“Where did the root cellar come from?” Leigh frowned.
“Chapter one—you didn’t read it.”
“Oh. Okay.”
“Can we continue now? Me doing the writing—you typing?” Logan asked with amusement.
“Sure.”
His cell rang in his pocket and he stood, checking the caller ID. His expression darkened.
“If you have to answer that, go ahead. I think I can make out the rest...if I squint really hard.” But the light moment between them had disappeared.
“I’m sorry, it’s important,” he said as it rang again. Moving away, he answered the call.
Leigh watched his long, anxious strides as he paced the backyard. In the silence of the neighborhood, it was impossible not to hear his side of the conversation, despite the distance he put between them.
She felt a pang of guilt listening, but she couldn’t help it. She was curious about him. Really curious. Since their first night working together, she’d tried to resist the urge to look him up on the computer, but that afternoon she’d caved. Not that she’d learned anything about his personal life.
“Yes, of course I have time to speak to her.... Hi, sweetheart, you’re up late,” he said, glancing at his watch.
Sweetheart?
“How was school today?” she heard him ask.
It sounded as though he was talking to a child. His?
“Give them time, they’ll come around. You’re the coolest kid I know.”
The concern in his voice touched her.
“That’s great. I can’t wait to see it.... I know, I miss you, too...just another couple of weeks....”
Couple of weeks for what? Man, she had to stop eavesdropping. His call was none of her business.
“Okay, be good for your mom.... I love you.” He disconnected the call and Leigh watched as he stood there for a second longer. He turned back toward her and their eyes met momentarily, before she quickly returned hers to the laptop screen.
Logan climbed the few steps to the gazebo and sat back on the bench. “Sorry about that.”
“No problem.” Don’t ask questions. It was none of her business.
“Where did we leave off?”
“The detective is going downstairs,” Leigh said. Clearly, he wasn’t about to explain the call.
“Right.” Logan cleared his throat, then stood again. “That was my daughter.”
She fought to conceal her surprise. Never would she have pegged him for a father. How old was the girl? Did that mean he was married? Divorced? Where was she? Despite the insane curiosity mounting within her, she struggled to respect his privacy. “Really, Logan, that’s your business.”
Quietly, he rejoined her on the bench. “Okay, sorry, tell me again—where were we?”
“The detective’s going downstairs....” Leigh prodded, studying him. The little piece of himself he’d displayed in those few seconds had revealed a different side of the man she was getting to know.
A man she wanted to get to know even better.
“OKAY, GUYS, CLIMB IN.” Leigh opened the sliding side door of her minivan and hid a yawn as she helped the kids in. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been up so late on a weeknight. The progress was slow because of her inexpert typing and Logan’s inability to decipher his own writing, but he’d been happy with the work they’d been able to accomplish in five hours.
Despite her previous claim that scary books didn’t interest her, the more she read, the more engaged she was becoming. Enough so that she’d struggled with apprehension returning to her dark house alone just before midnight.
Unable to sleep, she’d stayed awake reading the first half of the first book in the series.
“Move all the way to the back, guys,” Leigh told the Myer twins as she got in to do up their seat belts. David and Joshua Myers, eight, had a PD day from school, and she’d volunteered to babysit for their mom. Melody Myers worked three jobs since the death of her husband several years before and rarely asked for help.
“Where are we going Miss Leigh?” four-year-old Isabel Miller asked.
Leigh only winked as she climbed through the seats and jumped down from the van.
They all stared at her, hopeful.
“It’s a surprise,” she said as she closed the sliding door.
“Where are you taking them?” The deep voice of the man behind her made her jump.
Her hand flew to her chest as she turned. “Logan, you startled me.”
“I’ll try to stop doing that.”
“I’d appreciate that.”
“I saw your lights on last night. Thought you said the book wouldn’t get to you.” He shoved his hands in his pockets and rocked back on his heels.
“Yeah, well, I hadn’t expected you to be such a good writer.” Her gaze met his. He was actually a very attractive man, especially when his features softened and he didn’t appear irritated at the world. His dark, wavy hair needed a trim and his week-old beard was scruffy, but she suspected he cleaned up quite nicely.
“I’ll accept that backhanded compliment,” he said, nodding toward the van. “Road trip?”
Leigh yawned. “Yes, if I can keep my eyes open. I haven’t been up that late in a while.” She lowered her voice and leaned in to say, “I’m taking the kids to the corn maze.” A faint musky cologne reached her nose. He smelled good.
“Corn maze?” His brow furrowed. “What’s that?”
“Shhhh....” She looked over her shoulder to make sure the kids hadn’t heard. “You’re kidding, right?” He’d never heard of a corn maze? When she was a child, the corn maze had been one of her favorite outings during harvest, whenever they were lucky enough to be in Brookhollow.
“No.”
“You really are a city boy, aren’t you?”
“Hardly ever venture past the skyscrapers. So, are you going to enlighten me or am I going to have to look it up for myself?”
“It’s a maze made of out cornstalks at the Monroe family farm.” She paused, wondering if she should invite him along. How would the kids’ parents react? He was still a stranger after all. After several nights working with him, she still didn’t know him very well. She still couldn’t believe he was a father.
Logan cleared his throat. “I can’t go,” he said, staring at the sidewalk.
Had she asked him? “Did I invite you?”
“No, but you were struggling with whether to or not.”
Her mouth opened.
“Part of my job as a writer is to observe human behavior,” he explained. “I could read your expression.”
“Oh. Well, you’re welcome to come along if you want,” she said, glancing at her watch. “But we should get going.” She walked around to the driver’s side and opened the door.
“I really can’t. I’m doing a school visit at Brookhollow High this morning.”
He was