Page 63 of Breathless

I help unload the caravan before I drag myself into the house. I’m relieved we have five days before the rehearsal dinner because I’m wiped out. All that sunshine and frolicking did me in. Well, and naked midnightactivities.

Everyone has congregated in the living room except for Logan and Bev, who are arguing quietly in the kitchen. She waves her hands around, and Logan looks pissed. The vacation vibe he wore so well on the way home is gone. They immediately stop talking when they seeme.

“Sorry to interrupt. Sorry. I’ll just wait for you—” I point back toward the livingroom.

Weird. Those two never argue. Not really. She might want to knock him over the head for being stubborn sometimes, but I’ve never known Bev to get really upset by much. Other than Ethan’s ex, that is. Allison riled up Bev like nobody’sbusiness.

Logan’s quiet on the way back to hishouse.

I wait for him to tell me what’s going on, but he doesn’t, so I finally break down andask.

“Is everything okay with your mom?”Please don’t say she’s mad about us.I’ll die a thousand deaths if Bev’s against Logan and me having arelationship.

He sighs wearily. “Yeah. Just…” He pauses a long moment. “She forgot to refill a prescription, which I would’ve been happy to do before I left had I known.” Anothersigh.

Relief that she’s not upset at me and worry about her health shoot through me so quickly, I can barely make sense ofit.

“Is she sick?” I almost choke on the words. Watching my mother die of cancer was one of the worst things I’ve ever gone through, and the thought of losing Bev iscrippling.

“Uh…” He shakes his head slowly. His eyes meet mine and soften when he sees my expression. He reaches for my hand as he drives. “There’s nothing to worry about,babe.”

I’m hoping he tells me more, but he doesn’t. And I guess I understand. It’s really none of my business, but I can’t deny being disappointed that he doesn’t confide inme.

His mood doesn’t improve when we get back to his place. Rambo and I curl up on the couch to watch reruns ofFriends, but Logan heads back to his bedroom to make a few phone calls. When he returns, he reaches for hiskeys.

“Gonna refill my mom’s scripts. I need to drive to Austin since the pharmacy here is already closed, so I might be a while. Don’t waitup.”

It sucks to have to drive to the city on a Sunday night when he has to get up at the crack of dawntomorrow.

“Do you want me to keep youcompany?”

“Nah. I got this.” He kisses me on the forehead and is out the door before I canrespond.

I can’t shake the feeling that there’s more to the story than what he’s telling me, but it’s not like I’m entitled to know Bev’s privatebusiness.

Two hours later, after I get ready for bed, I stand in the hallway between our rooms and look back and forth at the doors, trying to decide what to do. I’ve only ever slept in Bev’s bed while I’ve stayed with Logan. But me staying in his room while at the coast is different than me sleeping in his bed at his house for the duration of my stay. Would that be too much for him? Would it cramp his style? Am I even staying in town after thewedding?

Jesus, this relationship stuff is exhausting. I rub my face in Rambo’s fur. “What should I do?” About all of it, but I’m too tired to articulate the finer points of this conundrum to mydog.

Bev’s room is safe, I decide. Logan can come and get me if he wants me to sleep withhim.

Except I fall asleepalone.

25

Logan

The very lastthing I want to do tonight is spend the next hour and a half in my truck after that five-hour drive this afternoon. What should’ve been a four-hour trip home turned into five and change when we stopped three times for gas and pissbreaks.

I’m in a foul fucking mood as I haul ass to the one pharmacy on the other side of the city that will fill my mom’sprescription.

I feel like shit for lying to Joey, but my mother’s secrets aren’t mine totell.

Fine. I didn’t overtly lie, but I didn’t tell her the whole story, which feels like lying all thesame.

My mother nearly went off the rails when she tried to refill her prescription this afternoon and found out how much those little pills cost. Usually I get her scripts, and I’ve let her think our insurance covers everything. She was royally pissed when she found out it doesn’t. But like I’m gonna let my mother go without her medicine? Fuck that. I’d do anything for that woman, and if I have to work a second job to afford what she needs, so beit.

I’m pulling into the pharmacy when my phone lights up with acall.

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