28- Old diaries?

“Can we bring you anything here?” Logan asked Donna.

“Oh, no. I’m fine.” She patted his shoulder. “You’re the best. Go and get comfortable. I’ll call if anything changes.”

Terri stayed quiet as the two of them walked across the waiting room. The second the front doors closed behind them, though, she turned on Logan.

“What were you thinking?” she demanded. “You seriously want to stay here?”

He stopped walking. “You don’t? She needs help.”

“Charlie,” was all she said.

“You said yourself that you’ll take care of that.” Suddenly, he reached out and put both his hands on her shoulders. “We’ll take care of it. You don’t need to deal with anything alone.”

Terri let out a pathetic little noise that made her want to shake herself. He’d caught her freaking out, which had been a slip-up on her part.

“Yeah,” she said. “Of course. I have it under control. Come on.” She jerked her head at the car. “Biscuits and May await.”

“How was your dad?” he asked as they got into his car.

“Sleeping.”

Her hands shook a little as she buckled up. The full shock of what had happened to him was only beginning to hit. Even though she didn’t visit home much and had her issues with her parents, she loved them. The thought of losing either one of them early was a dagger to the heart.

They didn’t speak much as they drove to the house she grew up in, except for her pointing and giving directions. It felt strange being back in Girard. Which was nothing new. Every trip home felt like entering the twilight zone. When she was there, the years that had passed fell away and she became a little girl again.

“It’s, um, right up here.” She pointed down the street lined with mill houses built in the middle of the last century.

The homes were small, one-story buildings with modest yards. She’d be lying if she said she didn’t feel weird about bringing Logan there. What would he think about the home she grew up in?

He pulled into the driveway, making sure to leave room next to his car for another one. The shadows were elongating, stretching across the freshly mown yard.

“Home sweet home,” she said, only because she couldn’t think of anything else to say.

“I’m excited to see your childhood room.” Logan closed his car door with a grin.

She shook her head at him over the roof. “It’s cleared out. You won’t find much that’s reminiscent of me. I think Mom consolidated all my things into one or two boxes.”

“Old diaries?” Logan said hopefully.

“Maybe one or two.” She smiled, surprised to find he was actually making her feel better.

The spare house key was under a ceramic squirrel next to the hose. Wiping the dirt off it, Terri climbed the cement porch steps and let them into the house.

The familiar smells of the vanilla candles her mom loved and the pine cleaner she used met them first. Stepping into the house, Terri flipped on the living room lights. A black cat reclining on the couch caught sight of them and ran down the hall.

“Which one is that?” Logan asked, his breath tickling the back of her neck.

A delicious zing traveled through Terri. Did he have any clue how close he was standing?

“Um, that’s… that’s Biscuits. The picky one.”

A meow made them both look down. A small gray cat rubbed its side against first Terri’s legs and then Logan’s.

“And that’s May. She goes with the flow.”

“Hey, May.” Logan picked the animal up, which meant instant purring.

“She sheds,” Terri warned, reaching around him to close the front door.

“Oh, I don’t mind.”

“Really?” she chuckled. “I thought the only kind of creatures you liked would be in tanks.”

“I like them all.” He had already turned May on her back and was bouncing the happy kitty in his arms like she was a baby. “Show me your old room.”

“Okay.” A ball of anxiety forming in her stomach, she walked down the hall.

Her mother clearly still thought the two of them were a couple. For some reason, Logan had offered a vague answer to that, which had done nothing to correct her. So if they were staying in the guest room, formerly known as Terri’s room, they’d have to figure out the sleeping arrangements.

Would it be mean to make him sleep on the floor? Because she didn’t think she’d get a wink of sleep with him right next to her all night long.

“Here it is.” She waved her hand at the guest room while hovering in the doorway.

The formerly purple walls had been painted a light blue, and the twin bed she’d spent years in had been replaced with a full-sized one. In the closet, assuming they were still there, were two boxes of Terri’s things. Softball trophies. Jewelry she’d beaded. School yearbooks. And, yes, a few journals.

“You weren’t kidding.” He looked over her shoulder. “It looks like a hotel room. Is this where we’re staying?”

She ducked her face. “Yep.”

“Hm,” was all he said.

May meowed pitifully.

“The cats need to be fed,” Terri said. Eager to have a reason to walk away from Logan, she pushed past him and made tracks for the kitchen.

Biscuits waited in the corner, hunched near the food bowls on the linoleum floor. He watched Terri with big yellow eyes, suspicious of her every movement but eager to be fed.

“Hey, kitty. Long time no see.” She opened up the cabinet that held the cats’ food. Biscuits emitted a noise somewhere between a growl and a purr.

“I get it.” Terri popped the top on a wet food can. “You’re cautious. You should be. It’s not like I’m exactly a staple here.”

The sound of the front door opening made her glance over her shoulder, but she could only catch a glimpse of the living room. Logan must have gone out to the car for something.

“Gives me more privacy to talk to you like you actually understand what I’m saying,” she told the cat, who had started walking in eager circles.

“What the hell are you doing here?” a loud, familiar voice said.

Terri froze, spoon in the wet cat food.

Oh, no.

Charlie had arrived.