No. No. No. He didn’t have it in him to get over heragain.She’d always be the one who got away, and he knew he wasn’t strong enough to see her again. Because three years ago, during Christmas he ran into her at the grocery store. They chatted for a half hour in the cereal aisle. She was as beautiful and intriguing as always. Then for the next six months, Logan had to will her away from his psyche as he replayed the conversation over and over again hoping to find a glimmer of hope that she felt what he felt. Nope. Sometimes you needed to leave the past in the past, which was exactly what he planned to do. No family dinner dates with Shelby.
“I don’t care.” He raked his hair and practically shouted in the direction of his phone. “I’m not seeing her again. I can’t do it. She messes with my head too much. You know she does, why would you even bring her up?”
“I think she’s different now.” Danielle paused, “Plus, I invited her to dinner. It’s the perfect chance to either reconnect or close that chapter of your life for good.”
His jaw clenched. “Uninvite her.” His hands drew into fists at his sides while his heart rose to an astronomical level.
“Why would I do that?” Danielle asked with a voice laced with fake innocence. “I’ve already invited her, and it would be rude to take back the invitation.”
“But I’ve met someone, that’s why,” he blurted out without thinking.
It came out of left field, but somehow deep down he knew it was his only shield of defense. When Danielle had an idea, she stopped at nothing to see it to fruition. Though he knew she’d back down if she thought he had a chance with someone else.
“What? When?” A stray cry sounded through the speaker, and Danielle hushed the baby for a moment. When the cryingsubsided, she added, “You’ve barely moved to Chicago. How in the world have you had time to meet someone?”
She called his bluff. But the idea of seeing Shelby made him dig in his heels and burrow himself deeper in the lie he set up.
“I guess chalk it up to fate.” He dropped back down on his sofa and swiped the phone off the coffee table. “I don’t tell you everything. Besides, the relationship is new, and I wanted to see where it went before I told you about it.”
“I don’t believe you. I think you’re making this up,” Danielle hissed. “You’re trying to get out of seeing Shelby which I don’t understand. The timing was never right between you two, but you’re both back in Chicago permanently. This is your chance to be together.”
“No, it’s not our chance to be together.” Logan closed his eyes for a moment and tried to find his equilibrium again. “She dumped me. End of story. She didn’t want me then, why would she want me now? If she somehow agreed to date me, it would only be until somebody better came along. Then she’d leave me high and dry again. No, thank you.” He forced himself to take a deep settling breath in an attempt to lessen the pounding behind his ears.
“Ok.”
“Huh?” He scratched his head.
“Bring your new lady friend to dinner next Sunday, and I’ll uninvite Shelby. I’ll text her and apologize and tell her I didn’t know you were dating someone.”
He liked that idea. He liked Shelby feeling the sting of rejection versus the other way around. It was a thousand percent childish of him, but sometimes past relationships did that to a person.
“I’ll find out if Brooke is free.”
“Oh, she has a name,” Danielle said.
He cranked his neck in each direction to loosen the tightening of it. Why, oh why, had he opened his mouth?Because you don’t want to see Shelby. And your sister has it in her mind that you two are going to have some fairy tale reconnection.“Yes, her name is Brooke. She’s a busy pediatrician, and I’m not sure about her work schedule—” Logan let his voice fade.
He never lied, but here he managed to create a lie deep enough he already needed to find a way to get out of it. But why Brooke? Wishful thinking? Either way, a fake girlfriend with a busy job meant he had managed to buy himself a few weeks before he revealed he broke up with her. Danielle would be none the wiser, and he’ll have avoided a dinner which would have sent him into an unraveling tailspin.
“Pediatrician, you say.”
“Yep.”
This could work. Mentioning Brooke’s name meant it was easier to keep track of these lies.
“I’m assuming you met her at the hospital.”
The spot between his shoulder blades pinched.
Admit the truth. You still have time to fess up.
“I did.”
“Then find out ifBrookecan make it next Sunday for dinner at Mom and Dad’s.”
“I can’t make any promises,” Logan countered.
Meaning, Brooke would never be going to dinner at his parents’ house. A long span of possible excuses for her absence rattled off in his brain. Whether or not he liked it, he’d have to see this thing through. Danielle could never know he lied about having a girlfriend.
