They were approaching town—the other end of which would lead down to the lake—and Melanie nodded toward an upcoming intersection.
“Do you mind if we stop at the grocery store?” she asked.
“Sure.” He signaled the turn and started to slow. “What do you need?”
“Saltines,” she replied. “Renata says they help with the morning sickness.”
For Tilly. He glanced over at her, feeling a wash of warmth. She always had been sweet. Even after Adam’s infidelity and the divorce, even after Tilly had put her through the wringer for years, she was doing her best by the girl. Did Tilly know how good she had it? Because he’d experienced a whole lot less goodwill with his own stepmother.
“What?” she asked, catching his lingering gaze.
“You’re a nice person, Mel,” he said.
“It hasn’t gotten me too far,” she said.
“You can look yourself in the mirror,” he said. “Not everyone can do that...”
Himself included. He used to think he was a good guy, too—a solid husband, a devoted dad. And then his wife’s death had blown that self-image apart. Because Caroline had seen him a whole lot differently... His father had said that he was like him, and that stung, because Logan had worked a lifetime to be nothing like his old man. Was that the part of Logan that had disappointed Caroline so much?
When they got back to the lake house, Logan turned off the engine and he looked over at Melanie.
“You want to come in?” she asked.
He did...which wasn’t wise to admit, even to himself, but he really did want to go inside and spend more time with her.
“You sure you don’t have something better to do?” he asked.
“Not at all,” she replied. “If you’re only here for a few more days, I suppose we should make the most of it.”
At least this wasn’t entirely one-sided. He felt a smile tug at his lips.
“You like having me around,” he said.
A blush touched her cheeks. “What do you want me to say here?”
“That you like having me around,” he said with a short laugh. And he did. In fact, before he went inside with her, he needed to hear that. He couldn’t just be some ghost using up her time. She met his gaze and the lines around her eyes crinkled as she smiled.
“Fine, I like having you here,” she said. “And it’s nice to—get to know you as an adult, I guess. See you all put together.”
“Ditto,” he murmured. Because she’d been beautiful as a teenager, but she was a stunning woman. There was something about a woman who’d had time to mature and grow as a person. It deepened her beauty in unforeseen ways. But he’d have to make sure whatever he was feeling stopped there.
They got out of the truck and headed to the front door. When they came inside, he spotted Tilly on the couch covered by a light blanket. She was snoring softly.
Melanie shut the door quietly behind them. “I’ll give her the crackers and the vitamins when she wakes up.”
Logan glanced around, and Melanie gestured to the deck outside the window.
“Do you want to go outside?” she asked.
“Sure.”
Melanie deposited the grocery bag and her purse on the counter, and then tiptoed through the living room to the sliding door. He followed her out onto the deck and she shut the door quietly behind them.
The view was breathtaking. The turquoise water sparkled in the midday sunlight, and the mountains rose rocky and jagged all around them. The air was cooler by the glacier chilled water, and overhead he could see one lone circling eagle.
“Do you ever get used to this view?” he asked.
“Nope,” she replied. “Not even after all the years of coming out here.”
Logan leaned his forearms against the railing, looking down to the rocky beach and the rickety wooden wharf that stretched out into the water. Across the lake, he could see the lodge—the windows shining with reflected sunlight.
“I didn’t want to come back,” he admitted quietly.
“Me neither.” She shot him a smile. “Funny how life works, isn’t it?”
Melanie leaned against the railing next to him, and he moved over a couple of inches so that his arm rested against hers. It felt good to be standing this close to her—to just have her next to him.
“You’re a good stepmother,” he said, looking down at her.
“I’m not so sure about that,” she replied. “When Adam and I separated a year ago, I didn’t put a lot of effort into staying connected with the kids. I didn’t think I had a right to. And the kids made it pretty clear who they chose—”
“But Tilly’s here,” he reminded her.
“Which only proves I should have tried harder,” she admitted. “Tilly turned to Simon and now she’s pregnant. How much of that is my fault for not being there for her?”
“You can’t beat yourself up,” he said.
“Can’t I?” She tipped her head onto his shoulder for a moment, her sun-warmed hair smelling like citrus. He closed his eyes, enjoying the sensation of her leaning against him...
“None of us are perfect,” he said quietly.
“You seem to be pretty close,” she said.
“My wife didn’t think so.” He hadn’t really meant to say so much, but it had come out before he could think better of it.
“You stayed together, though,” she countered. “You were both faithful. Why are so you unsure about that?”
“My wife kept diaries,” he said, his voice low. “A few weeks ago, I stumbled across a box of them that I’d put aside. I started to read them, thinking it would be nice to relive some of our memories. I read about how she met me, about her pregnancy with our son, about those early days of mothering...about our life together as the years rolled on. And you know what I found out? I was a jerk.”
“I don’t believe that,” Melanie straightened. “I really don’t.”
“She wrote it all down—every
