Chapter 9
Logan
We had lived together for two weeks, and there were two things I knew for certain.
One: The tension in this house was so thick, I could spread it on toast every morning and eat it for breakfast.
Two: Lachlan never stopped working.
Some mornings, I’d wake up to an empty house, the faint scent of his soap still clinging to the hallway from his bathroom, proof he’d already left for the firehouse hours ago.
Then he’d come back in the afternoons, and rather than collapsing on the couch like a normal human being after a long workday, he’d go straight for the side by side parked by the side of the house to deal with whatever farm duties were calling his name.
At first, I’d thought he was avoiding me.
Which, I couldn’t blame him if he was because the situation wasn’t ideal.
But the more I saw him drag himself in at night—covered in dirt, half-asleep, sometimes curled up with Tony on the couch, not even making it to his bed—the more I realized he just didn’t know how to stop moving.
Watching him wear himself down like that made something inside me twist. I wasn’t sure if it was sympathy or the kind of quiet ache that came from wanting to take care of someone who never asked for help, but you could tell they needed it.
I was on my second cup of coffee when I poured his.
I’d been handing him black coffee every morning since I’d moved in because, well, he just seemed like a black coffee kind of man.
Broody. Efficient. The type of guy who probably thought “cream and sugar” were signs of weakness.
But this morning, I wanted to actually ask.
We were supposed to be fake dating, after all.
I should at least know how my fake boyfriend took his coffee.
He was kneeling by the front door, finishing the knot on his boots, when I said, “How do you like your coffee?”
He looked up at me as he walked over, the kind of slow, unhurried movement that always made my heart do something very stupid and fluttery. He took the mug from my hand, murmured a quiet, “Thanks,” and took a long sip. Then he set it down again with a faint grimace.
“With cream and honey,” he said finally, reaching for his jacket slung over the back of the barstool.
I blinked. “But I’ve been giving it to you black this whole time! Why didn’t you say anything?”
He shrugged, slipping into his jacket, a small grin tugging at the corner of his mouth. “Didn’t want to complain. I was grateful for whatever you gave me. Besides”—he paused, looking at me with that tired, steady gaze of his—“I don’t usually get mornings where something good is waiting for me.”
My stomach did that ridiculous little swoop thing again. I tried to play it cool, but I could feel my cheeks warming anyway.
“Oh,” I said softly, which was a useless response but all I could manage. “Well, consider the menu updated. Cream and honey from now on.”
He gave me a quiet chuckle as he headed for the door, rattling off his list of morning chores. I decided to speak up before he headed out of the house for the day.
“Could I come with you? You know, help out?”
“Don’t you have your own job to do?” he asked, arching a brow, sounding grumpy, but I was beginning to realize this man always sounded that way, and something about that was also hot. It just added to his gruff, sexy exterior.
“I do, but right now I’m caught up on my current project—the Henderson wedding, I’ve already got the flowers and invitations ordered. Can you believe they want peonies at the end of December? Such a spring flower for a fall, or I guess winter wedding, but I—”
“Logan—” He pinned me with his stare.
“Right, to the point, I’m all caught up on my end, so I figured I could help you out today, plus being seen us together more often in our whole fake dating situation and all will probably look good.
” We’d seen the cops twice since I’d moved in, but they seemed to already be backing off. Our little lie was starting to pay off.
He pondered it a second before he responded, “Alright, but you need to dress warm. I know fall is just starting, but its already getting cold out.”
“Yeah, okay, Dad,” I clapped back as I walked over to the living room to put my shoes on and started to head to the door. Lachlan eyed me up and down, assessing my outfit, a black tank and jeans, before blowing out a huff.
“Suit yourself.” He walked outside and I followed, calling for Tony.
“Whoa, I said you could go. You didn’t mention anything about the dog.”
“Well, we’re a package deal, and besides, you own Evergreen Haven. It’s not like we’re going somewhere he wouldn’t be welcome.”
“I’m the owner. He’s unwelcome,” he deadpanned.
“You don’t count. He was a part of our deal,” I dismissed before moving to the side and gesturing with my arm for him to lead the way. “Now, how about a tour of this place?”
He growled before he moved toward the Polaris side by side next to the house.
Tony hopped in the back, tongue lolling out of his mouth, while I got in the passenger seat.
Lachlan started down the first of the dirt paths through the trees surrounding his cabin, heading toward the Christmas tree farm on the other side of the woods.
Tony shoved his head through the back opening and rested it on Lachlan's shoulder, giving him puppy-dog eyes with his tongue hanging out of his mouth. Lachlan tried to nudge Tony away, but Tony just continued to get more and more in his business. I couldn’t stop my chuckle when Tony started climbing over the back seat to sit between us.
Lachlan seemed irritated, but he couldn’t hide the tiny uptick of one side of his mouth as he kept driving.
Once we made it to the thick rows of trees, Lachlan parked next to a small shed that looked like a miniature barn. He sauntered over to it and pulled out a few tools while Tony explored.
“We’ll need to weed and shear the trees today,” he said, and my eyes widened.
“All of them?” I asked, glancing to all of the rows.
“As many as we can,” he confirmed and started moving to the first fir, and I followed him. I watched him work as he showed me step by step what to do.
“Don’t you have any employees to help with all the responsibilities of this place?” I asked while we both moved onto our own row, working our own trees.
“I used to, but now it's a one-man show around here,” he answered, not looking up from his work.
“Why?”
“Employees cost money.”
“Well, what about just seasonal workers for the holidays? That would save money throughout the year, right?” He didn’t give me an answer, just kept working. “What about marketing? Maybe throwing some ads around could get Evergreen more business.”
“Again, money.”
“Oh, what about—”
“Logan.” He eyed me as if telling me less talking, more working, and I rolled my eyes and started on the next tree, and then the next one and the next one.
Eventually, I became faster than he was and, in my head, turned it into some kind of race to get to the end of the rows first. Lachlan wore his serious face initially, but once he realized what I was doing, his movements got quicker.
“Whoever finishes last owes the other a drink!” I shouted, moving on to another tree.
The work flew by until eventually Lachlan got ahead and then dropped his shears and raised his hands in the air in victory, a smile on his face that made me smile, but he went right back to his normal, grumpy self right after.
“Looks like I owe you a drink,” he said, and my brow furrowed. He nodded to a tree he’d missed, and then it was my turn to raise my arms in victory. I looked to Tony, who was living his best life sprawled out under a tree after getting the zoomies earlier.
“Looks like you’re getting a pup cup, Tony.
” His ears lifted with his name as Lachlan gathered the tools and started the trek back to the shed to put them away while Tony and I started walking to the side by side.
The afternoon chill in the air was growing colder now, and I wrapped my arms around myself.
Lachlan closed and locked the shed and then walked over to Tony and me.
He started unbuttoning his plaid shirt, shrugging it off his shoulders and then wrapping it around me without a word.
It smelled of pine and sweat and man, and all it did was make me imagine what it would be like to feel his arms draped around me again, like they’d been in the kitchen. I sat down in the vehicle.
“Thank you,” I said as he started up the engine, and he grunted as he took off toward what I assumed was the office of Evergreen Haven. It was a cabin similar to the one he lived in, but this one was a little smaller and cuter.
There were white string lights around the top that branched out and connected to posts around the trees closest, giving it a very cozy feel.
When we made it to the front, a large wooden sign was there, marking this as the entrance.
Thick posts were wrapped in garland, and there was a holiday-themed wreath on the large front door—big enough for two people to fit through.
Lachlan parked and hopped out, Tony and I following behind him.
We walked in, and the office was one large room with a big check-in desk on one side and a wide sliding door large enough for multiple people to be able to go in and out when business was in full swing.
But this place didn’t look like it’d been getting much business at all.
The desk was dusty with large stacks of paperwork all over it, and the computer had sticky notes haphazardly stuck to it.
Everything looked disorganized and messy.
“So, what are we doing here?” I asked as Lachlan went to take a seat in the office chair, and it was in that moment I noticed just how tired he looked.
Dark circles were under his eyes. His hair was mused, his shoulders hunched as he turned the computer on.
He had pulled a double at the firehouse yesterday, and it seemed today would be no different.