Total pages in book: 142
Estimated words: 136507 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 683(@200wpm)___ 546(@250wpm)___ 455(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 136507 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 683(@200wpm)___ 546(@250wpm)___ 455(@300wpm)
“No. The thought of Jay burying God knows what on our land that Dad can’t find will drive him nuts.”
“You know, you can’t protect everyone from everything all the time.”
“Maybe not, but I can try.”
I finish sifting through the pile and root through the box for more, pulling out a yellowed copy of a Toronto Star newspaper.
Logan frowns at it. “What’s that about?”
“I don’t know.” I check the date and a shiver skitters down my back. “This is from a week before Jay died—”
Duke barks and wags his tail, his focus on the door.
Where Isla stands.
“Honey!” I toss the paper aside and sit up, slipping my feet out of Logan’s grip.
“I knocked,” she says tentatively.
“We didn’t hear it.” And in Logan’s frantic rush to get me into his bed earlier, he didn’t lock the door. “What are you doing back from the party so soon?”
“I wasn’t feeling it. Cody drove me home.” Her mood seems dour, her expression downcast.
Logan stands and saunters over to collect his shirt from the floor where it fell when he was stripping. “You want something to drink?”
“No, thanks.” Isla’s eyes skim over his torso as he redresses before averting, darting around his apartment, over to the rumpled bed.
They widen a beat.
I stifle my curse, remembering the box of condoms that sits on the nightstand. My balled-up socks nearby probably don’t help much either, if she’s noticed them too. “We’re watching the game and going through some old stuff. Why don’t you come and sit?” I beckon her over.
She kicks off her boots and ambles in, dropping beside me, allowing me to wrap an arm around her shoulders.
Logan watches quietly from the kitchen where he chugs a glass of water, giving us space.
“Tough night?” I push strands off her forehead before I lay a kiss there.
Her head bobs, her eyes welling with tears. “I really miss her.”
I pull her into a hug. “I know you do, baby.” And I desperately wish I could fix it all or at least carry this pain for her for a while.
“Here. In case you change your mind.” Logan drops onto the couch, setting a can of Coke on the coffee table where the old newspaper lays, discarded.
Duke veers to the left, his nose caught on a scent.
“Come on. None of that.” I whistle to deter him as Isla and I walk home.
Isla seems in a better mood, especially after winning a round of cards against Logan.
“I’m sorry you didn’t have a good time tonight. But it’ll get better, I promise.”
Isla nods, and after a lingering pause, she finally asks, “So, are you and Logan, like, together?”
I knew this conversation was coming. If she didn’t bring it up, I’d have to, eventually. “It’s complicated.”
“Mom …” She casts a sideways glance. “I saw the condoms.”
“Yes, I figured that much out.” I struggle to navigate the truth of it. “As far as anyone knows, Logan and I are neighbors and friends. And I mean anyone, Isla. Your friends, my detachment officers, my boss, Breanne.” I need to see her soon to get my highlights freshened up. That will require a masterclass in deception.
“Do Holt and Annie know?”
“They suspect it, but they’re not talking about it, and neither are we.”
Isla considers this. “What would happen if people found out?”
“Nothing good. I can basically kiss my career goodbye.”
“Why? ’Cause you’re not allowed to date someone with a record?”
“It’s not a rule, not exactly. Like I said, it’s complicated.”
“But why?” Her cute face pinches up with frustration. “Logan’s not out there, breaking the law. He’s not doing anything wrong.”
I smile, remembering a time when Logan was nothing more than the “old criminal” next door, crazy for coming back to Cold River.
“Whatever Logan and I are, we’re only that in his place. Outside of there, out in the open, we are neighbors and friends, and I’m the Cold River detachment commander.”
Duke reaches the porch first, trotting up the steps.
“And Dad?”
“He cannot find out, okay?” He’s already angry and hurt that Isla is skipping Christmas Day at his place. “I hate asking you to lie to him, but—”
“I won’t tell him.” Isla shakes her head to emphasize her declaration. “He hates Logan, doesn’t he?”
“Pretty much, yeah.” I unlock the front door.
“I like Logan. I feel safe around him.”
“You are safe around him.” He would literally kill for her or me, which is a scary notion because he’s proven he’s capable.
Isla sheds her coat and kicks off her boots. “I guess I know why you’ve been in such a good mood when you come back from next door lately.”
I squeeze my eyes shut. “Oh my God. Stop—”
“My mom’s finally getting laid.”
Chapter 35
Logan
I drop the seventeen-pound turkey in the trunk of the sedan and then shut it and give the roof a tap.
“Merry Christmas!” The middle-aged woman waves at Jon and me before pulling forward, her holiday cheer punctuating the Christmas music playing over the market’s speakers.