“Well, I have to tell you, honey, it never really felt like you were all that crazy about him. But that innoway gives him the right to disrespect you like that. I’m so sorry.”
“You have nothing to be sorry for,” I assured her. “Like I said, I’m fine. And I’m excited to get out there and see you and Dad.”
“We’ll have a nice time, for sure. I have all of your rooms ready for you.” She paused. “You know, Logan isn’t bringing anyone either. He can keep you company.”
I stared at a small leaf that had fallen on the top of my sock before flicking it away. “Mom, I don’t need Logan to keep me company . . .”
“Oh, you know what I mean. With Adam bringing his new girlfriend, I just meant that not everyone is coupled up. I don’t want you feeling uncomfortable, honey. What time are you guys heading out this way?”
I didn’t miss the subject change. “I’m not sure. Adam worked last night, so he’s sleeping right now. Logan and Rachel will be here later this afternoon, and I suppose we’ll head out once Adam’s up and we’re all ready to go.”
“Right, well text me when you leave and make sure you guys drive carefully. It’s supposed to snow out here tomorrow and I’m hoping the storm doesn’t come early.”
“I will, I promise. We’ll see you soon, okay?”
“Alright, darling. I love you. Drive safe.”
“Love you, too,” I said, and then hung up the phone. Picking up my warm coffee, I took a long sip and leaned back into the comfortable chair.
Logan isn’t bringing anyone either. He can keep you company.
Had my mother meant something with that statement? Surely not, Logan was like another son to her. I shook my head and shivered as a cold breeze kicked up. It was getting colder by the minute. I looked out to the horizon—Adam had an incredible view from his patio, displaying the downtown Denver skyline as it sparkled against the silhouette of the majestic Rocky Mountains. It was simply beautiful.
The Breckenridge house was gorgeous too, nestled snugly in the foothills of the forested land that surrounded it. Knowing it was forecasted to snow tomorrow filled me with nostalgic excitement. I made a quick mental note to remember to pack extra warm clothes.
I took in one more deep breath of the cold morning air, feeling it flood down into my lungs, and then got up to head back inside where it was warm. My meeting with Debbie was only forty-five minutes away, and I still needed to shower and make sure that I had time for one last quick review of all of my notes.
Once the meeting was over, I could fully lean into the fast-approaching holiday and all that it brought with it.
Two hours later,I smiled brightly at the lovely woman’s face that spread across my laptop screen. “So, just to recap,” she said while looking down at what I presumed to be her own notes, “I’ll send you the credentials to all of our social media accounts as well as set you up with website access. You’ll start working on developing stronger brand guidelines for us, and then we’ll jump into some new deliverables in the first week of December?”
I nodded my head encouragingly. “You got it! Once we have firmer parameters around Bite of Life’s look and feel, I can start developing new digital content that will bring traffic to the holiday promos that you mentioned.”
Debbie sighed. “I’m so glad we hired you. We need this. Thank you, Amelia!”
I chuckled lightly and said, “Don’t worry, Debbie, I’ve got you covered. I’ll have a first look at updated brand guidelines over to you to review next week. Enjoy your Thanksgiving!”
“You too!”
I clicked out of the meeting and looked at my own notes, taken haphazardly on an envelope I found on the coffee table. I’d realized as Debbie was greeting me that, while I was prepared with my favorite purple pen, I hadn’t thought of grabbing anything to write on.
I transferred my action items to the project planner I worked out of on my computer before shutting it down and putting it back into my purse, and then headed back into my temporary bedroom. It was just after twelve and I probably had a few hours to kill before Adam woke up and drove us—all of us,I reminded myself with a slight shudder—east to Breckenridge. I still needed to pack and more importantly, prepare myself to see Logan again.
It wasn’t that I was scared to see him. Okay, maybe I was. A little. But it was more that I didn’t know what to prepare myselffor. Over the many, many years that I’d known him—essentially my entire life—we’d definitely had our ups and downs, and the recent downs were nothing short of brutal.
Flashes of a long ago humid night on a beautiful Mexican beach flooded into my mind, and I quickly shut the memory down.No time for that.
Twenty minutes later, I was pressing my small travel bag of toiletries into my faithful duffle bag when I heard a light knock on the door. I glanced at my phone and saw that it was just past twelve thirty and realized, although perhaps a little early, it was an acceptable time for either Rachel or Logan to arrive. This was unfortunate because Adam was still sleeping, and I would have to be responsible for less-than-desired small talk with either one of them.
I was still deciding who I’d rather see when I walked toward the front door. Rachel seemed like a nice woman, and I was certainly looking forward to getting to know my brother’s new girlfriend more over the Thanksgiving holiday. But with all of the anxiety that I was feeling about seeing Logan, I knew I was sure to be an awkward-at-best, bitchy-at-worst host right now. And if it was Logan at the door—well, I would just have to face that when it was time.
Turned out, it was time.
I swung open the front door and felt my body go still. Logan was standing in front of me, his large body filling out most of the door frame. He had on fitted jeans and a black T-shirt that stretched across a very firm chest. A khaki, canvas duffle was slung from his shoulders. I was hesitant to look into his eyes, but then my eyeballs outright betrayed me when I glanced up and caught myself locked in his honey-colored stare. His hair was cropped shorter, no longer the long wavy brown locks that had once flowed between my fingers.
Knock it off, Amelia.
I realized after a full minute or two of us simply staring at each other that we hadn’t said anything. I also realized that I seemed to have forgotten how to breathe. The air inside of my lungs, intent on moving back out of my body—just didn’t.
