Page 42 of Embattled Return

Logan knew she was just as curious as he’d been, but she didn’t say anything as they bundled into the Beetle and drove back to the house. When she pulled into the lot, he rested a hand on hers on the gear shift. “I’m okay from here, Marigold. I need some time to wrap my head around some things.”

She nodded, her brows furrowed. “Well, if you want to talk, I’ll be home in a few hours. Or you can text me.”

Without saying anything else he pushed up out of the car and headed inside. Nancy’s maroon station wagon wasn’t in the lot, so she must be at the store or something. He was glad to make it to his room without seeing or talking to anyone.

Once inside, he headed straight to the shower, cranking the heat to high. Though he was dressed in a t-shirt, flannel shirt and jacket, he was still fighting the cold. He wasn’t sure how much was mental and how much was physical, but he felt like he needed to bathe.

Logan stepped out of the shower, then shaved and got dressed, a plan beginning to form in his mind. He sat in the chair in the living room area and studied the contents of John’s folder.

13

“So, what did he say?” Shannon whisper/shouted as she leaned into John’s doorway.

Her sexy husband glanced up with a smile, rocking back in his chair. Looking self-satisfied, he crossed his arms over his chest, a pose she especially loved because it made his chest and arms look so big. “He’s thinking about some things. There was a lot to go over and a lot of information he had no idea about, even about his own direct family.”

“The poor guy,” she breathed. “I hope he can figure it all out. And you offered him the job?”

John nodded once, hands moving to the wheels of his chair as he rocked back and forth. “Again, he has to think about everything. I dumped a huge amount of information on the guy.”

“He looked a little dazed when Marigold took him home,” she sighed.

“Yeah. I think once he has a chance to figure out which way is up, he’ll be on board.”

John’s dark eyes roved down her body and Shannon cocked her head, giving him a smile. “Yes...” she drawled. She wore an especially cute little purple business outfit today, with sparkly heels.

John grinned and shrugged. “You look good to me, what can I say? Why don’t you come in here for a minute and lock the door. Leave the shoes on when you straddle me.”

Shannon laughed, her cheeks going pink. “Yeah, not happening buddy. I know you. Duncan has already warned us once this week.”

John scoffed. “What’s he going to do, fire me?”

She shook her head, backing out of the doorway. “Love you, babe. Talk to you in a bit.”

“Shannon,” he growled.

She giggled as she headed down the hallway, away from temptation. There would be hell to pay tonight for telling him no, but she would be ready for it.

* * *

Marigold wantedto go downstairs and bang on Logan’s door, but she would allow him his privacy. Shannon hadn’t given her all the details, just told her that she needed to be patient with him because he had a huge amount of information to digest. And he had kind of said the same thing. So, she cracked open a fresh bottle of wine later that evening, turned on the TV for background noise and surfed her social media sites. Next week she had a pottery class and she was supposed to be looking for ideas to try to match, but her brain had been on other things.

Namely, the hunky guy downstairs.

Not that he thought he was hunky. She shook her head at the thought that someone would dump him because he’s been injured. What bullshit.

Marigold worried that he would feel overwhelmed by everything he’d learned today, but she didn’t want to rush down there unless he actually needed her. She needed to have enough faith in him to trust him to reason things out on his own, and not to take the drastic way out.

The thought terrified her, though.

Logan was better than that. Yeah, he may have hit some rough patches, but she didn’t truly believe he would kill himself. But then, she’d thought her mother would never leave her either.

Unable to help herself, she sent him a text.You doing ok?

It was a while before he responded with ayeah.

Well, that was better than nothing.

She was into her second glass of wine and watching a British cooking show when there was a knock on the door. Grandma Nancy usually texted her so that she could avoid the stairs, and the third guy staying in the house was on the other landing, so Marigold knew who it was before she swung open her door.