“Thanks for the advice,” Logan muttered.
“Anytime. I’ll check in with you both later. Stay, drink. Enjoy yourselves.”
Luke waited until Trent strolled away before shifting in his chair, angling to face his brother more fully. It didn’t surprise him that Logan didn’t look him in the eye. He knew all about retreating from the complicated stuff. Back before he’d settled down, gotten married, and had babies, Luke had mastered the art of it.
Which meant he also had a fairly good idea of what not to do.
“You need to tell her how you feel about Elijah,” Luke suggested. “Come clean about what’s happened between the two of you.”
“It feels like cheating.”
“Maybe. But I don’t think you give your wife enough credit. She knows there’s something going on with you. Y’all’ve been together long enough she can read you like a fucking book. And she’s scared right now.”
Logan’s gaze lifted. “Why do you say that?”
He huffed, unable to believe his brother was too blind to see that his actions were raising red flags all around.
“You left her without saying goodbye. Jesus Christ, Logan. What woman do you know who wouldn’t think it was her fault?”
His eyes widened. “It’s not.”
“No,” he agreed. “It’s not. But until you tell her otherwise, she’s gonna continue to think it is.”
Logan didn’t respond.
“Look around you,” Luke said, motioning to the space. “You came here to see how others make it work. Has it helped?”
Still no response.
“I didn’t think so. And you know why? These people—me included—haven’t gone through exactly what you’re going through. It might seem similar, but you can’t model your reactions based on anyone else’s relationships. Think about all the people who couldn’t make their complicated situations work. It wasn’t because they modeled themselves on someone else’s outcome. It’s because they didn’t include the people who mattered most.”
Logan’s eyes narrowed. “Since when did you get so fucking smart?”
Luke laughed. “You don’t give me enough credit, brother. I’ve always been the smart one.”
