Page 16 of The Pumpkin Spice Cafe
Jeanie waited, munching on chips while Logan slowly chewed his way through the rest of the Twizzler. Finally, he met her gaze.
‘This town, the people in it, they can be ... a lot. But they care about me.’ He shrugged like it was no big deal to have an entire town of people care about you. Jeanie could count on one hand the people who cared about her.
She swallowed hard.
‘But I don’t believe in ghosts.’
She laughed. ‘Ghosts or not, I’ll be happy if we get to the bottom of this mystery. Although the earplugs helped a lot. And that new security system you installed –very helpful.’ She smiled at him and watched the blush creep up his cheeks.
He cleared his throat. ‘Glad it helped.’ He shifted in his seat. ‘Now tell me more about these noises.’
ChapterEight
It was well past midnight when they rolled out the sleeping bags.
‘Thanks for bringing these. I’m not much of a camper. You probably could have guessed that. Just imagine how I’d be in a tent with no lock and all manner of creepy noises outside.’
Jeanie smiled as she held onto the edge of the bag and shook it out. Logan was relieved to see only a few pine needles fall out. It had been a long time since he’d used these. He was glad she didn’t shake out a family of mice.
‘Although, I did camp with the girl scouts as a kid. But I was mostly in it for the s’mores. Once I learned you could make those in the microwave, that was the end of my camping days.’
Logan nodded. He’d already learned that most of Jeanie’s stories didn’t require a response, and since she’d eaten half her weight in candy and washed it down with enough cups of coffee that he’d lost count, her stories had increased in quantity and speed. No time for a response, anyway.
‘I could see you camping,’ she went on, settling onto her sleeping bag. ‘You’re that type of guy.’
He sat across from her on his own sleeping bag. ‘What type is that?’ he asked, too curious about what kind of guy Jeanie thought he was to stop himself.
She tipped her head, studying him. Her thick black hair swung over her shoulder. ‘You know...’
He shook his head. He absolutely did not know, but was now embarrassingly desperate to find out.
Jeanie blew out a sigh like he was being difficult. ‘The rugged type, outdoorsy, flannel-y.’
‘Flannel-y?’
‘Yeah.’ She gestured to the general area of his flannel-clad torso. ‘You’ve got a very strong beardy, flannel-y vibe going on.’
Logan frowned. Was beardy bad? He ran a hand down his face self-consciously. Did Jeanie not like flannel? It was just so warm and cozy.
‘Don’t get me wrong,’ she said, leaning closer. ‘It’s totally working for you.’
Oh.Oh ... it was working for him.
Her cheeks flushed pink in the warm light of the café. She blew out another breath and pushed her hair behind her ear. ‘I just mean that flannel is very practical for your line of work, and the beard suits you. And I’m sure you’re very good at camping.’
Practical. Right. That was him. Sturdy. Like a reliable piece of farming equipment.
You’re a really good guy, Logan.The memory of Lucy’s goodbye rang through him.You’ve built yourself a nice, comfortable life here, but I just can’t do it. I can’t stay in this little town forever. I need more than this.
He let his beard grow in after she left. Lucy hated a beard.
‘I’ll go grab us some pillows.’ Jeanie jumped up and clambered up the backstairs to her apartment.
Damn it. He was probably scowling at her, all his Lucy-induced anger misdirected toward Jeanie. He glanced at his watch. 1.07am and still no weird sounds, no ghostly chill in the room, nothing out of the ordinary at all. This was absurd.
He toed off his boots and stretched out on the sleeping bag, his hands behind his head. He was positive at this point that these noises were nothing more than Jeanie’s nerves about being in a new place. Which was totally understandable, but at some point she was going to have to get over it.
It might have been Nana’s voice in his head, telling him he absolutely should not tell Jeanie to get over it. But even he wasn’t that dumb. He would just hang out with her until she was feeling better. And he would not be a jerk. Even when her innocuous comments dredged up old insecurities.
