“So, I’m guessing Jace called you?”
She froze as if caught with her hand in the cookie jar. Her look of disbelief was quickly veiled by a more neutral face, but it was enough for me to know.
“Macie.” My motherly tone was raging.
“I’m fine, Ava. We had a long talk last night, and he seems ready to move on with what I’m looking for. He agreed to us hanging out, spending time together, before taking theplungeagain.” She literally used air quotes.
“You mean to tell me you’re packing an overnight bag and you have no plans of having sex tonight?”
She went about packing up a bag of snacks and food items. Enough food to feed her and an army. That was when I knew something was really up.
“Macie…”
She knew I wanted answers.
“OK, fine. I’m going to his place for the weekend. So, yeah, maybe by the end of the weekend it might happen, ya never know.”
No amount of warnings would stop her, she’d made up her mind. Maybe Jace would be a man of his word. He wasn’t the worst guy she’d been with, and he made her happy when they were together and not fighting.
Gathering her things, she started for the door.
“Be careful,” I said.
She stopped and swung back toward me.
“I’m going in smart, Ave, don’t worry. This time I won’t let things get out of hand with him. If he really seems like he’s not on board for a relationship, I’ll come back home. I’m good. We really did have a good talk.” She seemed more levelheaded than ever. “So, it looks like it’s just you and Logan this weekend.”
What the fuck?
“What do you mean?” The high pitch of my voice did nothing to hide my panic.
Macie was halfway out the door, grabbing her parka from the hook, as she answered me.
“Becca and Ty went to see Savannah this weekend. You have fun, too.”
And she shut the door.
The walls seemed to close in around me.
Suddenly this four-bedroom, three-floor townhouse seemed way too small. How was I going to do this? Logan and I, alone, in the house, all weekend together.
And I had no plans made yet. I’d have to get something going. Call an old hookup and get out of here tonight or tomorrow.
Then I heard his thudding footsteps coming down the stairs. Amazing that in socked feet he could sound like an entire army on these floors. He came bounding into the room, a giddy smile on his face as he ran to the window.
“It’s already snowing, Tink. Did you see outside?” As he pulled up the blinds, he seemed oblivious to how I’d just treated him, which made me feel even worse.
I peeked around his large frame, and sure enough, there was already a coating on the grass. Grabbing the remote, Logan turned on the weather station.
“Shit, they’re calling for a major storm. At least eighteen inches by tomorrow, maybe two feet by Sunday.”
How did I not know about this? Usually my mom would be calling to ask if I was prepared, had enough food, my boots, yada, yada. Sure enough, when I pulled out my phone, I saw two missed calls from her.
“So, I know the last thing you want to do is probably watch a movie with me, but I thought you, me, and Macie could, I don’t know, do that tonight. Maybe make some popcorn or hot chocolate? That’s what we always did at home when we were stuck inside with a storm.”
He didn’t know.
He had no idea it was just him and me.
