“What?” Tashia leaned forward and said, “Seriously?”
“Oh, heavens above, it’s like a fairytale!” Lori clapped her hands together.
Harriet nodded.
“But why would you think it was Logan?”
She took out her phone and showed them L.J.’s silhouetted picture.
They all frowned at it.
“His hair is too long.” RoryLynn folded her arms in front of her. “I don’t think it is him.”
“That guy has a beard, doesn’t he?” Katie peered at the image. “Did Logan ever have a beard?”
Harriet shrugged. “I’m not sure. Maybe. There was a while when I went home to Colorado and didn’t see him for months.”
“Oh, yeah, he was dating that hippy chick, the photographer. Yeah, I think he did have one then,” Katie agreed.
“It would be so romantic, don’t you think?” Lori got a dreamy faraway look in her eye. “Wouldn’t it be perfect? Our Harriet and our Logan…”
“Hmm, so far it doesn’t have a happy ending. First, I am not one hundred percent sure this is Logan. Though his phone got a message at the exact same time I messaged L.J. this morning. He said it was his cousin, so maybe I am jumping to conclusions. Also, I’m pretty sure Logan either doesn’t remember kissing me last night, or if he does, he is so embarrassed that he is pretending it didn’t happen.”
“Hmm, well ask this Tinder guy to meet you, then you’ll know for sure.” Lori pulled her garlic bread apart, and shoved a piece in her mouth.
“I did.” Harriet sighed and leaned back in her chair. “But L.J. said his schedule was busy, and he hasn’t replied to any of my messages since.”
“I really don’t think that is Logan. Come on, Harriet, why would he pretend? Logan is a confident guy, if he was interested in you, he’d just ask you out.” Katie shrugged.
That was what Harriet was afraid of. Was she making a quantum leap? Was this all in her head? Maybe the kiss last night was just because he was drunk, and he either didn’t remember it, or he was too embarrassed to acknowledge it. And Katie was right, there was nothing in that picture, or the profile that categorically said L.J. was Logan.
But despite all that, Harriet wasn’t sure she wanted to be just friends with Logan any more. That kiss, those words he said before he kissed her… damn, they had gotten her thinking.
She closed her phone. “Yeah, you are right. Okay, Lori, I think it is your turn. Do your worst. What are you going to make me do?”
“Yes! Um, okay, give me a couple of days, because I honestly thought Wesley would be the one. I need to think about my angle. Er, you ever done speed dating?” Harriet glared at her. “No, not speed dating… I’ll get back to you. Whatever I decide, it is going to be awesome, and I am going to win that purse!”
As Harriet made her way back home, her phone pinged, and she opened up the message from L.J. Immediately her heart leaped into her mouth.
Wednesday? Eight?
Excited, she quickly wrote back. Perfect. Where?
It was a few minutes before he replied, and she was just beginning to think he had changed his mind.
Coffee at Starbucks?
He sent her a google map link and she felt a little disappointed it didn’t sound like a romantic venue. Then she chided herself because if this didn’t turn out to be Logan, she would be meeting a complete stranger off Tinder, and wasn’t it sensible to meet somewhere public?
See you then.
A few seconds later, she realized that if it wasn’t her friend, she didn’t know what he looked like.
How will I recognize you?
Don’t worry, I’ll recognize you. Oh, unless you look nothing like your profile pic.
She giggled to herself. Nope, that is me. Warts and all.
You have warts? Hmm, maybe we should just be friends. He had added a winky-face emoji.
No warts. But what about you? Who knows what you are hiding? Maybe you could send me another pic?
What, and have you bail on me! Besides, isn’t it more fun this way? Oh, and I promise you, I am not three hundred pounds, and I don’t look like Quasimodo.
Butterflies swept through her stomach. Harriet wasn’t sure if they were there because she was feeling excited or because she was having second thoughts.
14
Logan
Why the hell had he arranged to meet Harriet? He stood in front of the full-length mirror, three outfits splayed on the bed behind him but he still couldn’t decide which to wear. The more he thought about it, the more he regretted accepting her invitation to meet. Jesus, this only had one outcome. He was going to make a fool out of himself, and she was going to be horrified that the guy she thought she was talking to was him all along.
Harriet would be mad. Logan had only seen her mad once, and that was with her brother Miles. Something to do with his marriage to her friend. Hmm, he wasn’t sure what went on there, but she didn’t speak to Miles for months, and her girlfriend was history. But one thing he did know, Harriet could get real mad, and she knew how to carry a grudge.
He’d hate to be on the wrong side of that! But what if she didn’t get mad? What if she got upset? He’d seen her like that, too, with her ex. That was not a pretty sight either. That night when she was sitting in his kitchen, trash bags full of her possessions around her feet, she had sobbed half the night. What was it she had said? “What’s the point, Logan? Trust was everything. How can I ever trust another man again?”
Fuck, and what was it he was doing here? He was breaking the trust they had, he was stepping over a line, and if he didn’t think this would affect their friendship, then he was
