Page 41 of Edge of Forever

He got out and shut the door. Fiona sat up, but wouldn’t budge from Izzy’s side, who was still sleeping. He opened the back and gathered their bags, the dog bed, tucked the leash in his back pocket, and deposited them onto the porch. He found the moose key chain in his pocket and unlocked the front door. A small light saved the room from full dark, but he clicked a few more on to get a lay of the land.

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The main living space was all natural pine, both floor and walls in an intricate post and beam set up that reminded him of home. Denim blue couches were grouped around the center of the room. A modest television stood on an entertainment center and two more faded red chairs flanked the room. The kind of chairs that Izzy loved. The sink in and read kind. They were right near a window, so he bet they got full light in the mornings.

He went back out to the porch and hauled in the bags and set them by the stairs. He tossed the dog bed near the back door. He had a feeling Fiona wasn’t the sleep on the floor kind of dog for bedtime.

Now all that was left was Isabella. He went back to the Escalade and opened the rear passenger door. She was reclined slightly in the big back seat, her head tucked into the small space between the seat and side of the car. The dome light cast a shadow to her lashes making them seem even longer. Her skin was achingly fragile. The glass cuts had faded to little silvery scratches along her cheeks and eyebrows.

He curled his fingers into the palm of his hand.

He missed touching her. He missed talking with her. He missed her laugh.

He just missed her.

It felt like he’d actually lost her ever since she’d learned about Nichole. He would have given his career, his money, his future career to change it. Anything so he didn’t have to cause her pain.

But he wouldn’t give her up.

She was alive, and she was his. He just had to remind her of that again.

“Izzy.”

She gave a sleepy little moan and turned toward his voice.

“Wake up, baby.”

Her eyes slitted open, vivid even in the low light. For a moment he saw the love that he used to wake up to every morning. Her soft smile chased away the demons that had been living in him for weeks now.

She lifted her hand to his face and saw the glove in her periphery. The light blew out like a candle and she pushed him away and tugged off the cotton covers he’d had made for her.

He bit back a sigh and stepped back. “Honey, we’re home.”

She slid out, snapping her fingers at Fiona who scrambled out after her. The big dog leaned against her thigh and Izzy idly scratched behind her ear. She headed for the walkway, leaving Logan to stare after her.

When she got to the door, she looked over her shoulder at him and then disappeared inside.

Logan scrubbed his hands over his face. Exhaustion had burrowed inside of him like a fistful of thorns. He couldn’t remember a day he didn’t hurt and he wasn’t tired at this point. He took her knapsack out of the front seat and followed her up the path.

She’d taken the smaller of the bags with her up the stairs. He hiked the bag over his shoulder and played pack mule with the rest. The stairs were narrow and lead to a loft-style room. It was all open.

A king sized bed was tucked under the sloping ceiling. Area rugs were scattered around in the same colors from downstairs. Two more couches and a chair clustered around a pellet stove.

The back door was open to the deck. She stood at the railing, the moonlight gleaming against the curtain of dark hair that had been blown back with the wind. She tipped her head back and he had to look away.

She didn’t want him.

Yet.

Twenty

Bella looked out over the river. The water looked like glass in the dark, the crescent moon a shimmering cast that was just a little malformed with the current.

Kind of like her.

Just a little off balance. A blurry copy of the pretty one in the sky.

Fiona whimpered quietly next to her and she stroked her large head. She turned to find Logan bustling around the room. He had the suitcases open on the couch and was unloading tops, jeans, sweatshirts, and her favorite bulky cardigans.

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