“IT’S A VERY OLD family recipe, my dear,” Aunt Glen said, shuffling into the kitchen followed by Thea, whose light footsteps jingled with each step. “Easy enough to make for two experienced cooks like ourselves.”
Logan looked up from the newspaper he’d picked up in town after he registered the girls in school. “You’re up again,” he said to his aunt. “Are you all right?”
Aunt Glen hadn’t gotten out of bed for more than bathroom trips in months, claiming to be too dizzy to get up anymore. When Doc Johnson hadn’t identified anything to treat, Logan had figured Aunt Glen was as heartbroken over Deb as he was. For several months he’d been bringing dinner to her bedroom on a tray rather than encouraging her to get up. He’d assumed Lexie, Jackson’s wife, did the same when Logan was gone.
Heck, he didn’t want to get out of bed every morning, why should Glen?
“Logan, you’re wound up tighter than an eight-day clock.” Aunt Glen sounded offended. Her chin-length hair floated in wild, dry wisps around her face. “I won’t be lazing about with company around. We’re going to bake some cookies.”
Thea tilted her chin, seeming to dare him to challenge the activity. All traces of joy were absent from her demeanor this morning.
“We don’t need any cookies,” Logan said firmly. What he really meant was that they didn’t need any of Thea’s smiles. Or the cheerful blue vase on the kitchen table or the red-and-white-checked wool blanket she’d lain over the back of the couch.
“Nonsense. We haven’t had any sweets around here in ages.” Glen shuffled past Logan, bringing a strong aroma of urine. Her knit pants were wet.
Thea met his questioning stare with an I-told-you-so look.
Logan’s stomach knotted, with guilt this time, not helpless anger.
“Now, when Deb ran the kitchen, we had sunshine and baked goods and music and…” Aunt Glen trailed off, her expression lost.
Logan was at his aunt’s side immediately. “It’s all right. Come sit down.”
“Deb?” Aunt Glen asked in her tremulous voice as she gazed around the kitchen as if searching for Logan’s sister. “Did she go for a walk?”
“It’s okay.” Logan helped Glen into a chair.
“What’s wrong?” Thea asked softly.
Logan ignored her, focusing instead on Aunt Glen.
“When was the last time I saw Deb?” Glen mused. “I can’t seem to remember.”
The memory of Deb’s pale, drawn face as she lay on her deathbed upstairs floated to the forefront of Logan’s consciousness. He struggled to draw in air. He fought the memory as hard as he’d fought any fire. Against his will, his gaze met Thea’s.
Concern filled her brown eyes. And something else, too.
Understanding.
“Glen, did you and Deb ever bake cookies together?” Thea asked.
Logan stared at Thea in amazement. Half the time he didn’t know what to say to Aunt Glen, and here Thea had chosen just the right words. Thea could have been rubbing Logan’s incorrect assumptions like egg all over his face, yet she chose to help him instead.
Glen repeated Thea’s question as if she needed the extra time to process her words. Then her misty eyes cleared. “We did. Every year at Christmas, we’d bake cookies and frost them as pretty as you’d ever see in one of those…those…”
“Magazines.” Thea supplied the word smoothly, sparing Logan a compelling glance that seemed to encourage him to join the conversation. “I bet Deb and her friends ate them right up.”
Don’t talk about Deb. Don’t think about Deb. Keep the outside world and their probing questions out and you’ll be okay.
But still he wondered, why had he survived numerous brushes with death and Deb had succumbed to this illness without much warning or fight?
“No. Deb’s friends were always on diets. Logan and Jackson ate most of them.” Glen had returned far back into the past, to a time when Logan was a teenager.
“They ate them by the handfuls, didn’t they?” Thea was seemingly unconcerned that Glen had slipped further from the present.
Logan couldn’t find enough air to say a word.
“Those boys had stomachs like bottomless pits.” Glen chuckled.
“Would you like to make cookies with me today?” Thea asked.
“I’d love to.” Glen frowned. “I’m sorry, what was your name?”
“Thea. We played cards last night at the pizza parlor.”
“Ah, one of Logan’s girls,” Glen surmised with a wink at Logan. “The first time I met Eldred, I asked him if he played cards. He said he didn’t. It wasn’t until later that I learned what a shark he was. Now, my Logan, he’s a different sort. A handful, to be sure, but you can trust him.”
Thea’s cool stare over Aunt Glen’s head indicated she’d trust him about as much as she would a used-car salesman.
Logan almost missed Thea’s smile now that it was gone. Even her bells were silent.
“Where has that book gone to? Logan, you know the one I mean?” Aunt Glen craned her neck to and fro. “It’s pink-and-white-checked. It used to sit on the counter. And it has recipes in it.”
“The cookbook,” Logan translated as he retrieved it from a cupboard, admitting, “I don’t think we have any eggs. I may have to go to the store.” He doubted Glen would remember she wanted to make cookies in fifteen minutes, so he probably wouldn’t have to go or have Thea entertain his aunt while he did so. He knew Thea needed to study.
“Did you post the job when you were in town?” Thea asked, hands on hips. Amazingly, she’d managed to move without making a sound.
“Yeah.”
Thea gave him a chilly look, her lips firmly pressed together. In the dimly lit kitchen, Logan couldn’t make out her freckles. Undoubtedly, she wanted to take the job posting for a live-in nanny down. Couldn’t she see he was doing her a favor?
The phone trilled as he shook his head, sparing him the need to defend himself.
“Mr. McCall? This is Miss Kalidah from the elementary school.”
The girls. Logan sucked on his cheek. “Are they okay?” he managed to ask, imagining all sorts of mishaps, regretting not breaking the silence Tess had imposed between the two of them.
“They’re fine, Mr. McCall.” The cool way Miss Kalidah said it, Logan knew that the twins were in trouble. He washed a hand over his face in an effort to suppress his frustration.
“Mr. McCall, I’m afraid there’s been an…event. The girls won’t be spending the rest of the day in class. I’m sure you understand protocol. When can you pick them up?”
“I’ll be at school in less than thirty minutes,” Logan said. The girls had never been in trouble when Deb was alive.
Glen stood at the kitchen counter assembling flour and sugar canisters. Logan felt Thea’s eyes upon him.
“I need to pick up the twins from school.”
“So soon? It’s not even lunchtime yet.” Glen turned to study the clock.
“There’s been an event.” Logan used Miss Kalidah’s word.
“Well, in that case, run along and bring home some eggs,” Glen said, as if the girls came home early from school every day.
“But—”
“I said run along.” Glen glared at him.
Logan reached for his jacket, still hanging on the kitchen chair where he’d left it earlier. He glanced at Thea. He didn’t want to leave her here alone with Glen again, but what choice did he have now? “I’m sorry. Could you… Would you mind…?”
“We’ll be fine.” There was no trace of a smile in Thea’s voice. No dimples. No eyes creased in welcome. Just a hint of sadness as her gaze flickered over Glen. She’d be the one cleaning Glen up, not Logan.
Humbled, because he’d just proved Thea had been right when she’d said Glen couldn’t take care of the twins, Logan couldn’t take his eyes off Thea’s red sneakers.
“HOW DID YOU KNOW how to handle Glen?” Logan asked when Thea followed him out the door.
She shrugged, watching the little terrier dash gleefully around the yard, as if he was in a race with some unseen opponent. “When I was a kid, our downstairs neighbor was the same before she moved into a home. I watched out for her sometimes.”
Her fists were propped on her hips again. He was coming to recognize it as a barometer of her temper, yet her next words came out softly. “I can’t believe you’ve been leaving her alone.”
“She’s been fine so far.” Logan realized what a fool he’d been. Every aspect of his life was imploding and he’d practically begged Thea, a cross between Mary Poppins and Martha Stewart, to leave.
“Don’t do it again,” Thea commanded a little too forcefully for Logan’s taste.
“I didn’t ask for your help.” Logan’s temper had resurfaced. The sadness over his sister, his frustration about the girls, his desire to return to his normal life. It all blossomed into one nasty-tasting foul state of mind.
Thea raised her eyebrows.
“You know what I meant.” Needing an outlet for his anger, Logan thrust his finger at Thea. “I didn’t ask you to poke your nose in my business. I didn’t ask for your advice. I’ve been doing fine without anyone else’s help for a long time.” That was a lie. He was so far from fine it was scary. Adding the twins to his life seemed beyond comprehension.
Thea was unfazed by his outburst. If anything, her voice softened. “Logan, you don’t have to do this alone. I can help. And there are people…agencies,” she corrected herself.
Logan sucked in a deep breath and prepared to tell her it was none of her concern, when his brain registered the freckles dusting Thea’s nose. Then he opened his mouth and uttered the words he hadn’t said out loud. Ever. “My sister is dead. I’ll always be alone.”
Thea’s lips formed a little, round oh.
Logan began to shake.
All these months spent grieving over another loved one being sent to heaven before their time. Months of having to watch Aunt Glen drift as miserably through her daily existence as he went through his. The pain of letting the girls go. And he couldn’t do anything to fix anything, because in a few days, he was due for daily training in town and soon he’d be sent out to fight fires in any one of the western states for weeks at a time.
Firefighting was his life. Being a Hot Shot was who he was. Logan wasn’t cut out to be a stay-at-home substitute dad. He didn’t know the first thing about caring for little girls and elderly women. Not to mention his temper wasn’t housebroken. Look how he’d practically taken Spider out the other day. Logan wasn’t the right person for the job of Tess and Hannah’s guardian in more ways than he could count. He let out a groan of frustration. What was he supposed to do?
Standing in front of Sister Mary Sunshine, Logan reached his limit.
He knew, in that moment, what it felt like to want to rant and rave and punch and throw things at the injustice of it all as his father had done. And why not do it? Logan could drive like a bat out of hell down the mountain and find trouble in any roadside bar.
He’d feel better, except…
Logan found himself staring into Thea’s dark brown eyes. Found himself noticing her freckles and bright red T-shirt.
Except he would have let down the people he cared for most.
THE HEAVY OFFICE DOOR swung open and Uncle Logan stepped in. He had that look on his face, the one that Tess had never seen before last summer. His expression was about as far from welcoming as it could possibly be.
Uncle Logan gave the girls a quick, cold nod, before being whisked away to the Tiger Lady’s office. With a swish of her long black skirt, Miss Kalidah closed the door behind him with a decisive click.
“He’s not going to keep us,” Tess whispered to Hannah without moving her head to look at her. Instead, Tess stared at a poster for special classes in Emmett. All she had to do to qualify was take some test after Easter.
Hannah shook her long, blond hair. “Don’t say that. Don’t even think it. We’re family.”
“He didn’t keep us last time.” That’s what Tess was afraid of. She was almost more scared of him letting them go again than of being sent to foster care. Tess didn’t want to become used to playing with her toys again, only to be whisked away by her dad, leaving everything behind.
“Tess, please,” Hannah sniffed. “I’m not listening to you. I did what you wanted earlier. To Aaron.”
Tess didn’t want to think about Aaron and his hurtful words, even though she’d just delivered much the same message to Hannah.
Hannah wouldn’t shut up, “And now the Tiger Lady is kicking us out of school and Uncle Logan’s mad.”
Tess shrugged. “Don’t think he’s mad because he loves us. He’s mad because he doesn’t want us.” Uncle Logan had barely spoken to them since Mom had died. She’d counted the number of words he’d said to her yesterday. Fifteen. Fifteen lousy words. If he cared about them or planned to be their guardian, he’d say more than fifteen words a day to them.
“Besides,” Tess reasoned, looking out the small tinted office window. “His rules suck. It’s like we’re in the army or something. Shower by eight? Rooms picked up by eight-thirty? Lights out at nine? He doesn’t even read to us. What kind of father is that?”
“Let’s go, ladies.” Uncle Logan’s chill tone cut through Tess’s stomach sharper than any knife.
She’d blown it for sure this time. He’d probably get home and start trying to find her dad, if he hadn’t already.
Tess peeked up at Uncle Logan, but he’d already slipped his sunglasses on, so she couldn’t see his eyes. She did, however, recognize the hard jaw.
Hannah sniffed and followed Uncle Logan out the door. Pausing in the doorway, Tess couldn’t resist glancing back at the Tiger Lady, who looked pleased to see them go. At least they wouldn’t have to come back until after Easter break.
Tess dragged her feet. Her days with Uncle Logan were numbered. It would be easier if he would just get it over with quickly, rather than drawing it out.
“I DON’T KNOW who any of these people on TV are.” A freshly bathed Glen sat on the couch, reacquainting herself with a soap opera while they waited for Logan to return with the eggs. “And why are the windows open? Logan wants it dark in here.”
“I need to keep an eye on Whizzer,” Thea said, keeping her words upbeat, despite her frustration over her untouched study plan. She’d decided when Logan left that the windows were opening, and that there was more cleaning to be done.
There was a load of linens in the washer. She’d flung open the front door and pulled back the blinds before she dusted. Sunlight streamed in, brightening the brown that was everywhere, bringing the fresh chill of spring air. Pausing between the freshly polished coffee tables, Thea watched the dust dance on rays filtering through the window.
Logan had seemed almost at the breaking point before he left, but she wouldn’t regret pushing him. His distress had been palpable when he’d asked the school if the twins were okay. And the pain in his eyes had been heartbreaking when he admitted his sister was dead.
A vehicle pulled up the driveway with a crunch of gravel.
Thea poked her head out the front door to find three muscular men in shorts and tennis shoes climbing out of a big black truck. Each man seemed burlier than the next. The fire logos on their shirts identified them as Hot Shots. A beautiful chocolate Labrador bounded happily ahead of them.
“Hello,” she called, scanning the area for Whizzer, wondering how he’d react to the bigger dog or if the Lab would consider Whizzer a snack.
As the Lab pranced around Thea, the men slowed their approach and exchanged glances. She thought she heard one man, the one dressed all in black, say, “So this is what you meant.”
“Is Logan home?” asked the driver. He was the tallest of the men, with dark hair and bright green eyes.
“He’ll be back soon,” Thea answered, still looking for Whizzer as the Lab raced off, nose to the ground. “Can I help you?”
“Is that my boys?” Glen shuffled next to Thea.
“Glen? I haven’t seen you up and about in ages.” The tall driver ran up the steps and encompassed Glen in a crushing embrace. When he released the older woman, he turned to Thea and offered his hand while Glen was passed around for more hugs. “I’m Jackson Garrett. And these two troublemakers are Cole Hudson and Aiden Rodas. We work with Logan.”
“You’re Lexie’s husband.” Thea recognized the resemblance between little Henry and his dad—something about the shape of their bright green eyes.
Jackson nodded. “And you’re the woman the whole town has decided will be Logan’s nanny.”
Thea was pleased even as she knew Logan wouldn’t be. Someday he’d realize how much he needed her.
“How do I get a nanny?” Aiden said with a playful wink. He seemed charmingly harmless.
“Will you grow up?” Cole shook his head and glared at his friend before turning to Thea. “Since you’re going to be around, no one except my mom calls me Cole,” drawled the broadest of the bunch with a southern accent as he gave her hand a firm shake. “Call me Chainsaw.”
“Likewise. They call me Spider.” The wiry man in black shook her hand. He wasn’t as large as the other two men, but his grip was just as strong. Thea thought she detected a slight Hispanic accent.
“Chainsaw? Spider? Should I be scared?” They were horror-movie names. How could Logan’s nickname be any worse?
They all chuckled politely, giving Thea the feeling that she’d just delivered a very worn joke.
“Not to worry. We’re harmless. They call me Chainsaw because I’m a Class A faller.” His grin was about as wide as his shoulders. “Translation— I operate a chainsaw.”
“And I was named after my passion,” the sinewy man explained.
“Spider-Man?” Thea guessed.
Clutching his chest, Spider staggered backward in mock pain.
Thea found herself smiling at them. All three men were decidedly handsome—Jackson with his strong chin, dark hair and bright green eyes; Chainsaw with his dirty-blond hair and broad shoulders; Spider with his long black hair and swarthy complexion. There was something, however, in Logan’s appearance that Thea preferred.
“He’s a little more gothic than that,” Jackson allowed, gesturing to Spider’s black garb.
“I’m a fan of giant-bug movies—Spiders, Arachnophobia, Eight Legged Freaks. You know the story. Aliens visit or toxic experiment goes bad and super-strength, super-large bugs try to take over the world.” Grinning, he waited expectantly for Thea to share his excitement.
Chainsaw rolled his eyes. “Stop, man. I can’t sleep with the lights off anymore after so many creepy movies.”
Glen looked around nervously. “Where’s the spider?”
“There aren’t any spiders out here,” Thea said in a soothing voice, patting Glen’s shoulder.
“I don’t kill spiders,” Glen announced. “They’re good bugs. They just give me the creeps.” Glen shuffled back to the couch and her soap opera.
Whizzer ran up from the opposite side of the yard from where the Lab had disappeared and began sniffing feet. Thea snatched Whizzer up before he got any ideas, and then introduced herself, relieved that he hadn’t gotten into a peeing match with the Lab.
Thea looked questioningly at Jackson. “No nickname? No story?”
“Jackson is fine with me.” He leaned against the porch railing.
“Have you worked with Logan long?” Thea asked with an encouraging smile. Maybe these men could help get Logan on track. They seemed responsible, not fitting the somewhat flaky impression she’d received from Lexie.
Spider laughed. “It seems like forever.”
“Logan and I started together. We’ve been friends since high school.” Jackson’s smile was so easygoing that Thea felt some of the tension inside her ease.
“So you knew Deb, his sister?”
All three men immediately sobered and Thea sensed she’d crossed some unseen line.
Before Thea could regroup and try to put the men at ease, the Lab leaped onto the porch and loped toward Thea. Whizzer trembled at the sight of the bigger dog.
“Rufus, behave,” Jackson commanded, his words slowing the dog, who skidded to a stop in front of Thea and began sniffing again, his brown nose inches from Whizzer. Thea took a step back, fully anticipating two dogs in her arms at any moment.
“Put him down. He’ll be fine. Rufus is just an overgrown pussycat,” Jackson said. “Here,” and he took Whizzer gently from Thea. “He’s not a chew toy, Ruf.”
Thea gasped but nothing happened except the two dogs sniffed every inch of each other before scampering down the steps and into the yard.
“Let them go,” Jackson suggested.
“Okay, but you’ll be carrying Rufus home when he craps out on our run today,” Spider groused.
Jackson shook his head. “That dog is like the Energizer Bunny. We’ll poop out before he does.”
Cole, or Chainsaw as he wanted to be called, ran a hand over his crew-cut blond hair and gave her a sweet grin. “Don’t take this wrong, but I hope you’ll be around for a few days.”
Although his manner was endearing, Chainsaw’s grin only made Thea wish she’d seen Logan’s smile. The thought startled her.
Spider punched Chainsaw’s shoulder. “Yeah, we don’t often have beautiful women in town.”
Despite herself, Thea blushed. She knew she was passably pretty, but not with a face absent of makeup. Self-consciously, she ran a hand over her own hair.
Thea redirected the conversation to safer ground. “So, what’s with all the nicknames?”
“We’re Hot Shots,” Jackson said with a shrug, as if that said it all.
“We get nicknames like spies get code names. We’re the best wildland firefighters around,” Spider added, the pride evident in his tone. “They send us to the hottest, wildest part of the fire because we know how to battle the dragon.”
“Dragon?” Thea repeated.
“Yep, dragon chasers go out naked,” Spider continued.
“Naked?” Thea echoed, eyeing Spider—the man in black—totally mystified.
“That’s right.” Spider beamed. “It’s man against nature out there.”
“Enough, Spider. You’ve confused her totally.” Chainsaw pushed his friend aside. “You see, we hike for miles up steep ridges, where fire trucks can’t reach, to make firebreaks in the wilderness—cut down trees, chop away brush, sometimes even set a controlled burn so that when the main fire reaches us there’s no fuel left. We wear what looks like khakis and button-down shirts, but they’re fire resistant. It’s naked compared to the turnout gear a city firefighter wears.”
Thea nodded, worried about Logan despite herself. “And the dragon?”
“Just a nickname for the fire,” Jackson explained.
“So, you have nicknames for everything, even yourselves?” Thea teased.
“Everybody out on the line has a nickname. Some of us prefer our given names when we’re not on duty.” Jackson sent the other two men a look that seemed to say they were a bit extreme for his taste.
“Others live with it, Golden,” qualified Spider, revealing Jackson’s nickname. He ruffled Jackson’s hair before Jackson swatted him away. “Our fearless leader is our own good-luck charm.”
Intrigued, Thea asked, “What’s Logan’s nickname?” She’d sensed Logan had one even though he’d denied it.
“Oh, uh…” Jackson hesitated, spinning his wedding ring, immediately piquing Thea’s interest. Logan’s nickname must be a doozy.
“He didn’t tell you?” Chainsaw asked.
“This is priceless.” Spider chuckled. “Are you going to save McCall’s butt and take charge for the next six months or so?”
“Logan’s going to be gone six months?” Thea squeaked in surprise. How were Logan and the girls supposed to start healing in four days? She’d listened to what everyone had said about Hot Shot schedules, but it was barely April, not the drought of late summer. She hadn’t truly believed the season would start so soon. What had she gotten herself into?
The men looked uncomfortable.
“Don’t get us wrong.” Chainsaw tried quickly to allay her concerns. “We come home a couple of times a month.”
“Unless it’s a really brutal season,” Spider added. “There have been droughts in six western states.”
Chainsaw pushed his friend back down the steps with a quiet, “You’re not helping.”
The men studied their running shoes for a moment, before Spider finally met her inquisitive gaze and said, “Speak of the devil.” Spider nodded toward the driveway and Logan’s approaching truck.
“GO STRAIGHT to your room,” Logan commanded as he noticed the girls brightening at the sight of Jackson, Cole and Aiden.
Tess dug in her heels. “What’s Spider doing so close to Thea? Is he asking her out?”
“No.” Logan bristled at the idea. Thea was too colorful for the likes of Spider. His friend preferred his women to be sleek, moody, sophisticated and oozing sexuality. Although, Thea didn’t look her chipper, happy self. She looked…angry.
“Then what’s Spider doing here? He shouldn’t be talking to Thea. You should be.” Tess turned accusing blue eyes his way.
“We’re training today.” Logan sensed the territorial undertone to Tess’s question, and wanted to squash it quickly. “Don’t get any ideas about Thea and me.” He may need a surrogate mother more than a nanny, but marriage was out of the question, not even on his horizon.
“They brought Rufus,” Hannah breathed, spotting Whizzer and Rufus racing to the porch. The little girl loved animals of all kinds.
“Okay,” Logan said. “Play with the dogs first and then go to your room.”
With a gasp, Hannah hurried toward the group on the front steps, attention locked on the dogs. Jackson tugged a tennis ball out of his pocket and gave it to Hannah, who threw it out into the bushes without getting either dog’s attention. The girl jogged out to get the ball, attracting Rufus’s eye, who caught on that there was a ball on the loose.
Rufus found the ball first, knocking Hannah on her butt in his rush to get it. Logan held his breath as the little girl blinked back the tears. Luckily, Whizzer climbed into her lap and began licking her face. Hannah giggled, trying unsuccessfully to hold the dog at bay. Logan couldn’t remember the last time he’d heard one of the twins laugh. The sound warmed his heart until Hannah’s laughter died away, leaving only one thought.
His sister would never see the twins smile again, never hear their laughter.
Then Thea gave Hannah that smile of hers that invited you to join in the delight of the moment.
How he resented all that Thea’s smile represented. Joy. Laughter. The desire to see what the next day would bring other than a heavy, unbearable silence.
Tess crossed her arms over her thin chest, drawing Logan’s attention back to his cantankerous niece. “When are they leaving?” she asked, pointing at the men.
Logan bent at the knees until he was nose to nose with Tess. “It’s not hard to be on your best behavior when you’re in your room, is it?”
“You wouldn’t talk to me like that if Mom was alive.”
Logan closed his eyes for a second and sucked on his cheek so that he wouldn’t snap at a ten-year-old who didn’t know any better than to mess with an ill-tempered Hot Shot.
“I used to think you were so cool until Mom got sick. I know you can’t wait to get rid of us again.” Tess turned on her heel and left him standing alone. She stalked into the house without acknowledging Thea or the Hot Shots.
What did you say to something like that? Logan straightened on shaky knees and tried to ignore the icy ache in his chest. He was damned if he took the twins and damned if he didn’t. He’d disappoint Deb either way.
Thea told Hannah she could play with Whizzer in her room. Hannah knelt down and whistled for the pup. He came running right to her and they both bounded into the house. Hannah had withdrawn so much, it was painful to watch her sometimes and remember the outgoing girl she’d once been.
With a resigned sigh, Logan grabbed the carton of eggs he’d bought in town and walked to the porch, mumbling a greeting to his friends.
“Are you ready to run?” Jackson asked him.
“In a minute.” During their off time, the men ran the mountain trails in the area, training for their annual physical certification. Most of the team had already passed, but that didn’t mean keeping in shape was any less important. The ability to scale a mountain trail full speed carrying a fifty-pound pack could mean the difference between life and death. Today, they planned on running the ridges above Logan’s house. “I see you’ve met Thea.”
Thea raised her eyebrows. The bells on her feet sounded ever so softly, as if she had flexed her foot or shifted her weight.
“She’s your nanny, right?” Spider’s smile indicated that sweet, neighborly, colorful women might be more to his liking than Logan was comfortable with. “Where’s she staying?”
“Here.” Logan was quick to qualify. That seemed territorial, and Logan had no claim to Thea.
Thea’s eyes didn’t crease as she smiled, and Logan noticed her bells were silent.
In that moment she seemed more like the dour Mr. Banks than Mary Poppins.
“If she needs a tour guide, I’d volunteer…” Spider began.
“Thea’s going to be pretty busy. She may not have mentioned this, but she’s working on her Ph.D.,” Logan explained, needing to regain the miles of emotional separateness from everyone he’d had as recently as a few days ago.
Logan stepped past Thea into the living room. “Why is it so bright in here?”
Thea leaned around the door frame. “I was dusting.”
“So? Close the blinds,” he growled. He could tell she’d cleaned the room. Everything was brighter, brimming with life. The room smelled of lemon. The coffee table gleamed. The mantel looked empty.
She’d bring out the family pictures next if he didn’t say anything. Logan couldn’t bear to look at Deb. Not yet. It was too soon.
“I couldn’t see a thing in here. I might have scrubbed the finish off the wood, it was that dark.” Thea followed Logan into the room.
“Close the blinds,” Logan repeated, then went to do it himself.
“I knew a guy once who had eye surgery.” Thea’s words stopped him. “They claimed it corrected his vision, and he didn’t have to wear glasses anymore, but he hated sunlight after that. He wore his sunglasses everywhere, even in the house. He got a job working nights at a drive-in movie theater, then he started delivering newspapers early in the morning.” She sighed. “Of course, he didn’t tell his wife any of this. He let her think one thing while something else entirely was going on.”
Logan turned to stare at Thea. If Great-Aunt Glen wasn’t crazy, Thea most certainly was. Only, that last piece had been delivered more like a dig at him than a ditzy story.
“Wait, wait. I’ve heard this one.” Spider crowed with a grin until Chainsaw and Jackson tried to hustle him out the door.
“I was wondering if you had the same challenge. You know, aversion to the light, avoiding his hang-ups, not coming clean about what’s going on.” Thea smiled sweetly, as if she was the answer to all his problems instead of the cause of several.
How dare she challenge him? He ignored the fact that he’d been feeling bad about her being unable to study just an hour before. Logan had more problems than he wanted to admit and wasn’t about to let Thea bully or embarrass him into fixing them. He’d straighten out his life in his own way and time, thank you.
“I love this woman,” Spider chuckled.
Chainsaw shushed him.
Logan drew a deep, controlling breath. He would not give Spider a pounding. He would not snap at Thea.
Hannah stood cradling Whizzer in her arms. “Did you have eye surgery, Uncle Logan?”
Tess was staring at Logan, too. And now his friends were smiling at him through the doorway, waiting, no doubt, to see just how much more of a fool he’d make of himself.
Thea’s sneakers jingled as Logan’s temper boiled and threatened to surface.
“No, I have not had surgery. I just don’t like the sun.” Logan sounded like a whiny ten-year-old.
No one said a word.
Angling away from the twins, Logan sighed. “Would you girls prefer the windows open?” When they didn’t immediately answer, he glanced over at them. And repeated a bit testily, “Would you?”
Tess gave a noncommittal shrug, already withdrawing into her shell.
After a moment of hesitation, Hannah nodded. “Mom always had the windows open.”
Logan remembered. Deb’s house had been filled with light and laughter back then, unlike their house growing up. Then they’d all moved into his house the last few months of Deb’s life and nothing seemed light again.
“And Logan likes the windows closed.” Aunt Glen shrugged, eyes still on the television, oblivious to the struggle in the room.
“He’s getting as bad as me,” Spider ribbed, poking his dark head in the door. “A creature of the night.”
“Spider.” Chainsaw elbowed his friend. “Leave it alone.”
Choking back a bitter reply, Logan thrust the eggs at Thea. “There’s something for Glen in the truck,” he said softly without looking at her. Logan had also bought adult diapers at Birdie’s, but hadn’t wanted to embarrass Glen by bringing them inside. He retreated to the shadowy hallway leading to the back of the house to change into his running clothes.
“DO THEY ALWAYS JOKE like that?” Thea asked after Uncle Logan and the other Hot Shots had left for their run. She smiled, even though Uncle Logan was mad at her. Tess thought Thea was pretty brave.
“They used to joke more,” Hannah said, petting the dog. “Before.”
“Hannah.” Tess didn’t want her twin to explain about before.
Hannah looked up at Tess, tears filling her eyes.
Tess wanted to swear, but she didn’t want to get in trouble. Not that Great-Aunt Glen would remember, but Thea was pretty strict about bad language and might tattle to Uncle Logan.
“Those are pretty jeans, Tess.”
“Thanks,” Tess mumbled, looking down at her faded blue jeans. She knew they were too short, but she’d found them in her closet and was wearing them because her mom had embroidered the butterflies on the leg. She didn’t care what Aaron Fischer said about her floods. She was wearing the jeans until she couldn’t button them anymore. And if her dad showed up to get her, Tess was taking the jeans this time.
Tess glanced guiltily at Hannah. Her mom had made a pair for Hannah as well, but they didn’t fit her anymore since she’d gained weight. Tess had considered taking the jeans out of Hannah’s drawer in Seattle a couple of times, but she didn’t want to hurt Hannah’s feelings, so Tess was glad she’d found her pair.
“Aunt Glen and I are going to make cookies before lunch. Would you like to help? Or would you prefer to be a cookie tester when they’re done?”
“We made cookies here last summer,” Hannah sniffed. “With Mom.”
Any mention of their mom and Hannah became such a crybaby. A knot formed in Tess’s stomach. She really hated it when Hannah cried, because it made Tess want to cry, too.
“I’d like a cookie,” Great-Aunt Glen said, turning from her spot on the couch to look at them all and saving Tess from committing herself.
Somehow, the thought of admitting out loud that she wanted a cookie made Tess want to cry even harder than seeing Hannah cry.