“Thanks. I appreciate it.”
Joy glanced toward the boy looking at the reptile habitats with Mike’s daughter. “How are you and your brother doing?”
A flicker of emotion darkened the brunette’s hazel eyes as her gaze shifted to the kids. “It hasn’t been easy, I won’t lie. Noah’s been…a bit of a handful. But I think things are finally settling down.”
They talked a few minutes more while Bev rang up the second pet bed and put it in a large bag. Joy saw Mike had gone over to talk to Logan and her grandma, and Bernie’s head turned to follow her gaze.
“So, I gotta ask…did I really just hear you call Logan Walsh honey?”
Heat burned her cheeks. She should be used to this by now. “Ah, yeah.”
“I didn’t even know you two were dating, much less engaged.”
“We’re not. The short version is, Gram got it in her mind we’re engaged, and it’s easier to play along with her than try to correct her. She gets upset, as you saw earlier.” She cast a wry glance at Bev before turning back to Bernie. “But just you guys and close friends know. Everyone else in town thinks it’s real.”
“And Logan agreed to this?”
Joy nodded, watching him talk with Mike as Gram picked out a leash.
“Wow. That’s…really nice of him. He’s always seemed a little, I don’t know, standoffish.”
Something Joy was beginning to realize was his defense mechanism. Keep people distant to appear as if he didn’t care when they judged him for being poor. Only, he d
idn’t realize the judgment came from his attitude toward them, not the balance in his bank account.
“He’s been great about it,” she said, meaning every word despite his piss-poor attitude today. Because now she was pretty sure she’d figured out the reason for that. At least she hoped she had. “He’s a lot different than I expected.”
“Good different?”
“Yeah,” she confirmed with a small smile as she turned back to Bernie. “But enough about my fake relationship. I want to hear what’s going on with you and Mike.”
The guys’ voices and Gram’s grew louder as they started toward the counter. Bernie gave her a little shrug and a secretive smile. “Stay tuned.”
“Well, good luck,” she whispered.
“You, too,” Bernie shot back.
Did she want luck?
Logan smiled down at her grandma before lifting his shuttered gaze to hers. Yeah. She wanted luck big time. Needed it, too.
Bev added the leash to their order, and after a quick hello and goodbye for Mike, they were able to leave without any further incident.
Logan parked the car in the garage shortly after five p.m., next to Grandpa’s SUV. He strode around to the front passenger door while Joy grabbed the large pet shop bag from the seat next to her.
“Will you be joining us for dinner, Logan?” Gram asked. “Joy made homemade spaghetti and meatballs.”
She quickly glanced over to see his reaction to the question, but he kept his focus on shutting the door. “Sorry, June, but I have to get back out and finish cutting the hay.”
“You shouldn’t be skipping meals, young man.”
“Don’t worry about me. I’ll eat when I get home.”
“Joy will fix you a plate.” Her tone allowed for no argument as she turned to face him from the top of the steps leading into the house from the garage. “You make sure you stop here when you’re done, you hear?”
“Yes, ma’am.” He leaned in to brush a kiss on her cheek.
Her grandmother blushed as she went into the house. Touched and hopeful at his sweet gesture, Joy hung back to talk to him, but he avoided her gaze and strode past without a word. She took a breath to call him back, then decided she’d make her own luck when he returned for dinner. He would have no choice but to listen as he ate.