was also thinking maybe we could get a puppy. We can—”
“Oh my God! Are you serious?” he cut me off. Warmth flooded my chest.
“Yep. I’ve been doing some research. We’ll have to make sure whatever we choose doesn’t bother your asthma, of course, but yeah.”
The smile slid off his face.
“Hey, what is it?”
“Nothing.” Logan shook his head. “Thanks, Dad. You’re awesome. I wish I could be more like you.”
“Well, I think you’re pretty awesome. You’re the smartest person I know. And you’re kind and funny and—”
“Stoooop. Dude. You don’t have to give me compliments like that. Parents are so weird.”
That was more like it. Logan and I had always been able to joke around with each other. “You said I’m awesome and now I’m weird? I might have to give you some extra chores for that.”
“Chores? What are those? Cleaning bothers my asthma.” It was said playfully, but I could read between the lines. His breathing disorder was the source of some of his anger right now.
“You wish. Why don’t you look up hypoallergenic dogs? We’ll look through them and figure out what kind of dog you want. We’ll have to talk to the doctor and everything too.”
“Okay,” he replied, pulling his phone out of his pocket. “Thanks, Dad…for everything.”
“You have nothing to thank me for, kiddo. I’m glad you’re here.”
We were quiet the rest of the ride. Logan put his earbuds in, which I took as a hint for me to leave him alone. Christ, I hoped I knew what I was doing. It was clear something was going on with him, something he didn’t want to share, and I didn’t know how much to push him. While Logan and I were different in a lot of ways, we were the same in that neither of us responded well to feeling cornered, which was the last thing I wanted to do to him.
When we pulled down the driveway, Logan took his earbuds out. “Mom says she doesn’t know how you live in a place like this.”
It was a large, two-story, farmhouse-style cabin. Having a place like this was my dream, always had been.
“Yeah, your mama likes having neighbors right next door and subdivisions. I like my space.” It was one of the many differences between us.
“I think I do too—like my space, I mean. It’s nice to have somewhere to go home to where you feel like you have your own little world, ya know?”
I killed the engine. “Yeah, I do know. We don’t have to worry about anyone else out here, and town is only a few minutes away.”
“Dad…Havenwood is hardly a town.”
“Oh, I see how you are.” I ruffled his dark hair and almost knocked his glasses off. “Sorry.”
“It’s fine.” He got out, and we grabbed his things.
Logan and Charlotte each had a room in my house for when they came to visit. They were on the second floor, along with the exercise room, but the master bedroom was on the ground floor.
I unlocked the door, and Logan stumbled inside. The house had hardwood floors and only a few rugs throughout, to be easier on his asthma. He had his nebulizer for when we needed it, his rescue inhaler, plus his daily inhaler and medication, as well as a peak flow monitor to check his oxygen.
I had leftover chili in the fridge, which was what we had for dinner, and after that we watched a movie.
I took the next day off work to get Logan settled in with a doctor and registered for school.
It was a Friday night, and we decided to hit up a pizza place for dinner.
We were sitting at the table, waiting for our food to arrive, when I heard, “Fancy seeing you here.”
I looked up to see Callum with his mom, Mary Beth. His short black hair was styled, with this messy, fingered look. He had the black stuff around his eyes like he had the first time I’d seen him at Griff’s.
Before I could reply, he looked at Logan. “You must be Knox’s son. He was so excited to have you come and stay with him. I’m Callum, and this is my mom, Ms. Price. I just moved here too.”
Logan’s eyes darted from Callum to me, then back to Callum, as if he wasn’t sure what to say. “Yeah, I’m Logan. It’s great to meet you.” Callum held his hand out for Logan, who shook it. My son looked at Mary Beth next. “Nice to meet you, ma’am.”
“You can call me Mary