Chapter 27

 

 

Instead of heading inside my cabin when I arrived home, I went to my workshop. It was the only place that filled me with a sense of pride. In there I had the freedom to be creative and artistic. I had often wondered what my parents would have made of it. I imagined them smiling with delight at every piece I created.

Normally I'd fire up my machinery; I wasn't in the mood to craft something big. My little sanctuary was by no means one of those extravagant studios you'd find in the city, I didn't have fancy furnaces or industrial crucibles but what I had got the job done. Besides, blowing glass was more of a hobby than a business.

Sparking the blowtorch to life, I pulled a stool closer and grabbed two thick tubes of glass. I had no idea what I was going to make, I just needed to lose myself in the process. Except for running, few things gave me the sense of calmness I always got from molding molten glass into something beautiful and delicate.

The blue and orange started its hypnotizing dance as I pushed the ends of both tubes into the flame. Constantly rotating them my mind drifted to what Harper had told me. The less I wanted to believe it actually existed, the more fate proved me wrong.

I kept rotating the glass, only touching them to each other here and there. When I had a big enough ball on one tube, I set the other down and used my tweezers to start manipulating the warm glass.

Again, my mind drifted back to Logan and Harper. Their relationship wasn't received with open arms. She'd arrived in town with nothing but secrets, and his reputation left a lot to be desired. Still, they made it work.

As I continued to shape the glass, alternating between using my tweezers and scoring knife, I forced myself to think—really think—about the last time I saw Kenzie. Over the last couple of days, I must've replayed that kiss endless times, but I always forced my brain to another place instead of reliving that conversation.

I tilted my hand up and went to pull the glass in another direction. 'I need to sort things out with Dean', her sweet voice rang in my ears. I pulled my brows together. 'When I'm with you I don't want anything between us, especially not guilt.'

My hands stilled, and I removed the piece of glass from the fire. "Shit!" The curse rumbled from the very pit of my stomach. Harper was absolutely right; I was as stupid as they came. How the hell did I misread the situation so horribly?

Maybe it was because I was more concerned with my ego taking a bashing than I was with actual words spilling from her lips. My girl hadn't thrown me away. She needed breathing room to figure her own stuff out and being the pigheaded asshole that I was, I'd chased her away.

I glanced down at the tiny sculpture in progress and grinned. "Yeah, yeah, I know you exist. No need to show off." A glint of light bounced off the butterfly in the making, and I swore it was fate winking at me.

 

"Should I be afraid?" Logan asked when he opened the door the following morning. It was just after five, and although I knew it was in bad taste to hammer someone's door down that early, I couldn't help it.

I took in his still half-asleep appearance and grimaced, "Sorry. Did I wake Flynn too?"

"Nah, I peeked into his room on my way to the door. My little man is lost in dreamland." He looked me over and then asked, "What's up?"

"So, your soon-to-be wife shed some light on things, and I need to head out of town for a bit. That alright?" He might've been my friend, but he was still my employer as well.

A slow smile spread across his lips, and he propped his shoulder against the doorframe. "You gonna go get your girl?"

"Damn right, I am."

"About friggin time."

I let out a hearty laugh. "Yeah, I know." I clapped him on the shoulder and after a quick, "Thanks, man," I rushed back to my truck.

Sweetheart, I'm coming and I ain't leaving without you.