Chapter 34
Logan
As I sat on the front stoop, clapping my muddy cleats together, Howie stared at me.
I put my shoes down and went to pull him out from under the bushes.
He’d been under there since the snowstorm when I moved him to be safe.
But it was warming up with spring in full bloom, and he needed to enjoy the sunshine with the rest of us.
“Hey,” Ava said. “I thought I heard you out here. Just get back from practice?”
“Yep, so I stink, really bad.”
“I don’t care.”
She came closer, waiting for me to finish pushing the statue into the soft grass along the edge of the lawn. Once I straightened, she put her arms around my neck, kissing me deep. I’d started getting really used to coming home to this.
“Macie made her chicken marsala again,” she said. “I even helped, best I could, anyway.”
She gestured to her wrist, still wrapped up.
“Isn’t your appointment tomorrow?” I asked.
She nodded.
“I’m taking you,” I told her.
“Macie already said she could. I didn’t know if you had practice.”
“I’ll miss it, I’m taking you. It’s at 4:30, right?”
She nodded again. She was finally getting the stitches out. It had been almost two weeks since that terrible night. And we’d been through a lot since then.
We’d grown a lot in our relationship in that short time.
It was still new, we were still new. But we felt strong. It felt like we were on the right track.
“C’mon, I’m starving,” I said as I grabbed her and led her inside.
Ava went right back to helping Macie with dinner. I marched upstairs to get cleaned up. I would not subject anyone to me sitting at the table in my condition.
After a quick shower and some clean clothes, I felt like a brand-new person. As I exited my room, Becca came down her stairs.
“Hey, big guy,” she said. She stopped on the landing between the flights, leaning against the wall. “Got a minute?”
“For you, always. What’s up?”
She gestured to my room and we walked inside.
“Just wanted to check in with you, ya know, with everything going on. Wanted to make sure you’re still focusing on, well, you even though you’re with Ava now.”
I could only appreciate her concern as I leaned against my desk, contemplating how to explain it to her.
“I mean, you know I love that girl, but you come first, big guy,” she continued.
“Hey, I’m good, Bec, I promise. I’m more than good.
” I smiled, hoping she would understand I was telling the truth.
“Ava and I started our thing a while ago, before she was willing to tell anyone about us. When we started hanging out, I realized the chaos in my brain quieted, which was the opposite of what my therapist said could happen.” I went to my bed and sat next to her.
“And then, when Ava wanted to end what we had, yeah, I struggled. But what I learned about myself was I could deal with the stress of it all without turning to booze. I learned so much about myself through all of this. And I came out on the other side of it OK, and I was damn proud.”
She reached out and gripped my forearm, giving it a squeeze.
“Logan,” she said. “That’s truly amazing. Like, freaking awesome. I am so fucking proud of you, dude.” She threw her arms around my neck and hugged me hard.
“Thanks,” I told her.
“And I am happy for the two of you, especially if you’re happy. You guys are so freaking cute together.”
She was already at the door, ready to head downstairs, waiting for me to join her. As we took the stairs together, she looked back at me with a sly grin.
“Not for nothin’, but I called it. You can ask Lanie. I said back in January that I thought the two of you would get together.”
I barked out a laugh.
“Bullshit.”
“Ask Lanie,” she said.
Lanie would back her up, or would she?
“Hey, Logan, can I borrow your truck?” Ava asked as she came into my room.
She looked adorable in her cut-off denim shorts and her tiny pink tank top. So adorable that I’d prefer she stay here with me instead of her going wherever she needed to go.
“I can drive you,” I told her.
“No, I need to do this without you, and Macie isn’t here, so I can’t use her car.”
I dug around in my backpack and found my keys. Without handing them over, I walked out the door and started for downstairs. She quickly followed.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“No offense, babe, but you can barely get in my truck. I want to make sure you can drive the thing without me.”
The sun blinded me as soon as I opened the door, and I was glad I had shorts on as well.
Spring was turning out to be a nonexistent season around here, as it already felt like summer.
When I got to the driver’s door and opened it for her, I grabbed her hand, helping her up.
Gave her a little boost on the ass at the same time.
“Hey,” she said as she shook her ass from my grasp.
Her tiny legs were nowhere near the pedals.
“Let’s get the seat adjusted for you. There’s a second setting over here that you can use to save the setting, if you want.” I pointed to the buttons on the side of the driver’s door. As she worked on the adjustments, forward and up, I watched her from the side.
And I realized I was falling in love with her.
No. I was already in love with her. Because something as mundane as us fixing the seat settings made me giddy to be around her.
Wherever she was going in my truck without me, I didn’t want her to. I wanted to go.
I didn’t want to be without her if I didn’t have to.
“Did you hear me?” she said.
“No, what?”
“I am a little nervous, this thing is huge.”
Her tiny smile made my heart swell.
“I’d feel terrible if I did anything to your truck. If you drive me, you have to promise to not ask to see what I get, and to give me time when we get home to do something.”
Using my finger, I crossed my heart as a promise. Her curt nod confirmed she reluctantly agreed, and she slid across the bench to the other side.
“Where to?” I asked.
“The nearest home center.”
Well, that didn’t give me any clue as to what she was up to.
When we pulled up, she got out of the truck without a word, only a kiss and a smile.
I played on my phone for a bit, and she was in there for a while.
So long I started getting concerned. Just when I was about to call her, I saw her tiny frame come bouncing through the double doors of the store, a couple paper bags in her arms. She opened the door to the back seat, put the bags on the floor, and hopped back in the truck.
“All done,” she announced.
“OK,” I said. “That’s it?”
“Well, until we get home, yeah, and then I need a few minutes. You’ll have to go in your room.” She smiled. “You’ll see, don’t worry.”
I did as she asked when we got home. While I waited in my room, I used the time to study. But I struggled to focus on anything other than the sounds I heard coming from out front.
Finally, I heard her footsteps. My door was open so I met her in the hall, my curiosity piqued at this point.
“Ready?” she asked.
I followed her downstairs, and instead of turning toward the living room or kitchen, she opened the front door. She gestured for me to go outside, which I did. I looked around, unsure of what I was supposed to do next. She guided me down the path a few steps, then spun me around.
That was when I saw it.
Rather, saw them.
Next to Howie was another frog statue. A female frog statue, complete with a bow on her head.
Surrounding them were tons of flowers, beautiful flowers Ava planted around them in their own little garden. There were daisies, poppies, marigolds, and a bunch I didn’t recognize.
She came up next to me and wrapped her arms around my middle.
“You like it?” she asked.
I didn’t want to cry, and I felt on the verge, so all I could do was nod as I squeezed her against me.
“Everyone deserves their other half, so I wanted to give Howie his,” she said. “Just like you gave me mine.”