Page 18 of One More Chance
“Billie Jo owns it.”
“No, Josh’s fiancée owns the café.” Logan knew for a fact that Megan was the owner, and she was there every day slinging coffee and croissants.
“Billie Jo is the silent partner. She was there opening day. You saw her.”
Logan thought back to December when he first moved home. He remembered seeing the gorgeous woman with expensive clothes. As a matter of fact, her hot body and long dark hair had made his cock stir that day. “But she looks different.”
“Of course, she looks different. It’s been fifteen years. I was surprised as hell that you didn’t recognize her. I did.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I was sworn to secrecy.”
“From your own brother?”
“As far as I knew, she was leaving town. The last thing I needed was to see you fall apart like the first time she left.”
Logan thought back to the moment when he first saw the Sugar Peaks Café. His heart had raced, and he was certain it was Billie Jo’s enterprise. Years earlier, he and Billie Jo had created a business plan for the exact café, the economics assignment brought them together.
His heart had grown heavy when he heard that Megan was the owner. He remembered wishing that Billie Jo could see the café; see that their vision had come to life. It made sense now. Every time he went into the café, he couldn’t shake the feeling that the entire place felt like Billie Jo, except for the name, their economics assignment coffee shop had been called “Sharon’s Spot,” after Billie Jo’s mom.
“Freddie. I don’t fall apart over women anymore. No girl can get to me now. I break their hearts. Not the other way around.”
Freddie laughed. “Well then, Mr. Heartbreaker, you’re going to be just fine. But Charlotte is no girl.”
“Charlotte?”
“That’s why you could never find her. She changed her name. Billie Jo Bunkman is gone. That woman you saw today, that’s Charlotte O’Hare.”
Logan steadied himself with the handle of the barbecue. Charlotte O’Hare, he rolled the words around on his tongue. “Wait, where have I heard that name before?”
“Those burgers done now?” Freddie asked.
Logan checked the burgers and pulled them off the grill. “Freddie? Why do I know her name?” He shivered. He knew that he had heard her name somewhere, he just couldn’t place it.
“Aww, pumpkin, you’re shivering. Let’s get you inside.”
Logan wanted to press the issue, but he was really cold.
“Wouldn’t know that you’re a hockey player. You know, a winter sport on ice.” Freddie laughed as he followed his brother inside the house. The two of them kicked off their boots and Freddie flopped back onto the worn couch. Logan plated the burgers and sat down on the sofa beside his brother. Freddie did have a dining room table, but they hadn’t used it once since Logan had moved in. Freddie clicked on the hockey game and the two of them sat down and took bites of their burgers hunched over the coffee table.
“Beer?” Freddie asked.
“Sure.”
Freddie hopped up and grabbed two bottles from the fridge. He handed one to Logan and sat down. The game was on a commercial break.
“Logan, you’ve probably heard Charlotte’s name around town. She’s a big deal in the city and owns that big house on Sugar Peaks Way.”
“No shit. Really?” As much as Logan was pissed at Billie Jo for disappearing from his life, it brought him a bit of happiness knowing that she had done so well for herself. “Good for her. She was street smart, that girl.”
“And she’s in Megan’s wedding party.”
Logan practically spit his beer out all over the coffee table and choked on his burger. THAT was where he had heard the name, but it hadn’t meant anything to him at the time.
He pounded his chest. “When the hell were you going to tell me? There’s no way I would’ve agreed to be one of Josh’s groomsmen if I knew that.”
“Really, Logan? You would’ve let a girl from another lifetime scare you off?”
