Cam shrugged, taking a sip of the water. “The other team was crap. Aunt Gina could have won against them.” He turned to the left as a fan walked up and asked for a selfie, the corner of his lip lifting into a half-grin as the man hunkered down and angled the phone toward them. “Hey,” he said. “Can you do me a favor and post it once we’re gone? I haven’t had a chance to talk to my brother for a while and I’d like to keep it here on the down low.”
“Sure.” The fan nodded rapidly, his face glowing as if Cam had just shared a deep secret with him.
“Thanks, man.” Cam shook his hand, then pulled his attention back to Logan as the man left. “So how’s the restaurant coming along? You got a completion date yet?”
“January twenty-third as long as we pass the inspection.”
“Man, that sucks. I know you were hoping to get it opened before Christmas.”
Logan shrugged. He’d long since come to terms with losing out on the lucrative holiday income. They’d been stuck in the seventh circle of zoning board hell for weeks. “Ah, it gives us more time to make everything perfect. Opening in December would be a nightmare. Half the people we’d want to invite for opening would be busy, and hiring staff at this short notice would be almost impossible.” He swallowed another mouthful of beer. “You think you’ll be around for opening night?”
“I’ll get my PA to check my schedule, but if I can be there I will.” Cam lifted an eyebrow. “Speaking of which, I got an earful from Aunt Gina yesterday about how I never come home for a visit. She thinks I should be more like you.” He shook his head. “Could you stop making me look bad, please?”
“Hey, I haven’t been home for weeks.” Logan lifted his hands up. He hadn’t wanted to go back to Hartson’s Creek at all. Not since he’d headed straight to the airport from Courtney’s cottage early that Sunday morning. Next week would be his first visit to his dad’s in a couple of months. He’d already told Aunt Gina that he couldn’t make it for Thanksgiving itself. His restaurants would be too busy for him not to be on hand to help. But by Friday they would be calm. At least until the holiday rush started up a few days later.
“Yeah, but you’ll be there and I won’t. Which makes me asshole of the year.” Cam sighed. “I asked why they didn’t come up here for Thanksgiving. I’d get you all tickets to the game.”
Logan laughed. “I can’t imagine Aunt Gina having Thanksgiving anywhere but Hartson’s Creek.”
“That’s exactly what she said.” Cam sighed. “Apparently, I’m also trying to destroy family tradition.”
“If it makes you feel any better, I can’t fly in until Friday. So I’ll be missing Thanksgiving, too.”
“But you’re going home for the weekend,” Cam pointed out. “Which is gonna make her very happy.” He raised his voice into a falsetto. “I just want all my boys home with me.”
Logan laughed at his pitiful impersonation of their aunt. “I’ll put in a good word for you when I’m there next week,” he promised. His mouth felt dry at the thought of going home. In his head, he knew the likelihood of seeing Courtney was low. The Hartson family was spending most of the weekend at Gray’s house, a family reunion of kinds, though of course Cam wouldn’t be there.
But it didn’t stop him from missing her.
“You think you’ll be going back home more often now that the restaurant’s coming together?” Cam asked him.
Logan’s brows dipped. “No. Why?”
Cam shrugged. “A few months ago it felt like you were there all the time. I started wondering if you were thinking about abandoning me and moving back. I figured you just got too busy recently to make it home.”
Truth was, Logan had been busy. Frantic meetings with the zoning board, daily updates with the construction team, and all those conversations with his accountant, shifting money around to make sure they could pay for the damn thing. He’d welcomed the distraction. Keeping himself occupied meant he didn’t have to think about her. At least not until he collapsed into bed at night and felt that weird ache in his chest which hadn’t left him for nearly two months.
Sexual frustration. That’s all it was. Since he’d left her in bed that morning, he hadn’t been with anybody else. Didn’t have the time even if he wanted to.
But the truth was he hadn’t wanted to. Courtney was just another example of how he messed up relationships. He couldn’t even hold down a casual hook up without ballsing it up.
He’d been an idiot going to cook for her. As soon as he’d heard she was sick, he’d hatched a plan like some kind of overexcited puppy. Cook for her, make her feel safe, then go to Aunt Gina’s to rest.
And that’s what he should have done, because going to bed with her had turned everything upside down. It had felt different when he’d held her, when he’d moved inside her, their eyes trained on each other like neither one of them ever wanted to let go.
It was as though he’d let a piece of him be exposed, only to have it stabbed by a knife over and over again.
He was a complication she didn’t need. When it came to her life, her husband’s family came first. He understood that. That’s how he’d been brought up after all. Family over everything.
Yet, for a moment he’d let himself wonder… And it was the wondering that killed him.
“Earth to Logan.”
He pulled himself out of his thoughts, his eyes meeting Cam’s. “Sorry, man. I was thinking about work.”
“I guess that’s my cue to get another round in. You want another beer?”
Logan ran the tip of his tongue along his lip. “I’ll take a whiskey instead.”
“Hoo boy, you really are in a funk. Okay, one whiskey coming up.” Cam
