Fighting Fate by Linda Kage

Author:Linda Kage
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Omnific Publishing
Published: 2013-07-15T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty

LOGAN COULDN’T PINPOINT exactly what prompted him to drive home on Christmas Eve. He told himself it wasn’t because of Paige; just because he knew she was somewhere in Creighton County, he wanted to be here too. But deep inside, he recognized she was definitely a factor.

He was drawn to her light.

He drove his old secondhand truck slowly through his hometown, feeling nostalgia, depression, and a strange disconnection. While most things were exactly how they’d been before he’d left, little changes here and there made it look foreign.

He wondered when someone had torn down that old barn at the north end of town across from the school. And had the house next to the post office always been such a gawd-awful green?

Everything seemed so small. Even the streets looked narrower.

Sighing, he drove past his parents’ house. Did they still live there? They’d been there all his years of growing up, but things changed.

He’d certainly changed.

The lights were off inside; with dusk approaching, it looked empty. But he already knew it would be. He knew where his family was.

He drove to the only Christmas Tree farm in the county.

Pulling over into the drive of an abandoned gas station that had been running when he’d lived in the area, he killed the engine and slid out of his truck. Across the street, the tree farm looked busy. Festive holiday music played from speakers strategically placed along the rows of perfectly-formed firs and spruces.

Logan scanned the cars in the parking lot, but he didn’t spot his mother’s Land Cruiser. Then again, she tended to trade in every other year, so he wouldn’t know what she was driving now.

After zipping his coat up against the winter chill, he stuffed his hands into the pockets and leaned against his tailgate as he watched families leave and arrive. It amazed him how many people waited until the night before Christmas to get their tree. He’d always thought his was but a few to do this.

But seeing a young dad struggle to roll his Douglas fir onto the roof of his car while his wife held back their three toddler children told Logan how wrong he was. Many families held the same tradition as his. Twitching with the need to race across the street to help the poor guy out, Logan pulled his hands from his pockets and straightened away from his truck. He actually took a step in their direction when another family hauling their tree to a sleek black Mercedes SUV caught his attention.

For a second, he froze as he watched them, feeling royally exposed where he stood. Crouching slightly, he slunk backward along the side of his truck until a shadow concealed him.

His two younger brothers—God, they’d gotten tall—carried their blue spruce with ease, one holding onto the base, the other carrying the front. Under the instruction of their father, they lifted and effortlessly plopped the tree onto the roof.

Chest growing tight as he watched, Logan swallowed convulsively. His mom wore her hair different these days, longer and straighter.

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