Can't Let Go - By Michelle Brewer Page 0,5

happy, Logan.”

“They’re going to have a good life together.” Even his voice sounded distant.

“So could we, you know.” She attached herself to his arm as she said it, longing to feel close to him. She needed to cross the distance and find him.

“Not like they will, Abby.” She tried to ignore the pain that flooded through her. “Blake—he’s going to do something with his life. He’s going to be able to give Hayley a good life—”

“And by ‘good’ life, you mean a wealthy one.” Of course. This was what it always came back to.

“A happy one.” Abby stopped just outside of their cottage, letting go of his arm. He took a few more steps before turning back to face her.

“You make me happy, Logan. I don’t need anything else.” She thought back to her earlier realization, as they stood outside the limousine. He was all she needed to be happy. Sure, it hurt to think about losing her dad—but if he couldn’t see how happy she was with Logan, then did his opinion really matter?

“You don’t know what you need.” His tone was very gentle as he spoke to her, almost as if she were a child. Another wave of pain passed through her as she stared at him. Why was he saying these things? Didn’t he feel the same? Wasn’t his need as demanding as her own?

“I need you,” Abby said, her voice very small—tainted with confusion and sorrow. “I don’t care about anything else, Logan.” How naïve she was, the girl he loved. How little she’d experienced of the real world.

“But you do, Abbs.” He told her, his gray eyes intense and his voice tainted with sorrow. “I know you do.” He sighed, hating himself more and more with every passing moment. “What about your dad?”

Another pang flared in Abby’s chest. It would be hard, she knew. She never claimed differently. But she loved Logan. Wasn’t that all that mattered?

“If you choose a future with me, you choose one without him.”

“Then that’s my choice to make—” If her father was unwilling to accept Logan, then it would be an easy decision. She now understood completely the confidence Hayley had felt, because it was flowing through her own veins.

“No—no, it isn’t, because I don’t want it.” Her throat began to close up as her eyes welled with tears. What was he saying? “You’re not supposed to be with me, Abigail. You know it as well as I do.”

It felt as if he had actually stabbed her, the pain was so strong.

“Yes I am,” she insisted, stepping forward and reaching out to him.

“We’re from different worlds.” He told her as he shrugged away from her.

“You are my world.” His eyes flooded with anguish. “I don’t care about money—I’m done with school, Logan. I can get a job. I can work and you can finish—” She had to make him see. She had to make him try.

“It’s pointless, Abby. What am I going to do with my life? What have I done so far?” He shook his head, the self-loathing overwhelming him. “I’m going nowhere.”

“You can figure it out—” She couldn’t let him give up.

“What if I already have? What if construction and tending bar is all I’m good for?”

“That’s not true.” She knew it—she could feel it deep within her. Logan Sheppard was going to do something with his life—all he had to do was see it.

But he wouldn’t. He was so stubborn, so hard-headed. He would never see what she did.

“Yes, it is, Abbs.” He shook his head then, his eyes holding hers. “You deserve better than what I can give you.”

“Don’t say that!” She cried, taking his hand, pleading with him now. Obviously reason was lost on him. All she had left was his heart. “Please, Logan.” She begged, tears streaming down her cheeks—how could she be losing him when she’d only just realized how much she needed him?

“This is not my life, Abigail.” He gestured to the clothes he wore, then to the cottage at his side. “This isn’t me.” He broke her grasp, stepping backward. “I don’t belong here.”

Abby felt her heart breaking within her as she realized he wasn’t going to change his mind.

No matter what she did, he wasn’t going to stay.

The pain was undeniable, washing over her like the waves breaking against the shore just a few feet from where they stood. She couldn’t take it.

“Then go!” She yelled, throwing her shoes at him out of anger. “Just go, Logan! Get out of