36. Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Six
LOGAN
It had been almost five days since that Thursday morning when I sent Izzy and my girls away. It was what I’d decided, so I had no right to be miserable. But fuck did I miss them.
I’d video-called with Nikki and Alice once or twice and came to their soccer game on Saturday. Honestly, it wasn’t much different than when they were with Maggie for long stretches, but the idea of this going on for weeks or months made my gut twist.
I’d texted and called Izzy every day, and we grabbed lunch after the soccer game. She didn’t seem angry, but I could tell she was holding back. I’d expected her to yell at me when I told her my plan. But she didn’t. Not sure if that made it worse or better. I couldn’t tell if she was mad at me or not, and there wasn’t much I could do to fix it if she was. Keeping her and the girls safe was my priority. I had to hope she understood that.
I wiped the front of the rig with the rag. This was the third time I’d wash the damn thing since the fire above my garage. Something about the task calmed my racing thoughts. Usually. Today, it wasn’t really helping.
Jay appeared in my peripheral vision, standing silently, watching me.
I turned to him with a raised brow. Was this the conversation where he would tell me his sister deserved better? Because right now, I might agree with him. She didn’t deserve to be dealing with a serial arsonist who had decided I was the problem.
“Spit it out.” I threw the rag down in the soapy bucket. “Let me guess. You're pissed I’m dating your sister because she deserves better than the life I can give her.”
He flinched back. “Dude. I was just coming to see how you’re holding up. This situation sucks and you’re both miserable.”
I narrowed my eyes at him before finally relenting and sitting down on the bumper of the rig. “She’s really miserable?”
“Definitely wasn’t like herself last night when she stopped by to visit.”
God, I hated this. For both of us. “Not sure what else I can do. You even said yourself the arsonist is sending me a message. I refuse to put her and the girls in harm's way.”
“What does Izzy think?”
“What do you mean?”
“Have you guys talked about what you’re going to do if this keeps going?”
I stared blankly at him. “No.”
Truthfully, I had no idea what the answer was. I missed Izzy and my girls, and it’d only been five days. I didn’t even want to imagine how I’d feel if this went on for more than another week or so.
He let out a huff and shook his head at me. “That explains why she wasn’t forthcoming last night about the whole thing.”
“You think she’s mad?”
He shrugged. “Women expect us to use our words. I've even learned that, and you're older than me. And you were married.”
I ran a hand down my face. “I need to know they’re safe. That he can’t get to them.”
“Yeah, man. I get that. But you have no idea if this is going to go on for weeks or even months. Are you going to keep them away that long?”
“What else can I do? I can’t be there with them all the time. What if he tries setting my actual house on fire next time?”
Jay stared at me for a long minute before speaking again. “Everything we’ve seen so far says this kid isn’t trying to hurt anyone.”
I glared at Jay, knowing what he meant but not liking it. “He’s twenty, not a kid. And setting anything on fire runs the risk of getting someone hurt.”
Jay’s gaze softened. “I know, I just meant he’s not intentionally trying to hurt people. He could have set your house on fire, but he knew people were inside.”
“I don’t want him anywhere near my house, Izzy, or the girls.”
“Then get one of those crazy-ass security systems Dylan has. You’d be alerted if anyone gets close enough.”
“Already ahead of you. Someone comes out tomorrow to install it.”
He smiled. “That’s good. Now you need to talk to Izzy and actually discuss what you should do next. Communicate and make a plan together as a team.”
I sighed and let my head fall forward, cradling it in my hands. Now that I thought about it, sending them away should have been more of a conversation, not me making a unilateral decision for everyone. I expected her to push back, and was so relieved when she agreed so easily, I just went with it.
“And for the record, I think my sister deserves someone who will protect her, take care of her, and make her happy. From what she’s said over the last two weeks, that’s you. And I have no problem with it.” He smirked. “As long as you don’t break her heart, because then I’ll have to kick your ass.”
“Wait…” I tilted my head. “You’ve known we were together the whole time?”
It was clear the night of the fire we were together, and I figured he suspected something in the weeks before, but I had no clue Izzy had confirmed it.
“My sister is an oversharer and doesn’t keep a secret well, so, yes. I got an earful the night we drove together to the hospital, and at least three conversations about how things were going since then.”
An exasperated huff left my mouth as I stared at him. “Why didn’t you say something?”
“It was more fun watching you sweat.” He shrugged. “She loves you and made it clear I needed to get on board. So this is me getting on board.”
“She told you that?” My chest warmed at the idea she loved me. Because, fuck, I loved her so much it hurt.
His lips twitched. “She didn’t need to. I’ve never seen her this happy with any other guy she’s dated.”
I glanced at my watch. I still had almost seven hours left on shift. Seven hours before I could see her. Talk to her.
“Take one of the utility vehicles,” Jay suggested, easily reading my thoughts. “Adam’s here, he can drive the rig if we get a call.”
I popped to my feet. “You sure?”
He nodded. “Yeah. I’ll go let Owen know. He’ll understand.”
“Thanks, man.” I slapped his shoulder as I moved past him and headed toward the small truck.
I needed to see my girl and tell her how crazy I was about her. And pray she wasn’t too mad at me.