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“Which kids from school?”
As the kids’ secondary school was in Fort William and they bussed there every day, Logan hadn’t met all of their friends—yet. But he intended to. He was a hands-on parent, and he liked to get to know the kids they hung out with, even if it meant his house was an open home to their friends. He’d rather they were in his house than roaming around and getting into trouble.
“Just Zander and Harris, and maybe Zander’s sister…”
Ah, so there was the reason for the blush. “Zander’s twin sister, right?”
“Aye.” Drew suddenly found his plate fascinating.
Meanwhile, his sister was bouncing in her seat, bursting to get in on the conversation. Logan shared a look with his mother, who was trying not to grin.
“So, can I go?” Drew said.
“Seeing as I already know Zander and Harris, I don’t see why not.”
“And Zoe,” Darcy blurted out. “Don’t forget Zoe. She’ll be there too.” She grinned at her brother. “Drew wants to be Zoe’s boyfriend.” The words came out in a delighted rush.
“Do not!” Drew shouted, but his face was now beetroot red.
“Do too.” Darcy stabbed the air between them with her finger. “You stare at her all the time, and you go red every time you talk to her. You totally want to be her boyfriend.”
It looked like Drew’s head was about to explode, so Logan held up his hands to stop them. “Enough, you two. We’re having dinner here. And a guy can be friends with a girl without anything going on.”
“Exactly,” Drew muttered, before stuffing food in his mouth.
Logan’s mother gave him a suspiciously sweet smile. “Like you and the new hotel manager?” she said with fake lightness.
Darcy shot to her feet, the excitement clearly too much for her to stay seated. “Does Dad have a girlfriend?” She looked awestruck.
“Sit down,” Logan ordered. “No, I don’t have a girlfriend. I’m working a job at the hotel, and that means working with the manager.”
“The very pretty manager,” his meddling mother said. “I heard you were helping her inspect the storeroom last night.”
Bloody gossip grapevine. There was no such thing as a s
ecret in Invertary. It had to have been Mrs. Edwards who’d told on him. That woman had already ingratiated herself with the town’s gossipmongers.
“Things have been going missing from that cupboard,” he said, sounding overly defensive even to his own ears.
Thankfully, his father chose that moment to come in for dinner. He banged through the door, pulled out his chair, and loaded his plate—all without saying a word. Slowly, he seemed to become aware that no one was talking and stopped dishing up potatoes to look at each of them.
“What’s going on?” he said.
“Dad’s got a girlfriend,” Darcy blurted. “He was in a cupboard with her last night.” She frowned and looked over at Logan. “Why were you in a cupboard with your girlfriend?”
Drew laughed and reached for his water. “I know why kids my age go into cupboards with girls.”
“Why?” Darcy demanded, her eyes wide. “Were you kissing?”
“I don’t have a girlfriend.” Logan gave everyone a firm look. They were just amused. Well, except for his dad, who looked confused. “I was investigating some thefts at the hotel, with the hotel manager.”
“And you just had to examine the store cupboard in the middle of the night, in the dark, with the manager…” his wicked mother said.
Darcy gasped. “You were kissing in the cupboard!”
“Caught.” Drew laughed.
“Why were you in a cupboard?” his dad said. “Why didn’t you take this woman on a proper date? In my day, we took them out for dinner. We didn’t steal kisses in cupboards.”
