Tilly disappeared into her bedroom and the door shut with a decisive click. Music turned on—the message clear. She didn’t want Melanie’s help.
Mel headed back toward the kitchen. Logan sat at the table, the wine open and two glasses, half-filled, sitting on the table. He raised his eyebrows.
“She’s not feeling well,” Melanie said. “I guess it’s just the two of us.”
He didn’t answer, but he did rise to his feet in a polite gesture until she’d sat down on the chair opposite him at the table.
“You’re different,” she said with a smile. “I know you say that things don’t change, but you certainly have.”
“Yeah?” A smile turned up one side of his lips. “How so?”
“You’re so mannerly. You’re downright civilized,” she said with a low laugh. “I’ve heard marriage will do that to a guy when he isn’t looking.”
It was one of the things she’d liked about Adam. He knew how to live with a woman already—pick up his socks, remember important dates. But he knew how to hide things from a woman, too.
Logan lifted his wineglass. “To being house-trained.”
“To being house-trained.” She laughed and lifted her glass in response.
Twenty-three years had changed more than Logan thought. In both of them. Because she wasn’t the same girl she’d been all those years ago, either. Marriage might have civilized Logan, but it had opened Melanie’s eyes to just how vulnerable a woman’s heart could be. She’d lost more than a husband in her divorce. She’d lost her family and her ability to blithely trust a man to do right by her.
LOGAN SERVED HIMSELF some pasta while Melanie dished up salad, and then they switched serving dishes, her fingers lingering under his while they got their grip.
He had missed Melanie, he realized. It wasn’t like he’d spent twenty years missing her, because he’d been devoted to his own family. There had been no lingering longing there—he’d been true to Caroline in every sense. But seeing Melanie again reminded him of the way he used to feel around her—alive, vibrant, able to conquer the world. And maybe it had been a hearty dose of youthfulness that made him feel that way in high school, but seeing her again seemed to reawaken it. He felt like he could face things again. And looking her in the face, seeing that spattering of faint freckles over her nose, the way her brown eyes glowed with warmth when she smiled... She made him feel things—soft, gooey things that he probably had no right to feel anymore.
Logan took a sip of wine. It was oddly comfortable in her little kitchen. No pretenses, a ticked off teen in the other room... This was familiar territory for him, and he shot her a smile.
“Thanks for inviting me over,” he said.
“I was afraid of facing an evening with her,” Melanie said with a low laugh. “I mean, I could tell you something more appealing than that, but that girl intimidates me.”
“She shouldn’t,” he said. “You’re a successful woman. You’ve got to remember being her age—the power of youth.”
“I do. But when I was seventeen, I was dating you,” she countered with a small smile.
“That’s true... And you were just as intimidating. She’s got nothing on you.”
Melanie smiled at that. “I wasn’t quite so spoiled.”
He took a bite of spaghetti. It was perfectly cooked—just a little al dente and the sauce had a bit of spice to it that was a surprise.
“Mmm...” he murmured past the food in his mouth. “This is really good.”
“Thanks. It’s my specialty.”
“Do you know why Tilly’s here yet?” he asked.
Melanie shrugged. “She dumped her boyfriend mid–road trip, and decided to come here.”
“Like she kicked him out of the car?” he asked with a frown.
“You have to understand Simon.” Melanie swirled noodles around her fork and took a bite. She swallowed before she continued. “She’s been on and off with him for a couple of years. He’s demanding, mean and emotionally manipulative.” She started twirling the noodles around her fork again on her plate, and he ate in silence as he listened. “I’ve never liked him, but forbidding her from seeing him didn’t work. I tried—trust me. It only drove them together. He made her feel like she was the lucky one to be with him, instead of the other way around. He talked down to her, ignored her until it was convenient, and was a generally terrible boyfriend. So if he crossed a line and she finally took a stand, I’m glad.”
“Is there some forlorn teenaged boy wandering down a highway somewhere?” he asked, his own fork held aloft over his plate.
Melanie laughed at that. “She dropped him off at a bus depot. He’ll be okay. Besides, I know his parents. They’d come get him. I highly doubt he’d actually get onto a bus. Simon is a very self-entitled kid.”
“She has style.” Logan took a bite and chewed for a moment. “She shouldn’t put up with that. Graham dated a girl I really didn’t approve of when he was the same age. She was just...mean. She’d insult him and embarrass him in public. I didn’t know why he put up with it.”
“He’s not still with her, is he?” she asked.
“No...” Logan shrugged. “He figured it out on his own and broke up with her. I was so relieved. I didn’t want him going through life being treated like that. He’s a good kid—a good young man. He’s kind and smart and...deserves better.”
“Exactly,” she replied. “Tilly might be a handful, but she deserves more than Simon offers, I can tell you that.”
“What does her dad think?” Logan asked.
Melanie shrugged. “He’s never liked Simon much, but he and Simon’s father are connected professionally, so...”
“So he’s okay with it?” Logan asked.
“No.” Melanie shook her head. “He gave her whatever she wanted, and that was Simon. But on a deeper level, he wanted
