Page 55 of The Write Off

“What’s wrong, Nancy?” my Dad asks, but before Mom can answer, the plot thickens.

A shirtless Logan steps tentatively into view and the room falls silent. No one speaks. No one breathes. Did I mention he’s shirtless?

“Hello,” he says, offering my family a small wave. He addresses my mother, “I’m so sorry I startled you.” The man is remarkably formal for someone half-naked.

“No, no! It’s my fault. I just didn’t realize anyone else was here.” Mom can’t seem to stop her nervous giggles as she clasps her invisible pearls.

“Not at all. It’s very nice to meet you, all of you. I’m Logan, Rilla’s boyfriend.”

I’ve been asking myself all week if that’s what Logan is to me, but to hear him confirm it, in a room with the people I love most, makes me feel like I might swoon. My boyfriend. I have a boyfriend. Logan is my boyfriend.

From the looks of every other Pine in the room, it’s not what they expected him to say. I think he would have shocked them less if he had told them he was my master or my priest.

“Yup,” I say, rocking back on my heels. “Surprises all around this morning. Logan, my parents, Nancy and Tom, my brother, Josh, and Betty, who you’ve already met. Everyone, this is my Logan, I mean my boyfriend, Logan.”

“It’s so nice to meet you,” my mother says smiling almost maniacally at him. I can’t remember the last time I saw her this happy.

“It’s very nice to meet you as well. All of you.” He looks around the room.

“I would normally hug you, but you know, you’re not wearing…” my mother’s voice trails off.

“She’s a hugger,” my father confirms, dryly, looking anywhere but Logan’s bare torso.

“Why aren’t you wearing your shirt?” I ask quietly, my face frozen in an entirely forced smile.

He gives me a very meaningful look that I’m not interpreting at all before finally answering, “Because you’re wearing it.”

Betty snorts loudly and covers her face, mortified. I’m grateful to her because it breaks the tension in the room, and everyone, including Josh and my dad, laughs.

“We’ll let you two get ready and then we’ll all go eat.” My mother claps her hands like we’re the children she used to teach as an elementary school teacher. “Logan, you’ll join us, I hope?”

His eyes flit to me and all I can do is shrug. I’ve completely lost control of the situation, if I ever had it in the first place. I don’t see how this could possibly get worse.

“I’d love to.”

“Wonderful!” she exclaims.

“Wonderful,” he echoes.

Wonderful.

Chapter 27

Logan

Well, that was the worst first impression I’ve ever made. And I once referred to my teacher as “Mother” on the first day of the second grade.

Rilla’s parents are lovely. They are warm and kind and clearly love both of their children beyond measure. I very much wish that I’d been fully clothed when I met them.

We managed to get a table at Bostonia Public House, but they had to add two chairs to one that normally only seats four. To say it’s cozy would be an understatement. Rilla’s chair is so close to mine that she may as well be sitting in my lap, and I have accidentally kicked her father under the table twice.

Tom Pine has a presence that is both impressive and intimidating. I have no trouble believing that he was a lawyer because every time our eyes meet across the table, he levels me with a stare that makes me want to confess my sins.

“Are you from Boston, Logan?” Rilla’s mom prompts at me from my left. While her husband is giving me the silent treatment, she has done nothing but send me life preservers since we sat down, and I have clung to every one like they are my only hope of keeping my head above the waves.

“I grew up in Wellesley, actually. About thirty minutes from here.”

“Lovely. They have wonderful schools there.”

---