AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“One person cooks, another cleans. That was always the rule in my house.”
Logan crossed his thick arms and stood next to me, but didn’t argue.
“I think it’s sweet how well you take care of your dogs,” I said. “I’ve seen spoiled dogs before, but they’re usually purebreds. It’s rare to see someone spoil a bunch of mutts.”
“That’s the problem,” he growled. “Purebreds get all the special treatment from their owners. Strays and mutts deserve just as much love, but they rarely get it.”
“Ain’t that the truth?”
“I’ve got a soft spot for strays,” he told me. “I guess because my sister and I were kind of strays ourselves.”
When he didn’t elaborate, I decided to fill the silence with my own background. “It’s not the same thing, but I kind of know how you feel. My mom died when I was five. My dad wasn’t in the picture, so I went to live with my grandma. I was lucky to have her—so lucky. I realize that now, but at the time, I was really bitter about my situation.”
One of Logan’s dark eyebrows rose. “Yeah?”
I nodded. “My friends all had their own parents, obviously. Two of them. Even my friend Casey, whose parents were divorced, stillhadthem, even if she only got to see her dad on weekends. Compared to that, my grandma felt…”
“Inadequate?” Logan offered.
“Exactly. Inadequate. Which wasn’t fair, because she wasamazing, and gave me a much better life than I ever could have hoped for. But as a child, and especially a teenager, I didn’t appreciate it. I was jealous of all the other kids, even my close friends. Why did they get to have two parents, and I didn’t haveany?”
Logan took the cleaned dish out of my hand and began drying it with a towel. He held it carefully in his bandaged hand. “Sometimes, no parents is better than bad ones. Emily and I bounced around foster homes. Most foster families in Canada already had a bunch of kids, so we always felt like outsiders. Like a dinner guest who showed up after everyone was already seated at the table. Then there were the abusive ones.”
He very carefully placed the dried plate in a cabinet.
“We had this one foster family. The father’s name was Rick. Religious man. Not like, the loving Jesus kind. I’m talking Old Testament, pissed off God kind. His punishment for everything was the belt.”
“Oh.”
Logan’s voice was quiet, but intense. “Got in trouble at school? He’d give me the belt. If I made a sloppy pass at hockey practice? The belt was waiting when I got home. If Emily sneezed and I didn’t immediately saybless you, well, the belt made sure I didn’t forget next time.” He took the next plate from me and held it in a white-knuckled grip. “Thing is, the belt was only for me and Emily. Their other three kids, all biological, he never raised a hand against. It was like they were perfect and pristine, so he was careful not to break them. But Emily and I? He could be as rough as he wanted and it wouldn’t matter, because we were already broken.”
I put down the plate I was washing and turned toward Logan. He didn’t look angry, or even sad. He just seemed… resigned to the way his life had gone. Somehow, that made my chest hurt even more than if he had shown real emotion.
I wrapped my arms around him and hugged him tightly. “I’m so sorry, Logan.”
“Not trying to get sympathy,” he said, not hugging me back.
“I know. But still. I know how tough it can be growing up in a bad situation. Heck, mine wasn’t even that bad compared to yours.”
Slowly, he returned the hug. His arms were large and strong as they tightened around me. He took a deep breath, then let it out slowly, stirring my hair.
“Feels good to say it all out loud,” he whispered. “I’ve never told anyone.”
“Not even… her?”
“No. I was afraid to.”
“Afraid of what?” I asked.
I felt him shrug in my embrace. “Being too open. Scaring her. Making her think I was soft.”
“Oh Logan. There’s nothing soft about showing vulnerability.”
“Still. Doesn’t come easy.”
The hug went on. Logan made no motion to let go.
“What happened to Rick?” I asked.
