Healing Hearts: A Second Chance, Small Town Romance Novel

Chapter 11

Logan

It's been a long day, I'm ready for my run with Hector after I collect him from Daisy then I think I'll head over to Lazy Duke's later for a few beers. I'm not much of a drinker, usually I have a couple then switch to water with lemon or lime in it. Also, I have to drive back to my cabin even though I could walk the three miles.

Krissy has just left, she's been having trouble conceiving and I feel for her and Trevor. It's been a couple of years now but we've got the IV treatment programme starting for them. Today was more a visit to go through the process with her and confirm to her who she'll be having as her go2 person. I'm keeping everything crossed for them, they're late bloomers Krissy and Trevor now heading into their early forties and desperate to start a family. They run our local garden centre stocked with more ferns and spruces than you can imagine. It's always a joy to go there and pick out a tree for Christmas.

Trevor is the newcomer to Willowbrook and I say that because he's only lived here for nine years. Before that he was in Atlanta working in finance. He met Krissy on a holiday with some friends when they were backpacking a few of the Virginian trails and stopped at the Lazy Duke bar. There she was, story has it. Krissy with her long honey-blonde hair, grey-green eyes and a body that looks like God created it with his own hands. She's always lived here in Willowbrook with her older sister, Anika. Her parents have always run the garden centre, it's been in their family for more than eighty years. Needless to say, the two of them hit it off and after a long-distance relationship, Trevor came to his senses and moved to Willowbrook bringing capital with him to plant into the business. The rest is history.

I forgot to mention that Willowbrook is hard to leave, even if you do – well people always come back. For the most part, people tend not to leave. Take Carol and Iain Bishop, she heads the library and he is our minister. They came on a trip, were welcomed into the community and ended up being transferred. Then there's Lynn now that's a story all of its own. On the run from her violent and abusive ex, she ended up here. Scared, beaten black and blue and only the clothes she wore on her back. My own mother took her in, the poor woman was only twenty-five back then, and now she's thriving and has a baby on the way. Duncan our handy plumber-electrician-do-it-all man around here, took an instant shine to Lynn and made it is job to ensure she felt safe, secure and waited patiently until she was ready to let another man into her life and trust him. It makes me smile when I think about our caring community.

I shake my head as I lock the door of the practice. I'll never really understand how Sage could have decided to leave all of this for a large city like Michigan. Money perhaps? Prestige maybe? Who knows. I guess I'll never find out since I'm doing my damndest to avoid her, only I can't hide out in the cottage all night. Hence I've decided to come back into town and have a drink at Lazy Duke's tonight. There's no way she's going to be there, it never was her favourite place to be. She'd only go if I insisted or her best friend Hazel dragged her along.

Hector goes nuts when he sees me at Daisy's shop. She's slinging her hippie bag over her shoulder and getting to lock up for the day too. "Hey, how was your day?" She asks checking to make sure she's not forgotten anything. A stunning electric blue piece of fabric is draped across her sewing table. "Oh that, it's going to be a prom dress for Annette." She explains.

Annette is the daughter of Michael and Sarah Peterson, he is the manager of our local bank and his wife Sarah is an artist, pretty good one at that. She's had a few exhibitions here and there and has a huge following on social media, apparently.

"Pretty colour." I say as I continue to stroke Hector's head. He's licking my hand and making a huge fuss. God, I love him. He makes my heart swell. I bend down and grab his head with my hands and place kisses on his head and hug him into my chest.

"You're such a soppy thing." Daisy says. "Right, ready. Let's do it."

"By the way, I'm going to Lazy Duke's tonight. You want to join me?"

She thinks about it for a few seconds as we head out the door and she locks up. "Nah, I'm going to finish reading one of my romance books and snuggle up with Gilly." By the way, Gilly is her black and white tuxedo cat. She's four and a very affectionate cat. Hector loves her and you'll often find them curled up together, especially in the winter.

"You do know that real life isn't at all what you read in those books of yours, don't you?" She smiles at me like I'm a Neanderthal.

"It can be, Logan. You're just not looking or willing to share your heart with anyone again. It's buried in there guarded and locked away. You need to start dating again." I scoff. No fucking way. That's definitely not going to happen. First, I lost Sage then my wife Eliza passed away five years into our marriage. The big C got her and no matter how hard she fought to hang on, it wasn't to be. It cuts me like a razor sharp knife to the chest, I drag myself away from thinking about Eliza. My beautiful, strong, kind-hearted Eliza. I draw in some breath.

"I know it still hurts, Logan. It's only been a year but you have to try to get out a bit more. Besides, if I come some girl's going to think I'm your hot date." She punches me playfully on the arm.

"You're not hot, Daisy. In your dreams." I get another punch for that. I guess I deserved it. I know she's my sister and all, but it is fair to say that Daisy is a very beautiful woman. I'm surprised she hasn't been snapped up yet, but I do have a sneaky feeling she's got it bad for our Marshall Dayton. What I want to know is why he hasn't got his shit together and asked Daisy out on a date. I hope it's not because he's scared of me. I mean he is one of my closest friends but I'm not the big brother, ogre type who would go nuts for my friend dating my sister. Daisy deserves a good man and Dayton is one of the best.