Can't Let Go - By Michelle Brewer Page 0,47

be that force herself.

He imagined, wherever she was now, that she was shaking her head at him, yelling for him to do something already. And Blake would be standing by, telling her to give Logan time—he had always been a slow worker.

He watched her fold the blanket up neatly and set it aside. She was going to take it—but he could tell that she held no hope of ever using it.

There was nothing he could do, though. He was convinced that he had made the right choice all those years ago. Walking away had been the only option. He would never have been able to live with himself if he had been the reason Abby never spoke to her father again. Especially now, after having seen them together.

But he could have fought. He could have gone back to her, once he’d finished school—Logan could have proven to her father that he was worthy of his daughter.

There were so many things he could have done differently.

With a heavy sigh, he turned, forgetting what it was that he had come out to ask Abby in the first place. The image of her sitting on the bed and staring at the baby blanket with a blank look in her eyes was more than enough to haunt him.

Seeing the girl he’d once known to be full of life in such anguish was nearly impossible to take.

~*~

The rest of the day passed quickly. They finished packing up the few remainders in the rest of the house and at the end of the night, Logan returned to the motel while Abby stayed behind—claiming only to have a few last minute things to take care of.

But the truth of it was, she needed just a few minutes there—surrounded by the comfort the house provided her.

She sat on the edge of the couch, looking around, filling herself with memories. She’d taken a week’s vacation when they first moved in so that she could help paint and arrange things. It seemed strange that now, not even two years later, she had just performed the reverse task.

The quiet was suffocating, but she didn’t move. She felt as if she needed to be here—she felt as if she would find answers.

When nearly an hour had gone by, though, she gave up, thinking herself foolish. She sighed and rose to her feet, deciding against returning to the motel. All she faced there was another sleepless night, and she’d had enough of those this last week to last her a lifetime.

The memory of waking in Logan’s arms crossed her mind and she sighed, trying her hardest to push it away. The only reason she’d slept so well, she tried to convince herself, was that she had already been so tired. Exhaustion had overcome her. It had nothing at all to do with Logan. Nothing to do with the way she seemed to fit perfectly within his embrace or the way it all seemed to feel so natural.

It was, pure and simple, just a mechanical response. Her body had reached it’s breaking point, and it had only been coincidence that Logan had been there.

Abby swore softly as she stumbled, knocking a box over. She heard the unpleasant sound of glass breaking and she swore again, bending over and picking it up. She opened the box and found a frame laying face down and she shook her head, angry with herself for being so clumsy.

She turned it over, at first not paying attention to the photo that had been in the frame. But then, as she went to set it aside so that she could clean up the glass, she gasped, nearly dropping it.

It was the photo from the baseball game. Abby stared at her reflection, tears forming in her eyes. There was Logan—younger than he was now, but still devastatingly handsome. It seemed like an eternity ago.

But she remembered it with perfect clarity.

They’d been caught on the “kiss-cam” that day—the crowd around them cheering happily as their lips had met. Hayley had insisted on taking a picture, but Abby had been feeling playful, not used to being in the spotlight. It had always been Hayley who had shined. Abby had always been somewhere in the background.

She remembered his kiss, then. Remembered the way it always felt like the first time—always exciting, always spine-tingling. If ever she was upset or angry—all he had to do was kiss her and instantly, she would forget about whatever was bothering her. How simple it had been. Effortless, even.

That