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Mike wasn’t sure which was more annoying—that Finn had spilled the beans about him having a relationship, or that he’d brought up parenthood. Some days it felt like everyone he knew was a parent except him.Wait.He looked at Logan.
“You don’t have kids, do you?”
“Excuse me?” Logan’s broad shoulders straightened, his voice hard. “Did you really just ask me that? You know damn well I havetwochildren.Ethan and Lily.” Logan leaned forward, squinting at Mike, his anger fading. “Did you hit your head or something?”
“I know you have Ethan and Lily, but—”
“Stop right there,” Logan warned, the cold edge returning to his voice. “I may not be their biological father, but those two are my children and I love them as much as I love Piper.”
Finn took a drink order from a group of young people who had just walked in. He nudged Mike. “Why don’t you take a break, yeah? You’re all wound up in your head tonight. Timmie is here, and he and I can handle the bar for a bit.”
He wanted to object, but hewaswound up. Father Joe patted a barstool between him and Logan. “Come on out here, Michael, and tell us what’s got you so...confused. Is it true you’ve found love again?”
As Mike was lifting the bar gate to join them, Logan answered the priest, his voice quiet.
“It’s not public knowledge, but Mike and Zoey Hartford have been, uh...getting acquainted.”
Mike stared at Logan. Everyone at the cookout had been sworn to secrecy, and Logan hadn’t evenbeenthere. Then again, thiswasRendezvous Falls. “If it’s not public knowledge, how the fu—” he glanced at Father Joe and reworded his question to Logan. “How doyouknow about it?”
Logan’s shoulder rose and fell. “It’s not like Itryto keep up with the latest gossip, but my grandmother is a master at it, and someone in the book club brigade squealed. Gran told Piper and I.” He leaned forward. “Don’t worry. I’m better at keeping secrets than sleep-deprived Finn is.”
Mike gave him a pointed look. “You’rethe one who just told Father Joe.”
“Well, yeah. But... I said it quietly.” Logan’s expression changed as if he’d had a sudden revelation. “Oh, shit—sorry, Father—that’swhy you’re asking about kids. You’re dating a single mom. And trying to connect with her kid.”
“More like trying to get Zoey toallowme to connect. Hazel’s the reason we’re a big, dark secret, and Zoey won’t even consider telling her daughter that she—a grown woman—has decided to be with me—her best damn friend. Sorry, Father.”
Father Joe raised one hand. “You’ll never get this conversation anywhere if you two apologize to me every other minute. I’ve heard more curse words than you two probablyknow, so as long as you leave the Big Man’s name out of it. I preabsolve you both.”
Logan sipped his beer, then shook his head. “A woman is always going to put her kids first.”
“Of course she will,” Mike answered. “I want Zoey to do what’s best for Hazel, but—”
Logan laughed, but there was little humor in it. “There are nobuts, man. A good mom isalwaysgoing to be willing to sacrifice her own happiness for her kids’ sake. Even when she doesn’t need to.”
That’s what Mike was afraid of. “You and Piper had an issue with that?”
Logan rolled his eyes and nodded. “It almost ended us.”
Mike looked down the bar to see if he was needed back there. Tim caught him looking and gave Mike a thumbs-up, mouthingstay there.
He turned back to Logan. “How did you and Piper work through it?”
Logan grimaced. “My situation was different from you and Zoey. Piper’s husband died a literal war hero. His parents were super involved with Piper and the kids before I showed up. In their eyes, I was an interloper.” His eyes grew distant. “So I had to winthemover as well as the kids. I had to help Piper move past her guilt, and I had to win over Ethan and the grandparents. Little Lily just wanted everyoneto be happy.”
“I’ve knownHazel all her life, and we get along great. But she only knows me as her mom’s friend...not her mom’sfriend.But Hazel’s really mature for her age.”
Father Joe, who’d been drinking his beer in silence, looked up.
“Zoey seems like a kindhearted girl, but tread carefully with children who seem mature for their age. It’s not uncommon for only children like Hazel to be seen that way, but sometimes it’s a bit of an act to hide their fears.” He shrugged. “They’re mimicking what they see, and what they see most in their world is adults. So theyactlike adults withoutbeingan adult.”
Mike did his best to tamp down the panic rising inside him. How could he possibly relate to a teenage girl when he had no idea if she was pretending to be mature beyond her years? Mary had said more than once that Hazel had always been a miniature version of Zoey. Was she mimicking her mother, or did she really have Zoey’s strength of spirit? Maybe Zoey’s worries were justified—Hazel could be more fragile than he’d thought. He looked between Joe and Logan.
“Where do I even begin?”
Logan scrubbed the back of his neck. “I can’t help you much when it comes to girls. Lily was four when Piper and I met, and she fell for me before her mom did. She called me her giant.” That made total sense—Logan was well over six foot and built like a mountain. “Ethan was around Hazel’s age, but...he was a boy. It was like dealing with a younger version of me—a sullen, moody teenager who was mad at the world. I understood him, and I respected his need to be the man of the house.” He paused. “If it helps, what worked for me and Ethan was honesty—I laid it all out on the line, man-to-man, and reassured him that I wasn’t taking over, and that his mom could love me and still love him and Lily just the same as always. It was touch and go for a while, but he finally let me in.”
“Honesty is always a good place to start,” Joe said. “But you can’t work on winning Hazel’s approval until Zoey is ready to share your relationship with her daughter. It’s not your place to go against a mother’s wishes.”
