“I’ve got four,” Dana repeated. “Unless we cut those up into twenty little pieces, I don’t know what you want from me.”
“Make it a contest,” Logan said. He picked Grace up and swung her down from the stool she was sitting on.
“Huh?” Chloe asked.
He looked up to find Dana and Chloe both looking at him. He shrugged. “Take the bars you do have,” he said to Chloe. “But then give everyone a bag of snack mix and make it into a contest to see who gets the Rice Krispies bars. It’s fun, no one will care about the snack mix because they’ll be so focused on the contest, and no one’s a liar.”
“What kind of contest?” Chloe asked.
“You can’t have an eating contest,” Dana protested right away. “Someone could choke eating too fast.”
“Okay, then it’s a taste test,” Logan said. “They get blindfolded, they eat the things in their bag, and have to identify each thing.”
“But everyone else will hear their answers,” Chloe said.
“They have to write them down. No talking out loud,” Logan said.
“How can they write them down if they’re blindfolded?” Dana wanted to know. She’d folded her arms, but she looked amused.
“Okay, it’s a memory game, a spelling test, and a taste test all in one,” Logan declared. “They eat their snacks blindfolded. When they’re totally done, they take the blindfold off and have to write down as many things from the mix as they can remember. And they have to spell them right. First four to get it all right win Rice Krispies treats.”
“They’ll still be eating too fast and could choke,” Dana said.
Logan rolled his eyes and Chloe actually giggled. He smiled at her. “Okay, no one wins for speed. When everyone finishes their list, the teacher takes all the right ones and picks four out of a hat.”
Chloe nodded. “Okay. That sounds fun.” She grabbed a headband and climbed up onto the stool next to him. “Will you put this in for me?”
Would he? Headbands were a piece of cake. He brushed her hair out, put the headband in, and lifted her off the stool. “Grab your backpack. I’ll take you to school and carry that big heavy box of treats in with my big strong muscles.”
Chloe giggled again and ran off to find her backpack.
“Man,” Dana said, after Chloe had rounded the corner. “That’s gonna get you another sleepover.”
“I’m telling you. Snacks and games are my jam.”
Dana was still smiling, but she had a soft look in her eyes. “I know.”
He crossed to where she was standing and pulled her close. “What are you thinking?”
“You really want to know?” She looped her arms around his neck.
“I do.” He was pretty sure.
“I was just thinking that, apparently, I have a type.”
“Oh?” Logan asked, less sure now.
“You don’t want to hear about my husband, though, do you?”
The thing was, he probably should. Logan shrugged. “Sounds to me like if he and I are both your type, he must have been a hot, funny, charming, sweet guy.”
She smiled and nodded. “He was.”
Wonderful. It was great that Chad Doucet had been amazing. Dana and the girls deserved that. It was also great that he’d been a soldier and had had all that military, tough-guy stuff going for him. Because that wasn’t intimidating at all. Logan had, honestly, gotten the scoop about Dana’s husband from Gabe, who’d gotten it from the support group, and then Logan had pretty stoically ignored the fact that Dana’s husband had been a pretty awesome guy.
At first, it had been because he’d just been flirting. Then he’d been wrapped up in their one hot night. Then he’d been a little distracted by the whole we’re-having-a-baby bit.
Oh, and he didn’t really want to know how he measured up to the brave military hero who’d died protecting Logan’s ass…amongst many others, of course.
“So that’s your type, huh?” Logan asked. Might as well get the gushing over with.
“The cool, easygoing, make-everything-fun guy?” she asked. “Yeah. I guess so.”
“Well, thank you,” Logan said. He liked all of those adjectives.
“I didn’t think I would do that again.”
“Do what?”
“Go for a guy like that,” she said.
“Oh?” Logan pulled back to look at her more fully. “Why not?”
“Honestly, I hadn’t really thought about being involved with anyone again,” she said. “But I guess if I had thought about it, I would have thought I’d go for someone more serious. But,” she went on, before he could respond. “I think this is really good. It’s a good balance. The girls need fun.”
Logan wasn’t sure why, but something pricked at the back of his mind. He wasn’t sure that all of this was as complimentary as it sounded. But he couldn’t figure out why it wasn’t. “Everyone needs to have fun,” he agreed. “Sometimes.”
She nodded. “When Chad would come home, it seemed like the girls laughed more, played more, did new things. He was determined that they have fun and remember him when he was gone as the one they went on adventures with and got to just be silly with.” She pulled away from Logan’s embrace and started putting the plastic bags away. “It was always kind of annoying. He’d disrupt the schedule and he always got to be the good guy. He wasn’t fun-loving and silly when he was gone, of course. In fact, at first, I didn’t understand what was going on with him. But then I realized, he needed a chance to laugh and play too.”
Logan watched her, realizing that she was trying to keep busy because things had suddenly taken a serious turn. “I get that,” he said. He couldn’t imagine what Chad and the other guys went through over there. Wanting to just kick back and have fun with his girls when he was home made complete sense.
She turned away from the cupboard. “Yeah.” She took a breath and met his eyes. “So, I let it go because I knew they all needed it.”
He nodded.
“But now…now that it’s been two years since the girls had that…” She swallowed hard.
Logan didn’t know if he should grab her and hug her or if he should just let her be. He started to reach out, spurred on by his need to hug her, but she pulled herself up straight then and gave him a smile. “I just realized how much they’ve missed it and I’m glad they can have it again.”
He watched her for a moment. Slowly he nodded. “I can totally do that.”
She smiled and it was much more sincere this time. “I know. And it’s good. It really is.”
He finally gave in to the urge, took her hand and tugged her close. He enfolded her in a hug. “I’m going to make a lot of things good, okay?”
“I know you are.”
But there was one thought that wouldn’t leave him alone… he was getting off easy here. This woman and her girls needed someone they could be silly with, someone who would be fun and easygoing and make things a little lighter. He could definitely do that.
But he wanted to do more.
6
“Right there in the midst of the hair bows and pretzels, I wanted to drop my panties and push him up against the fridge.”
Caleb made a choking noise, and Austin actually choked on the drink of coffee he’d just taken. Bea laughed and said, “Of course you did,” while Gabe muttered, “Well, this is awkward.”
Dana could only grin. She’d just told the support group about how Logan had insisted on learning to do hair and the other morning when he’d come to the snack-time rescue. She was…happy. This group had been the first people she’d wanted to tell about how great things were with Logan.
He hadn’t spent the last two nights in her bed because he’d been closing the bar and didn’t want to come over at two a.m. when she had to get up for work. But he’d been there four nights over the past week, had done the after-school pickup and the dance class run those nights, allowing Dana to stay at work a little later again. Her bosses had already noticed that she’d been ar
ound more, and Kevin had commented that having her along on their trip to San Francisco in July would be a lot of help. Could she travel that far for three nights, away from the girls? Maybe. She’d need to talk to Logan about it, of course, and it was too soon to ask him to take on that responsibility. But…it was now a possibility where it never had been before.
And he just might go for it.
One of the nights, while Chloe had class, he and Grace had gone down to the most haunted hotel in the French Quarter, just two blocks from the tavern, and had talked to Bill, the concierge who’d worked there for twenty years and had some great ghost stories. He’d softened them up a little for the six-year-old—jealous wives killing mistresses and the kids who’d died in a fire there might be a bit much for a little girl—but he’d enjoyed talking to Grace about the ghosts. Logan had seemed just as giddy about the visit as her daughter, Dana had noted with some amusement and something that felt very much like affection.
The other two nights of dance class, Logan and Grace had sat in on the class, and Chloe had seemed as thrilled by that as Grace had about the ghosts.
“So, he’s doing okay then,” Corey, the unofficial leader of the support group—really the one that kept them all on track and made sure everyone had a chance to share each time if they wanted to—commented with a grin.
Dana nodded. “He really is. He um…” She wet her lips and looked over at Lindsey. Her friend was the one person who might not fully appreciate how much Logan had reminded her of Chad the other morning. It was what had kept Dana from telling the group about it at last week’s meeting. Dana’s experience losing Chad had, of course, hit close to home for Lindsey, and Dana knew her friend was watching Dana’s progress through the grief process and life after Chad, carefully. “He’s been with the girls and I hear the stories about what they do together so I know he’s doing great, but actually seeing him with them, and their responses, reminded me of Chad and how great being with him always was for them. I guess I was just thinking about how helpful Logan could be, but not really about how good the fun and break from routine could be for the girls. For all of us, in some ways.”
“But Logan will be there all the time,” Gabe commented. “That’s different from how things were with Chad, right?”
“Well, he’ll be there a lot,” Dana said. “And there won’t be the times when we’re saying goodbye.” She thought about that. That was nice. The goodbyes had always been hard. “But not all the time,” she finished. “It will still be something a little different when he’s over and around.”
“What about when the baby comes?” Gabe asked with a little frown.
“He’ll get to do all the stuff he loves. Whatever he wants,” Dana assured Gabe.
“Diapers?” Gabe pressed.
“Sure, sometimes.” Obviously, the baby would need changed at times when he or she was with Logan. “But I’m not worried about that stuff,” Dana said. “He’s accepted Grace and all her quirks, he doesn’t get fazed by Chloe’s drama. The girls are happy when they’re with him. I’m going to accept him just like that. Just go along with who he is and what he’s good at and not worry about the rest.” She gave Logan’s brother a big smile. “It’s all good. It really is.”
“I thought you were going to have him really help you,” Bea commented.
“Oh, yes, the parties and the pickups are so helpful,” Dana assured her. “And you know how I’ve worried about Grace’s obsession and Chloe’s idea that everything has to be perfect all the time—and I know she gets that from me. Well, Logan listens to Grace and he’s helping Chloe relax. He’s actually taking Grace down to the Quarter on Sunday to see a jazz funeral. The path goes right by the tavern and they can watch from the balcony. And because all the girl stuff and dance stuff is new to him too, he’s helping Chloe problem solve the things that don’t go according to plan. The shoestring to tie her ponytail…things like that. Grace doesn’t go on and on about ghosts at home and Chloe is a lot more relaxed.”
“So…” Gabe started, “the diaper thing…”
Dana laughed. “Honestly, if he keeps making my girls happy, I don’t care if he never touches a diaper.”
Gabe shook his head. “He always gets out of the crappy stuff. Literally.”
Dana just grinned.
“I’m sure that he’ll be great at whatever Dana needs from him,” Addison said, giving Gabe a look. “They’ll figure out what works for them.”
Gabe sighed.
Dana smiled at Addison. “Thanks. I know we’re just getting started, but I’m very happy.”
“We’re all very glad,” Roxanne told her.
“We are,” Gabe agreed.
They moved on to the latest prison visitation Bea’s grandkids had with their mom and Roxanne’s issues with her fifteen-year-old’s new boyfriend.
Dana listened and discussed, but in the back of her mind she couldn’t help but think how good she had it. No jail visits. No worries about boyfriends. Yet. She’d always known that Chad would be an intimidating figure to any guys wanting to date his girls. The Special-Ops-military thing would surely make a boyfriend think hard about how he was treating that father’s daughter. As happened at times, a wave of emotion hit her suddenly and she had to suck in a quick breath and give herself a second to get past it. Chad wouldn’t be there for the first dates, the proms, the crushes and heartbreaks.
But Logan would. Kind of. He’d be around because of the girls’ younger sibling. And maybe he could sit on the sofa and give the boys menacing looks.
She almost laughed at that, though. She wasn’t sure Logan could do menacing if someone paid him a million dollars for it. He’d welcome the guys into the house, chat them up, and have them laughing by the time they left for the evening. Hell, he’d be the kind of dad that boys wanted to watch football games and go fishing with.
Dana sighed. That wasn’t all bad either. Being friendly to the boyfriends could be a good approach too. But obviously Logan and Chad weren’t exactly alike.
“So he slept over?” Lindsey asked during their break in the middle of the meeting.
Dana glanced around to be sure no one could hear—especially Gabe. “Yeah. I know it’s fast. I just…he was practicing doing my hair and…I didn’t want him to go.” She shrugged. She couldn’t explain it other than that.
“Wow.”
“I know.” Dana sipped her coffee. Wow was a really good word for, well, everything right now.
“I mean, Chad never did hair, did he?”
“Oh, no. I kept all the dance drama away from him.” She smiled. “But I don’t think Logan finds it dramatic.” She thought about that. Yeah, that was definitely part of it. The drama didn’t get to him. “He’s not that good at hair,” she said. “I saw Chloe’s when I got home the other night. It was up but it was…crazy. To get it to stay, I swear he used every single barrette he bought.” She’d been right that the little barrettes he’d bought weren’t big enough to hold Chloe’s hair. Until he used six ladybugs, four frogs, and four pigs. Then it stayed up. “But Chloe doesn’t care.” Dana had been amazed. Still was. “She laughed about it. Said that he decided they needed to choose a theme, though. Either bugs or amphibians or barnyard animals. He told her he’d try to find cow and chicken barrettes if she wanted him to.”
There was a long beat of silence and Dana realized she’d gotten lost in her thoughts for a moment. She looked up at Lindsey. Her friend was giving her a slightly puzzled look, while also smiling. “You would have done her hair right the first time.”
Dana nodded. “And that would have been that. It wouldn’t have gotten ridiculous.”
“You’re not really the ridiculous type,” Lindsey commented.
“No,” Dana agreed. She stirred the plastic stick around in her coffee. “But maybe my girls are. Or should be. Sometimes.”
“Maybe. Sometimes,” Lindsey said.
They were quiet for a moment. Then Lindsey asked, “Are you worried about him sticking with it? Do
you think he’s just trying to get on your good side for the baby?”
Dana felt her heart trip at that thought. But she shook her head. “Honestly? I think he was just trying to get Chloe’s hair up and that was his solution.” She blew out a breath. “Okay, maybe I think that the big picture—getting Chloe to dance class—might be about proving to me that he wants to help out. I think he’s sincere about that. And he’s getting it done. But the silliness and fun…that’s just him. I don’t think he intends any of that. I think the ghost stories at the hotel were as much for him as they were for Grace. I think he can’t help but think of things like how to make snack time into game time too. That’s just him. So—” She shrugged. “I keep him in his wheelhouse and he’s happy, the girls are happy, and I’m happy. No worry about him sticking with it if it’s all stuff he really likes and that comes naturally to him, right?”
That would be easy enough. It was how she’d always handled Chad’s time at home. She made sure everything was good for him too so he’d always be happy to come home. She hated the idea that he might feel like being with her and the girls was more work. His time at home was happy and fun for everyone.
“And I do want him to stick with it,” she said, blowing out a breath. “Kevin and Dave are hinting at upping my responsibilities. Which would mean more pay. And some travel.”
Lindsey’s eyes widened. “Well, good for you. You deserve it. Hell, you deserve more pay now.”
Dana shrugged. “They’re very flexible with me. If the girls are sick or I need to come in late or leave early, they’re good about it. That’s the trade-off.”
“But now with Logan you think you can do more at work? Be away sometimes?”
“For a couple of days,” Dana said. “I mean, it might be peanut butter and jelly and horrible hairstyles and cemetery tours for two or three days—and they might have to call you.” She grinned. “But I think they’d survive. If Logan is willing.”
Lindsey laughed. “Of course they would. They always survived Chad’s time at home.”
Dana nodded. Things had definitely been more relaxed when Chad had been home. It just…could be. Having an extra pair of hands and someone to keep an eye on things while she was doing something else, meant things could be less rigid and didn’t take as much pre-planning.
Taking It Easy: Boys of the Big Easy book two Page 10