9
As Erin woke, something didn’t feel right. The bed was too hard, the covers too thin, there was the soft sound of snoring coming from the other side of the room. Erin turned to her side and slowly cracked her eyes open. There was a stuffed train in front of her. She reached out to grab it. All of a sudden, everything came back to her.
Parker.
Logan.
Heart racing, she sat up straight in bed—Parker’s bed. Erin didn’t remember falling asleep in it, but that was a testament to just how tired she was. She looked at the clock on his nightstand. She blinked several times. That couldn’t be right. If it was, that meant that she’d been in here for three hours. Logan had told her two.
She pushed herself up off the mattress and found her balance on her sleepy legs. Her eyes went to where Samantha slept peacefully. Since she was already here, Erin closed the distance between her and Samantha’s bed to see if she was also sick. Erin reached out to touch her forehead. It felt normal, not hot at all.
Thank goodness.
With a sigh of relief, she walked out and quietly closed the bedroom door behind her. She needed to talk to Logan. Ask him why he let her sleep so long.
When she entered her bedroom, she realized why he hadn’t come for her. Logan was slouched over in the chair, eyes closed, his breathing heavy and even. The poor man had fallen asleep keeping vigil over Parker. The thought of him refusing to leave Parker’s side made her heart skip a beat.
Erin crept across the floor, closer to Logan. When she pressed her fingers to his shoulder, he shot up. “I was just resting my eyes.” The words came out in a mumbled mess of syllables Erin only barely understood.
Erin covered her mouth with her hand to hide the smile. It was adorable how he tried to hide the fact that he’d fallen asleep. Beneath the amusement, her heart warmed. Logan had stayed with Parker, even though he had no obligation to him. In doing so, Erin was able to get some much-needed rest. Even though she was still exhausted, she felt more capable of keeping an eye on Parker for the rest of the night.
Logan rubbed his eyes. “I think I fell asleep.”
Erin sat on the bed, careful not to bump into Parker, and faced Logan. “It’s okay. I’m sure it was hard to stay awake.”
Logan’s grin was sheepish. “Yeah, well, I told you I would keep watch. I’m sorry I let you down.”
He hadn’t let her down. Not yet, at least. He’d been making small efforts here and there. Erin wanted to know what it meant that he was helping her the way he was. Why was he investing so much into her children? Logan was leaving soon.
She shifted her focus to Parker. “How has he been doing?”
Logan pointed at the cup Erin left on the nightstand. “He woke up a bit ago and was thirsty. He drank two glasses of water.”
“Did he complain about anything hurting?”
Logan groaned as he stretched his hands out in front of him. “Nope. Just asked if I would stay.” He looked like he wanted to add something else, but he eventually clamped his lips shut and focused his attention back on Parker. “I’m not sure how I can help, but if there’s anything you want me to do, I will.”
Erin bit her lip. She wasn’t sure what to ask for at this point. Logan had already let her sleep. She gently ran her hand over the side of Parker’s face and cupped his cheek in her palm. His skin didn’t feel as warm as it had earlier. She looked up at Logan. “You didn’t give him more medicine, did you?”
Logan shot up in his seat. “No, no. I wouldn’t even know how much to give him or when. I’m leaving that to you.”
“Hmm.” It had still only been a few hours since she’d given him medicine. She guessed it was still doing its job at keeping Parker comfortable. She was happy he seemed to be sleeping fine now. Erin’s stomach growled, and she had the sudden desire to sneak downstairs and grab a snack. Since Parker seemed to be doing okay, she decided it would be okay to leave him for a short while. She looked up at Logan. “Wanna go down to the kitchen and grab a midnight snack with me?”
He looked at the clock. “Does it count if it’s past midnight?”
It was well into the early hours of the morning, but since it would still be a few hours until everyone woke up for the day. It absolutely counted. “Do you want to grab something with me or not?”
She kept her face neutral, like she didn’t care if Logan said yes or no, but inside, she was a ball of nerves while she waited for his answer. Why did she care so much? It was just a snack with an old friend. When he didn’t answer right away, she gave him the smallest smile, hoping to encourage him to say yes.
“Sure.”
Close enough.
Erin pressed her lips together hard to keep the satisfied smile from curving across her lips, and turnedher back to Logan as she led the way down to the kitchen. She could hear his steady steps behind her.
Once they were downstairs and in the kitchen, Erin pulled out some cookies she’d made earlier in the week. She lifted the plastic container she’d been storing them in. “This okay?”
Logan nodded. He was reaching for glasses from the cabinet before Erin could ask if he wanted milk. That had always been their ritual in the past. Even though the last bits of youth had left Logan long ago, Erin was happy that some things never changed. She grabbed the carton of milk from the fridge and wordlessly poured the cold liquid into the glasses Logan had set on the counter.
