“We can ask her right now.”
Logan’s stomach dropped. He knew he would have to face Erin sooner or later, but he’d hoped it would be later. The only benefit of seeing her now was that he could rip it off like a Band-Aid and get it over with. He leaned the bike against the oak tree in the front yard and followed Samantha, who had already made her way to Erin.
“ ... and then he let go and I did it. I rode my bike all by myself.” The words rushed out of the young girl quickly.
“Slow down,” Erin said, her brows lowering. “Mr. West taught you how toride a bike?”
Logan lingered behind Samantha and slid his hands in the pockets of his jeans as he waited for her to finish telling the story.
Samantha nodded. “It was so fun. But then I fell.”
“You fell?” Erin’s eyes were wide.
Samantha pointed to her leg. “I didn’t know how to stop and the bike scraped my leg. But it doesn’t hurt very much.”
Erin looked down at Samantha’s leg and then her gaze found Logan. She looked at him with a strange expression that he couldn’t quite read. It wasn’t full-blown anger, but it wasn’t happiness either.
“Why don’t you go upstairs and pull out the peroxide and the cream we put on boo-boos. I’ll be right there,” Erin told Samantha, her eyes never leaving Logan.
“Can Mr. West teach me again?”
“Samantha.” There was a hint of warning in her voice.
“Please.” Samantha held her clasped hands in front of her face.
Erin sighed. “We’ll talk about that when I come up. For now, please do what I asked.”
Samantha gave Logan a quick smile before going inside. In a weird way, it was nice to know at least one of the Carlisle’s was in his corner before Erin let him have it.
Once they were alone, Logan took a step toward Erin. “I’m sorry.”
“For what?” She raised her brows. “For taking Samantha out on her bike without asking? For letting her fall and get hurt?”
Logan stood there under her scrutinizing gaze. He expected her to be angry, but it was surprising how much it hurt to have her point out the ways he’d disappointed her. He looked down at his feet while he waited for her to continue.
“I don’t know if I should be mad at you for doing it.” She let out a long sigh. “Or if I should thank you.”
Logan looked up, confused.
Erin shook her head. “I’m sure you’ve seen how closed off Samantha is.”
Logan had. At their nightly dinners, she usually stuck to one- or two-word responses, unless she was pointing out someone’s mistake or picking on Parker. The way she acted today while learning to ride abike was completely out of character, as far as he knew.
“She wasn’t always that way.” Erin flopped down on the porch swing. It moved gently under her weight as she ran a hand over her face. “She used to be cheerful.”
Logan took a few steps toward Erin, but kept his mouth closed, sensing that Erin was merely taking a break, and wasn’t finished talking.
“This is the first time I’ve seen her like this in a long time.” She puffed out her cheeks until the air came out in a loud exhale. “I don’t like that you didn’t ask me first, and I’m not happy she got hurt.” Her eyes met Logan’s. “But I’m glad for whatever you did out there today, because I’ve missed that Samantha almost as much as I’ve missed Jake.” Her voice cracked and tears filled her eyes as she brushed a leaf off the swing.
Logan didn’t know what to do. Apologize for not being here? The words felt too little too late. He stood there uncomfortably, wishing he knew what to say as the silence stretched between them.
As quickly as her raw emotions had come, they disappeared. “Well, I need to go make sure that scrape gets cleaned out.” She smacked her legs before standing up, pretending like she hadn’t just opened her heart up to him. “The kids and I are eating at someone else’s tonight and Aunt Betty is going out with a friend tonight, which means you’re on your own for dinner.”
Logan hated that Erin didn’t feel like she could open up to him, but he wasn’t able to dwell on thatwith the sinking sense of dread creeping through him as he watched Erin walk toward the front door. What were the chances that Erin and the children were also eating at another person’s house tonight? And had Samantha mentioned Rose and Holly? Those were two of Ellis’s children’s names.
He swallowed hard. “Any chance you’re eating at the Wilsons’ house tonight?”
Erin stopped and turned toward him. “How did you know?”
