Page 13 of Forgiving Her First Love

She snorted. Gramps did enjoy a free meal.

“You’ll have to come in here so I can take this to his room.” There wasn’t enough space to swing a cat on the landing, but there wasn’t enough air in this room once he stepped inside and tried to shift out of her way.

She slipped by him and shouldered into Biyen’s room, leaving the bin in a corner of the floor by his dresser.

When she came back to the door of the bedroom, Logan was studying the rest of Biyen’s keepers on the shelf.

“I kind of wanted the LEGO bin to stay in here,” he said.

“Have at ’er, champ. Biyen will be dragging me over to Emma’s in—”

“Mo-om!” The door clunked open at the bottom of the stairs. “When can we leave?”

She bit back a sigh. “I haven’t had my shower, yet,” she leaned to call down the stairs.

He made a pained noise and slammed the door.

“I’ll walk him over. You can take your time,” Logan offered.

Everything in her pumped the breaks. Nolan was forever introducing Biyen to new women. Sophie was damned careful about confusing him with her own romantic interests. Of which there were none.

Logan was definitely not that. He was a houseguest who was offering a friendly gesture. Nevertheless, “You don’t have to. I’ll only be ten minutes.”

The door squeaked and Biyen’s steps clomp, clomp, clomped up to the top of the stairs.

“Mom,” he panted. “Gramps is putting the toys in his Gator. I’m going to ride over with him.”

“Okay. Did you get your burger from the freezer?”

“No.” Clomp, clomp, clomp as he descended. “Gramps!” The stair door banged again, followed by the door to the porch.

“I emptied the top two drawers.” Sophie pointed at the dresser. “Towels are in the closet downstairs, across from the bathroom. There’s a second toilet and sink in the shop. What else might you need?” She glanced around.

“Mom!” Clomp, clomp. Biyen stopped halfway up the stairs. “Gramps says buy more beer tomorrow because he’s taking the six pack from our fridge.”

“Roger that.”

Clomp, clomp, slam.

“Sometimes I envy people who do all of their communicating over text,” she said with a bemused smile. It was as close as she would come to apologizing for the chaos. If Logan didn’t like it, he could leave.

“Reid texts me so often, I want to slit my throat with my own smartphone. The grass is always greener.”

She had to give that one a small smirk.

Usually, on the rare occasions when Biyen and Art were both out, she reveled in the bliss of having the house to herself. Today, she was really, really aware that she was alone in the house with Logan. That she was heading into the shower where she would stand naked while he…

“I guess I’ll meet you over there? Er… I mean, unpack first if you want to.” She waved at the dresser again. “I’ll give you a key, not that we ever lock up. Gramps is always here and…” She shrugged. It was Raven’s Cove. If a local walked into your house, they needed what they came for and left a note telling you what they had borrowed. By the time strangers showed up in the summer, she was leaving all her windows open anyway, trying to catch a breeze.

Also, Gramps and Biyen were the only things Sophie truly valued. So long as they were safe, she didn’t care who stole her refurbished laptop or took the company four-by-four for a joyride.

“Thanks.” Logan moved his duffel to the bed and opened it. “I’ll get the beer tomorrow when I pick up my groceries.”

That made her feel churlish, especially when she was being invited to eat with his family today.

“There’s no sense cooking two meals,” she grumbled. “The dishes alone will become a nuisance. We don’t have a dishwasher. Buy whatever you plan to make and we’ll take turns.”

“If that works for you, sure.”

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