His Surprise Return

Chapter 6

6

A s Erin gathered supplies to finish the wedding cake, she thanked the Lord that she was ahead of schedule. Timing was everything with a job this big, and she’d written out a schedule with tasks and times several days ago to make sure she didn’t fall behind.

She’d baked the cakes, done a crumb coat, and was finally ready to assemble and frost it. Now, all she needed to do was find all of her supplies. The dowels were on the counter next to her rotating cake stand, but she couldn’t find the frosting tips.

Erin was opening the drawers one-by-one, looking for them when Parker appeared in the kitchen. “Hey, sweetie. What’s up?” she asked as she continued her search.

“I’m bored.” His voice was whiney .

“Hmm.” Erin opened the pantry door. “What’s Samantha doing? Maybe you can play with her?”

“She’s reading a book, and I can’t read a book.”

Parker wasn’t entertained by picture books for very long. She closed the pantry door and faced him. “What about playing in the backyard for a while? Maybe Samantha will join you when she’s done reading.”

“I don’t want to play by myself.” His little hands fisted into balls at his sides.

Erin closed her eyes. She couldn’t believe she was about to say this, but desperate times called for desperate measures. “What about Rock Man? He could keep you company until Samantha is done reading.”

“He’s busy fighting bad guys right now.” He stuck his bottom lip out. “Please will you come and throw the ball with me?”

Oh, how she would much rather throw a ball back and forth with him, but there was work to do. The wedding was a set date, and couldn’t be pushed back because Erin wanted to play with her son. She needed to find the balance between mom and baker—and right now baker won out.

She crouched down to face him. “Do you remember me talking about how important this cake is?”

Parker nodded.

“That means that’s where I have to put my energy right now. ”

He gave her his puppy-dog eyes. “But don’t you want to spend time with me?”

That was enough for Erin’s resolve to waver, but when his bottom lip started quivering, the mommy guilt hit hard. The way he was looking up at her was gut-wrenching. Erin glanced at the clock on the wall. She was a little ahead of schedule thanks to jittery nerves that made it impossible to sleep in or sit still.

Maybe she could do both, if she was really careful to keep an eye on the time.

“Let’s make a deal.” She smiled at Parker. “If you help Mama find her frosting tips, I’ll come throw the ball with you for a bit. But then I have to come back inside and work on the cake. Deal?” She stuck her hand out to her son.

He put his small hand into hers. Erin pumped their entwined hands up and down in a dramatic fashion that transformed Parker’s sad expression.

“Deal,” he said through giggles.

The two searched until they found the bag containing the metal tips and frosting bags hidden underneath a sheet pan. Erin looked through to make sure nothing was missing, and once she was sure it was all there, she followed Parker out to the backyard.

Erin couldn’t stop her gaze from going to the guesthouse as they worked their way to the shade of the oak trees. The windows were open and the curtains were pulled back, so that Erin could see into it from where she stood. Inside, Logan was washing dishes in the small kitchenette. She guessed even bachelors had chores to do.

She hadn’t seen Logan since the dinner with the Wilsons. He’d opted to miss the last few nights of family dinners with Aunt Betty, and Erin was thankful for it. It gave her the opportunity to clear her head. Too much time with Logan was doing strange things to her. The anger she’d been harboring against him all this time was slowly disappearing, replaced with feelings of fondness.

She shook her head to clear those thoughts. That wasn’t where she needed to put her focus, especially today. The best thing for Erin to do was to play with her son, give him her full attention, and then when they tossed the ball back and forth for long enough, she would go back inside and throw herself fully into the cake.

Parker and Erin threw a football back and forth. Neither one of them could throw it in the perfect spiral. Instead, it was more of a toss that sent the ball twisting in a chaotic movement. It didn’t matter though. Erin did her best to catch the ball every time Parker threw it, even though it landed short most of the time. And even though her aim was only slightly better, Parker caught it more often than not. Every time he was successful, Parker would do a victory dance that had Erin laughing. It was great to see him enjoying himself. For the first time in a long time, Erin didn’t feel the weight of everything. It was nice—more than nice.

Thank you, Lord, for moments like these.

She held onto every last minute of playing catch, but no matter how tightly she gripped it, time moved quickly. Once she couldn’t put off her work any longer, she caught the ball and didn’t throw it back. Holding it, she walked over to Parker. “Okay, sweetie. My time is up, and I need to get back to work on the cake.”

“But I want to keep playing.”

“I know you do.” She brushed his hair back off his forehead. “I do too. But this job is really important.”

Parker stomped his foot. “I’m important.”

“Yes, and that’s why I came out to play with you,” she said, the mommy guilt back in full-force. “But remember, we shook on it and now I need to frost the cake.”

“I don’t wanna play by myself.”

Erin closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. The therapist had warned Erin that there would be good and bad days after Jake’s death, and they would be even more pronounced than the average four-year-old’s. She was sure that Parker not wanting to play alone had some deep-seated cause that went back to not having his father around.

Erin felt bad, she really did. But the cake had to get done. It wasn’t some selfish desire of hers, but how she could take care of her children. She wished there was a way to convey that to Parker, but at his age, it would go in one ear and out the other.

She opened her eyes and tried to think of the best way to tell Parker this was for him, when Logan came out of the guesthouse, drying his hands on a dishtowel. Oh, great. Just what Erin needed, for Logan to see one of her parenting fails.

“Everything okay?” he asked as he approached.

“I don’t wanna play by myself and Mama wants to frost a cake instead.”

“Has to,” Erin said. “I have to frost the cake.”

“But I want you to play with me.” His voice got increasingly whiny as the conversation continued. Erin struggled to catch her breath as the pressure of trying to do it all consumed her.

“I can play with you,” Logan said, looking at Parker. “I just finished my chores and was planning on taking a break. Throwing a ball around sounds like a mighty fine way to spend it.”

Parker bounced on his toes.

“It’s okay, he can—” Erin started, but Logan held up his hand to stop her.

His eyes found hers. In them, Erin saw compassion and understanding. It nearly broke her. “I know this is a big deal. Let me help.”

Erin felt her shoulders sag. This was the help she needed, the help she’d been praying for. Who was she to complain about what it looked like? She bit her lip as she contemplated what to do, but gave in and nodded. “Okay.”

“We’ll be fine,” Logan said, a smile on his face.

He seemed so sure, but Erin couldn’t help but wonder if Logan knew what he was getting himself into. Parker was a great kid, but he had more energy than a wind-up toy. He would keep going long after the average person had called it quits. She also worried what it might mean for Parker if he became too attached to Logan.

But Parker was already tossing the ball at Logan, before Erin had had a chance to agree. She sighed. Stopping this now would only throw Parker into a deeper tantrum. Erin took the ball from Logan and crouched down in front of her son. “It’s very nice for Mr. West to come play with you. Please be good for him while Mama is inside.” She looked back at Logan. “If you need anything, let me know.”

“Don’t worry. It’ll be fun.”

Erin had no doubt it would be fun for Parker. He hated playing alone. But she still wasn’t sure how long Logan would hang in there.

Thankful for her break, no matter how long, Erin rushed back inside to work. She turned on some classical music, hoping it would inspire her as she frosted the wedding cake. First things first, she needed to put a thicker layer of frosting on each of the tiers. This task was a little more difficult than Erin was used to. The bride requested a glassy-smooth finish that looked like fondant, but since she didn’t like the taste of the rolled frosting, she’d asked for buttercream.

After a few failed attempts at a perfectly smooth coat, Erin got the hang of it and finished each tier of the cake. She put wooden dowels on the bottom tier and held her breath as she stacked the next tier on top. She did this with each layer until the entire cake was assembled, eventually needing a step stool to put the final tier on top.

When she was finished, Erin took a step back to look at the cake. She wanted to make sure that it wasn’t crooked. Satisfied it was straight, it was time for Erin to work on the most difficult part of the job—the lace design the bride wanted piped onto the cake.

It was easy for Erin to find her rhythm with the frosting once she got past the first tier. She stayed focused on the design in front of her, even when Samantha came and sat in the kitchen with her. She’d almost forgotten her daughter’s presence until Samantha spoke up.

“It looks so pretty, Mama.”

Erin used the back of her hand to push a stray strand of hair that had fallen loose from the bun at the nape of her neck. “Thanks, sweetie.”

“I bet it tastes good too.”

Erin felt a corner of her mouth lift into a small grin. She was quite familiar with this exchange. One of her kids would come in the kitchen while she was baking and comment on how good something smelled, or how yummy it looked. Then they would quietly linger until Erin offered them something.

Predicting that the wedding cake would be no different from her normal baking days, Erin had made a dozen cupcakes. She’d even frosted them when she was doing the crumb coat the day before. She just hadn’t told anyone about them yet, waiting for this moment.

With the knowing smile still on her face, Erin asked, “Would you like some?”

“Some of the cake?” Samantha’s voice was filled with wonder.

Erin chuckled and pointed to the pantry where she’d stored the cupcakes in a Tupperware container. “No, I have some cupcakes in there though.”

Samantha eagerly ran over to the pantry and pulled out a cupcake. For the first time in a while, Erin looked up at the clock on the wall. Her brows furrowed. That couldn’t be right. She’d been in here for hours. It was almost dinnertime.

She rushed to the kitchen window that overlooked the backyard and saw Logan and Parker were still playing in the backyard. They weren’t throwing the ball anymore. Logan was now pushing Parker on the tire swing that hung from one of the oak trees. The sun was setting, casting the backyard in a golden glow.

Conflicting emotions swirled within her. Guilt for becoming so consumed with the cake that she didn’t realize so much time had passed, but also gratitude that Logan had been keeping her son company this entire time. This cake was a big opportunity for her, and it was a huge relief to know it was finished.

Erin continued to watch them through the kitchen window. Parker looked happy as could be swinging back and forth. Her eyes went to Logan. He didn’t look impatient, or annoyed. He didn’t have his phone out looking at it in one hand, while absent-mindedly pushing with the other. No, Logan looked happy and comfortable pushing Logan.

Erin leaned against the kitchen counter as she continued to watch. Her breath caught when Logan looked up and his eyes found hers. He smiled and waved at Erin. Then he said something to Parker, who then also smiled and waved at Erin.

Her heart warmed at the scene in front of her. She sniffed and grabbed a paper towel to dab at the tears that were forming in the corners of her eyes. This was going to end in disaster, she could feel it in her bones.

“Are you okay?” Samantha said around a bite of her cupcake.

Erin put her hand to Samantha’s cheek. “Yes, just happy to be done with the cake.” She glanced back out the window. “Why don’t you tell the boys to come in and they can have a cupcake too.”

Logan came in first, the smile from early still on his face. Erin hated the way it made her heart skip a beat. It had only been a year since Jake died and it felt wrong to have such a reaction to Logan. Not only was she finding herself attracted to another man, but that man had been her late husband’s best friend—her best friend. Erin didn’t know what to do with these feelings. She desperately tried to push them down, but every time Logan smiled or did something thoughtful, they resurfaced with a vengeance.

As Logan made his way further into the room, Parker followed closely behind. Erin grabbed two plates down from the cabinet to put their cupcakes on. Her back was turned when she heard Parker call, “Here, Mr. West. Catch!”

She twisted just in time to see Parker throwing the football at Logan—who had just stopped in front of the wedding cake.

Everything slowed.

Erin watched as the ball flew through the air. She saw Logan’s eyes widen as he registered it coming at him. Logan put his hands out to catch it, but it slipped through his fingers, flew past him and landed toward the top of the cake.

Erin’s stomach plummeted as she watched the top tier tip from its place and slide down the side of the cake, ruining all of the intricate detail she’d spent the afternoon working on. It kept falling and landed on the floor, causing frosting to splatter all over the place.

But it didn’t stop there. In the panic of things, Parker ran toward the cake, yelling, “I’ll fix it, I’ll fix it.”

Logan tried to stop him, but Parker hit him with such force that it sent Logan back, causing him to knock into the remaining layers. The cake wobbled on the counter before it eventually joined the rest of the cake on the kitchen floor. Globs of frosting went flying through the kitchen, landing on everyone’s feet. Erin looked down at the white buttercream coating her shoes.

The room went silent. Everyone was still.

Erin’s mind went blank, her entire body numb. The cake she’d spent the better part of two days on was destroyed. There was no fixing this. If it had only been the top tier, she might have been able to remake it, and do her best to fix the frosting. But with the entire cake on the floor, there was no coming back

At this point, she’d have to work all night just to have something for the wedding tomorrow. It wouldn’t be what the bride asked for, and it would ruin her reputation. Not only hers, but also that of the owners of Good Eats, since they were the ones to recommend Erin in the first place.

Not only that, this would be a giant setback in Erin’s plans for buying this house. There was no way she’d be able to charge the bride for a cake that wasn’t what she asked for. Between doing it pro bono and buying double supplies, it would set her back significantly.

This was a nightmare.

When the initial shock of what had happened wore off, Erin’s body started to shake. Her fingers trembled as she bent down to pick up the cake from the floor. She barely registered Logan ushering her children out of the kitchen. Once she was alone, she allowed the tears to fall freely.

When Logan saw the tears forming in Erin’s eyes, he knew it was time to get Samantha and Parker out of the kitchen. What he planned to do, he still wasn’t sure, but it was better if they didn’t see their mom like that.

He hadn’t been around the family very long, but they’d been through a lot. The closer he got to the children, the more protective he felt. He wanted to shield them from any more pain and sorrow as much as humanly possible.

Logan grabbed their hands and led them away.

“Where are we going?” Parker asked, his feet moving quickly to keep up with Logan’s swift pace.

“Is Mama going to be okay?” Samantha said.

Logan didn’t know the answer to either of those as he led them out the front door. “Have a seat for a minute.” He pointed to the porch swing.

The children sat as Logan wiped off the frosting that had gotten on his clothes after he’d bumped into the cake. The whole thing still didn’t feel real, and he tried to figure out what he was going to do as he cleaned up. He managed to get most of the frosting off and rinsed his fingers under the hose when he was satisfied that he wasn’t going to make more of a mess. As he shook the water from his hands and walked back up the stairs of the porch, his stomach growled.

After working and playing outside all day, he was hungry. He was sure the kids were too. With the wedding cake in pieces on the floor, there was no way Erin was going to be thinking about dinner—for the children, or herself. He doubted she’d be thinking about anything other than tomorrow’s wedding.

He turned to the kids. “Are you hungry?”

They both looked at him with blank stares.

“I was thinking it might be helpful to your mama if we got something to eat. What kind of pizza do y’all like?”

Parker sat up. “Rock Man and I like pepperoni.”

Logan raised his brows at Samantha. “What about you?”

She shrugged. “Cheese.”

He chuckled. “Okay. What about your mom? Do you know what she likes?”

Please don’t let it be something completely different. Logan couldn’t imagine coming back with a stack of pizza boxes because everyone had different tastes.

“She likes cheese too,” Samantha said.

Logan clapped his hands together. “Great. Why don’t we go down to the pizza place downtown and grab a couple of pizzas for dinner tonight so your mama doesn’t have to worry about it?”

Both of the children nodded as they pushed off the wooden swing .

Then it was settled. There was only one problem. He still didn’t have a car, and he didn’t think it was a good idea to disappear with Erin’s children without letting her know. He’d learned his lesson after teaching Samantha to ride a bike, and Logan imagined it would be even worse if he took the kids after something traumatic like the cake falling.

He pointed at Samantha and Parker. “Stay right here. I’ll be right back.”

The house was still as he entered through the front door. Unsure of what he’d find when he found Erin, Logan carefully made his way back to the kitchen. Erin was sitting on the floor next to the fallen dessert. She wasn’t bothering to clean it up. Instead, she sat cross-legged sobbing uncontrollably. Her entire body rocked with each new wave. It made his chest ache to see her like this.

He cleared his throat, hoping to alert Erin of his presence without startling her.

She hastily wiped her cheeks with the back of her hands before she looked up at him. “I, uh ... hey.”

Logan shuffled on his feet. He felt horrible that he’d been the one to actually knock the cake over, even unintentionally, but he didn’t think “I’m sorry,” was enough to cover what had just happened. He rubbed the back of his neck. “I thought I would take the kids to go get some dinner ... pizza ... if you don’t mind.”

She stared back at him, her eyes red and puffy.

Logan wanted to crouch down and pull her into his arms. He wanted to squeeze her tight and tell her everything was going to be okay, but he had no right. She wasn’t his, never had been. She’d always been Jake’s—his best friend’s. Not to mention, things weren’t looking so great for Erin right now. So instead of doing what his gut told him to, he said, “I still don’t have a car.”

She closed her eyes and nodded. “The keys are by the front door. You can take mine.”

Logan lingered, waiting to see if Erin would say anything else. When she didn’t, he grabbed the keys on his way back outside and found the kids right where he left them. “Okay, let’s go.”

The children crawled into the back seat of the station wagon. Logan sat in the front and looked at them through the rearview mirror. “Ready?”

Samantha met his eyes. “Parker needs help with his car seat.”

Logan closed his eyes so that she wouldn’t be able to see his embarrassment. Of course, Parker would have a car seat at his age. Logan walked around to the rear passenger seat and looked at the straps of Parker’s seat. His eyes narrowed as he tried to figure out how this contraption worked. Parker tucked his arms through the black straps and looked up at Logan. After fumbling for a few moments, Logan was sure that he had Parker buckled in correctly.

He got back into the driver’s seat and started to pull out of the driveway .

“I wanna listen to music,” Parker said, before they’d even made it onto the road.

Logan looked at the radio. There wasn’t a port for an AUX cord, only an AM/FM dial. This car was a dinosaur. “What do you listen to?”

“We listen to classical music in the car,” Samantha said.

Logan had a hard time believing kids liked classical music, but if Erin only had the radio, with no way to filter the type of music that came on the station, it made sense that she would pick something safe without lyrics. He turned the knob for the volume and classical music came through the speakers. That was easy.

He looked at Parker through the rearview mirror. He bobbed his head to the music as he looked out the window. Even Samantha looked happy as they drove down the street toward the pizza place.

Logan sat up straight in his seat. He had successfully buckled Parker and put appropriate music on. Everything was going great. They picked up the pizza without issue, Logan re-buckled Parker—faster this time—and drove home with all the confidence of a man who felt like he had a handle on things.

Until a small object came flying at him while he was at a red light. He picked it up in one hand. “What is this?”

“It’s a ball,” Samantha said.

Logan shook his head. He guessed that’s what he got for not phrasing the question better. “Obviously it’s a ball.” He chuckled. “I’m wondering why you threw it up here.”

“Parker threw it up there,” Samantha said, once again reminding Logan that he needed to choose his words carefully when talking to such young children.

He caught Parker’s guilty gaze in the rearview mirror. “I’m not mad,” Logan said, hoping not to upset him anymore after what had just happened with the cake. “But throwing balls in the car or in the house isn’t usually a great idea. You could break a window.”

“Have you ever broke a window?” Parker asked.

The light changed to green, and Logan started driving. He’d broken his share of things, but he wasn’t sure how much he should admit to Parker and Samantha. “Uh, yeah. Actually, I broke your mama’s car window once.”

“No, he didn’t,” Samantha said to Parker. “The windows don’t even have a crack.”

“No, not now,” Logan said, as he pulled into Aunt Betty’s driveway. “When we were in high school.”

“You knew her in high school?” Samantha asked.

Logan turned onto Main. “Yep. I’ve known her since before you were born.”

Parker tilted his head. “Then how come we haven’t seen you before now?”

Logan sighed. Because I was a terrible friend. “Because I lived in a city called Chicago.”

“Is that far away?” Parker asked .

Logan nodded. “Yes, it’s very far away.” The city had felt too close and too far at the same time.

“That’s okay, because now you’re back,” Parker said.

Logan felt a pang of guilt. While he’d never lied to Erin and the kids about how long he planned to be in town, he hadn’t been open about it either. Logan had been selfish in letting himself get close to the children. There was no denying that they’d grown attached to one another in his time here, and Logan was going to hurt them when he left. The thought of hurting Parker and Samantha was crushing, but there was nothing he could do. He couldn’t not go to Florida because he’d made the mistake of getting close to Erin’s children. He just hoped when the time came for him to leave, that they would know it wasn’t their fault.

Soon, Logan and the children were sitting on Aunt Betty’s front porch eating pizza off paper plates. Erin had opted to stay inside to clean up the cake that was still all over the kitchen. Logan had debated helping, or tagging out, but one look at her face told him that she still needed some time alone to process everything that had happened. So Logan stayed outside with Samantha and Parker. He was reaching for a second slice of pepperoni when the headlights of Aunt Betty’s Eldorado shone in his eyes.

“Well, well,” she said, walking up the steps to where he and the children sat around the grease-stained cardboard boxes. “I must say this is a surprise.” Her eyes narrowed. “Where’s Erin? ”

Logan opened his mouth to answer, but Samantha beat him to it. “The cake fell,” she said, looking down at her plate.

Aunt Betty looked at them to the door, and back again, her gaze landed on Logan. “And by fell?”

Logan stood up and wiped the dirt from his jeans. He let out a long sigh. “The cake is currently on the floor of the kitchen. It’s unsalvageable.”

Aunt Betty’s hand flew to her chest. “But, the wedding.”

“I know.” Logan nodded. He waved his hand at their make-shift picnic on the porch. “I didn’t know what to do, so ... ” His voice cracked. He was surprised by how helpless he felt in all of this. How much he wanted to help.

“Oh, Logan.” Aunt Betty pulled him for a hug. “You did good. Taking care of the kids was the right thing to do.”

He wasn’t so sure. He still felt horrible leaving Erin alone inside to clean up the mess while he ate dinner with her kids. He ran his hand over his face.

“I’ll stay out here with them if you want to go check on her?” Aunt Betty tipped her head toward the house.

Logan nodded.

He wiped his face with a napkin and went inside. The sound of banging of cabinet doors and heavy footsteps came from the kitchen as Logan made his way through the house. When he entered the room, it was still a disaster, just one of a different variety .

Erin no longer sat on the floor in a pile of ruined cake. She was pulling ingredients from the pantry and different shelves. Logan tried to make sense of the commotion, and spotted the cake. It was still on the floor, just pushed into a corner so it wasn’t getting stepped on as she hurried from one spot to another.

Logan was sure she hadn’t registered his presence yet, and he stood in the doorway and watched as she measured flour in a large mixing bowl. She added a few other things to it before throwing some sticks of butter into the stand-up mixer. With the push of a button, the machine was in motion.

When Erin turned, she spotted Logan. Their eyes locked, and her feet stopped so suddenly, her body struggled to stop in time. She started tilting forward and Logan took a step toward Erin to catch her.

She fell into his arms, her body stopping mere inches from his. As she righted herself, Logan’s hands caught on her waist. He knew she should pull them away, he had no right touching her like that, but he couldn’t seem to move. Erin didn’t notice, or she didn’t care, because she stood rooted in place, her face tipped up to look at him.

She gave him a strained smile. “Hey.”

A corner of his mouth lifted in an almost smile. “Hey.”

They stood like that looking into each others’ eyes for a moment before Erin seemed to remember herself. She stepped back, out of his gentle grip, and brushed her hands over the skirt of her apron.

“You’re making a new cake.” It was obvious but Logan wasn’t sure what else to say.

Erin bit her bottom lip and nodded. “I have to.”

“Will you be able to recreate it?” His voice trailed off as he asked, afraid to know the answer. Baking and decorating a wedding cake in less than twenty-four hours was a herculean feat, even he knew that.

She took a deep breath. “No, but they can’t not have a cake on their wedding day.”

He picked up some larger pieces of cake from the ground and threw them in the trash hoping it wouldn’t upset Erin too much to see her hard work thrown away. He turned the water on to wash his hands. “Do they know?”

Erin closed her eyes and shook her head. “Not yet. I tried calling, but it went to voicemail. My guess is they’re busy with the rehearsal dinner.”

Logan couldn’t imagine the thoughts that must be going through her mind as she waited to talk to the bride. There was a real possibility that the couple would be so angry that they wouldn’t want her cake. Yet, here she was frantically working in the kitchen to make sure she had something to give the soon-to-be-married couple tomorrow. For better or worse.

He admired that about Erin. She’d always been determined, stubborn. And she’d always wanted to do the right thing. Logan was glad to see those things hadn’t changed over the years.

“I think I’m going to go for a much smaller cake. Just a simple smooth frosting,” Erin continued. “And then I’ll have a couple of sheet cakes we can hide in the back. After they cut the cake, and they bring it back for the caterers to slice it for guests, we can serve sheet cake.”

“That’s really brilliant.”

A pink tinge appeared on her cheeks. “A lot of people do that for weddings. I wasn’t going to do that for this wedding because they wanted something grand, but”—she shrugged—“I don’t have a lot of options.”

Again, Logan felt a tremendous amount of respect for the woman standing in front of him. She hadn’t stayed on the floor, wallowing in self-pity. No, Erin had allowed herself to cry and then gotten back up, determined to make the best of her situation—something Logan imagined she had a lot of experience with lately.

While Erin busied herself with making batter and pouring it into cake pans, Logan decided he could help by tackling the dishes that were overflowing in the sink.

Once the water was good and hot, Logan got to work washing measuring cups, frosting tips, baking pans, and anything else that needed to be cleaned. As he went through the mind-numbing motions, his mind went to Samantha and Parker. They were in good hands with Aunt Betty. She’d always had a way with children and would keep them occupied without worrying them about their mama, while Erin caught up as much as possible.

As he put another wet dish on the rack, the sound of Erin’s phone ringing had him sneaking a glance in her direction. He watched as she answered the phone. Even with the water running, he could hear the screaming coming from the other end of the call. As expected, the bride was not happy with the current turn of events.

Erin grimaced as she listened to the woman yelling at her. She walked out into the hallway to finish the call. Logan couldn’t hear what she said, and that was probably for the best. He had no business listening to her grovel about something that was beyond her control.

He decided to keep his head down and continue to clean while Erin dealt with that. He put another dish on the pile of precariously stacked dishes. It took him a couple of tries to get it to stay, and Logan took that as his cue to move onto something else for a while.

Erin would clean the counters, but she might not want to after the conversation she was currently having. So Logan tossed the discarded eggshells and grabbed a rag to wipe the loose flour and sugar that coated the counters.

He was just finishing up when Erin walked back in, tears filling her eyes .

Logan set the rag down and moved toward her until he was only a few feet in front of her. She wouldn’t meet his gaze.

“That bad?” he asked.

She sniffed. “Nothing I wasn’t expecting.”

“What did they say?”

Erin avoided his eyes, but answered his question. “They said I was unprofessional and they couldn’t believe that they hired me. They plan on contacting Good Eats and letting them know how I ruined their special day.”

Logan’s temper flared. How dare they say that to Erin. “I know that the situation isn’t ideal. But it’s not your fault. You are an amazing baker.”

Erin’s “Okay,” was less than convincing.

He reached out and touched his fingers to her chin. When she didn’t pull away, he tilted her head up so that she was looking at him. “I mean it. They have no idea how amazing you are. That woman is a bridezilla.”

That earned a small smile from her.

“The only question is whether or not she deserves a cake after the way she talked to you.”

“She’s upset. I’m sure she didn’t mean all those nasty things she said.”

Logan wasn’t sure about that. Some people looked for any excuse to be angry at the world, but he waited silently for Erin to continue .

“Besides, I said I was going to do it. I want to be the kind of woman who does what she says she will.”

The fact that he statement mirrored what he’d said at the Wilsons’ wasn’t lost on him. He understood Erin’s need to see this through. He nodded. “Okay. Then tell me what to do.”

She looked up, her eyes red. “What do you mean?”

He snorted. “If you think I’m going to let you do this by yourself, you’re crazy.”

Her brows lowered. “I don’t understand.”

The words, “What are friends for?” were on the tip of his tongue, but he couldn’t say them. He’d been a terrible friend for the last ten years, though, at the time, he was sure he was doing the right thing by leaving. Now, he wasn’t so sure. He should have at least come back when Jake was dying. He saw that more clearly now than he had since he’d been in Frostford. The Lord certainly had a way of making Logan see how badly he messed up. He wanted to make it up to Erin.

There were things he could never take back, but he had a strong desire to prove he wasn’t the same man he used to be.

He looked down at Erin, who was still looking at him, waiting for an explanation for why he was helping. He took a step back and had a hard time looking at her. His eyes went to the oven, where several round cake pans filled the racks. “Yeah, well, I did knock the cake over. ”

She let out a strained laugh. “If you think you’re responsible for knocking over the cake, then you’re the one who’s crazy. I saw what happened, and I know it was an accident.” She tilted her head. “But if you’re willing to help, I’m surely going to need it.”

“Of course.” Logan was ready to roll up his sleeves and do whatever she needed.

She surprised him by taking off her apron. “I want to spend a few minutes with Samantha and Parker. I need them to know that I love them and that everything is going to be okay. I’d like to tuck them in.” Erin bit her lip. “But it would be really great if you kept cleaning the kitchen.” The words came out like a question, almost like she was afraid of asking him to do more.

“Erin,” Logan said, her voice firmly enough that she would know that he was being serious, but he hoped there was enough tenderness that he wouldn’t make her cry again. “I want to help. If that means I wash dishes all night, that’s fine.”

When her eyes started watering, Logan worried he’d been too firm. He started to apologize. “I’m?—”

Her arms circled his waist as she pulled him close into an embrace. “Thank you,” she said into his chest. “Really.”

He cleared his throat and wrapped his arms around her. “You’re welcome.”

Logan knew this was dangerous territory. He should have been more careful. Careful not to grow close to Parker and Samantha. Careful not to hold Erin like this. But even as warning bells were ringing loudly in his mind, he still held Erin close. He knew this was going to end in more heartache but he couldn’t force himself to stop.

After several moments of holding each other in the quiet kitchen, Erin stepped back and turned toward the stairs. Logan stood and watched her leave before he grabbed a dish towel and started drying dishes. He heard Erin’s gentle steps as she went up the stairs to the children’s room.

Once the dish drainer was clear, he started washing again. His mind raced with what had just happened and what it would mean. What was he going to do? How was he going to leave again without hurting the woman he loved? The children he’d come to love.

Between his racing thoughts and the sound of running water, he barely registered Erin’s return.

“Wow. You’ve gotten a lot done.”

Logan turned to see Erin walking in with a piece of pizza in her hand.

“I hope you don’t mind. Now that I’ve had a chance to stop, I’m pretty hungry,” she said.

Logan shook his head. “Not at all. I’m glad you’re taking care of yourself.”

She leaned against the counter and took a bite. She closed her eyes as she chewed. “I don’t think pizza has ever tasted this good.”

Logan chuckled. He was sure it was cold and gross by this point, but you’d never know it by the way she seemed to be enjoying it. “I’m sure you’d say that about anything after the day you’ve had.”

She smiled around another bite. “I think you’re right. I’m just happy I didn’t have to cook.”

“You know ... if you have a day where you don’t wanna cook, I could ... I could always make something.” As he stumbled over the words, he wasn’t sure where they’d come from, or why it had taken him so long to offer.

Her eyes widened. “You can cook?”

He shrugged. “Not like you. But it’s edible, and it would give you a break.”

She lifted her hand to her mouth to hide the smile forming on her lips.

He liked seeing her smile. She didn’t do it enough. “Just let me know if you want a night off, okay?”

Erin looked at him for a moment. “Okay.” She popped the last of her crust into her mouth and walked past Logan to wash her hands in the sink. As she dried them on the towel, she said, “I think it’s time to get back to work.”

For the next few hours, the two worked together to finish the cakes. As they worked together, they fell into easy conversation that passed the time. This was the most comfortable Logan had felt with Erin since he’d been in Frostford.

And that was both exciting and terrifying to him.