Page 80 of Seven of Hearts

One by one, the ladies met up with their men and scattered to sleep off the carbs, but Logan was nowhere to be found.

Instead of going into Kristin’s house and finding a couch for myself, I wandered down the grass to the dock and sat on the edge.

“What are you doing down here, honeybee?”

I craned my neck to find Logan sauntering down the hill, then looked back over the water. “Gio’s room is on the second floor of Maddie and Luca’s house.” I pointed next door. “When I’m over there, I’ll look out the window to see if you’re sitting down here or not.”

Logan chuckled as he eased down. But instead of sitting beside me, he sat behind me and pulled me against his chest. His arms wrapped around my waist and settled on the sides of my bump.

I laughed when he brushed my hair to the side and peppered my neck with kisses. “I like this,” I admitted.

“Yeah?” he murmured against my skin. “Well, I like you.”

I hoped it stayed that way. I knew plenty of couples who didn’t survive the stresses of parenthood or co-parenting. Eventually that stress builds to resentment, then destruction.

“I...I know I don’t do a good job of telling you how I feel...” Logan rested his forehead on my shoulder. “And as fucked up as things have been, I’m glad it was you that night. Because I think the universe knew that I needed you, even if I never let myself admit it.” His breath tickled my neck as he exhaled. “I feel at peace when I’m with you. And I haven’t felt that before.”

Logan didn’t have to tell me. I already knew. He had gone from panicking anytime there was a new advance in our situation to anticipating the changes with excitement. He had gone from managing me to just being there with me and for me.

“You don’t have to tell me how you feel, Lo. You show me every day.”

I felt his mouth twitch in a smile as he pressed another kiss to my shoulder. “Only my family calls me Lo.”

I chewed on my lip. “Can I call you Lo?”

“Yeah.” He pressed his cheek to the shell of my ear and cradled my belly with his splayed hands. “You’re the mother of my child. That makes us family now. But more than that, you’re mine. First and foremost.”

I felt that delightful skittering in my belly as the baby kicked. I took Logan’s hand and moved it to the spot so he could feel. “Our bumblebee is energetic today. It must’ve been the pie.”

Logan laughed and pressed both hands on the spot so he didn’t miss a kick. “That’s wild. It’s...unreal in the best way.”

I leaned my head back, rested it on his shoulder, and closed my eyes as I yawned. “I might need that nap after all.”

“I actually came down here to see if you wanted to go on a drive. There’s something I wanna show you.”

I eyed the low incline that led back up to the driveway. “You’re going to have to carry me up the hill if you want me back in the car.”

Logan didn’t need to be told twice. He scooped me up and carried me like a bride up the hill. “I’ll carry you around everywhere just so your feet never get tired.”

And I believed him.

Logan held my hand as I braced with the other and eased down into the passenger’s seat. It was getting harder and harder to get up and down, and I still had three and a half months to go.

He took us on the scenic route around the bay, then took a quick left onto a gravel drive lined with trees. The path broke into a clearing on the water.

“Are we on the other side of the bay?” I asked as I glanced around. The two houses on the shore in the distance looked like the Solomons’ and the DeRossis’.

“Yep,” Logan said as he passed a tidy shotgun-style brick house. “That’s Steve and Erica Pelham’s place. It’s the one you can see from the dock at Kristin’s.” He pulled the car around a grove of thick trees and parked in front of a little cottage.

It was waterfront, but still shrouded by a thick tree line, offering lots of privacy. The bright teal siding and white scalloped trim was absolutely adorable. The wraparound porch had a sun-baked awning dotted with wind chimes.

It was vibrant and homey all in one.

“Are we visiting someone?” I asked as I looked down at my comfortable house clothes. “I was prepared for a pajama Thanksgiving. I wasn’t prepared for looking presentable.”

Logan just shook his head. “No one’s home. Steve told me about this place when he came over to the house to work out with Will. Said the neighbor behind his place was about to put the place on the market.”

Wait . . . was he talking about moving in together officially?

---