Chapter 13
To say the drive home was a bit awkward was the understatement of the year. Logan tapped his hands against the steering wheel as he watched the exit signs fade into a sea of black through his rear-view mirror.
“Is the temperature okay in here?” Logan asked. The silence made his skin itchy. He moved to adjust the temperature up a bit to fight against the outside cold.
“I’m fine.” Brooke stared out her passenger side window.
Fine. The universal word in a woman’s vocabulary which meant the complete opposite.
“I appreciate you coming with me.” His clothes suddenly made his skin itchy and restrictive, he wished he had turned down the temperature rather than up.
“I know,” Brooke said without glancing his way.
His mind scattered, Logan forgot how close he was to the city.
“Don’t miss the exit.” Brooke pointed at the approaching off-ramp only yards away.
“Right.” Logan changed lanes rapidly and exited the off-ramp. “Thanks.”
He drove through the streets of downtown Chicago toward Brooke’s apartment. “We never even ate.” Logan tapped the heel of his hand against his forehead. Their food, no doubt, was still sitting on his sister’s kitchen table, long forgotten. “You have to be starving.”
Brooke shrugged.
“Do you want me to drive around and find a food truck?” Logan offered.
“No.” She shook her head then clasped and unclasped her hands in her lap. “I want to go home.”
Logan nodded, taking the upcoming left which turned onto her street. He pulled up to the curb in front of her building.
“Here you are.” Logan stopped the car.
She unbuckled her seatbelt and opened her door before he even put the car into park.
“Hey,” Logan cupped her elbow which halted her in place. She finally twisted to face him. “I didn’t kiss her if that is what you were wondering.”
“Well, that’s a relief,” Brooke said, deadpan.
“But—” Logan scrubbed a hand down his face.
“But?”
He exhaled. “Shelby did want to go out with me again. She said it might be good for us to catch up and see if things are really done between us. She regrets leaving me like she did.”
“That’s what I thought.” Brooke scooted out of her seat and stood.
Then she peered back into the car. Her hand gripped the corner of the door, making her knuckles turn white.
“Text me if you’re still up for faking it at Aubrey and Ian’s wedding.
” She didn’t wait for a response but shut the door and wandered into her building.
Logan slumped in his seat as he watched her disappear inside.
How had he managed to make such a mess of things?
Up until tonight, he didn’t care to see Shelby ever again.
He liked Brooke, but he’d be lying if he didn’t admit seeing Shelby messed with his head.
The bottom line was he didn’t know what he wanted anymore.
And he knew if he didn’t figure it out soon, he stood to lose everything.
He drove the rest of the way to his apartment. Then he proceeded to have a very fitful night of sleep. The blaring ring of his cell phone awoke him the following morning.
Groggily, he swiped it from his bed stand and saw Danielle’s name flash across the screen. He bolted up right and accepted the call. “Is everything okay?” He asked as he rubbed his eyes with a closed fist. “Is Lily doing better?”
“Lily is fine.” Danielle paused, a wail sounded in the background, and he heard her ask Michael to come in and assist her with the twin.
“The medicine seems to be working. Her fever has broken. I think by tomorrow she’ll be fully on the mend.
Thanks again for your help.” Then almost as an afterthought she added, “and Brooke’s. ”
His elevated heart rate slowly pumped back down to normal. “Any other reason you are calling me at this unearthly hour on the one day I don’t start until noon.” He didn’t even attempt to hide his annoyance.
“Sorry, we’ve been up all night. I don’t have much concept of time right now.”
“No, duh.” He waited.
He knew Danielle was itching to ask about Shelby, but he wasn’t offering any information.
Frankly, he didn’t even know what he wanted to do.
Things were new with Brooke too. His emotions seemed to be on a teeter totter going back and forth.
Then before he fell asleep last night Shelby had already sent him a text message.
He hadn’t responded, because he didn’t know what his heart cared to do.
“Shelby texted me and let me know you chatted.”
“My, you’ve been busy.” His jaw clenched. Why did Danielle think she had a say in his relationship?
“She offered the information,” Danielle explained.
“And you couldn’t wait to call me,” Logan countered.
“I want you to end up together,” Danielle stated. “Sue me.”
A symphony of baby cries cut through their conversation. “Thanks for calling. I’ll let you get to those babies.” Logan hung up without waiting for her to respond.
What if he lost Brooke in the process of seeing if there was anything with Shelby?
The thought made his stomach churn and bile tickle the back of his throat.
Ugh, Shelby. The past still remained the same, Shelby dumped him then hightailed it out of town without a thought.
Shelby could’ve contacted him anytime, but she didn’t.
He let the idea marinate. Instead, she waited until he had a successful job and a girlfriend—wait was Brooke his girlfriend?
He paused for a minute and let the idea of Brooke as his girlfriend settle. Losing Brooke, he could fathom it.
Then as if Shelby knew his mind, a text came through from her even though he ignored her first attempt to contact him.
I’ll be in the city today to meet up with an old friend. Do you have time to grab a drink this evening?
Logan groaned and flopped backwards onto his bed. His indecisiveness would be his ruin. Did he want to risk things with Brooke? No. He scrolled up to his text chain with Brooke and held off on answering Shelby. Instead, he typed out a message to Brooke.
Thanks for coming with me last night. I’m sorry for how things ended. I don’t need to go out with Shelby to know I want to explore things with you. When can I see you again?
After he sent the text message to Brooke, he placed the phone on the bed beside him.
His body jumped with nervous energy. He forced himself to get out of bed and pace the small space of his bedroom.
Then he tried to remember if Brooke was at the hospital or home today.
Why hadn’t he listened closer when she told him her schedule earlier in the week?
His phone dinged. Logan nearly toppled over as he slid across his bed to snatch up his phone.
So, what do you say? For old times’ sake.
He rubbed the back of his neck and toggled back to the text thread with Brooke. The message had changed from delivered to read, but she hadn’t responded. Resolved, he typed out a message to Shelby.
It was nice to see you last night, but I’m with Brooke. I’m really happy with her, and I don’t want to do anything to jeopardize our relationship.
The cursor dots of the text thread with Shelby danced at the bottom of the screen. Then they started and stopped so many times, he wondered if she’d simply never respond. Finally, a message appeared on the screen.
I understand. I’ll see you around.
Okay.
He exited out of the text thread and breathed a sigh of relief. Tension in his shoulders made his neck ache so he cranked his neck back and forth to lessen the pain. Did he still have the possibility of salvaging things with Brooke? He sure hoped so.
Then his phone dinged again while simultaneously ringing. Brooke still hadn’t responded to his message. Instead, Danielle sent him a text message while Mom called him. He knew Danielle only wanted to rail into him about Shelby, so he opted to answer the phone.
“Hey, Mom,” Logan answered. “What’s up?”
“Oh, honey, I’m checking to see how everything is going, especially after last night when you and Brooke had to drive out to check on Lily. Tell Brooke thank you for us.”
“I will.” Logan braced himself for what was coming. “Was the concert at least nice?”
“Yes,” Mom said, then she spoke for the next five minutes about the songs, instruments, and musicians.
After Logan listened, he asked, “Mom, was there another reason you called?”
He already knew the answer was a resounding yes.
“Ahh, yes,” Mom paused, “I wanted to make sure you’re still with Brooke, that’s all.”
“Who told you we weren’t together?” he hissed.
“Danielle mentioned you’re going to go out with Shelby.”
“Unbelievable,” he muttered.
“But I worry you might throw things away with Brooke. I think she makes you happy.”
He stilled. “You like Brooke better?”
“It’s not my life—” her voice faded off. “I don’t want to interfere.”
“Wrong, you called me to do exactly that.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Now spit it out.”
“Fine,” Mom huffed. “I like Brooke better. Anyone who dumps my son then leaves without even an explanation is off my list. Shelby is only interested in you now because she’s divorced, alone, and finally realizes what a fool she’s been. But a mother never forgets how someone treats her child.”
“Okay.” His phone kept buzzing with incoming text messages from Danielle. “Then can you get Danielle off my back, she keeps pushing me to go out with Shelby, but I’m not interested.”
“I’ll talk to her. You know they were friends back in high school.”
“I know,” he sighed. “Still, I need you to talk to her for me. I don’t have the time or energy to deal with her. I need to call Brooke, things didn’t end great last night, and I need to hopefully fix things.”
“I’ll get Danielle to stop,” Mom sighed.
“Thanks.”
Logan said goodbye to Mom and ended the call. A long string of text messages had come through from Danielle. He chose not to respond. The one person he wanted to hear from, Brooke, remained radio silent.
He inwardly groaned as he trotted into his bathroom to shower. The entire time he showered he devised his plan on how to fix things with Brooke. He only hoped it worked.