Page 54 of The Library of Second Chances
Truth was, he’d still had hours before he needed to be at the airport. He’d gone back home and gone through the notes and annotations in the books again. Reading them this time knowing for certain they were from Lucy.
Island Girl had been a bit of a mystery, her incongruent thoughts about herself and life intriguing. He saw it all differently now he knew she was Lucy. Because Lucy was a dichotomy, at once optimistic and hopeful about the world, but also jaded because her life had been the opposite of a fairy tale.
There was obviously so much he hadn’t known about Lucy, probably still didn’t know. Would never know. Because the notes would stop when Lucy found out he was Gatsby’s Ghost.
He’d thought about Lucy—and about Island Girl—all the way to the airport the night before, but as soon as he saw his sister with her kids in tow in the airport lobby and they ran to hug him, all his stress from work and the revelation about Lucy slipped away. When he realized how much taller the kids were than the last time he’d seen them, he was thankful Lucy had suggested they visit. Aidan had grown a foot, his face leaner and more angular than the chubby kid he’d once been, and Alex’s transformation from toddler to little girl had her looking so much like her mother he was immediately transported to his childhood.
“This is the life.” Carly let out a big sigh as she plopped down in the chair in the sand next to Logan on the beach. “Where could you possibly go in the future that’s better than this?”
“Boston.” He recognized the lack of enthusiasm in his reply. “I already submitted my resume.”
“You’re not even done here yet and you already know your next move? No wonder you always beat me at chess growing up.”
He shrugged. “That was the whole point in coming here. I needed a quick win so I could apply for the Boston job. It’d be kind of nice to live somewhere I already have a friend.” Gulls called overhead, floating above a family nearby where a toddler was throwing food in the sand and then giggling as brave birds took turns swooping down to grab it.
“Uncle Logan, watch this,” Aidan yelled from the edge of the water as he ran toward the waves with the boogie board Logan had found in the rental house.
“You always made friends so easily as a kid. Heck, you were voted Best All Around in the high-school yearbook.” She shook her head. “Which is why I find this life you chose to lead sobizarre. You’re never anywhere long enough to make friends or really get to know anyone outside of your work.”
“Making friendsismy work.That’s why I’m so good at what I do.” He pumped his fist in the air at his nephew as he successfully rode a wave in to shore. “Attaboy, Aidan!”
Carly frowned at him. “You know that’s not what I mean. Just look at what’s happened here. The only real friend you’ve made is through the Little Free Library, and you’ve already screwed that up because the woman had already met you in ‘real life’”—she held up her hands to put air quotes around the words—“and thought you were manipulating her to ram your project through so you could get out of here.”
He’d told her about his discovery the previous evening. Carly had been delighted to learn Lucy was Island Girl as they’d sat talking on the porch swing on the back deck after putting the kids to bed.
“That’s not exactly true. Lucy doesn’t think I’m manipulating her anymore. We’re getting along just fine, in fact.”
“Except she doesn’t know you’re her book buddy.”
He sighed. “No.”
Logan had no idea what to do next when it came to the Little Free Library. He knew he had to tell Lucy. If she found out he’d been keeping it from her, she’d never trust him again, and he also couldn’t bear her thinking Gatsby’s Ghosthad stood her up. She didn’t deserve that. It should have been easy to convince himself he only wanted her trust because of the waterfront development, but he knew it was more than that now. He wanted Lucy to trust Logan the way Island Girltrusted Gatsby’s Ghost.
He turned to Carly. “Maybe I should just write her one final note. I can tell her Gatsby’s Ghost is leaving town and enjoyed reading together while it lasted. Leave it at that. Maybe shenever needs to know it was me. I think she’d be mortified to find out anyway.”
Carly looked thoughtful as she cocked her head to the side and stared off into the distance. Then she leaned forward, smiling. “I think we should watchYou’ve Got Mailtonight. You know, for inspiration.”
“This is my real life, Carly. Not some movie. And have you ever really paid attention to that story? It’s not a fairy tale. He put her out of business.”
“The way I see it, if he could still win her heart despite ruining her family’s legacy, then surely you can win over little Miss Bookstore here.” She raised an eyebrow in his direction.
“Quit trying to make this a love story. I have a working relationship with Lucy. That’s all it is. That’s all it’s going to be. With any luck, I’ll be in Boston before the end of summer.”
He remembered what Lucy had shared with him about Carter leaving her behind for an opportunity in Chicago and the mayor telling him about her mom abandoning her as well. There was no sense in letting her get any more attached to Gatsby’s Ghost, because Gatsby’s Ghost would eventually have to leave her for Boston or wherever he got his next job.
“Ugh,” Carly grunted, leaning back in her chair. “I just want you to find your person.”
“What kind of person is going to follow me around while I jump from city to city living in rental units? It’s not like I have a home base, much less a home.”
“Home isn’t a place, Logan. It’s a person. And sometimes it becomes several people.” She smiled as she watched her kids splashing each other in the surf.
Lucy’s brown eyes and sweet smile flashed through his mind. Lucy had a home, and it was here. And after the story about how the town had come together for her after her dad passed, he couldn’t blame her. Their lives were simply incompatible. Shewas a person who craved stability and, based on what he knew about what she’d been through, she deserved to have it.
The real problem was that he had begun wondering what it would feel like to be the man who could secure it for her.
When Carly suggested they all go to the bookstore after lunch, Logan didn’t even attempt to argue with her, knowing it was futile. She insisted she needed to meet Lucyandthat she needed a new book to read on the plane ride home anyway.
“Uncle Logan, can I have a book too?” Alex asked from the back seat.
