Chapter 12
Logan
Jasper nearly tackled Logan before he made it inside the rental cabin.
The pup was beside himself with excitement, his latest toy—a stuffed candy cane Grandma Charlotte no doubt acquired in his absence—dangling from his mouth.
The scent of freshly baked cinnamon rolls filled the air, and his stomach rumbled as if on command.
He was so determined to get Haylee back to her daughter this morning that they hadn’t bothered with breakfast.
“I missed you too, buddy. Hope you were good for Grandma Charlotte?”
Grandma Charlotte gave him a thumbs up from her spot at the small dining room table wedged between the open kitchen and living room. Her phone was tucked against her shoulder as she focused on the legal pad she was actively jotting down notes on.
“What’s going on here?” Logan asked the dog quietly as to not disturb the call. Jasper titled his head, seemingly oblivious.
“You can have everything here by the second week in January?” Grandma Charlotte asked, as though confirming.
Everything what?
“Yes, that’ll do just fine.”
“What’ll do just—” Logan spotted the plush moose ornament on the floor near the rocking chair Grandma Charlotte preferred and made a beeline for it before Jasper could cause any further damage to the little guy.
One eye was missing, and the plaid scarf around the moose’s neck sported a couple of bite marks. But it was otherwise unscathed.
“Jasper, did you do that?”
The pup dropped his ears, as though to say, Sorry, Dad.
“We don’t eat the ornaments, okay?”
Jasper licked his hand in apology.
“Logan, you’re back,” Grandma Charlotte announced, causing Jasper to hop onto all fours and bark once.
He retrieved the stuffed candy cane he abandoned only moments ago and ran around the living room with it, tail wagging at dangerous speeds.
The ornament incident was all but forgotten now that he was reminded Dad was finally home.
“Everything okay?” he asked, glancing at the legal pad on the table that sat beside a paperback with a bookmark sticking out of it. He couldn’t make out anything she wrote down, but he could see that the lined yellow page was filled with notes.
“Oh, it’s more than okay. Why don’t you get your coat off, and I’ll make you a cup of hot cocoa. We can get all caught up.”
“You’re sure nothing’s wrong?”
“Everything is splendid. I want to hear about your trip with Haylee.”
“My trip?”
His cheeks heated and he turned away to shrug out of his coat while hiding the blush. Grandma Charlotte would surely make something of it if she spotted his reddening face. He took his time hanging his coat on the hook near the sliding door.
“How are the Webbers?”
“Oh.” He let out a silent laugh of relief.
This wasn’t as much about Haylee as it was about their lunch with Marianne and Jim.
Of course Grandma Charlotte wanted to know how Dylan’s parents were doing.
They often asked after one another. “They were doing okay, but I’m not sure how they are now, honestly. They’re in shock, to put it mildly.”
“I suppose that’s understandable.”
Logan dropped onto the loveseat that faced the fireplace and the moose-themed Christmas tree. No matter where he ended up after this, that tree was coming with him. He could no sooner part with it than he could his favorite leather jacket.
Jasper crawled onto the couch, dropping the wet, half-chewed candy cane in his lap.
“Thanks, buddy,” he said, rubbing him behind the ears.
“Do they want to meet Melly?” Grandma Charlotte asked.
“They don’t even want to admit she’s real.”
“Oh, dear.”
“They’re good people. Really they are,” he said to her, mostly trying to convince himself of this.
He’d known the Webbers since his freshman year at West Point.
They’d always treated him as though he belonged.
Jim even once offered him a job if he ever moved to Anchorage.
If Dylan wanted Logan included in their family outings, they happily obliged.
So, why hadn’t they treated Haylee with the same respect?
“What’s troubling you, Logan?” Grandma Charlotte handed him a cup of cocoa in a Santa mug and took a seat in the rocker across from him.
“They were cruel to Haylee, and now I don’t know if I should . . .” He let out a heavy puff of air as he scrubbed a hand through his hair. “I’m not regular Army anymore,” he said, and a weight lifted as the words left his lips.
“What?”
“I separated a month ago.”
“But you have orders.”
“I’m in the Reserves now. I chose the Anchorage post so I could be closer to Dylan’s parents. I thought I should keep an eye on them. I thought it was the least I could do.”
“The least you could do? What are you talking about?”
“I thought I owed it to Dylan to keep an eye on them. But after the way they acted, how they treated Haylee, I’m not so sure anymore.”
“Why would you feel that way? Like you owed Dylan?”
“Because I feel responsible that he’s gone.
” The admission slipped out of its own accord, before Logan could stop it.
He’d never spoken the words to anyone before, but now that they were loose, he couldn’t seem to stop.
“Dylan volunteered for a patrol that night. He wasn’t supposed to go.
It wasn’t his turn. I should’ve tried to change his mind, but I just let him go without saying anything. ”
“That wasn’t your decision, sweetie.”
“I know, but what if I’d gone—”
“Logan James Riley, you listen to me,” Grandma Charlotte said in her stern yet compassionate grandmotherly voice as she leaned forward in her rocking chair.
“There is nothing you could have done to change anything that happened. If it was Dylan’s time, nothing you did differently would have changed that.
We don’t know why these things happen. We don’t know why we lose the ones we love when we do.
” Her voice cracked for the first time, filling him with enormous guilt for even bringing this up. She’d lost so much, too.
“Grandma—”
“The best way you can honor your friend now is to live. Live your own life. For you.”
Haylee’s smiling face flashed in his mind, the memory of waking up with their hands still joined over the top of a Golden Retriever this morning strong.
He could so easily picture a life with this woman he hardly knew.
Did that make him lucky that he found her .
. . or crazy that he could see an entire future with someone he only met last week?
He was on the fence about that one, and likely would be for a while.
“You like her, don’t you?”
“I thought about seeing if I could get reassigned,” he said, eager to change the subject. He liked Haylee, more than he should. But he wasn’t ready to sort out those feelings. Not yet. And not with Grandma Charlotte. The fewer ideas she got about the two of them, the better.
“Reassigned where?”
“To Phoenix. There’s a Reserve post there—”
“Why ever would you want go there?”
“To be closer to you. You’re the last family I have left—”
“You can go to Phoenix if you really want, but I won’t be there. Not anymore.”
“What?”
“I’m moving.”
“Where?”
“Here.”
“Here?”
“Not in this cabin,” Grandma Charlotte said, laughing.
“There’s a condo that just came open in the cutest little retirement community here in town.
It’s just two blocks from the library. The book club ladies told me all about it yesterday.
They go fast, so I had to act right away.
That’s why I was on the phone. I’m having my things shipped here. ”
Logan sat in stunned silence, secretly relieved he had waited to make that call. Once the request for reassignment was made, it was hard to take back.
“I know it sounds impulsive. But that whole sentiment about honoring your past loved ones by living? That was your grandpa’s nugget of wisdom.”
“But your whole life is in Arizona.”
“I have friends I’ll miss, sure. But now I can host them here for a visit.
And this way, I’ll be closer to you without smothering you.
We’ll have all the time in the world to visit the North Pole without feeling rushed.
I’ve already met some of the most wonderful ladies right here in Sunset Ridge, and they promise this town is the place to be.
There’s practically a festival every month. I love festivals.”
“You’re really doing this?” Logan asked, not upset, just shell-shocked.
“I already changed my return flight. I’ll go back after New Year’s to get more clothes and such. The movers are sending the rest. But it’s a done deal. I’ve signed the lease, and I’ll be moving in Christmas Day.”
“Christmas Day?”
“Well, technically it’s mine on the twenty-third. But I thought it would be more symbolic if I moved in on the twenty-fifth. Gramps would think so.”
“Yes, he would.”
He let the news sink in as he sipped his cocoa.
Stuffing from Jasper’s candy cane flew past his face as the pup tore into his toy with renewed enthusiasm, as though showing off now that Logan was home.
With Grandma Charlotte moving to town, he and Jasper would have every reason to come visit, and often.
He certainly didn’t hate the sound of that.
“I’m sorry about the lunch,” Grandma Charlotte said, shifting the subject on him as she rocked in the chair. “They might just need time to come around.”
“Haylee’s parents were more than understanding when she told them. This was the polar opposite. It was harsh.”
“Haylee’s parents have known Melly all her life.
Jim and Marianne didn’t even know the little girl existed until yesterday.
I’m not excusing their behavior, but keep in mind that they’re still mourning the loss of their son.
This is their first Christmas without him.
They might not view this unexpected news as a gift. That could change, or maybe it won’t.”
The horrified look on Marianne’s face would be forever burned into his memory.
“Haylee didn’t deserve their reaction,” he said. “It was cruel. I’ve never seen them that way.”
“She was lucky to have you there to support her.”
“Was it a mistake to tell them?”
“I think Haylee did the right thing,” Grandma Charlotte said between sips. “Their reaction is out of your control.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”
“I’m not saying to welcome them with open arms should they come around. Boundaries are important, and I’m proud of you for sticking up for Haylee when she needed you most. Just . . . maybe don’t deadbolt that door just yet. Time really does heal all wounds, if you let it.”
“Thanks, Grandma.”
“Don’t thank me yet. I plan on putting you to work Christmas Day.”
Logan chuckled at that, his tension finally falling away.
“Hey, you busy tonight?” he asked. “I got invited to help Haylee and Melly decorate Christmas cookies. I’m sure they’d love to have you, too.
” Though Haylee hadn’t specifically mentioned Grandma Charlotte, he knew she’d welcome her without question.
It might be better for them to have a buffer until he sorted out his future—and most importantly, his growing feelings for her.
He couldn’t stop thinking how naturally they just . . . fit last night. How easy it was to imagine Haylee as his actual wife. Until meeting her, he hadn’t given marriage much thought. He assumed he’d settle down one day, have a few kids. But that notion seemed years in the distance.
But now . . .
“You go on ahead. There’s reindeer bingo down at the auditorium tonight. The ladies are taking me out.”
“Reindeer bingo?” Jasper quirked his head at the inquisitive way Logan said it.
“I told you, this town has it all.” Grandma Charlotte collected his empty mug. “Now, put your coat back on. I want to show you my new digs.”