“Have you ever gotten close to marrying?”
“Once,” I replied. “Back in school, I was dating a guy for most of my MBA. It didn’t work out. He moved to Seattle after graduation and we weren’t serious enough to take it further. He knew I was going to be based in New York and…”
“It was like me going to U of M,” completed Logan.
“Kind of,” I admitted. “No acrimony, just…”
“Here one day and gone the next.” Logan ran a hand through his hair. “I should’ve stuck around. I would’ve had less student debt, for one thing. But without it, I wouldn’t have been as motivated to get my human resources business off of the ground.”
“Without my debt, I wouldn’t have tried as hard on my publishing business, either. My parents paid for my undergrad, but I was independent after I had a few years of work experience under my belt, which Harvard requires for MBA students.”
“How long are you going to stay in New York?”
“I have friends there. My mentors are all in New York. So indefinitely, unless something changes.”
“I didn’t think I’d come back to Indiana, but there’s so much talent floating around Indianapolis that it made sense for me to start my human resources business here. And it’s one of the best counties in the nation to raise a family, so Annabelle has access to everything she needs.” Logan had expertly made pancakes and put them on three dishes. One was colorful and had Elsa on it, so I knew it was Annabelle’s. He quickly cut her pancakes up into small pieces while maintaining the overall shape. I helped carry the plates to the table.
“What do you want to do today, pumpkin?” asked Logan.
“Museum! I want dinosaurs.”
“She likes the dinosaur stuff at the Indianapolis Children’s Museum,” explained Logan. “She’s crazy about dinosaurs.”
“That’s cute,” I commented. I dug into the pancakes. They were plain, but Logan had put out Kerrygold Irish butter that was rich. The maple syrup was sweet and thick, too. It felt nice to sit down and have a real breakfast. Most of my breakfasts in New York consisted of a protein bar, just to put something in my stomach. Indiana had a slower pace of life than what I led. Logan had obviously sacrificed some of his business growth for the Munchkin. It was more important to him that she had a safe, healthy place to grow up than to scale his business. Maybe being headquartered in Indianapolis helped with a reasonable pace of growth that he could keep the reins on.
When I was done, I said, “I should go.”
“You’re going to the museum with me!” screamed Annabelle.
Chapter 10
“Inside voice,” said Logan.
“But we’re going to the museum.” Her lower lip jutted out. “Don’t you want to play with me?”
I couldn’t say no to her. “Honey, I don’t have my clothes.” I was still wearing Logan’s shirt.
“Then you can get clothes and come back,” reasoned Annabelle.
“I haven’t unpacked yet,” I admitted to Logan.
“I’ll drive you back to your car.” Logan was humoring Annabelle. “And we’ll see what happens from there. I have a family membership at the Children’s Museum, so I can bring in another adult.”
I wavered. My parents had wanted me to come home to spend time with them; a tyrannical three-year-old girl was putting a wrench in the works. “I don’t know, sweetheart.”
“Museum!” yelled Annabelle.
“Just the museum,” I quickly acquiesced before Annabelle threw a full tantrum.
“I’ll give you our address so you can drive back here. No rush.” Logan scribbled the address on a piece of paper so I could plug it into my car’s navigation system.
After washing the syrup off of her face, Logan loaded Annabelle into the car in her carseat. I sat on the passenger side. I was back to my rental within minutes, and I waved at them as Logan drove them back home. When I got home, my dad was sleeping in front of the TV. My mom was brewing some tea. “Had a nice night, honey?”
I blushed. “Mom!”
“Your dad and I are old enough for R-rated movies, you know.” My mom winked. My blush grew hotter. “I’m here to get my clothes.”
“Mhm,” said my mom knowingly.
“Annabelle wants to go to the museum. I didn’t have any clothes with me.”
“Which is why you’re wearing a man’s shirt.”
I looked down at my loose shirt. “Right.” I realized then I’d left yesterday’s shirt at Logan’s.
“Well, you’re here for a vacation. We thought you focused so hard on your business that we’d never get grandbabies.”
My mom was being incredibly embarrassing. “I’m not talking about this with you, Mom.” I went to my room to get my suitcase and lug it out to my car.
“Come back whenever you’re done!” called my mom as I walked out to the car. I felt my cheeks heat up again. Whatever Logan and I were doing, no grandbabies were in the picture. I had a life and a business back in New York. Even if I had a vacation fling with Logan, it couldn’t be more. I didn’t have a lot to offer Logan. I didn’t want Annabelle to get too attached to me. She was matter-of-fact about Romi always leaving. I couldn’t break her heart, too. I punched his address into my car’s GPS before driving to Logan’s place.
When I got back to Logan’s house, I rang the doorbell.
Chapter 11
“I’ll get it!” screamed Annabelle. I could hear the patter of her feet as she ran for the door. “Hi!”
I was kind of tired just watching her energetically bound around everywhere. “I need to change before I go to the museum with you, sweet pea.”
“Okay!” Annabelle was smug that she’d gotten her own way. In another twenty years, she’d be out of college and be unleashed on the world. Heaven help us.
I went to the guest room with my suitcase and quickly changed my shirt so I was wearing one of mine. I’d have to ask Logan how to use his washing machine so I could wash his shirt before returning it to him. I came down the stairs to see Annabelle wrestling with rain boots on the wrong feet. They had unicorns on them. “Do you want help?”
“No, I do it myself!” she proclaimed.
“I’m fostering her independence,” said Logan in a very dry tone. “But she’s mostly doing that on her own.”
I grinned at that. “Noted.”
Annabelle stood up in her rain boots which she had some trouble walking in. “I’m ready now.”
There wasn’t a cloud in the sky, but I dutifully followed her as she clumped down the hallway to get to the garage door.
“My toes hurt,” remarked Annabelle.
“Please let me help you,” I offered.
“If you must.” This kid cracked me up. I just shook my head as I helped her switch her boots. She held onto my shoulders for balance. I was a complete stranger to her yesterday, but Logan was raising a child who knew what she wanted and went straight for it. She didn’t care that our acquaintance was less than 24 hours old. As soon as her feet were in the rain boots the right way, she danced to the van and started to climb in. The automated doors helped.