blue and pink checkered pattern with nothing that can remind me of Logan in any way.
The three of them follow me into the living room.
“We’ve got chicken and beers in the cooler. You can bring the afghan with you,” Dave offers.
“Oooooh.” I roll my eyes. “Can I? ‘Cause that would be really super.”
“Please. We haven’t barbecued once this summer.” Blake looks toward the kitchen. “Did you make dessert? Smells amazing in here.”
“A blueberry pie.”
“Can you bring it?” Logan asks me, locking eyes. “I’ve missed your cooking.”
“Bring the pie, Mace. With these two losers getting married, we haven’t done enough hanging out,” Blake says. “Blasphemy.”
“Why do you want me to go to the creek anyway?” I say to Logan.
“Yes, Logan,” Blake says with a slow smile. “Why do you? And Mace, why are you so pissed off? You seem almost…what’s the word when you haven’t had any in a while?”
I glare at Blake. “Touché. I haven’t seen you with a woman in oh…a week or so.”
“Ha. Yet I’m still cheerful and sunny. You’re the one who’s acting all gnarly and like you need to get some good…”
“Why don’t you go find someone to date or something?” I say.
“I’ve got a date tomorrow night.”
“Well, then start thinking about that. Stop trying to figure me out.”
I grab my phone when it rings. “Mama, I can’t talk right now,” I say into the receiver.
“What’s all the commotion?” Mama asks as Blake laughs loudly while he and Dave start mock fighting in the middle of my living room.
“I’m being coerced into cooking—Logan’s here.”
“Fabulous idea, Mace.” I can hear Mama’s approval gushing all the way up the phone line. “You know the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.”
Mama’s taken a decidedly strong stance against Logan and Gigi recently. I don’t know what fully tipped the scales, but she’s now acting like Team Ginny is really Team Macey, who Mama secretly wants to reunite with Logan.
“Mama!” I stomp my foot. “I swear to God…” I smile brightly at Logan as he raises his eyebrows at me.
“What?” Mama barks into the phone, and I press the receiver tightly against my ear, hoping her voice won’t carry like it seems to be. “I’m just saying, you’re such a fantastic cook, baby. If you’ve got it, flaunt it—that’s what I always say.”
“Mama, I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
I hang up and turn to the boys quickly taking over my house the same way they used to when we were all kids.
“Y’all need a timeout.” I put my hands on my hips and glare down at Blake and Dave still wrestling with each other.
“So let’s go fish,” Dave says from the floor.
I continue to glare at him and he leaves hastily for the car, calling back that he’ll see us outside. Blake goes too and shuts the door behind him, and I’m left alone with Logan.
“Where’s Gigi?” I ask.
“She and her sisters are going to join us later. She texted on my way here and wanted to meet up.”
“Where’s Gin?” I ask next.
“She’ll meet us there,” Logan says. “She says she needs distraction from something?”
“Nickel.”
“What?”
“Her wedding singer. She’s fallen for him,” I say in a low voice.
“Ginny’s fallen for her wedding singer?” Logan runs his hand down his face.
“She wants me to subtly spirit her away from him. Those are my words.”
“Does she expect she’ll figure things out before or after she’s been spirited?”
“Plan, Logan. Do you have one?”
“I told her to talk to him,” he says so quietly I have to lean forward to hear. “And I’ve told him a hundred times to talk to her. Dave’s been a part of our group since we were kids, but the two of them together? And neither one of them will speak up.”
“I know.” I lean back against the couch, feeling exhausted. “She asked me to make sure she marries him.”
Dave bangs on the door. “Hey! Y’all coming or what?”
“Fine then.” I get up and grab the pie.
Ben calls on our way out of the driveway, so we make a quick stop at The Cowherd for me to look over his new tracking plan for the bar’s finances. My brother is so enthusiastic about his idea, and I nod at everything he says and encourage him to keep going.
Our conversation takes longer than I’d planned, so by the time I’m done, Logan’s popped inside the bar to wait.
That was a mistake. As the two of us go to leave, Jon and another cameraman stroll into the parking lot. They immediately