Page 32 of A Heart Falls Cowboy Christmas

“Night, Jinx.

“Night, Uncle Jake.”

The final logs were white with red edging, a mess of hot coals that would burn for at least another half hour.

“Did you want me to put more wood on the fire?” Logan asked Jinx.

She moved slowly, spooling yarn around and around in an even motion as she stared into the flames. “No. I need to go to bed soon too.”

“Okay.”

He sat back down. Quiet surrounded them, and the faintest hint of unease. Mostly, though, the sensation was one hundred percent High Water. A safe spot. A refuge.

A home.

Logan leaned back in his easy chair, thankful that when he looked toward the fire, Jinx was in his line of sight. Enough that he could watch her without being creepy about it.

Dear God, he hoped he wasn’t being creepy.

He couldn’t look away, though. Her long hair hung over one shoulder, the faintest hint of gold mixed with the glowing brown. She and Sasha had gone for a spa day with Julia Sorenson, Jinx’s auntie, and ever since Logan had been daydreaming about threading his fingers through Jinx’s hair, letting the soft strands pour over his skin.

He closed his eyes and fought to keep his body from reacting more than it already had.

“Logan?”

He opened his eyes. Jinx was still focused on her tangled crochet thread, but she glanced at him briefly.

“What’s up?

She swallowed. “I need a favour.”

“Of course. Shoot.”

Awkward silence followed before she shoved her project into her bag without care.

“Something’s wrong,” Logan noted quietly. “You frogged that project three times tonight.”

Her gaze snapped up to his. “How do you know I was frogging?”

Logan laughed. “Jinx. You and Petra have been crocheting around me for months. Every time you make a mistake I hear you use the phrase, and then the other one of you makes ribbiting noises.”

Her lips quirked. “Oh. Yeah.”

“Yeah.” He slipped off the chair and onto the floor beside her. He leaned back and stretched his legs in front of him. “What’s the favour?”

She met his gaze straight on. “Will you be my date for grad?”

Lightning sizzled up his spine. Excitement. Finally.

Before he could say anything, though, like hell yes, she rushed on.

“So I got on the bus yesterday, coming home. Sasha wasn’t there because she had to go over to her Auntie Ivy’s, but it’s only a short trip, you know? I sat in our usual seat, and then suddenly Jack Travers sat down beside me.”

Logan went still. He hadn’t heard about this yesterday. So she had to have gotten through it on her own, but damn it…

Jinx closed her eyes tight, screwing up her face adorably. “I did not have a panic attack, but I kind of didn’t know what to say. He’s in my class, and he’s not an ass, but he’s just…Jack.”

Sounded like a terrible fate, to be just Jack.