see Winona’s eyes pleading with him. “Please, Logan. Let’s just go home.”
Logan squeezed his fists together once more, then relaxed. Without a word, he allowed Gregory and Winona to lead them out of the dancehall. Jude stood up, grinning. He opened his mouth to speak, but Jay’s fist crashed into his stomach. Unprepared for the blow, Jude doubled over gasping, the wind knocked out of him. Jay’s lip curled in contempt before he turned and followed his family outside. Jude glared and made to go after him, but his father laid a hand on his shoulder to still him.
They rode back to the ranch in silence. Gregory stared into the night his face emotionless. Jay’s expression alternated between anger and contempt. Winona’s eyes remained downcast, grief and fear etched into her features. Logan, surprisingly, felt nothing anymore but a deep weariness.
When they arrived, Logan helped Winona from the wagon. She collapsed into his arms and began to sob deeply. Jay and Gregory watched, helpless and shifted their feet. Finally, Gregory laid a comforting arm on her shoulder. A moment later, Jay followed and laid a hand on her other shoulder. The three brothers held her until her sobs had quieted and her shoulders no longer shook. Gregory and Jay took their leave then, nodding their goodbyes to Logan and heading to their rooms.
Logan held Winona for a long while, saying nothing but softly stroking her hair. His thoughts filled with anger once more as he recalled the contempt on the faces of the townspeople when he shoved Jude. So, everyone would side with a snake like Jude over him? Over Winona? Fine. It looked like wealth and status really were all that mattered in Westridge. Maybe Audrey wasn’t so different from the other townspeople after all.
Well, if they wanted to shun his family that was fine with Logan. Neither he nor his brothers had any need for folks who would value a man’s pocketbook more than they valued his character. They could keep their Jude Kochs and their Heath Rosses. Logan and his brothers would be just fine on their own.
When Winona stopped crying, she pulled away from Logan. She looked up at him and tried to smile but her lip still quivered, and her voice trembled when she spoke. “Thank you for a lovely evening.”
His heart broke and he pulled her close again. “Don’t worry about Jude, Winona. He’s just a spoiled little brat. That’s all he is. He can’t hurt you. Not while I’m around.”
She stood up and kissed his cheek, then pulled away and smiled, more steadily this time. “I believe you,” she said softly. “I’m not afraid of him anymore. I’m just angry. I wanted tonight to be perfect.”
“Tonight was perfect,” Logan insisted. He took Winona’s face in his hands and kissed her deeply. Her eyes were smoky and her cheeks were flushed when he pulled away. “You are perfect, and you are my wife and there ain’t a blasted thing Jude Koch can do about that!”
She smiled and this time there was no grief. She brushed a lock of hair off his forehead and said, “Have I mentioned that I really like you, like a lot?”
He chuckled and looked down then met her eyes again. “I really like you a lot too.”
They stood staring at each other a few more moments, then Winona whispered, “I think I should go to bed.” She left, squeezing Logan’s hand for a moment before finally parting. Logan watched her walk away. He felt a sudden urge to follow her, to take her in his arms and confirm once and for all that their marriage was more than just convenience.
He didn’t though, and though Winona lingered in her doorway for a long moment before closing the door, he remained rooted in place, still unable to express the love he felt so strongly.
When her door closed, Logan sighed heavily and made his way to his own room. The events of the evening weighed on him. He’d made as though the townsfolks’ reactions didn’t bother him for Winona’s sake, but the truth was they ate at him terribly.
Logan didn’t feel a need for others to worship him the way Audrey desperately needed it, or the way Sterling and Jude Koch expected it. He didn’t need them to love him or even like him. He had hoped only that the people of Westridge would respect him. At the very least, he hoped they would understand why he couldn’t allow Jude’s affront to Winona to go unanswered.
Instead, they had as one sided with Jude and Sterling Koch. Logan thought of the immaculate suit Sterling wore and his lip curled downward. So that’s what people valued: wealth and status over character?
He shook his head, more determined than ever that his family should no longer have to suffer the contempt of the townsfolk. If they wanted to behave like sheep, led around by two wealthy, haughty, richly dressed wolves, that was their mistake. Logan wouldn’t allow it to affect his wife or brothers anymore.
One thing his father had done right after Heath Ross’s betrayal was withdraw from the community and pull away from the fake, money-worshipping leeches that populated Westridge. Logan had allowed his resolve to weaken momentarily, but now he was firm in his mind once more. As far as he was concerned, the Foley ranch bordered on Westridge but it and the family that resided on it were no longer a part of the town. He wouldn’t cause trouble in Westridge, but neither would he allow any trouble from Westridge to come to his property. As of that moment, the Foley’s were alone again.
As they should be.