“Note taken,” Logan said quietly. He broke eye contact and cut another piece of enchilada. “Susan, this is one of the best meals I’ve ever had.”
Jeni’s mom smiled sheepishly. “Thank you. You’re welcome for dinner anytime.”
“How long will you be in town?” Logan asked.
“We plan to stay until after Andrew’s first chemotherapy treatment. Valerie needs to go home soon after that, regardless. She’s got two young kids, you know. Rhonda is able to work remotely, and I’ll stay as long as I’m needed.”
Jeni bit back a snort. Jeni and Andrew and their mother had different definitions of what it meant to be needed.
“He’s lucky to have all of you.” The sincerity in Logan’s voice was unmistakable.
“Tell us about your family,” Valerie prompted. “You’re from Kansas City, right?”
The muscles in Logan’s forearm flexed, like he’d tensed up. “Yes, I was born in Kansas City. Lived here my whole life except for the four years in Lawrence at KU and one year in San Francisco for an internship. It’s hard to imagine living anywhere else.”
“What do your parents do?” Jeni’s mom asked.
He cleared his throat. “My mom’s a teacher. And my dad was an accountant.”
It wasn’t the first time Jeni had caught him referring to his dad in the past tense. He hadn’t readily offered much about his family, and she’d refrained from commenting. Not everyone was as open as she tended to be, and while she was curious, she figured he had reasons to keep that information to himself.
“Is he retired?” Valerie asked, and Jeni mentally slapped her.
“Um, no.” He shifted in his seat. “He passed away. When I was in college.”
Valerie grimaced. “I’m so sorry.”
All the women around the table regarded him with sympathy, and Jeni had the urge to touch him. If he died when Logan was in college, it had been several years, but still, from the few times he’d mentioned his dad, she’d gotten the impression they were close.
Jeni’s mom broke the silence. “Well, the next time you come for dinner, bring your mother too. The more the merrier.”
Logan smiled. “Thank you. I think she’d like that.” He adopted a grave expression. “But you should know she’s a loyal Chiefs fan. My dad had season tickets, and before I came along and started stealing her seat, she used to go to all the games. She’ll probably wear red just to be contrary.”
Rhonda leaned forward to put her elbow on the table and said nothing. Her competitive nature rivaled Jeni’s, and she’d probably make sure she was wearing a Broncos jersey the next time Logan came over.
“Red’s fine. We’ll pretend she’s a Huskers fan,” Valerie said.
Logan laughed.
The conversation flowed easily through the rest of the meal, though somehow it kept coming back to Jeni in some form or another. An embarrassing moment or an achievement of hers or something she and Andrew had gotten into. She was apt to blame Logan, as it seemed he kept steering things in that direction.
She leaned toward the latter and thought back to their conversation at his house last night, when they’d come to a standstill in their relationship. She hadn’t come up with a plan of attack yet but figured seducing a man wasn’t so difficult and had assumed she’d slide into a pretty easy win.
Jeni knew better than to underestimate the competition, but she hadn’t expected him to show up and charm his way into her house and use her family to further his agenda.
He wasn’t playing fair.
If he thought he’d get away with it, he had another thing coming.