It's Our Time (Carolina Rebels 3)

“Is he nice to you?”

“Yep.”

“Do you love him?”

“Yep.”

“Now, look at Aunt Carey and go like this.” He sticks his tongue out and Savannah quickly mocks him. “Just like him already,” he says to Carey. “He treats ‘em good and he loves ‘em. What more do you need, woman?”

Carey ignores him. “Let’s eat.”

I help her make plates for all of us and once we’re seated and eating, I ask, “What’s new with you two?”

“Logan brought his person over here the other night,” Carey says with a glare.

“Hey, you try leaving and going to someone else’s house and all with crutches. It was easier. Not to mention, she has two flights of stairs I would’ve had to go up. No thanks.”

“No thanks,” Savannah repeats. Is my child becoming a parrot? Or is she just enjoying her time around Logan too much?

At least it seems that nothing has changed around here. Everything else in my life has changed, but it’s for the better. What I do worry about is that Ian isn’t planning to talk to his father in the foreseeable future. I totally get that it’s his decision, but it just seems like if he can forgive me, then he should at least talk to his father. Ian isn’t having any of that on the rare occasion we talk about it. At least it’ll keep things from being awkward at Savannah’s birthday party, since he obviously won’t be there.

“Did you apply for the master’s program yet?” Carey asks.

“Oh, about that.”

“Don’t even say it.”

“Then I won’t.” I cut into my pork chop and take a bite. Carey shakes her head in disbelief. “Will you stop being so negative? You know I was a little wishy-washy before Ian came back into the picture. This will be good for me and Savannah. I’ll have a job sooner, so when he leaves me high and dry like you think he will, I won’t be broke. You should be happy about my decision.”

I don’t know how it happened, but it’s like I ended up with a Negative Nancy for one friend and an Optimistic Owen for the other. It’s helpful when I want a list of pros and cons, but not so much when she’s overwhelmingly negative about something. Like Ian. She should know by now that I’m a lost cause when it comes to him. She should give up.

Carey frowns, and thankfully, doesn’t say anything.

“Lo-Lo, here.” Savannah holds up a green bean for him to eat.

“Now, Savannah. You know green beans are good for you and they taste good. Why do you want me to eat them? Besides, don’t you see that Lo-Lo has his own to eat?”

“I don’t wanna.”

“Why not?” He takes a bite of half and hums like it’s the best thing he’s ever eaten. “So good, Savannah.” She stares at it for a bit, not buying it. “Dip it in the A1 and see how it tastes.”

Savannah loves A1 sauce. It’s her favorite and she tries to eat it with everything. That’s just the incentive she needs. She dips it into her puddle of sauce and says it’s yummy. Gross! She eats every single one of her green beans that way.

“You’ll be a good

dad one day,” I tell Logan. He’s always been so good with her, even more so as she’s gotten older. He likes her more now than he did when she was a baby. Not to say he didn’t like playing with her then, but he wasn’t changing a diaper unless he was the only option.

Logan laughs. “Let’s hope it’s not for a long time. I like being just Uncle Lo-Lo for now.”

Carey’s phone rings. She pulls it from her pocket and walks away from the table without saying a word. That’s odd. She never leaves the room to talk on the phone.

“What’s that about?” I ask Logan.

“New boyfriend, I think. Not sure why she’s secretive about him, but she is. You might as well head home. She won’t be back anytime soon.”

“Come sleep over, Lo-Lo,” Savannah begs. Logan looks at me, which means he wants to come. Otherwise, he would’ve told her no. I shrug.

“Can we watch The Little Mermaid?” he asks.