AllFreeNovel
Share Us
It’s been less than an hour since I tucked Rainey into bed when a blood-curdling scream comes from her bedroom, sending me racing down the hall. I slam her door open and find her sobbing in the middle of the bed.
“Rae—what’s wrong?” I sweep her into my arms and rock her back and forth.
She won’t speak, and even with only the nightlight illuminating the room, I can see her clammy skin has paled. “Are you okay? Does something hurt?”
She shakes her head. I release her from my arms and place my hands on each side of her face, forcing her to focus on me.
“Look at me. Are you okay?”
“Ye-yeah.” Her voice is barely audible.
“What happened?”
She works her head out from between my hands and curls into herself, so I wrap my arms back around her.
“You can tell me. Did you have a bad dream?”
My overactive heart slows when Rainey nods an affirmation. It was a nightmare.
“Oh, baby cakes. Come here.” I pull her sweaty little body against mine and kiss her forehead.
“Everything’s okay. Do you want to talk about it?” She shakes her head.
“Ok, we don’t have to talk about it. Everything’s okay. Do you know that? Everything’s okay.” The words allow her body to relax into mine. Unsure of what else I can do to take away her bad dream, I offer, “Want to sleep in my room tonight?”
Rainey’s head bobs eagerly up and down. She hops up and wraps her blanket around herself, dragging it to my room where we climb into bed together, and she snuggles against my side. “As long as you’re here you don’t need to worry about anything. I love you—I’ll always take care of you.”
“I love you too, Aunt Noah.”
Sunday dissolves into a forgettable gloominess as Izabeth and I clean my house from top to bottom. We even find small ways to involve Rainey. I swat unwanted thoughts of Logan away as I work, but they swarm back like irritating flies that can’t get enough of the honey on the counter.
After an exasperating weekend, I walk into my office Monday not at all recharged. I stuff the week as full of project updates and new client meetings as my body can handle, but Thursday’s home visit eclipses everything. I can’t think of anything else, except maybe Logan. Sitting all alone in my clean house, finally caught up on laundry, I have nothing but time to ruminate on Iz’s question. Do I havefeelingsfor Logan? I’ve not heard from him since Sunday, when I told him to leave me alone.
The longer I sit in the emotion I deny, the more clear it all becomes. There’s the smallest spark of yearning for more, but it exists, and I can’t mute Izabeth’s advice.If there’s even a hint of something, I should hear him out.Nothing definitively shows Logan has any interest in me beyond friendship, and I’m not sure how far my interest even goes.
Maybe none of it matters, and I should forget about everything entirely. But smothering sparking embers because of a misunderstanding would be a tragedy.
Noah: Hey
Logan: Hey.
His prompt response takes me by surprise—and then there’s nothing further. Why did I text him? I don’t know where to start. What do I even want from this exchange? There’s nothing left to lose in being honest, so I type.
Noah: I don’t know where to start. I’m still angry with you. We were just getting to know each other, but friends don’t leave out big freaking details like the fact that YOU’RE MARRIED.
I should feel bad for using shouty capital letters, but I don’t.
Logan: You don’t know my situation, and you already told me you don’t want to hear my explanation.
Dammit. I lay my face onto the kitchen counter where I’ve sat and pondered life’s mysteries for the last hour.
Logan: Why are you texting me?
Every response I think of sounds so flimsy. I nearly chew my lips raw trying to come up with an answer. I want things to go back to the way they were before, when we were getting comfortable with each other, and I was having fun.
Noah: I liked the friendship we started, but I guess that’s over.
Logan: I wish you’d hear my side of things. I’m not sneaking around or making you ‘the other woman.’ There’s too much for me to type all of it out. Do you want to meet?
