Opening day for the Cobble Creek Art Festival couldn’t have been more perfect, weather wise, at least. Officially the end of September, the day’s high temperature would rest smack-dab between the hot summer days behind them and the bitter cold ahead. The vinyl banner stretched across Main Street, originally printed for a previous year, had dates duct-taped over and repainted with the correct numbers for this weekend. While the homemade look added to the small-town charm, if he were on the planning committee, Logan would opt for a new banner for the following year—something generic enough to use annually, like “last weekend in September.”

Aside from that, everything else promised a grand showing. Every Main Street business bustled to fill their tables in the street, leaving the sidewalks and the center of the road open for foot traffic.

While he hadn’t been inclined to do it, Lucy had talked Logan into having a table with games and free screenings, and he was glad she’d prevailed, or he would have been the only Scrooge in town.

Under the awning next to him, Frankie had her things well in order by the time he and Harper got there a few minutes before seven. The table for the cash register and jam had been placed and arranged, and Frankie and her guy friend had already arranged several pieces of furniture and many of her repurposed accessories.

“If I bring out the box of jam, do you think you could set it up with Frankie?” Logan asked Harper, anxious to be out of Frankie’s sight that morning. He had no desire to meet this mystery man of hers, especially after things had been suddenly so awkward between them yesterday.

It made no sense. How had they gone from almost kissing on Saturday to her coldness days later? When he’d received her text, it presented the perfect excuse to pop in. He’d been longing to see her without Harper around, and Frankie had practically invited him. But when he’d stepped into the alley, he’d seen her embracing the man she was with today. Logan might have disregarded it as friendship, if it hadn’t been for the long, searching looks that ended with the man tenderly leaning his head on hers.

Frankie owed him an explanation, and Logan would demand one, but not yet. He wasn’t ready.

Frankie had lived in Cobble Creek her entire life. Perhaps the man was a childhood friend coming back into town for the festival. One with designs on her. Ironic, considering that was the exact position he found himself in. Frustration welled over him. He had to fix this, but it started with finding out who the man was.

Logan brought out the cardboard box of jam for Harper as promised, but then headed to the table his assistant was arranging a few yards away. “Lucy, I’ve got a nosy question, and you can’t tell anyone I asked.”

“O-kay?” The quirk of her eyebrow showed her interest in his question.

“Who’s that with Frankie?” He shoved his shaky hands into his pockets in an effort to appear casual. Smooth.

“Ah …” Lucy chuckled. “Do I detect a little jealousy?”

She was having way too much fun baiting him, but he figured he deserved it. He waited for her response.

“Fine.” She sighed. “It’s her younger brother, Darren.”

“Brother?” Now he felt like an idiot, getting jealous over a sibling. “I wonder why she never mentioned him before.” That must have been what she’d been holding back from him the other night. Frankie had told him all about her father and their close relationship. She’d even opened up to him about losing her mother, but she’d never mentioned siblings.

“Yeah, there’s a reason for that.” She paused as if trying to decide how much to tell. “He’s been gone for …” Lucy lifted her eyes to the sky as she calculated in her head. “I don’t know, about seven years, maybe?” She shrugged. “I can’t remember exactly, but I do remember that when he left, it was as powerful and destructive as her own personal tsunami coming through.” Lucy bestowed a look of pity on Frankie across the way. “He’d been arrested for DUI or something …”

Logan felt like he’d been sucker-punched in the stomach. And to think he’d been following Lucy’s example, feeling sorry for Frankie, until he realized she’d held this tidbit of her personal family history from him on purpose. “Is this the first time he’s been back, then?”

“I think so.” Lucy’s smile was huge as she watched brother and sister carry out the beautiful refinished desk. “It’s so good to see them happy together again. I don’t know how I’d survive if I lost Brooke.”

After that revelation from Lucy, rather than from Frankie where it ought to have originated, Logan was fine ignoring the woman who had once caused his heartbeat to race. He was not going to watch her all day, distracting him from genuinely interacting with community members who stopped by his booth. It was only for his daughter’s sake that he noticed Frankie coaxing Harper to go from observing jam sales to eventually taking over the sales pitches. He would not allow himself to watch how the sunlight glinted off of Frankie’s dark locks as she patiently taught Harper to count back money to customers and hand out business cards. There wasn’t anything cuter than his ten-year-old businesswoman in the making, not even the gorgeous woman who mentored her through it.

Logan’s booth held a steady stream of patrons as well. He had more fun than he expected getting to know the town’s residents, and this was only Friday. If it was this busy today, he wondered what it would be like on Saturday when more people were off work. Eventually, however, there was a slight lull.

“You ought to take a break while you can, Dr. Wells. I’ve got it. Get something to eat, go for a walk.” Lucy sipped on a frozen lemonade that had been tempting him from the moment she brought it back to the booth. “I’m sure Brooke would watch Frank & Signs if you were to take Harper … or Frankie. I don’t think she’s had a break either.”

The woman was anything but subtle. Lucy had probably noticed his preoccupation with that certain someone.

Logan thanked her and started away from Frank & Signs, but guilt got the better of him. He ought to at least get his daughter some lunch. Turning back would be too obvious. Better to pass it off as casual text.

To Frankie: Getting lunch. You and Harper want anything?

He sat on a bench kitty-corner from Frank & Signs and far enough off he hoped she wouldn’t notice him looking over. He smiled as he watched Frankie pull her phone from her pocket, read the text, and chat with her young helper. He ought to feel like a stalker watching but couldn’t make himself feel guilty about it. He couldn’t keep his eyes off her. When she started texting back, he looked at his screen expectantly, watching the dots jump up and down as she wrote.

Harper doesn’t want to leave. Brooke says she’ll stay with her. Mind if I come?

By the time he finishing reading the text, she was halfway to him. I guess not, he muttered to himself. If nothing else, he could tell her off for keeping him in the dark about Darren.

“I hope you don’t mind the company.” Frankie stuck a hand out, and when he grabbed it, she pulled him from the seat. It was ridiculous how hesitant he was to stand; it felt way too good to sit after being on his feet all morning.

“What do you think of my junk on the sidewalk now?” Frankie teased, as bubbly as ever. “Is it in your way?”

“Junk? What jerk would ever call it that?” Had he somehow misread her coldness the day before? The roller coaster of emotions with this woman was difficult to predict, yet his own ever-changing emotions had to be at least partly to blame.

It bothered him that she was going to act like nothing had happened between them Saturday, that she hadn’t held back the subject of her brother and his DUI when she knew the pain it was going to cause him when he found out, that she had pushed him away yesterday with no explanation. Did their friendship mean nothing to her? He made his way toward the food trucks, Frankie following. The slim chance that lack of food contributed to his frustration had him walking quickly, scanning over the top of the crowd to see what was ahead.

“Did Harper …” He turned so Frankie could hear him over the festival cacophony and discovered that Frankie was more than a couple steps away. He stopped and waited for her to catch up. “Did Harper say what she’d like to eat?” He grabbed Frankie’s hand so they wouldn’t get separated and started winding through the crowd again.

“Not really.” Frankie stopped, and in an instant their arms grew taut, their connection almost broken. “Are you angry with me?”

He let his breath out in a huff and had to admit, to himself at least, that he was. “Just in a hurry. Frozen lemonade?” He needed to get things off his chest, and soon, but amid a bustling crowd wasn’t the place.

“I’d like one, yes.”

Even in his frustration, Logan could appreciate how the woman held her ground. She didn’t turn into an emotional puddle or cower away from him, but she didn’t get ticked off either. He slowed his pace, pleased she hadn’t dropped his hand, and he finally located the short line for frozen lemonades. After purchasing two, he handed her one, feeling contrite at his outburst. “I’m sorry. Can we go somewhere to talk?”

“I’d like that.” This time she led, the two of them walking slower, sipping their frosty treats side by side through the crowds toward the end of Main Street. They’d walked past several booths in silence when Logan was compelled to stop.

“Do you have a second?” Logan hated asking with the pressure of their unspoken words gnawing at his insides, but he didn’t want to pass by the Country Quilt Inn’s booth. Logan had thoroughly enjoyed his stay at the B&B and wanted to give back to the friendly hostess. His intent was to bid on one of the quilts they were auctioning off for charity, but he was overwhelmed with the plethora of choice—the combination of colors, the intricate patterns. “Which quilt do you like best?” he asked Frankie.

She gave him a confused glare as if suspecting him of ulterior motives, but answered anyway. “I don’t think you could go wrong with any of them. I can’t believe the creativity, the time invested. They’re all works of art.”

He chose a fairly simple design of multiple sizes of squares in blues and greens, their shading subtle and calming. After scrawling a quick bid and waving to Jessie, they were on their way again, Logan’s frustration building like a polar cap on his heart. They’d reached the end and were on their way back toward their own booths when Frankie took a side street to the small city park away from the festival.

“I’m sorry we missed you this morning,” Frankie said. “I was going to introduce you to my brother, Darren.” She filled the silence with the one conversation that went right to the core of his anger with her.

It was as good a segue as any. He took a sip of his lemonade to calm him, but then barreled forward. “Why didn’t you tell me you had a brother? You told me all about your father, even losing your mother. I told you all about Christina. It seems to me your experience with Darren would have followed naturally.”

Her face flushed, and he regretted stating it so boldly. He followed her into the empty gazebo.

“Then you also heard about his DUI.” She sat on one of the gazebo benches with a faraway look in her eyes. “I am sorry I didn’t tell you. I haven’t seen Darren in years. How was I supposed to—” She stopped herself, and he was glad she wasn’t going to give him an excuse that wouldn’t assuage his pain. “I should have told you.”

“Why didn’t you?” He swallowed hard. This was the part he had been dreading. Of course, Frankie would have some logical explanation. Of course, he should be man enough to forgive. “You should have trusted me not to hold it against you.”

Frankie squirmed under the weight of his comment. “I knew it would make things awkward between us. How could it not?”

It would have, perhaps, but he would have tried his hardest to shake it off. “You’re not responsible for your brother’s actions.” Thinking about the shock of Christina’s death left him bowled over in a wave of vertigo. “It was Darren who drove intoxicated, not you. And it was another driver, not Darren, who took Harper’s mother from her.”

The words that tumbled out left him even more in shock. Christina had first and foremost been his wife, the love of his life. At least she had been then, but with time passing, he felt the loss more acutely for Harper. When had his own heart healed?

A tear slipped down Frankie’s cheek. “And then I was afraid Darren’s DUI would give Kathy and James more fodder for the custody case if they knew Harper was spending so much time with me—and I didn’t want to lose her.”

Though Darren’s case had nothing to do with Christina, Frankie was right. If nothing else, it would infuriate the McAfees enough to start a serious suit. Perhaps it wasn’t fair for him to hold this against her, yet he was helpless to excuse it. “Thank you for spending so much of your time with Harper these last few weeks. It’s been a great transition for her into Cobble Creek, but with play rehearsals, she’ll be spending a lot of time with Sarah Jane …”

“No, I understand. You need to put Harper first. I’ll still be around, if you need anything. She’s a great kid. I’ve enjoyed spending time with her, but you’re right, things should be getting busier for me too, at the shop, so …” Frankie took a long pull on her straw, never taking her eyes off the railing and landscaping across from them. “Did Tess stop by your booth yet?”

The question, while out of place with their previous topic, communicated exactly what she’d intended. He’d lost her. “No. I don’t expect her to come. She says she doesn’t like community get-togethers.” I hate to be reminded how small our town actually is were her exact words.

“Not even to see Harper and buy some jam?” Frankie was offended, and for the first time, Logan realized he ought to be too, for his daughter’s sake at least.

“I’m not sure she realizes what a big deal this is to Harper.” Though pretty much anyone who’d talked to her in the past three weeks should have known. It was all she talked about.

“And you’re with her because …” Frankie clapped her free hand over her mouth and turned beet red. “I’m sorry. It’s totally not my place, but, well …”

She didn’t finish what she was saying, but he desperately wanted to know what it was going to be.

“Come on, Frankie.” He bumped her playfully with his shoulder. “You can’t leave it like that. You’ve already said too much to stop.”

“Probably true.” Frankie twisted in her seat, pulling a bent knee onto the bench and looking at him for the first time since they’d started the conversation. “Can I ask you a question instead?”

“Of course. Since when do you need permission?” He chuckled, knowing it was true. Despite the tension between the two of them, he valued Frankie’s opinions, wanted her advice, and craved her attention.

Frankie’s eyes searched him, and his stomach lurched. What had he done?

“Don’t you want to be with someone you like doing things with … and who likes doing stuff with you?”

Like her. When would Frankie see him—there, right in front of her since the beginning, hers for the taking—instead of setting him up with yet another woman? Logan had been trying to make it work with Tess because he had no chance with Frankie, but whenever he spent time with Frankie, he knew it wasn’t going to work with Tess. Not when his heart was elsewhere. “What alternative do I have?”

Frankie’s eyes flickered to his face and then to the side where a family was spreading out a picnic. She didn’t answer, but at least she didn’t offer to set him up with anyone else. “We ought to get back.” She stood. “Were you going to get something for Harper?”

Disappointment made his feet feel like concrete, but he should get Harper something to eat. “Yes, I bet she’s hungry. Let’s head back.”

The food trucks were closer than he’d realized, and it didn’t take long to find the right one. By the time Logan made it through the line and back with a foil-wrapped cheeseburger in hand, Frankie had some news for him. “Brooke texted.” She showed it to him. Can you tell my dad G&G are here?

Logan took off for the Frank & Signs booth as quickly as the crowd of people would allow until he realized Frankie was falling behind again. Though he wasn’t crazy about leaving Harper to fend for herself with his in-laws, they were her grandparents, and they were generally quite good with her. He could take a few extra seconds getting there. He paused, waiting for Frankie to catch up, and although he wanted to reach out for her hand once again, he had no real reason to do so.

When they made it back to the booth, Kathy gave him a glare to rival any he’d earned from her in the past. “There you are. I thought you’d abandoned your daughter with strangers,” Kathy said as if Logan had left his ten-year-old in a bar. “But Harper’s been entertaining us. In fact, we hear you’re dating someone. Actually, Harper mentioned at least three women and she hopes you marry some girl named Frank?”

Kathy had to be getting it wrong on purpose. Not even she was that dense.

His patience for her snapped. “Do you want me to move on for Harper’s sake or not move on for Harper’s sake?” Logan allowed the sarcasm to drip freely. “I have trouble keeping track of how you want me to live my life.”

“Now don’t get all upset …” James, the peacekeeper, butted in. “We’re just making sure our little girl’s little girl is taken care of. That she has what’s best for her.”

“I’ll be the one to decide what that is, thank you.” Logan kind of meant that to be under his breath but at the last second didn’t care. He gave himself exactly two seconds to nurse his hurt feelings and then decided to accept the situation as it was. Kathy and James were here—a surprise visit to check up on him and throw him off guard, he had to assume—and he was going to make the best of it. He handed the cheeseburger and half of the frozen lemonade to Harper and then turned back to James and Kathy. “While my businesswoman continues, perhaps you’d like to come over to my booth and have a tour of the office.”

Proud of himself for his professionalism, Logan introduced his in-laws to Lucy and then led them through the office, thankful it was fully decorated. His cabinets were filled with patient files, the stock shelves holding prescriptions to be picked up, and an assortment of frames graced the walls, ready to be picked out by customers. It was a better office than he’d worked at in Denver, and this one was his. And he made sure to carefully point out each detail as they went.

When they made it back outside, Logan was surprised to find Tess talking with Frankie under the awning on the sidewalk.

“Logan, honey!” Too late. She saw him. Logan cringed at Tess’s saccharine sweetness—all for show and not a bit of it true. In front of Kathy and James, and worse, in front of Frankie, it grated on Logan’s nerves even more than usual. “You’re here!”

Of course I’m here, Logan wanted to say, but settled instead on, “I’m surprised that you are.”

Because his former in-laws weren’t going anywhere, Logan reluctantly introduced everyone, taking note when Kathy’s raised eyebrow indicated that the one who called him honey wasn’t Frankie.

“We don’t want to keep you, Logan, dear,” Kathy said.

“I’m a bit peckish,” James added. “Is there a place to eat around here?” He looked disdainfully at the people carrying finger foods around him. “A place to sit down and eat?”

After giving them directions to Tony’s Diner, Logan only felt slightly better with them gone, considering they left him in that awkward position between Frankie and Tess.

“I need to get back to my booth.” Frankie excused herself.

“So …” Logan said when he and Tess were alone.

“So …” she repeated, standing stiffly.

What could she possibly want? “So I’m surprised you’re here.” Logan leaned against the brick of the storefront between his office and Frankie’s shop. “I thought you weren’t going to come.”

“Well,” she said, straightening her shoulders, “I’m not here, here.” She waited for Logan to raise his eyebrows in question. “I came because my friend Paul called and said I needed to see what my boyfriend was up to.”

Logan bristled at the term. Did a few dates automatically make him her boyfriend? “And?” While he didn’t have any idea what she was talking about, he really didn’t care, either.

Tess rolled her eyes and let out a long sigh. She faced him, taking each of his hands in hers, and he couldn’t look away. “Come on, Logan, I’m not an idiot.”

She paused, presumably to let that sink in, and all Logan could think was I’m in for it. But he didn’t care. Tess could be mad at him. It didn’t matter anymore. He could no longer pretend.

“Maybe you don’t see it yet, but I do. The more you and I spend time together, the more obvious it is that we aren’t on the same path.” She raised both shoulders and dropped them, feminine and delicate. “I was willing to give it more time, see if something would develop, but seeing you and Frankie together today … I’m going to step back, Logan, and let you have your space.”

She paused, squeezing his hands. Was she waiting for a reaction? Because he just didn’t have it in him to be disappointed. It saved him from the conversation he’d already planned in his head.

Her eyes were intent. “Can I give you some advice? I know Frankie. Don’t give up on her. It’s not too late to show her you care about her.”

Despair hit him like hard reality. He’d been trying, for weeks. “How?”

Tess shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess you’ll have to figure that out.”

So much for knowing her. Neither of them had a clue. Tess leaned forward and hugged him, leaving a kiss on his cheek he hoped wasn’t outlined by her lipstick.

What was he supposed to do? He watched Tess walk away with more relief than disappointment, but he still felt loss. With the mess he’d made of his personal life, perhaps moving to Cobble Creek was a mistake. His fragile heart had been bruised in the process, but that was okay. It was Harper he was worried about. With Frankie backing out of their life, it would hit his daughter hard. Logan should have known better than to allow Harper to get involved before he was serious with anyone.

And then there was James and Kathy showing up out of the blue, just in time to see the explosion of his relationships. That couldn’t look good. Maybe he should concede defeat and move back to Denver where Kathy could take care of Harper again.

His eyes flicked involuntarily back to Frankie, and when she noticed, he looked quickly away. Shoving his hands in his pockets, he forced a smile and went to beg Lucy to take over the booth for the rest of the day so he could get away from the mess of his life.