AllFreeNovel
Share Us
‘You have to join us, that’s an order.’ He winked at her and then watched, intrigued, as colour seeped into her cheeks. Why was she blushing?
‘All right. You take the food out, I’ll bring the drinks.’
They sat in the garden at the wooden table and Evanna held Kirsty on her lap and gave her breadsticks and chicken to eat. ‘She’s such a good eater. She loves my chicken.’
‘We all love your chicken. That was the other thing about Amy.’ Logan forked more salad onto his plate. ‘She had a very limited repertoire in the kitchen. All she could cook was fish fingers.’
They ate in silence for a while and then Kirsty started to become fractious.
‘She needs an early night,’ Evanna murmured. ‘I tried to put her down for a nap earlier but she was too wound up to sleep. She’s tired.’
‘You look tired, too.’ Logan studied her face, noticing that her cheeks were paler than usual. ‘Is something wrong? Did you have a bad night or something?’
‘I’m fine.’ She fussed around Kirsty and Logan suddenly had a strong suspicion that she was avoiding eye contact.
‘Are you feeling ill? Because if you are then I can—’
‘I’m not feeling ill, Logan. I’m fine. Really.’ She stood up quickly, brushing a strand of hair out of her eyes and giving him a quick smile. ‘If you’re all right with Kirsty, I really ought to be going.’
He’d never known her so jumpy. ‘Evanna.’ He kept his voice gentle. ‘We’re friends, aren’t we? If there’s something that you need to talk about, I hope you know that I’ll always listen. You listen to my problems often enough. I hope you know that I’m here for you, too. This isn’t a one-sided relationship.’
‘I don’t have a problem. There’s nothing I want to talk about.’ She handed him Kirsty and picked up her little rucksack. ‘I’m going to make a move because I need to clear out the bathroom before Craig comes tomorrow.’
Why was she in such a hurry to leave? ‘I’ll give you a lift home.’
‘You don’t need to do that, I can walk. The exercise will be good for me. I was out for a run this morning when we met that couple so I didn’t exactly finish my session.’
Was she ill?
Was she worried about something?
Seriously concerned, Logan would have pursued the topic but Kirsty was wriggling in his arms and he lifted her and decided to have a word with Kyla. She was Evanna’s best friend. If something were wrong, Kyla would know. ‘So you’re happy to look after her on Wednesday afternoon?’
‘Of course. It will be a relief to escape from all the mess and banging that will be going on at my house.’ Evanna walked across the garden towards the gate. ‘See you in surgery, Logan.’
She couldn’t even behave normally around him any more, Evanna thought helplessly as she lengthened her stride and ran the distance back to her house.
All her life she’d felt more comfortable with Logan than any other person, but suddenly she felt awkward and uncomfortable in his company. It was becoming harder and harder to hide her feelings and obviously she wasn’t succeeding any longer. He’d guessed that something was wrong. And that was typical of Logan, because he was extremely intuitive when it came to people.
Had he guessed how she felt about him?
No, of course he hadn’t. Not yet.
But if she wasn’t careful then he would, and then everything would change. She’d be mortified, he’d feel sorry for her—it would be completely hideous.
She shouldn’t have stayed to eat with them. The moment he’d walked through the door she should have handed Kirsty to him and left. Playing house and getting cosy wasn’t going to help her rehabilitation one bit. She’d never wean herself off Logan if she carried on spending this much time with him.
On Wednesday, things were going to be different, she promised herself as she let herself into her cottage. She’d stay with Kirsty until he arrived home and then she’d leave. No cosy chats. No supper in the garden.
Dropping her keys on the kitchen table, she went straight up to the bathroom for a shower.
She’d promised herself that she was going to build a life without Logan and that was what she was going to do.
CHAPTER SIX
‘CAN you sign this prescription for me? I’ve changed Ann Carne’s inhaler. I think she’d be better controlled on this.’ Kyla stuck a prescription in front of her brother. ‘I gather you had a busy Sunday.’
‘Yes.’ Logan signed with a flourish. ‘Snake bite.’
