The Christmas Deal

“What’s wrong with him?”

Seth looked over his shoulder to see Connor with one foot in the garage, his eyes wide as he stared at Logan. Logan released Seth’s wrist, sucking in a breath and wheezing out, “It’s nothing.” He pushed to his feet, still breathing hard, sweat glistening on his brow despite the frosty air, his exhalations clouding.

Seth added, “Everything’s okay. It was just a little…” He had no idea what, and grasped for a word, landing on the one his gram would have used. “Just a little turn.”

Connor stared at them, his gaze jumping back and forth between Logan and Seth. To Seth, he said, “He’s supposed to be better now.” He bit it out like an accusation, but Seth could sense the terror beneath it. The poor kid had lost his mother suddenly and been through so much upheaval. Seth managed a smile and approached him.

He hoped he wasn’t lying when he said, “He is.” He squeezed Connor’s shoulder, and he could feel little tremors despite Connor lifting his chin and putting on a careless tone.

“Fine. Whatever.”

Seth ignored that. “I’m glad you came back. We really do need your help.”

“I didn’t have my phone,” Connor replied flatly.

Heh. Should have known. “Right. Well, I’m still glad. How about you help me get these first few cabinets inside? I’ll push and you pull.” Seth motioned to the long dolly. He glanced at Logan, who nodded, gratitude clear in his brown eyes.

It gave Seth a satisfied little flush of warmth to help Logan. He grasped the cold metal handles, yelping. “Yikes! We need to get our gloves when we go in. Think we can tough it out?”

Connor nodded as Seth hoped he would, glancing at Logan as he took hold of the dolly’s handles at the other end and pulled. Wants to prove he’s tough, Seth thought. He bet Connor wanted Logan’s approval far more than either of them realized.

Nodding encouragingly, Seth pushed, and they made their way out of the garage and along the front walk over the temporary plywood path. It wasn’t too heavy, and they were able to get up the ramp without too much struggle on Seth’s end, his thighs flexing as he dug in and shoved.

Inside, he asked Connor, “You want to help Jun unload these and warm up for a minute? I’ll be back.” Seth grabbed his gloves and hurried out. He exhaled in relief when he saw Logan standing in the garage, his color back to normal and seemingly breathing okay.

“You all right?” Seth asked as he neared. He rubbed Logan’s arm, the leather of his jacket and Seth’s gloves creaking. Wait, was he being too familiar? He dropped his hand.

Logan nodded and rasped, “Thanks.”

“What happened?”

“It’s fine.” Logan shrugged. “No big deal. Let’s get back to work.”

Seth stayed put. “I thought you were having a heart attack. It was a pretty big deal.”

Logan rubbed a hand over his face, making that scratchy sound that sent a thrill down Seth’s spine. “I guess I pushed a little too hard. Docs have a fancy word for it: dyspnea. Just means shortness of breath. Because of the accident.”

“Ah.” Maybe he was being nosy, but Seth’s curiosity got the better of him. “It was a derailment?”

“Yeah.” Logan’s jaw tightened, his gaze on the concrete. “I was driving the engine, just moving it to the other side of the yard. The conductor had released the other cars, thank fuck. It would have been much worse. They said I was going too fast, being a hotshot or something. I know I wasn’t. The brakes failed. I wasn’t speeding, and I braked in plenty of time, but it was just…” He shuddered. “Screeching metal like you’ve never heard before.”

“My goodness,” Seth whispered. He could only imagine the terror.

“Track curved, and we went over. Last thing I remember was my buddy Huey screaming, and this punch to my chest, like being stomped by an elephant.”

Logan swallowed hard, raising his head and looking off somewhere beyond Seth, unfocused. “One of the monitors had come loose, and it hit me square in the chest. Massive pulmonary contusion. My lungs were so bruised, I needed to be on a ventilator to breathe. Woke up like that—tube down my throat.”

Seth shuddered. “That must have been horrendous.”

“Yeah.” His gaze was still distant. “Dislocated my shoulder and broke my arm, and it had to be in traction. Cracked ribs. Everything was just…broken.” He inhaled and seemed to give himself a shake, meeting Seth’s eyes. “Anyway. Once in a while I get short of breath. I guess it’s in my head sometimes, but today I just pushed too fast. Connor must think I’m pathetic.” He looked away. “You too.”

“What? No, not at all. I’m just relieved there’s an explanation. I can’t imagine how much work you had to do to recover the way you have. I’d never know you’d been so badly injured.”