They started to walk toward the lane. Her eyes darted to the left, as though she was checking if anybody was there.
“My car’s in the lot,” he said, pointing at the cracked pavement at the back of the church.
He looked at her, the silence of the November evening curling around them like mist. Her eyes locked with his, and for a moment it felt like his heart had forgotten to beat.
“I’ll see you later, Logan,” she said, giving him a tight smile.
He nodded. “Drive safely.” He didn’t add that she had precious cargo to worry about.
Courtney smiled at him. “I always do.”
She turned and started walking up the lane, her hips swinging, her dark curls bouncing with every movement. For a moment he watched her, desire shooting through him like it always did when he was near her.
He was going to have to work on that.
Letting out a long sigh, he walked back to his car, climbing into the driver’s seat and pulling the door closed. Then he dropped his face to the wheel, his brow pressing against the soft leather, and let out a growl of frustration.
Happy Thanksgiving. By the time the next one comes round, you’ll be a daddy.
Chapter Eleven
She’s pregnant. The words echoed around his head, hitting the sides like a pinball on acid. Logan sat in his car in the driveway outside Gray’s sprawling ranch house, leaning his head back against the headrest, his eyes closed for a moment.
Breathe. He needed to breathe. There had to be some way to figure this out. That’s what he did; took problems, twisted them around, and made them into opportunities. There was never an issue he couldn’t solve.
Not with the business.
Not with his friends.
Even regarding his love life he’d figured out the problem with the help of his therapist. His problem was he couldn’t give a woman what she wanted. So he’d learned to be up front. Not promise something he couldn’t give.
Like being the father to a child who’d need all of his attention.
Lifting his head up, Logan yanked at the driver’s side door and climbed out, rolling his neck to ease the knots in his muscles. The graveled pathway crunched beneath his feet as he walked up to the porch, stepping between the rows of pumpkins that Maddie must have laid out on the steps.
Pressing the doorbell, he inhaled a lungful of cool autumn air, but it did nothing to help regain his equilibrium.
Courtney was pregnant. The words echoed in his head again, starting off the whole chain reaction of tight jaw, shallow breaths, and aching chest.
“You made it.” Gray’s wife, Maddie, grinned as she opened the door, one of the twins on her hip as she stepped aside to let him in.
“Bro!” Tanner walked into the hallway, his face lighting up when he saw Logan standing there. Behind him was his wife, Van. The pretty blonde lifted her hand in a wave.
“Thank god you’re here,” Tanner said, pulling his brother into a hug. “Becca wants us all to go to Gray’s studio for another damn karaoke competition.” He wrapped Logan in an enthusiastic hug. “You’ll save me, won’t you?”
“No he won’t.” Becca joined them in the hallway, pushing Tanner aside so she could hug Logan. “Because he knows what’s good for him.” She looked up at Logan. “Hey, are you okay? You look really pale.”
“I’m fine.” Logan’s voice was gruff. “Just tired, is all.” He gave his sister a tight smile. “I don’t suppose I can go and freshen up, can I?”
Maddie nodded. “Oh, of course. We’ve got you in the guest room on the first floor. In the room next to ours.” Presley started to cry on her hip. Or was it Marley? Logan wasn’t completely certain. Whichever of his nephews it was, they were loud as hell. “The twins inherited Gray’s voice,” Maddie told him. “Neither one of them came with a volume control.” She turned her head to the side. “Gray, can you come and show Logan to his room? Presley needs a diaper change. He stinks.”
Gray walked into the hallway, holding Marley in one arm and a bottle of wine in the other. His face split into a smile when he saw Logan standing by the front door. “I didn’t realize you were here,” he said, passing the wine bottle to Becca and reaching to hug Logan with one arm. “Sorry, bro. Was topping up dad and Aunt Gina’s wine.” He glanced at Becca. “Dad’s fallen asleep three times already. Sis, you may regret agreeing to be their designated driver.”
“I always regret being the designated driver.” Becca sighed. “And yet somehow I always get suckered into it.”
Logan took another deep breath, trying to center himself. The hallway echoed with the chatter of his family as Maddie and Gray started talking about what time to put the twins to bed, and Becca, Tanner, and Van started to discuss the set up in Gray’s recording studio. Presley had stopped crying, and was now pulling at Marley’s shirt, as though trying to take it off.
This was home. This was real. This was his family. For the next two days, maybe he could ignore the ache that was pulling at his stomach, and pretend his meeting with Courtney hadn’t happened.
Gray and Maddie swapped babies, and Gray inclined his head at Logan. “Come with me,” he said, heading toward the bedrooms. Logan followed him, his overnight bag in his hands, biting down a smile at the way Presley was looking at him over Gray’s shoulder, his head bopping up and down as they walked down the hallway.
Gray and Maddie’s kids were cute. Two little blond bombshells who were certain to be heartbreakers one day.
For a second, Logan wondered what his and Courtney’s baby would look like. If it was a girl, would she have Courtney’s dark curls and piercing blue eyes? Or would she look like a Hartson, with hair that grew darker
