It was funny, but not funny all at the same time. Because both of them were defined by what they did. They always had been.
As kids they were the twins. Defined by a pure quirk of nature.
As teenagers they were the star football players in the school, which brought its own pleasures and pressures.
And now, Cam was riding high with the Bobcats, and Logan was the owner of the most successful restaurants in Boston. It was impossible to imagine anything that wouldn’t be a come down.
Logan wasn’t stupid. He knew there would be a hole in his life. But that hole would be filled. By Courtney and the baby, and the future they had together. That was the certainty that kept pulling him through.
Before he’d met Courtney, he’d laughed at the concept of soul mates. Shaken his head at the way his friends fell one by one for the women who’d changed their lives. He hadn’t had space for a relationship like that, even if he’d wanted one.
Yet she’d broken through that shield he’d put over himself. And now he was changing, too.
“We’ll be okay,” Logan told his brother, as he finished his glass of juice. “We’re
adaptable. We always have been.”
Cam lifted an eyebrow. “Yeah. And if worst comes to worst we can open a Sports Bar together. You run the place, I’ll hole up in the corner and tell people about my glory days in exchange for pints of beer.”
Logan lifted his empty glass, grinning as his twin clinked his own against it. “It’s a deal.”
“Okay,” Lainey said the following day at the salon. “I’m thinking an up do. We’ll straighten some of the front, then fix the curls at the nape of your neck. Maybe leave some tumbling down. It’ll look perfect with your dress, I promise.” She lifted Courtney’s hair, her brows locking together as she pulled it this way and that.
Courtney grinned at her friend’s reflection in the mirror. “Go for it. I’m in your hands.”
“You have the prettiest hair,” Maddie said from the salon chair next to Courtney’s. Behind her was Nicole, styling her hair into a high top knot that enhanced her high cheekbones and perfectly bow-shaped lips. “Has it always been that curly?”
“Apparently, I had straight blonde hair when I was a baby,” Courtney told her. “But then it all fell out and grew back like this.”
“I wonder if your baby will be blonde at first, too,” Van mused from the other side of Maddie. Along with Becca, Logan’s sister, all four of them were at the salon before they were due to be picked up by a limo and taken to the airport to catch their flight to Boston. It had been Maddie’s idea to come here first, and Lainey had been more than happy to bring two extra stylists in. Courtney looked around at them all, feeling warm inside.
It felt like she was part of something new. Something good. For the first time in a long while she felt excited. Tonight she’d be reunited with Logan, something she was so damn happy about. It had been a long couple of weeks without him, and the telephone and Skype calls didn’t cut it. She needed his warmth, his strength, the deep woodsy scent of his body. No amount of phone calls could substitute for that.
They’d already planned the weekend out. Tonight would be busy, of course, with getting ready for the party and with all the family around. And Sunday morning would be spent having brunch with them all. But in the afternoon, before she was due to catch her flight back, Logan had asked if they could go shopping together. Buy a few novelty items for the baby in Boston, followed by a tour of some of the sights. It felt important to him. As though it was his last chance to show her the city he loved. So of course she readily agreed.
“So, have you and Logan found anywhere to live yet?”
“We haven’t had a chance. Not with the restaurant opening. Hopefully things will calm down now.”
Maddie turned to look at Courtney, earning her disapproval from the stylist. “I bet you’ll miss that place. Presley and Marley loved it when we came over last week. They haven’t stopped babbling about the hens.”
Courtney had shown them around, introducing them to Ellis and Mary, whose faces had lit up at the smiling, toddling little boys. Ellis had even taken them for a ride in his tractor, much to the twins’ delight. It had given her a little insight into how excited they’d be when her own baby arrived. That thought warmed her inside.
“We loved having them there. And they can still come over after I move. I’ll still be working on the farm.”
“You will?” Lainey’s brows lifted. “How are you going to manage that?”
“I’ll take the baby with me, at least at first. Mary has offered to help. And then I’ll look into daycare.”
“How does Logan feel about Mary taking care of the baby?” Lainey wrinkled her nose. “It has to be strange since they’re Shaun’s parents.”
Courtney shrugged. “We haven’t had a chance to talk about it yet. But it makes sense. I can go and feed the baby on demand and still work. There aren’t many jobs where you can do both.”
“It could feel a bit emasculating though,” Lainey pointed out. “I’d check it out with him first.”
“I will. We’ve got a lot of things to sort out. But there’s plenty of time. I’m only eighteen weeks.”
“Enjoy them,” Maddie said darkly, though her lips curled up. “You’ll never know how good it feels to pee in solitude again.”