Page 28 of Seven of Hearts

“Sure thing, buddy,” I said as I eased into the chair beside him. I couldn’t help the yawn that slipped free.

Gio looked at me curiously. “You okay?”

I plastered on a fake smile. “Just fine.”

Ellie tiptoed in carrying a stack of textbooks. Gio jumped up to empty her arms.

The kids were so sweet to each other. Before working for the DeRossis and the Lawsons, I had a lot of experience as a long-term babysitter and occasional nanny. But none of the kids I had kept before this had been as well-behaved, empathetic, and respectful as these two.

Although they were a year apart and not actually related, their parents were so close that Gio and Ellie had basically been raised as brother and sister.

We bounced between both families’ houses, depending on what the day’s schedule was like and where it was most convenient to crash.

Today, we were at Ellie Lawson’s house in downtown Beaufort. Her mom, Hannah Jane, had restored it to its historic, pristine glory.

“Looks good,” I said as I perused the paper filled with math problems. “You showed your work and everything.”

Ellie peered over his shoulder. “That one’s wrong.”

Gio groaned. “I hate math.”

She picked up his pencil. “You didn’t pay attention to the order of operations. You ‘EMPDAS-ed’ when you should have ‘PEMDAS-ed.’”

His eyebrows lifted. “Can we have empanadas for dinner?”

Ellie rolled her eyes. “Math, not food. The answer is thirty-two, by the way.”

“Cookingismath, girl genius,” he countered as he erased his work and followed the laws of parentheses, exponents, multiplication, division, addition, and subtraction.

I laughed. “I don’t know how to make empanadas,” I said as I looked through both of their assignment books to make sure all their work had been completed.

“I do,” Gio said with a grin. “And Aunt Hannah doesn’t mind if I cook in her kitchen either.”

Of course she didn’t. Gio’s parents were both professional chefs and owned quite a few restaurants. At twelve, Gio was a better cook than most adults.

I glanced at the time. “If you want, go for it. You finished your homework.”It’ll keep you two occupied, and I won’t have to cook dinner.But I didn’t say that last part out loud.

Gio grabbed Ellie’s hand and nearly dragged her into the kitchen, leaving me alone with that text.

What the hell was I supposed to do? Respond?

I couldn’t do that. What was I going to say?

Okay?

Thanks for thinking about me?

It’s actually not the thought that counts, Logan?

I was thinking about you too?

The last option gave me pause because I had been thinking about him even before the text came in.

I felt like crap over the last time we had seen each other. I was hurting and defensive, and it made me lash out at him.

I believed the best in Logan. He was trying to process everything like I had. But believing the best in him didn’t change the protective instinct I had felt since seeing those two pink lines.

I was the one who had to make the tough choices, whether they were popular or not.

---