It's Our Time (Carolina Rebels 3)

I roll my eyes as I lean down to give him a quick kiss. It only makes him grin. This is going to be a long day.

All it takes is Mom seeing how Savannah is with Ian over lunch for her to pull me aside and apologize again. She was also impressed with his apartment since it is an upgrade from my previous one. Unfortunately, I didn’t warn her of touchy subjects beforehand, so she brings up his parents. She was only trying to learn about his family. He does talk about them, but he doesn’t mention that he isn’t currently talking to either of them.

That was the first bump. Mom and Chris learn more about Ian and his life. Logan ended up coming with them, so Savannah jumps back and forth between her daddy, her Papa, and her Lo-Lo. The second bump came when Savannah was about to pitch a fit over something. I’m not sure what because Mom was talking to me and the guys seemed to have a handle on it. But I did hear Logan and Ian say her name at the same time. Ian abruptly stopped and let Logan soothe her ruffled feathers.

Now, we’re in an ice cream shop. Ian is holding Savannah.

“Want strawberry ice cream?” he asks her.

“She doesn’t like strawberry,” Logan tells him.

“Yuck,” Savannah agrees.

“What about chocolate, little Miss?” Ian tries.

“Nope,” Logan says. “Anything chocolate upsets her stomach.”

“Will you shut up?” Ian snaps. It’s such a sudden change in tone that everyone close by stops talking. What in the world?

Savannah pats his beard, her little legs swinging around his waist, as if she can’t tell that he’s suddenly pissed about something. “Banana, Daddy,” she says.

“Banana?” His voice is back to being soft.

“Or vanilla with bananas.”

Logan looks at me with a what the hell just happened expression and I shrug. No clue. Ian doesn’t talk to anyone but Savannah after that. When we get home, he goes straight to our bedroom.

“What did I do?” Logan asks.

“I don’t know. Thanks for coming, though. Savannah loves Lo-Lo.”

He laughs. “Of course she does. I’m the best uncle she’s ever had. Let me know what’s up with him.”

“Maybe.” It might not be any of Logan’s business. I hug Mom and Chris and promise to see them tomorrow before they leave to go home. Then, once I put on some cartoons for Savannah, I walk to our bedroom. Ian is sitting on the bed with the photo albums I gave him, spread on top. He’s flipping through them. “What’s going on?” I ask.

“Nothing,” he replies with a shake of his head.

I walk over and climb on the bed to sit next to him. He’s turning the pages too fast. What is he doing? “Ian, what the hell happened? What are you doing?”

He closes the album and slides it over. “Look at it.”

“Okay.” I open it and look at the photos. This album doesn’t have the photos in any particular order. It’s simply my favorite photos since Savannah was born. “What am I supposed to see?”

“A commonality.”

“Since when do you beat around the bush?” I ask, not feeling like going back and forth.

“Logan. It’s you and Savannah, Savannah, or Savannah and Logan in nearly every photo.”

“Okay,” I drag, still not seeing where he’s going with this.

“He might as well be her father, Sydney.”

“Ew,” I immediately say, frowning. “He’s my stepbrother.”

“That’s not what I’m talking about. He’s helped you raise her, Sydney. He’s been there.”

“You’re jealous of Logan?” I interrupt. Seriously? That’s why he snapped at him today?