“All fixed, Sandy.” He winks at the nurse, then his eyes land on me and his forehead reddens.
“Are you done?”
Glad for the opportunity to run from the awkward situation, but equally disappointed that I’ve only come away with more questions, I follow Logan outside.
I want to ask him about the accident. Or tell him the truth about why I came. But for some reason, my mouth has stopped working. I can’t get it to move.
Logan stops outside the doors and faces me, his expression thoughtful. “That story…” he begins, looking at the ground.
I bite my lip. “It’s ours. Yeah…” I confess.
Logan scratches the back of his neck and meets my gaze again, guilt is clearly written on his face. “Listen. Do you really want to do this thing?”
“What thing?” I ask, lifting both brows.
Logan cocks his head to the side and smirks at me.
“Pretend to be together for the reunion.”
I gulp. I had totally forgotten about that, but before I can scramble my thoughts together to string a sentence, my head is bobbing up and down.
Logan stuffs his hands in his pockets and puffs out his cheeks. “All right, then. You’re staying at your grandparents’, right? I’ll swing by to pick you up at seven.”
I start to twist my hair around my fingers. “Why are you…?” I begin, but Logan’s eyes stop me in my tracks. He clears his throat and looks away.
“I just figure I owe you. After the way things ended…” He clears his throat again. I nod, sensing that he’s not keen to keep talking.
“It’s cool what you did by the way,” he adds. I offer a nervous grin. He jabs his thumb in the direction of the care facility. “Those folks don’t get many visitors. I’ll bet they appreciated seeing you.”
I shrug the compliment away as my stomach swirls with guilt. I wish I was there to do an act of service. The truth is, I came to snoop. If Logan knew that, his opinion of me would be very different.
“I’ll see you tonight, then. Don’t be late.” I wink at him and try my best to keep my head held high as I walk back to my car… Ignoring the sickly sensation swirling around in my stomach.
8
LOGAN
Listening to Josie talk about our past—and it was obvious the story was about us—brings up a whole basket of mixed emotions.
The desire to talk things through with her and finally bury the hatchet has grown in me. I don’t have time to think about it, though. Tonight is the reunion and I’m taking Josie as my plus one.
I don’t know how I feel about it, but every time I think about walking into my old high school with Josie on my arm, my stomach does a flip.
I break into a nervous sweat as I pull up outside her grandparents’ bungalow and adjust my tie, wondering how long I’ll have to put up with it before I give up and yank it off.
“Logan!”
I climb out of the car and give a warm smile to the elderly woman walking down the drive. She reaches out with two shaking hands and plants kisses on my cheeks like we’re in Europe. “You look so handsome.”
I smile at the compliment. Just as I’m about to open my mouth to reply, the front door opens, and my eyes divert to look at Josie.
She’s standing in a long silver gown covered in millions of sequins. She’s like a tall glass of bubbly, with dark wavy hair cascading down her shoulders.
“Hello,” I say in a hollow voice. Seeing her in that killer dress has knocked the wind out of me.
“Hey, yourself,” she says, her eyes wandering over me. I hold out my arm and her Grandma starts taking pictures of us like we’re going to the prom.
The school is exactly how I remember it. The halls are lined with metal lockers, and dusty cabinets show trophies and medals from students long gone. Ghosts of the past haunt me as I head for the gym.