Page 58 of The Things That Hold Us

Logan nods his head, and it makes my heart hurt even more that he understands on some level what I’m going through, and he’s willing to help me.

He leans in, grabs my hand and squeezes. My eyes meet his, and my breath catches.

“I’m here. I’ll help in any way I can. We can rebuild your store, or help you find a new one. But we will make this better, it’s not the end.”

I nod, keeping my eyes on his, and a tear slips free. Before I can react, his hand comes up and brushes it away.

Instinctively, I close my eyes and lean into his hand, the warmth of his skin comforting me.

A minute passes by, then Cassie rubs my shoulder.

“Come on, you can come back to my place if you want for the night?”

“Ok. That would be great, thanks.”

Logan moves his hand, and I watch as he flexes his fingers, then puts his hands in his pockets and stands.

“I’ll stay here, see if there's anything I can do to help, or clean up.” he says.

“But they said not to go in there?” I tell him.

“I survived multiple bomb attacks and being shot at, I’ll be ok to get your stuff out of there.”

Oh. Ok then. I nod at him, not having words to say to that, then Cassie and I head to her apartment.

Walking into Cassie’s place, I kick off my shoes and walk over to her couch.

I plop down, exhaling a shaky breath. These last few days have been a test to my emotional state, and I’m barely hanging on.

“Here, I think you could use this.” Cassie says, handing me a glass of wine.

“Thanks.” I say as I grab the glass and take a sip.

“Are you ok babe?”

“No. I don't know. What am I supposed to do from here?” I ask her.

She just shakes her head. “I don't know, but we’ll figure it out together.” she pauses, then adds, “And Logan seems like he’s willing to do whatever you need him to to help you.”

“I know..” I trail off, thinking about how incredibly great he’s been.

Cassie looks at me, “I know this is probably bad timing, but what's going on there with him?”

“Nothing’s going on there. He’s a friend.” I tell her, but in all honesty, it feels like a lie.

It’s not though. We are friends. But I'm so incredibly attracted to him, it's hard to fight it sometimes.

“Char, the way that man looks at you is not just a friend's look. He’s smitten.”

“Stop. Please. My shop that I bought and got running with Sam just burned down. I can’t be thinking about another man." I rush out at her, and instantly feel guilty for my tone.

“I’m sorry. This is just a weird situation for me.” I add after a minute.

“I know. I’m sorry. I shouldn't have said anything.” she says.

We both sip on our wine, and take the rest of the day to just rest. All of the emotions from today took all of my energy, and I just want to sleep.

We sit down to eat the tacos she ordered in, when she says, “Tomorrow you'll need to call the insurance company, since it's so late now.”

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