Chapter 18

ChapterEighteen

For the second night in a row, Logan found himself in town against his will. It was Nana’s turn to go to the town meeting, but she pulled a muscle at her aqua aerobics for seniors class and had sent Logan in her place. He was hoping he could just confirm the farm’s contribution to the Fall Festival – something he definitely could have done over email if the mayor didn’t insist on doing it in person every year – and get out of there. But, of course, that’s not how these things went in Dream Harbor.

‘Order in the court,’ Pete hollered from the front of the room. ‘Only joking, folks,’ he added with a chuckle. ‘But if people could take their seats, that’d be great.’

The crowd was only half-listening. Everyone was too keyed up about the Fall Festival. It was Dream Harbor’s second-largest event. Second only to the Christmas-tree lighting, which Logan refused to think about.

Logan sat in his usual seat in the back. His shoulders and arms hurt from lugging pumpkins around all day; moving them from one side of the barn to the other when Nana decided they looked better in the dappled sunlight. It had been a long day. After a long night of barely sleeping. He couldn’t get Jeanie out of his head, everything they’d done in that alley. And everything he wished they’d done.

Maybe he should have kissed her again? Maybe he should have stayed?

But the moment had been broken and then he didn’t know what to do. Before Lucy, Logan hadn’t dated many women. Not surprisingly, his inability to strike up a casual conversation didn’t help when trying to meet someone. It was why he thought Lucy was different. At least at first. She didn’t seem to mind his quiet nature. Until she did.

Until she eventually found him and his life here lacking.

It hurt all the more because he thought he’d found someone who understood him. Showed how much he knew about reading women. So when Jeanie backed off last night, he wasn’t about to initiate anything more.

He stretched his arms out in front of him, hands clasped, and cracked his knuckles. He noticed the way his forearms looked with his sleeves rolled up. Then he thought about Jeanie noticing the way his forearms looked with his sleeves rolled up, and heat rushed to his face.

Quickly following that thought was a crowd of others including the taste of her mouth (spiked sweetness), the feel of her thighs around him (strong and warm), and the memory of her body pressed against his (perfection). He dropped his hands into his lap, changing his thoughts to aqua aerobics for seniors before he embarrassed himself.

Good old Logan, ruining town events with ill-fated marriage proposals and inappropriate erections.

He sighed and ran a hand down his beard, praying Pete would keep this meeting short. But so far, the mayor hadn’t even gotten everyone to sit down and shut up so Logan wasn’t holding out a lot of hope.

‘Well, look who it is! Two meetings in a row!’

Annie came up behind him and planted a kiss on his cheek. Hazel followed her in and plopped down next to him. And, because apparently they were all friends now, and because the universe wanted to torture him, Jeanie hustled in after her.

‘Are we late?’ she whispered, sitting on his other side.

‘Doesn’t matter. Nothing’s started yet anyway,’ he said, avoiding her gaze. How on earth was he supposed to sit next to her like everything was normal, when all he wanted to do was kiss her again?

It was possible that a secret relationship was even more stressful than a public one.

‘What are you doing here anyway?’ Annie asked, unraveling her mile-long scarf. ‘Isn’t it Nana’s turn?’

‘She pulled a muscle.’

Annie frowned. ‘Is she okay?’

‘Fine. Just sore.’

‘So, we get the pleasure of your company again,’ she cooed, landing in the seat in front of him.

‘Apparently.’

‘Well, I’m glad you’re here,’ Jeanie said, and then Logan made a tactical error. He looked at her. He looked at her and she was smiling at him, and her eyes were bright chocolate-brown and a slow blush was creeping up her cheeks and he couldn’t look away.

He couldn’t look away until Annie snapped her fingers in front of his face, anyway.

‘You two alright?’ she asked, with a raised eyebrow.

‘We’re great,’ Jeanie said at the same time he bit out a terse, ‘Yep.’

‘Did Jeanie tell you about her break-in?’ Hazel asked.

‘Break-in?’

‘It wasn’t a break-in really. More like a break-and-run away,’ Jeanie said, attempting to reassure him with her smile, but all Logan heard was that something bad happened to Jeanie and he simply could not allow that.

‘Well, what the hell happened?’ He sounded like he was mad at everyone in the room when really, he was just mad at himself for not being there.

‘Hey, hey. Calm down there, Hulk.’ Annie’s voice was teasing, but Logan wasn’t in the mood. Jeanie knew something wasn’t right last night and he blew her off. He’d tried to convince her it was a damn raccoon, while she had been in actual danger.

‘Someone broke a window in the middle of the night. It’s really not a big deal.’ Jeanie waved a hand like it was nothing and Logan hated it. Why wasn’t she going on about murder theories? Why no stakeout? Why no convoluted ideas about what happened?

Why the hell wasn’t she letting him fix it?

‘Why didn’t you call me?’ he ground out.

‘I ... well...’

‘Why would she call you?’ Hazel asked, eyes round and innocent behind her glasses, but her knowing smile gave her away. ‘She could have called me.’

Logan frowned. ‘And what would you have done?’

‘Same as you! Call the police.’

Right. Why hadn’t Jeanie called the police?

He didn’t have time to ask before Deputy Mayor Mindy’s sharp whistle tore through the din of the crowd. ‘Let’s get started,’ she said, her tone just as serious as it had been at school assemblies.

Logan squirmed in his seat. The quicker they started the sooner they would be done, but he had more questions for Jeanie.

‘Why didn’t you tell me about it?’ he whispered, letting himself get close enough to brush his nose in her hair. She smelled like French roast today.

‘I didn’t want to bother you,’ she whispered back. ‘Hazel’s making it sound worse than it was. It really isn’t a big deal.’

‘Yeah, but last night you were trying to tell me—’

‘Logan.’ The sound of his name, too loud in the quiet room, was an instant flashback to any time he’d gotten in trouble in class. Never for chatting with his neighbor, though; usually for staring out the window. ‘You and Jeanie must be talking about how much you want to judge the costume contest, since that’s what we’re discussing right now.’ Pete’s cheerful tone covered up the sheer evil of his words.

‘I ... we ... that’s not...’

‘Sounds fun.’ Jeanie, sweet innocent Jeanie, did not know what she was saying. The costume contest was not fun. It was a cut-throat competition filled with die-hard Halloween fans and no one was ever happy with the outcome. Logan had seen fist fights break out over the results. He usually gave the costume contest a very wide berth, preferring to drop off the pumpkins to the decorating tables early, and then get suckered into trying fall-themed beers with Noah (they were always disgusting, but anything was better than breaking up a fight between Big Bird and Luke Skywalker).

‘Wonderful!’ Mayor Kelly beamed, and Logan felt his soul wither inside him. This was bound to be a disaster. ‘Okay, next matter of business, bobbing for apples: good, clean fun, or ground zero for disease? Let’s discuss.’

Jeanie nudged him with her shoulder. ‘It’ll be fun, right?’ she reiterated in a whisper.

He nodded because he couldn’t bear to tell her how inevitably not fun it would be, and because he was honestly terrified that if he said another word to her, Pete would have him signed up to inflate the bounce house with his mouth.

Instead, he settled in, trying to pay attention to the insanely long, meeting agenda and not think about the warmth of Jeanie’s arm against his or the way she nodded along with what Pete was saying to show she was paying attention, or the fact that about halfway through the meeting, she pulled out her notebook and started taking notes accompanied by little pumpkins doodled in the margins.

How was a man supposed to concentrate on the pros and cons of a pie-eating contest when the woman next to him insisted on being so adorable?

It was inconvenient really.

By the time the meeting was over Logan was nearly twitching with impatience. He needed to talk to Jeanie without becoming the next topic on the agenda. Mercifully, Annie rushed off to attack Mac for parking in her spot or something, and Hazel went with her, either as back-up or to make sure Annie didn’t slug him. Logan wasn’t sure which, but he really didn’t care if a brawl broke out, as long as he was long gone with Jeanie by his side.

‘Want a ride home?’ he asked as Jeanie pulled on her coat.

‘I’d love one.’

They made their way toward the door, and they were nearly free when Kaori and Jacob sprung from the shadows like freaking book-wielding ninjas.

‘Jeanie, there you are!’ Kaori greeted her with a big hug, acting as though she’d just been reunited with a long-lost relative.

‘Hi!’ Jeanie grinned at the woman. ‘I just saw you this afternoon for your coffee break,’ she said with a laugh.

‘That was hours ago,’ Kaori said with a wave of her hand. Jacob rolled his eyes and shoved a book in Jeanie’s hands.

‘Next week’s read. It’s a super steamy one so I hope we don’t traumatize you too much.’

Jeanie laughed. ‘I think I can handle it.’

Logan stared at his feet, trying very hard not to think about what Jeanie could handle. He could feel Jacob’s gaze on him.

‘How did you like that other book I gave you, Jeanie?’ Jacob asked. His tone implied some inside joke that Logan did not want any part of.

‘I liked it. It was ... very inspiring.’

Jacob cackled in delight. ‘Oh, good.’ His gaze flicked from Jeanie to Logan. ‘Is life imitating art?’ He raised a perfectly groomed eyebrow.

Jeanie blushed to her hairline.

‘What are you two talking about?’ Kaori asked, but Logan had a very strong feeling he didn’t want to know.

‘Never mind,’ Jacob sang, grabbing Kaori’s hand. ‘Let’s go grab a drink before you turn into a pumpkin.’

‘See you at the next meeting!’ Kaori called with a wave as Jacob dragged her away.

Logan cleared his throat and Jeanie shifted uncomfortably, offering him an awkward smile. ‘That was just ... you know ... book talk.’

‘Sure.’

‘Great, okay. Let’s go.’

He followed Jeanie out the big double doors of the meeting room into the foyer of the town hall. It was drafty out here, the old wheezing radiators doing their best and failing miserably in the face of the October wind, which swirled in through the door as people filed out.

They were stopped by at least five other small groups of neighbors on their way out, all wanting to tell Jeanie what a great job she was doing with the café. By the time they hit the sidewalk, she was grinning from ear to ear from the compliments.

They walked to his truck in amicable quiet, Jeanie humming a little tune under her breath as she waved to several more neighbors.

‘Thanks for the ride,’ she said hopping up into the cab. ‘It’s a lot colder than when I walked here.’

‘Of course, anytime.’

‘I guess I’ll need to get a car. I never really needed one in Boston,’ she said, smiling at him from the passenger seat.

‘Do you miss it?’ The question popped out of his mouth before he could think better of it.

‘Miss what? Public transportation? A little.’

‘No, Boston. I mean, I know it’s really different here.’

Jeanie shrugged. ‘I like it here.’

So simple. That one little sentence. But, God, did he want to believe it. She looked like she belonged here, tonight especially. She officially knew more people in this town than he did. He wanted her to belong here.

He wanted her ‘I like it here’ to mean: ‘I like you and your smelly old farm and your slightly nutty grandparents. I like you and I’m sticking around.’ He wanted her ‘I like it here’ to give him some kind of guarantee that of course, no one could really give him.

It was possible Lucy had messed him up more than he liked to admit. It was also possible that his grandfather was right, but Logan would never admit that.

He shook his head. ‘Good. That’s good.’ Draping his arm over the back of Jeanie’s seat, he backed out of the parking space and maneuvered slowly through the lot. There were plenty of people still hanging out and talking despite the chill of the night.

The drive was short; the town hall was only about a mile down Main Street from the café. The car hadn’t even had time to warm up yet and the vent still blew cool air in his face. He pulled up in front of the café, under the yellow glow of a streetlamp. The wind was crisp and cold, shaking the colorful leaves from the trees. The sun had set hours ago, making it feel later than it was.

‘Thanks again for the ride.’

‘Why didn’t you tell me about the broken window?’ he asked again, still hating that she hadn’t called him last night when it happened.

‘I told you; it wasn’t a big deal.’

‘Jeanie.’

She sighed. ‘I just... I didn’t want to overcomplicate this.’

‘This?’

‘This.’ She gestured between them. ‘Us. I didn’t want you to feel ... I don’t know ... responsible for me or something.’

‘But I want to...’ Don’t say you want to be responsible for her, for God’s sake. ‘I want to help.’

She studied him, her brown eyes assessing him. Her lips twisted to the side as she thought. ‘Okay, well how about this, I promise to let you know if I need help.’

‘Promise?’ he grunted.

‘Yes. If I need anything, I will let you know.’

He didn’t like that one bit, but he probably didn’t have a choice. ‘I think maybe you were right.’

‘Oh?’

‘Someone is messing with you.’

Jeanie’s eyes went wide at his admission. ‘You think so?’

‘It’s starting to seem like it.’

Jeanie opened her mouth and then slammed it shut again. What the hell was she keeping from him?

‘What is it?’ he asked, gruffly.

‘Nothing.’

‘Jeanie.’

She huffed. ‘Nothing! I promise I’ll tell you if there are any more developments in the case.’

‘The case?’

‘Yeah,’ she said with a smile. ‘The case of the Pumpkin Spice Mysteries.’

‘Okay, Nancy Drew.’

She grinned. ‘Logan?’

‘Yeah?’

‘Are you going to kiss me?’ She leaned closer as she asked it and suddenly Logan didn’t give a shit about broken windows.

‘Do you want me to kiss you, Jeanie?’ His voice was a low rumble and Jeanie’s eyes fluttered closed.

‘I think it would be very helpful if you did.’

He watched her lips tip into a teasing smile before he leaned forward and brushed his mouth against hers. She sighed and wrapped her hands in his shirt, pulling him toward her.

She belonged here, too, tucked against him, her lips on his, her little breathy sighs on his skin.

He deepened the kiss and Jeanie met him, her tongue sliding against his. Her hands were still in his shirt, tugging him like she couldn’t get close enough. They were wearing too many layers of clothes and this cab was too cramped. He groaned in frustration as his hands ran over layers of coat and sweater. It was like making out in space suits.

‘Hold on.’ Jeanie pulled back, ripping off her coat and flinging it into the back seat. Her sweater followed, leaving her in the long-sleeved T-shirt she had been wearing underneath. She wasn’t exactly naked, but at least he could see her shape, could run his hands over her curves, which was exactly what he was doing as Jeanie unbuttoned his shirt.

Once she had it opened, a frown crossed her face at the sight of the Henley he was wearing underneath.

‘Damn it.’

Logan huffed a laugh. This was absurd. They should probably just cool it...

His thoughts stuttered as Jeanie’s hands roved under his shirt, raking across the bare skin of his stomach.

‘That’s better,’ she said against his neck as she kissed him on the rough stubble beneath his beard.

He grabbed her by the hips and pulled her round so that she was straddling him in the driver’s seat.

‘Even better.’

Jeanie grinned and he kissed her again. He couldn’t get enough of her mouth, always smiling, always teasing him. So soft and willing.

Logan had one girlfriend in all of high school and their relationship lasted less than three months, but this moment, making out in his truck, still fully dressed but wishing he wasn’t, took him right back to those torturous months. They grasped at each other, groped, and grabbed. No finesse, just need. Just like in those days, with some vague notion in the back of his head about why they shouldn’t take it further, but the reasons disappeared with every drag of her tongue against his.

Jeanie’s hands were everywhere, her fingers digging into his shoulders and then traveling up to tug at his hair. Their mouths were just as desperate, and when Jeanie rocked forward in his lap, he thought for sure he would die on the spot.

A choked groan escaped him, and she rocked again.

‘Jeanie,’ he rasped, his hands gripping tight to her hips.

He was in the middle of figuring out the complicated math that would get both of their pants off when Jeanie’s ass hit the horn.

The blaring sound rang out through the quiet night.

Jeanie froze, her eyes comically wide, her breath coming fast and hard.

‘Oops,’ she whispered.

They both glanced around outside, emerging from the spell they’d been under to remember they were right in the middle of freaking Main Street, making out like they were seventeen.

Was this part of his plan to avoid town gossip? What the hell was he doing?

‘We should probably...’

‘Yeah, sorry. Definitely.’ Jeanie untangled herself from his lap and flopped back into the passenger seat. ‘I guess we got a little carried away.’

‘I guess so.’ He ran a hand through his hair, trying to get his breathing under control. Jeanie’s face was flushed, her lips red and plush.

Don’t look at her lips.

‘Thanks again for the ride,’ she said with a little laugh, rummaging around the back seat for her clothes.

‘Sure.’

She opened the door and the cold October air helped cool his overheated skin. ‘Call me if you need anything,’ he reminded her.

She gave him an indulgent nod and closed the door, leaving him alone and more confused than ever about where he stood with her.

But already planning the next time he could see her.