Page 86 of Break the Barrier
Annmarie curses under her breath. “Fine. I’ll come.” She holds up a finger. “One time.”
“Deal.” Lue holds her hand out for Annmarie to shake it, and I giggle at the look on my sister’s face—she just got guilt-tripped hard.
She sits back and sighs. “I miss Phee being here.”
I nod. “She was a lot of help. But she’s where she’s supposed to be.”
“Is she designing again?” Lue asks, and I nod my head.
Last week, some guy from her program back in New York showed up and asked her—or begged her more like—to come back and rejoin the design program. They had another one starting for fall semester, and he didn’t want her to miss it.
The man was a little old to be in college, but Ophelia was tight-lipped about the situation, and I was just proud of her for getting back to it. It was where she belonged, despite the fact I loved having her here.
Whoever it was that showed up to take her back had looked at her like she was more than just a fellow student, and I was glad she had someone there who clearly cared for her.
“I can’t wait to see what she comes up with,” Lue says, her eyes wandering around the room. “I bet she hits it big.”
“Time can only tell.”
After a while, I take Lue home so she can get ready for work tomorrow, which I’m learning is shadowing Dani mostly. She does clean out the stalls some, to “build character” as Logan puts it, but mostly she helps with the horses and Dani’s clients.
Once we’ve had dinner, and she’s in the shower, Logan leads me over to the couch, sitting us so that I’m lying with my head in his lap, and he’s running his fingers through my hair. I stare at him for a moment, memorizing how this feels and the solemn, content look on his face as he stares at the TV, his other hand flipping channels.
Noticing or feeling my stare, he glances down at me and smiles. “You okay?”
“Does Lue know?” I say, my mind going over her “future niece” comment.
He glances down at me and frowns, a small smile on his face. “Know what?”
“That we’re married.” Wow, that’s the first time I’ve said it out loud.
Logan freezes, clearly not expecting me to say that either, and glances toward the bathroom door. She’s too far to hear us, but he looks anyway.
“No, she doesn’t.” He bites at the inside of his cheek, his hand still combing through my hair like he doesn’t even realize he’s still doing it. “I’ve thought about telling her, multiple times. I don’t enjoy leaving her out of stuff.”
I tell him about the comment she made to Annmarie today, and his answer is to laugh at the interaction. My stomach tightens in…excitement? Hope? Fear?
All of the above.
“Well, it’s safe to say she approves of us.” He smiles at me, and I sit up, facing him so we can talk.
“You think she approves?”
Logan gives me a “give me a break” look. “She loves you. I’ve never seen her attach herself to anyone so quickly.”
I bite my lip and look down at my hands, wondering if I’m doing any of this right. How would I know? I’ve never been in a situation like this before.
“Hey.” Logan tilts my chin up to get me to look at him. “Everything is going to be fine.”
“I don’t want her to be hurt. What if she finds out, and she feels like we left her out on purpose?”
“Dorothy, my daughter, is one of the smartest people I know. When we explain the reasoning for what we did, she’ll understand. As a matter of fact, she’ll probably be glad we did what we needed to do to keep you safe.”
“I just…I don’t want to hurt her,” I repeat, that worry niggling at the back of my mind.
“I know you don’t. I don’t either. I can’t tell you what it means to me to have you love my daughter as fiercely as you do.”
“How can I not? She’s a product of you.” My honesty seems to shock us both into silence, and I pause my movements.
