23. Thea
thea
The rustling of the couch makes me smile, and I look over from the barstool I’m sitting on at my breakfast counter. “Good morning, sunshine.”
Her head pops up off the couch, and in true Ophelia style, her light-brown hair is all over the place from her tossing and turning. She was always a restless sleeper.
“Morning.” She yawns around the word, stretching her arms up high and then swinging her feet over the side of the couch before making her way over to me.
“How did you sleep?”
Ophelia heads to the other side of the breakfast counter, where the coffee pot is alive and well.
“Okay, I guess.”
I eye her over my open computer, my coffee mug held in one hand, always anticipating that next sip of caffeinated goodness.
“Are you sure you slept okay?”
She runs her hands over her head, shrugging her shoulders before letting out a deep sigh. Her green eyes connect with mine. “I don’t know. I guess I’m a little restless.”
“That’s understandable,” I say, nodding my head toward the little ceramic cow that holds the sugar. She mouths a thank you and fixes up her cup. “You’ve made a big life decision. That wasn’t an easy choice to make.”
Pouring her cup, she rounds the counter and gracefully climbs onto the barstool next to me, taking a long sip of her coffee.
“It wasn’t, and honestly, there is something like regret swirling in my gut.
But I can’t regret leaving people behind that weren’t treating me well.
Right?” Ophelia’s gaze meets mine, and I can see how conflicted she is.
It’s been her lifelong dream to move to New York and be a big city fashion designer, to have her designs walk across those runways at fashion week.
I wasn’t sure what the right answer is, but something told me she would be the only one who could truly figure it out.
“Do they do this internship more than once?”
Her eyes squint, and she nods. “Yeah, it’s every summer.”
I shrug. “Then maybe it wasn’t your time yet. Maybe you can go back next summer, take this one and the next school year to grow and become a little more confident, and then you’ll be ready.”
She shakes her head. “I highly doubt after dropping out that I could apply for that again.”
I smile at her. What I wouldn’t give to tell her that you never know what could happen. I didn’t know I’d be putting my life—physically, mentally, and financially—into the hands of someone else, yet here I was.
“I’m sure you can figure it out.” I take a breath, tapping my finger on the counter. “For now, though, you’re here, and you don’t have an internship to worry about. So, let’s just enjoy that, okay?”
She smiles at me and nods. “You’re right. Time to work for you guys and just have some fun this summer.”
I point at her. “But not too much fun.”
Laughing, she nods at the computer screen. “What are you looking at?”
I had a well-known real estate site up on my screen, browsing through some options and deciding how much money I would need to get what I wanted. “I’m thinking of getting a house.”
Ophelia’s eyes widen. “A house? Really? I didn’t know you wanted that.”
“Well, it’s a relatively new idea,” I admit, scrolling to the next listing. “But I think it would be a nice thing to have for us girls. Enough room for everyone.”
She looks at me and frowns. “I’m so sorry I’m crashing on your couch. Maybe there’s a place I could rent a room for a few weeks.”
I pat her arm. “Not a chance. As long as you’re good with couch surfing, you’ll stay as long as you need to.”
“Thanks, Thea.” She clears her throat. “And thank you for being so cool about me dropping out. I was worried…” She trails off, and I wait as patiently as I can for her to finish. Finally, she looks at me. “I was worried you would be disappointed.”
My eyes track her expression, and I laugh lightly. “Disappointed? Phee, that’s crazy. You left your entire life behind to go pursue your dreams. You lived in one of the most populous cities in the world without knowing a soul there when you moved. I could never be disappointed. ”
Her shoulders droop with relief, and I pull her in for a quick hug. “Thanks, sis.”
My phone takes that opportunity to beep, alerting me to a new text.
“Who’s that?” Ophelia asks, taking a sip of her coffee and clicking on one of the listings, browsing through the photos while I pick up my phone.
I smile a little when I see who messaged and sigh. “Someone important.”
Logan grins at me as he opens the door to his home. “Come on in.”
I follow the wave of his hand and take my bag off my shoulder, setting it on the cute little bench inside the foyer.
His hands land on my waist from behind, and his nose finds my neck. “I missed you.”
I smile and turn to face him, my hands going to his shoulders. “You saw me yesterday.”
“Church doesn’t count. I have to be on my best behavior there.”
I nod. “True.” I sniff the air and give him a dubious look. “What is that I smell?” Without waiting for an answer, I head into the kitchen, looking for the source.
On the stove is a big pot with freshly cooked pasta, another smaller pot with sauce, and I definitely smell chicken, but I don’t know where it is.
“Chicken and pasta,” he answers, coming over to stir the sauce. “I admit I got the sauce from my mom’s stash. I’m no pasta sauce expert. ”
“You made me dinner.” The words are out before I can stop them, and I glance at him to see him already smiling at me.
“Yeah, well, you’ve made me dinner before. Plus, we eat at your place all the time.”
“I promise, I do not have a hand in any of the meals at our restaurant.”
“Even picking them?” he asks, moving around the kitchen and getting the dinner put together.
“Well, okay. I can admit I did help design the menu. But Malcolm is in charge of the food, and his staff is amazing.”
“Lucky find,” he says, winking at me and moving toward the cabinet. He finds a wine glass and lifts it in question. I nod, and he goes about pouring me a glass of red wine.
“None for you?” I question.
He smiles. “I’m more than happy to provide you with wine whenever you need it, honey. But…” He pulls open the fridge and grabs a beer. “I’m going to have to opt out of drinking it.”
“Ah, not a wine guy.”
Logan smiles softly with a nod. “Not in the slightest.”
I take a sip and am pleasantly surprised with how good it is. “For a guy who doesn’t drink wine, you have good taste.”
“And I’ll have to give that one to Dani. I asked her what was good, and she provided the label name.”
I glance around the kitchen, spotting the cooked chicken when he pulls it out of the oven, and smile at the effort he is making.
“I admit, when you asked if I was free for dinner, I assumed we would go somewhere.”
He stills and glances around. “We still can, if that’s what you want. ”
“No, no.” I wave my hand. “I meant that in a good way, like I can’t believe you went through all of this for me.”
Tilting his head to the side, he says, “I have this feeling that I may do just about anything for you.”
Blushing at that, I nod my head. “I kind of feel the same way.”
“Good.” He grins, getting out two plates.
“I think you underestimate how attractive it is that you’ve made me dinner. And a nice elaborate one at that.”
“I did forget the bread, so you have to knock down some points for that.”
I smile, snapping my fingers. “Darn. You were doing so well.”
“I know, I know. I’m a carb thief.”
I arch a brow. “Never get between a woman and bread. Nasty things could happen.”
We laugh together, and I take an opportunity to glance around the house. There’s a candle lit on the coffee table, and the house looks freshly cleaned.
This man cooked and cleaned for me. I am definitely in trouble.
“It’s kind of weird that Lue isn’t here,” I admit, waving my hand. “I mean, it feels so quiet without her.”
“She can definitely talk, that daughter of mine.”
“Oh, no, I didn’t mean anything bad?—”
He smiles at me and cuts me off. “Thea, relax. I know you weren’t talking smack about her. I can see that you guys are getting along well.”
I sigh and lean my elbows against the island. “She’s a hard kid not to like.”
“Definitely.” He chuckles. “Tonight, she had three different invitations from three different friends and had to make pro/con lists to make a choice.”
I laugh. “You’re kidding.”
“Nope, it was a tedious process. It came to the point where I almost called it off and said she had to stay home.”
“Down to the wire, huh?”
“We had seconds to leave before she made the choice.”
Shaking my head, I say, “Well, maybe next time just have her three friends come here.”
His eyes widen in horror. “Three fourteen-year-old girls here? No thanks.”
“Ah, is that weird?”
“Well, it wouldn’t bother me, per se. I think it would be loud, but…yeah, maybe it is weird.”
“Well, I can be here too, if you want,” I rush to add, not trying to place myself into their lives if they don’t want it.
But I hope they do.
“I always want that, Thea,” he admits softly, his gaze on the food, but his movements still. “I really love having you around.”
That blush that never seems to die when I’m around Logan heightens. “Well, I love being around you too.”
“That’s good news, considering.”
Our eyes connect, and we both laugh lightly at the situation.
In no time, Logan plates the food and then we’re sitting together at the table, our chairs are as close as they could be, and Logan made it very obvious that’s exactly what he wants.
I realize that this is the first time we’ve truly been alone together on a date, and though I worried about how that would be, if it would be awkward or have long, drawn-out silence, it was more comfortable than I could imagine .
“This is amazing, Logan,” I compliment his food, taking another too-large bite. It was the nerves, to be sure.
“Thank you.” I hear a smile in his voice and glance up right as I slurp a noodle into my mouth. It was not as graceful as you’re picturing.