Aunt Betty didn’t respond right away, confirming what he already knew to be true. He made the wrong decisions when he let his emotions lead him. Silence stretched between the two of them as Logan continued to turn over the different difficult decisions he needed to make. He was pretty sure he knew what he was supposed to do—sell the house, move to Florida—but the idea of following through made him sick to his stomach. He didn’t want to leave Erin. He didn’t want to leave the kids.
“I know it wasn’t easy when Jake proposed,” Aunt Betty said, breaking the silence. “It wasn’t easy for me either.”
They’d never talked about why he left. Logan wanted to pretend it never happened and Aunt Betty had always known somehow not to bring it up—not until this trip back to Frostford. Logan looked up at her hoping she would elaborate.
“I knew you loved Erin from day one. It takes a mighty love to make someone want to leave their rebellious years behind them.” She gave him a knowing smile. “As much as I’d like to think it was me, I know better.”
“I—”
“Logan.” She stopped his protests with a tone that was both stern and loving at once. “I love you likeyou were my own son. I never thought I’d get the opportunity to have children after Frank died. But then the sheriff brought me this scared, young little boy, and I knew that God had given you to me for a reason. I vowed I would love you fiercely until the day I died.”
“You have.” She really had, even when he probably deserved to be kicked out and told to never return. Even now while he was struggling with what to do, her love for him was obvious.
Aunt Betty smiled warmly at him, the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes deepening. “But I can also recognize that no matter how much I loved you and prayed for you, I wasn’t going to be the one to convince you to change your wild ways. So I tried to be patient while the Lord took his sweet time to answer my prayers.” She chuckled to herself.
Logan felt the corners of his mouth lift into a fond grin. He was so thankful that she’d never given up on him.
She folded her hands on the table in front of her. “It was why I was so happy when you and Erin started spending time together. It was quite an unlikely friendship, but I saw the way you started to change. Not overnight, but little things here and there. I started getting less midnight calls from the sheriff. It was wonderful when I got to sleep through the night again.”
Logan leaned forward and touched Aunt Betty’shands. “I’m sorry I put you through that.” He was sorry for a lot of things.
Aunt Betty pulled her hands away and waved one in front of her. “Oh, I know you are. And that’s not why I brought that up. I say all this because I had always hoped your friendship with Erin would turn into more.”
“You did?”
Aunt Betty nodded. “It was obvious that you both loved each other, and you just didn’t realize it.” She closed her eyes. “I was so happy you and Erin chose to go to the same college. I was sure that was it. But then you met Jake and the three of you became inseparable. I could see what was happening before it played out, but promised myself that I wouldn’t become that meddling old lady who got involved in everyone else’s business.”
Logan choked on a laugh. Aunt Betty had always loved getting involved in everyone’s business, and she was fooling herself if she thought she didn’t. Though it was strange how she convinced herself not to do it when it came to Logan and Erin. How different things would have looked if Aunt Betty would have got involved. Would Logan have proposed? Would they be married now? He shook his head to clear his thoughts. He couldn’t go down that road. What was done was done.
“Now, don’t get me wrong. Jake was a good man. Heloved Erin. He was a great father before he died. They were happy.”
Logan’s throat constricted. These were the things that he’d refused to think about for years. Hearing Aunt Betty talk so plainly about it felt like she was ripping his heart out from his chest.
“But I think she could be happy again ... with you.”
Logan narrowed his eyes. “Why are you telling me this?”
If she understood the turmoil Logan was going through, surely she would also know that talking like this would only make it more difficult to follow through with his plans. He didn’t dare dream that she might be right, that Erin might be happy with him.
Aunt Betty got up from her spot and walked over to Logan. She bent over just enough so she was looking directly into his eyes when she said, “I can see you are at a crossroads, and I think it’s important for you to haveallthe data before making a decision that will affect the next decade of your life.”
Logan didn’t dare speak now. Whatever he decidedwouldaffect the next ten years of his life. At least this time, he understood that his actions would affect others for just as long, if not longer.
“I love you, sweet boy, and I have no doubt that you’ll make the right choice.”
With that, Aunt Betty walked away and left Logan to his thoughts once more.
He needed to decide what to do—and fast. There were time limits to some of these things. The real estate agent was coming over to look at the house this week. He had a few places he was looking at in Florida. He couldn’t dwell on his different choices indefinitely. And yet, he also knew this was not a time for rash decisions either.
This was a time for him to go to the Lord in prayer because he was going to need divine guidance before doing something that would have long-lasting effects on the people he loved most in this world. And he needed to do the right thing this time.
