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He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Time to find another new bartender.”
Replacing her would be a pain in the ass, but he was relieved he wouldn’t have to see her again. Now he just needed to smooth things over with Gabby.
“I don’t suppose you told Shane I didn’t cheat on his sister, did you?”
27
“So.”Shane fluffed Gabby’s pillow into place behind her back and then passed her a mug of lemon and ginger tea. “How’s your head?”
“Throbbing like hell.” There were other, more colorful words she would have liked to use, but she reined them in. “I don’t think the painkillers have kicked in yet.”
“Hopefully soon.” Shane sipped his own drink and studied her like she was a particularly challenging math problem.
“You don’t have to babysit me,” she said.
“I want to be here.” He hesitated, then added, “I’m just not sure why Logan isn’t here. He should be with you, but when I asked him about it, he wouldn’t say why he was leaving.”
She sighed. “I screwed up.”
His brow furrowed. “How?”
She cringed, recalling the hurt in Logan’s eyes and his stiffness as he walked away. “I basically accused him of cheating on me with his bartender.”
Thomas butted his head against her chin and she scratched behind his ear, holding her drink out of the way. He and Louise were keeping her company. The dog was curled on the end of the bed, glancing around every now and then, presumably to look for Thelma, who was outdoors.
Shane grimaced. “Is that because Corinne suggested I call her to see if they were together?”
“Yeah.”
“Sorry, we thought you were asleep.” He took off his glasses and wiped the lenses on the front of his shirt. “For what it’s worth, they weren’t. When I called her, she was alone, and Kyle found Logan at the beach.”
“I know that now.” If only she’d found out earlier. Although that still wouldn’t have fixed the underlying problem. She closed her eyes, angry at herself for letting her shitty past interfere with their relationship. “I should have trusted him. He’s treated me well throughout the pregnancy and it’s been so easy to be with him. I guess I was waiting for the other shoe to drop.”
She placed the mug on the nightstand and rested against the pillows before continuing.
“Everyone knows he never planned to settle down. He’s told me so himself plenty of times. When he said he wanted to be together, I didn’t trust him to stay with me because, well…no one else has. Henry and I wanted the same things, supposedly, and I still wasn’t enough for him, so I didn’t see how I could be enough to make Logan change his ways. I figured he’d realize before long that he was better off just being the babies’ dad without also being my partner, and I pushed him away because of it.”
“I wish I could have ten minutes alone with that asshole Henry,” Shane growled through gritted teeth.
Gabby covered her smile. Her brother meant well, but he was forgetting that Henry was a professional athlete while he was a mild-mannered schoolteacher. It was for the best that they didn’t come to blows.
“I suppose my attitude didn’t help,” he said. “I’m sorry if I made you doubt him—and yourself—too. I was trying to protect you. I didn’t want to see you go through the same thing all over again, and if I’m honest, I was hurt that the two of you were sneaking around behind my back. I thought that in itself was evidence your relationship wasn’t any different from the other flings he’s had over the years.” He sighed. “Logan is a good guy, but I’ve watched him go through a lot of women and I didn’t want that to be you.”
“I know it came from a good place.” She gave him a little smile. “But I’m a big girl. I can look after myself.”
“You don’t have to though,” he said. “That’s what I’m getting at. I’m here for you, and whether I initially believed it or not, Logan is too.” He scooted closer and took her hand. “I was wrong to mistrust him. I saw his face when he got to the hospital yesterday. He was terrified for you. He loves you, and he seems to make you happy—except for when you let your doubts get in the way—so give him a chance.”
“What if he doesn’t want me anymore?” she whispered. “He was really upset when he left.”
“People can be upset without ending a relationship,” Shane said. “And if this is about you not being good enough or anything else ridiculous, forget it. I think, deep down, you know that Logan loves you. You’re just scared.”
She shot him a glare. He was right. She knew he was. After all, Logan had showed her he cared in a thousand small ways. “Maybe.”
“So, what are you going to do about it?”
She dragged her hand down her face. “I don’t know. Apologizing and begging him to forgive me sounds like a good start.”
“What about making some kind of gesture?” Shane suggested.
