Page 43 of A Secret Chance
“Bye, Tabby,” Logan said.
Tabitha turned and ran over to Logan, her hot dog in her hand. As Logan crouched down to give her a hug, Lauren’s heart constricted. Tabitha truly loved her Uncle Logan.
Logan handed Tabitha her pink backpack. “Don’t forget this,” he smiled.
“That’s not yours?” Steve said. “Pink looks good on you, man.”
“Ha. Ha,” Logan said and jokingly punched Steve in the arm. Logan seemed to be best friends with everyone in town. “Nice to see you, Charmaine,” Logan tipped his hat. “Wish I could say the same for your husband.”
While Logan joked with Julia’s parents, Lauren crouched down to hug her daughter. Tabitha squeezed her neck quickly, then pulled on her backpack. “Bye, Mom!” she shouted.
“I’ll pick you up in the morning,” she shouted. Tabitha raised her hand in acknowledgment but didn’t turn. Her daughter would rather hang out with her friends than her mom. She knew this day was coming but hadn’t expected it so soon.
“Shall we?” Logan crooked his arm.
“I was actually going to head home,” Lauren said.
“To an empty house?” Logan turned Lauren by her shoulders and started to walk her to the beer garden. Lauren resisted for a millisecond but then gave in.
“Fine,” she huffed. “If I have to,” she laughed and held his forearm as he led them back to the picnic table. She felt like a celebrity on the arm of the former hockey star. Everyone said hi to Logan and he yielded several high fives as they made their way through the crowd. Now the town’s hockey coach, he was loved by everyone. Her sister was a lucky woman.
“Who is that?” Logan whispered as they approached the table. Lauren stood on her tiptoes to try and catch a glimpse of who he was looking at, but his six-foot-four height gave him an advantage over her. Four people had joined Charlotte, Freddie, and Serena at the table, and even though she could only see the back of the green hat, she knew exactly who was wearing it. She paused and felt her knees wobble.
“Whoa,” Logan said. He grabbed onto her arm to hold her up. “Are you okay?”
“I-I-I...” Lauren stammered. “Goddamn you, Charlotte.” She cursed under her breath when she found her words.
Logan looked from the table back to Lauren. “Is that who I think it is?” he whispered.
Lauren didn’t know how much Charlotte had told her boyfriend about Lauren and Baxter, but the concerned look in his eyes told her that her big-mouthed sister had told him everything.
“What is she doing?” he said, more to himself than to Lauren. His jaw was set. Lauren squared her shoulders and unthreaded her arm from Logan’s. “Charlotte.” Logan shook his head. “That woman, I’m going to—”
Lauren interrupted. “Kill her?”
“I wasn’t going to go that far,” Logan replied, his eyes trained on the scene at the picnic table from across the beer garden.
“We don’t have to go over there,” Logan said.
Lauren put her hands on her hips. “Oh yes, we do.”
“Are you sure?” his eyebrows knitted.
“I’m a big girl, Logan.” Lauren tucked her hand back in his arm. “You just might have to hold me up a little,” she laughed. She was trying to make light of the situation but having a rock-solid man to hold onto never hurt.
“You got it,” Logan said.
Lauren tugged on his arm. “Let’s get this over with.”
