Logan nodded, wondering how to extricate himself from this situation. Karen might have been yearning to try again, but he had no inclination to renew the relationship. Not with his work and his nieces occupying most of his time.
Where were those girls when he needed them?
As if on cue, he heard Brittany call, “Uncle Logan, look who we found.”
He glanced up with a grin of relief that faded when he saw their reluctant escort.
Sandra Bachman.
Brittany had one of her hands, Bethany the other, and they were pulling her along the boardwalk.
The girls stopped in front of Karen and Logan, looking at Sandra like they had just snagged a prize.
“She was coming this way already,” Bethany said, bestowing an angelic smile on Logan.
“I was just heading home, actually,” Sandra said. The soft breeze coming off the lake teased her loose hair, made her long flowing skirt sway. She looked soft, deceptively gentle. Logan couldn’t look away.
Her dark eyes flicked over Karen, then to Logan, one eyebrow quirking when she noticed his regard.
Covering up, Logan turned to Karen. “I should introduce you to the girls’ tutor, Sandra Bachman. Sandra, this is…Karen.”
Karen seemed to catch his momentary hesitation over her official title, but recovered and put on a polite smile, extending her hand to Sandra.
“Nice to meet you,” Karen said smoothly.
Sandra shook her hand, her gaze assessing. “Likewise,” she said, one corner of her mouth curling into a smile.
Logan braced himself for one of Sandra’s comments, but she said nothing more.
“So the girls must keep you quite busy,” Karen said.
Sandra glanced at each of the girls. “They’re a challenge that I try to rise to every day. But I think we’re making some progress.”
Karen murmured a vague response, then looked at Logan, as if expecting him to end this conversation.
But Logan knew what faced him if he was alone with Karen again. He didn’t feel inclined to reopen the topic of Karen and her feelings on their relationship.
“Out for some exercise?” he asked Sandra, slipping his hands in his pockets, projecting the image of someone with nothing better to do than chat up his nieces’ tutor.
“No, just a walk,” Sandra replied with a sparkle in her eye. “I get enough exercise just pushing my luck.”
Logan couldn’t help his answering grin. “And here I thought you were the kind of person who would spend hours in aerobic classes.”
Sandra waved that comment away. “I’d sooner spend my money on chocolate fudge sundaes than pay someone to put me through pain.”
“If you’ve experienced pain while doing aerobics, that could be the fault of your instructor,” Karen informed her.
Logan glanced sidelong at Karen, feeling a faint flush of shame at how completely he had ignored her.
“Could be,” Sandra agreed, her grin fading as she looked at Karen. “Or it could be that I just wasn’t doing things right.” Sandra took an abrupt step back, and Logan recognized the first movement toward departure. The quick glance at her watch was the second.
He didn’t want her to go.
“It’s been nice meeting you, Karen,” she said, formal. Polite.
Karen smiled in return.
But the girls weren’t happy. “We just got here. You can’t go now, Sandra,” Brittany wailed.
Sandra laid a hand on each of their shoulders, still grinning. “I have two legs, and in spite of not taking aerobics, I can walk quite well. No ‘can’t’ about it.”
“Then you shouldn’t go,” Bethany corrected, grabbing Sandra’s hand.
“And shouldn’t is a moral imperative, Bethany.” Sandra tapped Bethany’s nose. “I’m on my day off, so I’m not under any obligation to follow it.”
Logan couldn’t help but smile at the word games Sandra so easily indulged in. But it was better for all concerned, himself included, if they kept their relationship arm’s-length.
“Let’s go, Bethy, Brit,” Logan said, hastening the separation. “We shouldn’t waste Sandra’s time.”
In spite of his reflections, he couldn’t help another glance in her direction and was disconcerted to see her looking at him, as well, her expression serious.
Then, with a quick wave and a toss of her head, Sandra was striding down the boardwalk toward the beach, her hair and skirt swinging in time with her steps.
“So, that’s the new tutor,” Karen said, a prim note in her voice. “She seems very…vivacious.”
Logan’s only acknowledgment of Karen’s statement was a curt nod. As he glanced at Karen, he couldn’t help comparing the two women. Sandra’s dark eyes, dark hair and wide smile. Karen’s light hair, clear eyes and composed manner.
Shaking his head, he pushed the thoughts aside. Karen had come to church. Sandra hadn’t. That should be comparison enough for him.
Karen stayed until late afternoon. She coerced the girls into a board game, talked with Logan about friends they had in common.
But when she drove away and he came into the cabin, he felt worn out and was thankful to be alone again.
“You’re not going back to her, are you?” Brittany asked as soon as he stepped into the house. She lay on the couch, Bethany on the recliner. Both had their eyes fixed on their uncle.
Logan looked at his more outspoken niece, weighing his words. “That’s not for you to say, Brittany,” he replied firmly, recognizing the need to set personal boundaries. “Karen is a good person, and at one time we had a strong relationship.”
“Why did she come back?”
“She just came for a visit.” Logan wasn’t going to delve into the real reason. Given the girls’ antagonism toward his former girlfriend and their not so subtle cheerleading for Sandra, he figured the less they knew, the better.
Brittany gave her uncle a knowing look. “I bet she wants you back.”
Logan was taken aback at Brittany’s perceptiveness.
“I’ve seen the way she looks at you,” Brittany said smugly. “What do you think, Bethany?”
Bethany gave a hesitant shrug. “I don’t know.”
Brittany snorted. “Of course, you don’t know. She liked you.” Brittany looked at her uncle. “I think she wants you back.”
“And I think you’ve said enough, Brittany,” Logan chided, walking past her to the kitchen. “Seeing as how you’re so full of advice, you can help me make supper tonight.”
But as they ate, the girls’ words reinforced what he already knew. Karen was sweet, kind and shared the same faith.
She just didn’t hold the appeal she once had. Her soft green eyes and her pale blondness seemed pallid.
Pallid compared to Sandra’s heavy brown hair and dancing eyes.
Chapter Six
Logan added a few more flourishes to his drawing and stood to have a better look.
His first