20. Logan
Chapter Twenty
LOGAN
I arrive before everyone else the day of the commercial shooting. I’m trying to stop drinking so much, but I still have a headache from too many glasses of wine at dinner, trying to stamp out the jealousy and anger that’s still coursing through me.
Meredith still feels like mine, even if she isn’t, and she’s driving me crazy.
But I push past the small hangover, drinking from a huge water cup I’ve gotten from Bryce for Christmas. He’s always telling me to hydrate more.
Bryce, Dina, and Paul, even though I hate him, are the three I invited to the office for the commercial. I’m a bit surprised to see Meredith walk in, but then I realize she’s cc’ed on every email as the office manager.
Shit.
I should have paid more attention and taken it off of that one. She would probably think the commercial is a terrible idea, and besides, I’ll be more than distracted seeing her.
She frowns, whispering something to Dina, but Dina just shrugs.
“I called you all here today not because we’re opening up,” I start, and Meredith looks down at her nails, not even acknowledging my presence. I huff out a breath before continuing. “But because we’re filming a commercial.”
Paul’s eyes widened. “A commercial?”
I nod. “My colleague Grayson Whitlock will be getting you into hair and makeup, and none of you have any lines, so don’t worry. You just have to smile and look pretty.”
Dina giggles and Meredith just glares at me and then at Grayson, who steps up behind me.
Grayson claps his hands, alerting his hair and makeup team to disperse, and I watch as Meredith fusses with the girl that comes over to do hers. I can’t help but smile a little.
“You’re the one that has lines,” Grayson reminds me. “Did you study them?”
I wince. “Isn’t it just something I can use cue cards for?”
“No.” Grayson shoves the script into my hands, and I look down at it with a long sigh.
I study the lines until it feels like my head is going to fall off my shoulders, and we start to film. It’s mostly me, talking about how my business is a family business–even though that isn’t quite true. I guess it is when you consider my family is just me.
The camera pans past me to focus on the desk behind me, and Meredith smiles at the camera.
I don’t think much of it, to be honest. I’m busier worrying that Paul will try to flirt with Meredith again, and I’ll genuinely have to kill him.
Everyone leaves except for Meredith after the shoot is over, and I sit in my office, finishing up some paperwork for everyone’s return to work this week. They have been on paid leave–all but Meredith and, occasionally, Dina–while the renovations have been going on.
Meredith is likely still inputting the paperwork into the database. It’s a big job, and I feel kind of bad I dropped it all on her, especially now that she’s pregnant. Those boxes are heavy to carry.
I walk to the doorway to ask if she needs help and nearly run into her as she opens my door.
I lick my lips, looking down at her. “No knock?”
“Sorry.” She doesn’t meet my eyes. “I needed to... uh, talk to you about something.”
Oh, fuck .
She’s not going to tell me that the baby’s father proposed, is she? Something worse? Wait, what could be worse?
She takes in a trembling breath. “Please go and sit down.”
I realize I’ve just been staring dumbly at her and go sit behind my desk, staring dumbly at her some more, my heart racing.
“What is it, Meredith? Are you getting married?” My voice is strained, but I’m proud that it doesn’t break. Because God knows, if that’s her news...
“It’s yours.” Her voice is small and quiet, and I’m not quite sure I’ve heard her.
“What?”
“The baby…” She wrings her hands. “I lied before. It’s yours.”
I stand up, stalking over to her.
She doesn’t flinch, just looks up at me with those wide, blue eyes of hers.
I grab her in the biggest bear hug I can muster, and she squeaks.
“Please, Logan,” she groans as I squeeze her. “I’m nauseous all the time as it is.”
“I’ll go to every appointment. I’ll be there for everything, every milestone?—”
She cuts me off with a laugh. “Calm down, Logan. We don’t even know much, yet. I still have to go for my ultrasound.”
“It doesn’t matter. It’s mine.” I want to shout it from the rooftops, but I pale when I think about Grayson. “What about your brother? Does he know?”
“No. And you can’t tell him.” She points a finger at my chest.
I hold my hands up. “I wouldn’t dream of it. I like my head on my shoulders.”
“I have to think about how to break it to him.”
My head spins when I think about what Grayson will say when he finds out, and it makes the blood run from my face.
It’s not just that he might cause me bodily harm, but it will feel like a betrayal. Especially if he finds out this all started years ago, when we first became friends.
“And I want you to know, Logan, this doesn’t.... mean anything.”
I frown, shocked out of my thoughts by her words. “What are you talking about?”
“Just because the baby is yours doesn’t mean that we have to be together. We can be... friends, or try to be, but that’s it.”
“Friends,” I say slowly, trying out the word in my mouth.
Friends with Meredith Whitlock, the woman that I’ve been in love with since I was a kid. Sounds ridiculous, even thinking about it, but if that’s all she’ll give me... “Sure. Of course. We’ll be friends.”
“And co-parents.”
“And co-parents.”
I look down at her and can’t stop looking at her mouth, so I clear my throat and look away. “When is your next appointment?”
“Two weeks. The seventeenth, at nine.”
I quickly put it in my phone calendar. “I’ll be there. And if you need anything ...”
“I’m fine.” Her voice sounds flat and slightly annoyed, so I let it go.
She leaves my office, grabs her things, and leaves me there with my head spinning.
I’m going to be a father. I never had one worth a shit, so this means a lot to me. And also scares the absolute hell out of me.
Where do I even start?
The only father my age I even know is Grayson, and it’s not like I can ask him for advice. God, what a tangled web we weave.
I don’t drink a drop that night, and I sleep like a baby.
* * *
The next morning, way too early, my phone starts to ring and buzz on the nightstand.
I groan and pick it up, squinting at the phone.
Grayson.
Why is he calling so early ?
“What do you want?”
He laughs on the other line. “Who pissed in your cornflakes?”
“You, calling me before nine a.m. What’s so important?”
“Your commercial.”
“My what?” I’ve pretty much completely forgotten about it, but I know Grayson and his team worked long into the night editing the footage and uploading it to social media and a television channel or two.
“You know, your commercial? The one we filmed yesterday? It’s blowing up on social media, so I wanted to warn you that the phone is going to be ringing off the hook today, for your grand opening. Not to mention the walk-ins.”
“What do you mean, blown up?” I've always been bad at technology.
“You’re so old ,” Grayson groans. “It’s doing well, millions of views, that kind of thing. Comments, questions. Meredith will have a ton of work to do.”
That makes me feel a bit uneasy, so I gloss over it. “Well, thank you, Grayson. I’m really glad it’s doing so well.”
“I don’t think you understand. It’s not your part that’s doing well. It’s Meredith’s.”
“Meredith? But she was barely filmed?—”
“Doesn’t matter. The camera loves her, apparently.”
“Then why are you calling me instead of her?”
“Because she'll never go for it, doing a commercial by herself. You know how camera-shy she always was. She got stage fright in theater class, remember?”
Of course, I remember. She’d come to me sobbing, telling me she’d embarrassed herself in front of the whole class, and I’d kissed her until she stopped worrying about it.
“Vaguely.” I get up and get dressed in a simple three-piece suit. “I’m headed to the office now. I’ll talk to her, but I can’t make any promises.”
“That’s all I ask. It’s what the people want, and it’ll make you more money.”
“And you more money, by proxy,” I drawl, and I can practically hear Grayson’s grin over the line.
“Exactly.”
I hang up with Grayson and head to the office, picking up a latte for myself and a decaffeinated one for Meredith. I feel like I’ve read somewhere that caffeine is bad for pregnancy.
“Decaf," I tell her when I hand it to her, and she smiles.
“Thinking ahead, are you?”
“Of course. I want to do anything I can to make this baby happy and healthy.”
She nods, looking up at me with a small smile, and I think this may be the right time to ask her.
“Listen, how would you feel about doing another commercial with me?”
She blinks. “Why me?”
“Apparently, social media loves your smile.” I pull up my phone, showing her the comments.
All of them reference her pretty, white teeth, her big, blue eyes. Some of the guys get a little too sexual, and I wish I could hunt them down, but it’s the internet. What else do I expect?
Meredith flushes. “I don’t know about that. I feel nervous.”
“You shouldn't be. Everyone loves you, princess.”
“Don’t call me that,” she says automatically. “Especially at work.”
I sigh. “Fair enough. But will you do it?”
“When do we start?”
I smile at her, hoping that this is a step toward us really being friends. “I’ll ask Grayson.”
There’s a line outside the door before we even open, and I can barely breathe all day from the amount of customers we have signing up.
We end up having to do a wait list for some of the vehicles with bigger mechanical problems, but I’m bringing in fistfuls of money. Which is good news, given how much I’ve spent on the renovations of the garage.
Meredith leaves before I do, and I frown, wishing that I’d stopped her.
I don’t know what I would have said to her, but I could have said something .
Luckily, I have the commercial to look forward to.
Two days later, Meredith and I arrive at almost the same time at the garage. It’s a Saturday, so us and Grayson’s team are the only people there.
Meredith looks stunning in a pair of high-waisted black shorts and a white top that shows off her long legs and arms. Her thin frame is a bit curvier than it was when we were teenagers, but she’s still trim.
I wonder if I’ll be less attracted to her as her body changes, as her belly swells, hips widen.
I don’t think so. I think I’ll be even more attracted to her, which isn’t great news, since I can already barely keep my hands off her.
“You two are both early.” Grayson greets us with a smile, making me finally tear my eyes from Meredith’s body.
“Being on time is late, Dad always said,” Meredith chirps.
I was never taught anything like that by my father, but I’ve just always been time anxious, especially when profits are involved.
I won’t technically make any money today, but it’ll go a long way to getting me even more customers and allowing me to open more locations here in the city.
Which is exactly what I wanted out of all of this. Everything’s coming up Logan, especially now that I know I’m the father of Meredith’s baby, too.
I glance at Grayson, feeling guilt hot at the back of my neck.
But I don’t get to wallow for long.
Meredith and I study our script, and we sit next to each other in the front office, going back and forth with our lines.
It’s all about family and how well we treat our customers, and at the end, I’m supposed to throw my arm around Meredith’s shoulders.
She stiffens the first three times I do it, and we have to retake, but finally, she ends up relaxing against me, clutching onto my shirt with her left hand, and Grayson calls “cut!”
“Perfect.” He grins at us. “You two have good chemistry.”
Meredith flushes.
“Everyone keeps saying that," she mumbles under her breath.
“What was that?” Grayson asks, and she just shakes her head.
“I just never want to do this again.”
“Me either.” I don’t like the bright lights and camera pointed at me, either. I’ve always been a pretty private person, and just because I now have too many zeroes in my bank account doesn’t mean that’s changed.
Meredith goes to the back to take off the makeup they’ve put on her, and I man the desk just in case passersby come to the door. Sure enough, we get one man, a police officer almost too stout to get in through the door, having to inhale to do it.
When I look up from the desk, I realize I recognize the face and plush broom mustache on his face, although it’s gray now rather than black, like it was the last time I saw it.
“Sheriff Cunnigham,” I greet, and the officer tips his hat to me.
“Matthews. It’s been a long time.”
“Indeed, it has.” I look at him coolly.
I haven’t seen him since he tried to arrest me and Grayson for swimming in the water tower. I know it was wrong, but we were just kids.
Of course, Grayson’s father had come and talked him out of it, maybe bribed him, I’m not sure. I wouldn’t put it past Cunningham to take a bribe.
“Something wrong with the squad car?”
“Maybe needs a transmission flush.”
And I want to keep an eye on you now that you’re back in town.
He doesn’t say that last part, but I can practically feel it coming off of him in waves. He doesn’t like me, and he never has.
Meredith comes out of the back just as he’s signing up for our waitlist.
“Sheriff,” she greets warmly, and he gives her a big, toothy smile when he looks up at her.
“Meredith! What are you doing working in a place like this instead of at your father’s?”
“Wanted to make it on my own.”
He nods. “That’s admirable. Pretty girl like you could have gotten married rich and had it all.”
I frown, not loving the way he’s talking to her. It’s on the wrong side of creepy, given that he’s old enough to be her grandfather, practically.
“Well, that was never my path.”
“I was sure you'd be barefoot and pregnant by now."
Meredith pales, and I clear my throat.
“We’ll contact you as soon as we have a slot, Sheriff.”
He glances at me, his gaze cold. “All right. See you later.”
He tips his hat at Meredith and leaves, and she lets out a relieved sigh.
I stare after the sheriff, wanting to go after him. I hate how protective I am over Meredith sometimes.
But she seems uncomfortable, and I hate that for her.