an hour!”
“Did you roll around on the ground with them?” I asked. “You’re covered in dirt.”
“We wrestled a little bit,” he replied. “The labs knocked me down and once we were on the ground, we just kept playing.”
Christie sniffed the air and made a face. A moment later I smelled it too.
“Dude,” I said. “I think you rolled in something.”
Logan sniffed himself. “Ah, damnit. I’ve got a change of clothes in my truck. You mind if I hop in the shower?”
“Mind? I insist,” Christie said. “Top of the stairs. First door on the left.”
Christie and I laughed when he was gone. “Logan is something.”
“He sure is,” I said, wondering how this night would go.
17
Christie
Logan finished cleaning up by the time dinner was ready. His black hair was damp and messy as he sat down at the table, and he smelled like clean soap.
“Your hair looks nice when you’re not hiding it under that ballcap,” I said while opening a bottle of wine. “Messy, but nice.”
Logan grunted. “Been meaning to get it cut for a while. Haven’t had time thanks to work and the community service hours.”
I frowned. “You know, you still haven’t told me what you did to earn those community service hours.”
“You don’t believe what I told Sandy?” he replied with a smirk. “That I killed a man?”
“As Sandy pointed out, it’s unlikely.”
“Maybe I charmed the judge,” Logan suggested. “I can be awfully persuasive.”
I’ll bet you can, I thought.
Harper emerged from the kitchen carrying the lasagna dish with two oven mitts. “Be careful. It’s hot.”
I dished out lasagna onto my plate. “It smells delicious.”
I had enjoyed helping Harper make dinner. For one thing, it was nice to have someone else take charge while I handled the small stuff. For another, he was pleasant company.
“My ex never cooked,” I said. “He could cook. He was quite good at it. But aside from our first few dates, he refused to. Said he liked it better when I made dinner and he did all the eating.”
“He sounds like a real winner,” Harper muttered while sitting down.
“You have no idea.” I shook my head and turned to Logan. “Enough about that, though. Sandy seems to have taken a liking to you.”
“She’s a cool kid. Dude, this is good.”
“It’s my mom’s recipe,” Harper said.
“Sandy doesn’t normally like people,” I said, steering the conversation back. “But you two were like peas in a pod.”
Logan’s fork scraped as he stabbed another piece of lasagna. He leaned his elbow on the table and said, “She reminds me of my sister, Louise.”
“I didn’t know you had a sister,” Harper said.
“Step-sister, I guess,” Logan replied. “But blood relation never mattered to me. We were real tight.”
“Were?” I said. “What happened?”
“Divorce,” Logan said simply. “Our parents split. They had a big falling out. My step-dad moved them all the way to Maine. About as far away as you can get without hitting water.”
“That sucks,” I said. “How often do you see Louise?”
Logan studied his plate for a few seconds. “They split in twenty-fifteen, so I guess it’s been five years.”
I blinked. “You haven’t seen her since they moved!”
“Maine’s far away,” Logan said. “She’s in college at Northeastern. We keep up on Facebook. That’s the only reason I have an account.”
“So that’s why you never post anything,” Harper said. “I was wondering about that.”
“You must really miss her,” I said.
Logan glanced at me, and for a moment I could see the pain hidden in his dark eyes. Then his steel exterior returned and he shrugged. “Sure, I guess. Pass the garlic bread?”
I handed him the plate. “I’m not close with my family. I talk to my parents maybe twice a year, on birthdays and holidays. The only real family I’ve had has been…” I trailed off.
“Your ex?” Harper suggested.
“I was going to say his family, but yeah,” I replied. “His parents and sister were really nice to me. They welcomed me into their family. Honestly, I miss them more than I miss him.”
“How long ago did you break up?” Harper asked.
“Two weeks ago,” I said. “Almost three, actually.”
Harper’s blue eyes widened. “That’s it?”
I felt my cheeks growing warm. I took a sip of wine and said, “Yeah, but it was a long time coming. Mentally I think I broke up with him this summer and was waiting for the right time to cut the rope.”
“Nothing wrong with that,” Logan said. “Explains why you hooked up with my buddies, too. Best way to get over someone is to get under someone new.