Page 27 of Now You See Him
Everything started to click into place. Derrick’s strange aversion to the nameLoganstarted to make sense now, especially if they knew each other. Logan’s aversion to staying in the house when Sutter Home Construction was coming over to check the hot water heater.
Lacrosse versus football. Was that a natural rivalry? She’d never really paid attention to either sport in her city public school.
It could be nothing, but she wouldn’t know unless she asked Logan herself.
Tina put the yearbook back in its designated spot and walked to the dining room. Just as she was about to make an entrance, she heard Logan’s harsh voice as he snapped at his parent.
“Stop it, Mother. This is none of your business.”
“Of course it’s our business,” she hissed. To Tina’s ears, Cynthia’s voice was like nails on a chalkboard. “Especially if you’ve made us accomplices.”
“All you have to do is stay quiet,” Logan said. “I’m not asking you to say anything.”
“Son,” Tom replied. “This is not what you want to do at the start of your marriage to a woman you plan on spending the rest of your life with. You should be honest.”
“It won’t matter in a few months.”
“It’ll matter toher.”
Tina had heard enough by then. She backed up a few paces, then made enough noise as she walked into the dining room. She looked at Logan first, who had an expression of alarm, and then his features immediately smoothed out. Logan’s parents weren’t as careful in hiding their distress.
Tina wasn’t sure what Logan was talking about, or what his parents were covering for him, but it was another building block in her carefully constructed life that came crashing down. Not only did she betray Logan’s trust, but it appeared that the secret he was hiding betrayed Tina’s as well. Was it wrong to admit that she didn’t care what he did, just that it evened the playing field between them?
She decided that it wasn’t the right time to confront him about the Sutter twins after all. She’d wait, just like Derrick suggested. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t go home and test another theory that was taking shape in her mind. A theory that could answer a lot of questions about Damien’s connection to her fiancé.
“I’m so sorry,” she said with a bright smile as she took her seat. “I have some work that I have to do at home. I hate to cut our night short but I really should get going soon. Cynthia, your meals are always delicious. I absolutely hate to eat and run, but I hope you don’t mind.”
“Not at all, dear. We can do this again soon now that you two are so close.” She looked over at her son with a questioning smile.
Logan nodded, and the lines of his shoulders seemed to droop with relief. “Yeah, thanks mom. I better get Tina back,then. After the week I had with work, I could use an early night anyway.”
Chapter
Eleven
For the first step of her plan, Tina focused on putting Logan at ease on the drive home.
“Hey, remember that time we decided to be cultured and spent a month watching all these off-Broadway shows?”
Logan’s grip relaxed on the steering wheel. In the dark, she could see his easy smile. “We went to that one show where we were the only ones in the theater, and you kept nudging me because I was falling asleep.”
“I honestly don’t even remember what that show was about,” Tina said. She reached out and cupped the back of his neck, registered his surprise. He didn’t pull away as she started to knead the muscles at the top of his spine and rake her fingers through his hair. The muscles in his shoulders began to relax. “Walking distance to Hells Kitchen, right?”
“Yeah, and the dinner we tried afterwards was great,” he said. “Best muscles ever.”
“Clams,” Tina said, laughing even though his lack of memory wasn’t humorous. “I think they shut down.”
Logan sighed. “I miss that place.”
“Me, too,” Tina said even though she couldn’t care less. She never liked shellfish. Logan pulled into the driveway of thehouse, and the motion lights in front of the colonial cast a warm glow at their approach. The garage door slowly opened, and they pulled into the empty bay.
She carried on the conversation, bringing up memory after memory until Logan was laughing, his eyes filled with warmth, his guard lowered. They stood next to each other at their double sinks and washed their faces, combed their hair, got ready for bed.
“I know I said I had to work tonight, but I’d rather just go to bed,” she said, silkily.
Logan raised an eyebrow but didn’t comment.
She resumed bringing up the best memories they had to share, including the time one of his college friends stayed with them and panicked when they took the subway for the first time. Then there was the snowstorm where they were locked inside for days and did nothing but catch up on work and movies.
