Page 23 of Forgiving Her First Love

“Sophie—”

“Fine. Look at the fan in the bathroom if you want to. It sounds like it has a bent blade. Gramps will get on a chair and try to pull it down himself if he notices so I can’t leave it, but I have to water the garden, get gas for the lawnmower, and mow; otherwise Gramps gets hay fever. Then I have to shower and check the delivery on Biyen’s birthday present. Also, I was supposed to reorder one of Gramps’s prescriptions today and forgot, damn it. Let me make a note of that.”

She came to the desk and found the sticky notes in the drawer. She scrawled the reminder and stuck it to the black screen of the monitor.

The phone rang.

Fuck. This was how her life had been going even before Wilf died, but she was only one person.

Logan snatched up the receiver.

“Hi, Kenneth.” He listened. “Uh-huh. Yeah. No, she’s gone for the day.” He jerked his head at her, telling her to leave. “I’ll come down.” He hung up. “The drunk says you’re a shitty mechanic, but also, he made it worse.”

“Shocking,” she muttered and headed for her coveralls.

“I’m going.”

“You don’t have to. But if you could call Emma and tell her to send Biyen home—”

“Sophie. Go. I’ll make sure his boat stays tied up.”

“Really?” She kind of hated him more when he wasn’t being an asshole than when he was. “Thank you.”

Chapter Six

Logan finished the repair, told the skipper he had warned the coast guard about him, then went to the grocery store. He picked up a call from his mother while he was walking home.

“Hi, Mom. What’s up?”

“I’m just wondering how everything is going with Emma’s family.”

If that was true, she would have called Emma, but he played along.

“Good. Reid drove them around the island today.” There were only a handful of logging roads so it hadn’t taken more than an hour.

“When do they leave on their cruise with Trystan?”

“Wednesday, back Sunday.” The tours were staggered so the other one left Saturday and returned Wednesday.

“Have they decided whether they’ll take Storm?”

“They’re not.” Emma was reluctant to leave her again, but everyone agreed that an infant on a boat could be less than ideal. Storm wasn’t crawling, but she would still need a life preserver. “In a small space like that, if she isn’t happy, everyone will know it. Reid offered to stay home with her, but I told him to go. It’s not exactly a honeymoon, but it’s the best we can do for now.”

“I agree. And Emma’s mother will want to get to know him.”

“Exactly.” Also, Emma could use a wingman. She hadn’t said anything, but she had looked relieved when Reid had agreed to come with her. Logan only knew a little about the way her family had walked all over her in the past but wasn’t prepared to let it happen again if he could help it.

“That leaves you with Storm and work, though. How will you manage that?”

“Storm’s a Fraser. Crew not cargo. She comes to work with me.”

“You have her scraping barnacles already? Your father would be so proud.”

“She actually runs the place. I wish I was joking,” he added as she chuckled.

“Be serious now. That’s not ideal. You trying to work while you have her full-time? My real reason for calling—”

Here we go. He’d known she would have an ulterior motive.

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