Irreplaceable

My pulse accelerated, and heat coursed up from my toes, surging to the deepest part of me. He’d never touched me there before. I closed my eyes as he spoke.

“He wants you, but the question is: do you want him?”

I was about to tell him how ridiculous he was, but then realized he was jealous. The flash of insecurity I saw in his eyes drove me to say my next words.

“Maybe. He’s sweet, honest, and…” I leaned into his ear, his hand still pressing on my stomach. “…he’s quite sexy.”

I pulled away with a smirk.

“Interesting. I’ll accept that challenge, sweetheart—not that the boy presents one.”

Boy? Luke was only a few years younger than Logan. His arrogance knew no bounds.

“Are you coming?” Oliver called out.

I stepped away from Logan, feeling even more confused about what was evolving between us, yet with a calmness settling over my heart.

Chapter Twelve

Haunted

The grin on my face was bigger than I remembered it being in ages; it felt like my first full day back to my old self. The snow was a thick blanket covering the earth, but it didn’t stand a chance at deterring me. The moment I finished stretching, I was out the door.

Starting off light and easy, I hit the pavement, snow crunching under my feet. The cold morning air rushed through me as I increased my speed down the back road, my face nothing but a carefree grin.

It was invigorating—the pull of my tight muscles and the chance to put everything behind me. It was only a month earlier that I was lying in that hospital bed, dreaming of the moment I’d be back out there. My eyes slid shut for a moment and my mouth opened just enough to suck in a deep breath. With my ribs healed, I could finally enjoy the fresh, snowy breeze knocking into me.

When I returned home an hour later, out of breath and loving it, I was met with the cheerful grin of Oliver standing beside Julia on my front porch.

“Hey, what are you guys doing up so early?” I asked as I came to a stop in front of them, wiping the cold sweat from my brow.

“Oliver saw you out on the road and wanted to come over to see you before I took him to school,” Julia explained with a wary tone I didn’t understand.

“Well, I like hearing that.” I smiled his way.

“How are you feeling? Must be doing pretty good to go out for a run in this weather.”

I shrugged. I enjoyed the winter air. “Better. Things are getting better.”

“You got a car, finally, huh?” I followed her glance to the aged black Honda sitting in my driveway.

“No, just borrowing my mom’s.” She was only loaning it to me while I waited for my appointment at the bank. The loan officer had a busy schedule, but was able to squeeze me in the following week.

My mother, however, was under the impression that I was waiting to speak to Logan about writing a new check after I’d convinced her to let me talk to him. And since her boyfriend was more than happy to shuttle her around until I got my own vehicle, she was officially off my back about it.

Julia nodded with a sympathetic smile and looked down to Oliver. He took a step forward when I opened the door for them to enter, but Julia’s hand landed on his shoulder, stopping him in his tracks.

“We can’t stay. Don’t want him to be late, sorry,” Julia said, standing in place, and I noticed the tiredness in her tone.

“Oh, okay. Is everything all right?” I asked, watching as Scout ran up and Oliver squatted down to scoop him up. It was nice to finally be able to handle having a puppy in the house again. Bringing him home after my lunch with Oliver had been hard to watch. You’d have thought they were parting for a cross-country voyage until I reminded Oliver he could come over anytime he wanted to visit.

Giggling at the pup licking his tiny face, Oliver looked up to Julia. “Can I ask now?”

She nodded and then looked to me, with an irritated scowl settling between her brows.

Before I could question it, Oliver burst out, “My mom came to see me! She said she’d take me out soon, too.” He was practically stuttering with excitement.

I kept my thin smile fixed in place, glancing up at the now-understandable gloomy expression on Julia. She made a face.

“That’s great. I’m so happy for you, Oliver.”

He looked pleased, and sat Scout back on the ground. “I told her ‘bout the tree house, but Daddy said she’s not allowed to see it. Said I had to ask you first. Can I show her when she comes back?”

Natasha—Logan’s ex—in my tree house? Not a chance, and I didn’t even want to analyze why that bothered me so much. But she was Oliver’s mother…how could I say no?

“Sure, of course,” I replied with a nod, attempting to cover the hesitation in my voice.

“I told Daddy you’d say yes!” He ran into me, hugging me around the waist until Julia told him it was time to go. He looked up, and added, “She’ll love it as much as we do!”

“I’m sure she will.” A broken and awkward laugh fell from my lips as he hopped down from the porch steps.

“See you Saturday, Cassie!” Julia called back as they cut through the lawn back to Logan’s.

I gave a nod, then quickly realized I had no clue why I was seeing her this weekend.

“Saturday?”

She turned back, her brows pinched together. “Yeah, Logan’s birthday.”

Birthday? “Oh, I didn’t know.”

She rolled her eyes and scoffed. “Of course he didn’t tell you. He’s not big on celebrating it, but we force him to sit down and open a few presents and eat cake. We do the big party next month; since Oliver’s birthday is exactly one month to the day of Logan’s, my mother goes all out for that one. So it’s just Jax, Oliver, and me for Logan’s, but it’s nice.” She hesitated for a brief moment before adding, “Mark has to work late, so he won’t be there.”

This was news to me, as well as her nervousness at bringing up Mark. Did she know more about our past? It didn’t matter, and the party was way too family-oriented for me to be included in it.

“Thanks, but I don’t think I should come. Like you said, it’s just you and Jax—family.”

“And my mom,” Oliver chimed in. “I invited her too.”

“You what?” Julia snapped.

“Daddy said I could,” he defended with a pouting lip.

With a huff, Julia looked back to me. She was definitely not okay with Oliver’s last-minute invite.

“Like I said, it’s Saturday at six, and I know Logan would love for you to be there. Just think about it.”

I nodded, unsure why I didn’t clarify right away that I wouldn’t be attending. Instead, I grabbed Scout and headed inside, eager to clear my head with a cool shower.

Logan was back to work, which meant I had a lot of free alone time on my hands. I spent most of the week sitting in my freezing attic, rummaging through the last of my grandparents’ treasures. After sliding the last box down the ladder and watching it smack on the hall floor below, I stood looking around at the empty space.

As a kid, I was never allowed in the small room. I’d always wondered what I’d find if I pulled down the ladder and snuck up. Grandma swore it was nothing more than a dusty dropping zone with stacks of boxes and old furniture, but seeing it empty aside from an old sofa and antique dresser which were too heavy to move, I realized ‘small’ was not the word to describe it—dusty, yes, but it was larger than I’d expected.