Page 66 of Misfortune and Mr. Right

“Nah. Thank you. You’re a good tenant, Lynette. And hey, if you ever need a break on your rent, you come talk it out with me. I had a single mom growin’ up. Life’s not easy on dem women raisin’ kids alone. So, I got a soft spot in my heart for gals like you. I won’t see you living on the street. Not on my watch.”

Lynette’s eyes get a little misty. “Thank you. I appreciate it.”

“Okay, then.”

Lynette says goodbye to Joe.

“Oh. My. Gosh!” Megan nearly shouts. “It’s them! Gil and Logan! It has to be!”

“Seems like it,” I concede.

“Gil was the one who paid,” Lynette says. “He obviously overheard us talking by the pool at The Serendipity that day. He knows I’m struggling. He even said something about me letting him and Maisy know if I ever need any help. Maybe the parents pitched in and donated through some crowdfunding effort. I don’t think Gil and Maisy would be able to do this on their own.”

“Right?” Megan says. “Probably it was all the parents.” Then she looks at me. “Happy, Olivia? Lynette’s students’ parents chipped in. Gil did a drop-off of the collection. Logan came along for support.”

“Yeah. I guess so.”

Everything adds up—except why Logan would have been along for the ride when Gil gave the money to Joe.

Chapter Seventeen

Logan

Sometimes the best things in life happen

when you least expect them,

like falling in love with someone

you never saw coming.

~ Brianna Wiest

“I can’t gether off my mind,” I tell Rhett.

He whimpers.

“I know. I know. I’m pathetic.”

Rhett drops to the ground and covers his eyes with his paws.

The sun has set. I’m eight or nine hours away from facing Olivia at work—as a professional coworker, not as the woman in a blue dress who rocked my world when we danced last night.

“Rhett, come on, buddy.”

He drops his paws to the floor and looks up at me with those expressive eyes of his. Then he rolls onto his back and shows me his belly.

“Okay. You’re making me do this. For the record, I only do this for you.” I let out a deep sigh. “Wanna dance, Rhett?”

He immediately rolls back over and stands on all fours.

I open my phone and put on Rhett’s favorite song, “Just Dance” by Lady Gaga. People think I’m kidding when I say Rhett has a favorite song. When he hears this one, he wiggles and spins in circles. Partway through the song, he usually gets so excited that he stands on his back paws and hops around on two feet.

It helps if I dance with him. So that’s what I do.

After all, it’s just me and Rhett, and I need to do something to get Olivia off my mind.

I turn the music up on my phone a little, and then I send it through my Bluetooth speaker. Rhett and I are dancing around my living room. I’m letting loose. Why not? It’s not like he’s going to whip out a phone, film me, and make a viral TikTok of the moment.

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