4
Logan woke up to the familiar pounding of Aunt Betty at his door. It was becoming a regular occurrence, and it usually meant that she wanted him to do something. He didn’t mind her demands, for the most part. Running to the store for a few groceries, dropping something off to someone from church, her errands were a small price for staying in her guesthouse, even if he was trying to work on it in the meantime.
The only difficult request, rather demand, had been the requirement to eat dinner with the family every night. Though after a week of nightly meals, he’d found that everyone had fallen into a comfortable routine. Erin cooked, Logan said the blessing, and the children talked about their days. When everyone had eaten their fill, Logan cleaned the kitchen while Erin tucked her children in for the night.
The pounding at the door continued, more urgent. “Logan Christopher West, are you in there?”
“Coming!” He pulled a shirt over his head. Aunt Betty never used his whole name. Whatever she needed this morning was serious. Heart racing, he raced to the door and whipped it open. “What’s going on?”
Logan did a quick assessment of the woman standing on the other side. She was wearing a hot pink dress and she looked okay. Better than okay, she looked nice.
His brows lowered. “Aunt Betty?”
“I’d like you to drive me to church this morning.”
“Church?” Logan took a deep breath and tried to slow his heartbeat. He’d thought something was wrong, but Aunt Betty wanted him to drive her to church.
She reached out and touched his arm. “I’m so sorry. It looks like I scared you. I just wanted to make sure I gave you enough time to get ready.”
Fresh from waking up in a panic, his brain struggled to make sense of what was happening. “Why can’t you drive yourself?”
“Oh, I can.” She smiled. “But I don’t want to.”
“What about Erin? Can she drive you?” He wasn’t sure if she and the children actually went to church, since he hadn’t stepped foot inside the building since being back in Frostford. But if they wereall going, it would make sense for them to ride together.
Aunt Betty waved her hand in front of her face. “I don’t want her to worry about dragging me to church. Besides, I wantyouto take me. I want you to sit in the service.”
Logan’s heart picked up speed again. The last time he’d been in church was for Jake’s funeral, and he hadn’t been able to sit through the whole service, feeling too exposed, too raw. He’d left before anyone could see him. “I don’t think so.”
“I’d like to think you were smart enough to realize by now that I’m not really asking.”
He sighed. “I guess I’d better go get dressed.”
Aunt Betty reached out and pinched his cheek. “Sounds like a great idea.”
There was just enough time for Logan to get dressed, eat breakfast, and run a comb through his hair before Aunt Betty was ready to go.
After a short drive, they pulled into the church parking lot. He tugged at his cuffs as he got out and walked around the vehicle to open the door for Aunt Betty. She gave him a look he couldn’t quite decipher as she took his arm and lifted herself out of the car.
“Why don’t you give me the keys?” She held out her hand.
“Don’t trust me not to steal your precious baby?” he asked playfully.
“I don’t trust you not to take off in the middle of the service.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it.” Logan’s smile lingered onhis lips, but Aunt Betty wasn’t far off. He didn’t think she’d seen him when he bolted the last time, but the woman knew him well. Sometimes he wondered if she knew him better than he knew himself.
He put his arm out for Aunt Betty to grab as they walked up to the church. The small, white building was surrounded by big trees, and the steeple stuck out through the green leaves like a beacon leading all of those in Frostford to its welcoming doors. Logan and Aunt Betty walked through those front doors and were instantly welcomed by the folks that lingered in the foyer. It was a blur of commotion, and Logan barely registered seeing Ellis’s familiar face.
Aunt Betty’s friends welcomed him, as well as people he knew in his youth, though, just like Ellis, they all had grown in the time Logan was away. He wondered what he must look like through their eyes as he shook their hands and found himself in awkward embraces.
“All right, that’s enough of that,” Aunt Betty eventually said, pulling Logan from the throngs of eager greeters. “It looks like church is about to start. We will not be getting to our seats late just because everyone is excited to see you.”
Aunt Betty led Logan down the center aisle toward the front of the church. His steps stopped when he saw Erin’s blond curls and her two children sitting next to her.
Aunt Betty stopped and looked at him. “What’s the matter?”
He wiped his sweaty palms on the thighs of his pants. “I’m not going to leave—you can even quiz me on the sermon after if you want—but I can’t sit up there with Erin and the kids.”
