Finding Home (Montana Born Homecoming Book 2) by Roxanne Snopek Read Free Book Online

swallowed hard, and forced himself back to reality. What was wrong with him, having thoughts like this in church?
    A lot of assumptions were being made, he realized suddenly. Premature assumptions. Way premature.
    “Uh, actually, Samara and I are just friends.”
    “Okay.” Sage laughed. “If you say so.”
    “Did you hear yourself?” Dawson shook his head. “I hope you don’t play poker.”
    Yeah, he had heard himself. Pathetic. Completely unconvincing.
    Because he himself wasn’t convinced, and wasn’t even trying.
    How could he and Samara ever be just friends?
    Sage and Dawson left, just as another shoulder brushed against his.
    “Good to see you, Logan,” said Skye, secretary at Marietta High. “You’ll be cheering for Marietta, I hear.”
    “Of course,” he answered with a broad wink.
    He and Skye weren’t close but they’d known each other forever and saw each other frequently at school events. It was a relief to have the spotlight shift from Samara to the all-encompassing start to football season.
    Like everyone associated with the schools, he was eagerly anticipating Homecoming. With two players in his student group – Flynn playing for Marietta and Josh for Livingston – he had to watch the trash talking. Mostly, he deflected it to himself, the traitor-teacher or, as he liked to say, Switzerland. All in good fun, and at game time it certainly got the crowd going.
    But it occurred to him that Samara’s arrival during this time made it tough to focus on football. If she moved in on Friday – when she moved in on Friday, he amended – he wouldn’t be able to attend the game, knowing she was buried under a mountain of boxes.
    The crowd was thinning and still, he hadn’t found Sam. Maybe she’d gotten away without him noticing.
    He heard a child’s angry shriek, cut off sharply. Then a dog barked and he saw them, huddled on the ground next to Samara’s car in the church parking lot.
    He jogged closer. “Everything okay?” he asked.
    Jade was sitting on the ground, digging a hole in the gravel with her feet, her face set stubbornly. Samara squatted on her heels, distraught.
    “She thought there was a playground here.” She grimaced. “Probably because I said there was. I keep expecting things to be like they were fourteen years ago.”
    The dog was stretched out between them, halfway lying on the little girl’s lap. Samara sighed and stroked the glossy fur.
    It must be hard, thought Logan, to be the agent of your child’s disappointment. Good cop and bad cop rolled into one. And given that kids always wanted more than they could have, bad cop always got the most air-time.
    Logan helped her to her feet, hoping he could help instead of making things worse.
    “I wonder if you could do me a favor,” he said, angling his body away from Jade. From the corner of his eye, he saw her tip her head watchfully.
    “What’s that?” said Samara with a frown.
    “There’s a park across town that’s perfect for walking dogs. I love to go there on Sunday afternoons but, well, as it happens, I don’t have a dog.”
    A slow smile spread across Samara’s face. “You want to borrow Bob.”
    “I understand it’s a lot to ask. Dogs being as precious as they are and all. I know Jade could never part with Bob, even for a little while.” Then, he put his finger to his chin, as if the idea had just occurred to him. “You could join me if you wanted to. I guess.”
    “I wouldn’t mind,” said Samara, as if it didn’t much matter one way or the other.
    “She is my dog,” said a little voice, most definitely. “She is part Labrador, part Border Collie and she’s my dog.”
    “Oh!” said Logan, feigning surprise. “I beg your pardon. Then I’ll ask you. Would you and Bob and your mom come with me to the park?”
    “No.”
    “Oh.” He sighed deeply. “Too bad. I really love that park. There’s chipmunks to feed. Not the Jade-kind, but the ones you can see. And did I mention the