Logan laughed again and shook me around. “Seriously, can you believe it? I ran into Aster here last night, and I thought she should stick around so we could catch up. What luck, right?”
He sent me an overzealous smile.
“Hmm,” was all Trent managed as he lifted the baby higher and pressed his mouth to her head.
Jud cast a cautious glance at Trent before he rounded him and came my way. Nerves shook the ground below before a surprised squeak left me when he suddenly curled me in his massive arms.
At first, I wanted to fight him, but it took only a flash to recognize his embrace was kind, though somehow filled with reservation. “It’s good to officially meet you, Aster.”
“You, too.” I had to force the words out around the lump in my throat.
He tugged the woman who’d sat next to him up to his side.
She was stunning, curvy with a black bob that touched her shoulders. She wore a fitted sweater dress that went all the way to her ankles, a slit up to the knee on the side.
Jud slipped his hand around to her waist, his other going to the tiny bump that barely showed on her belly. “Aster, this is my wife, Salem.”
She stepped forward and shook my hand like we were going to be the best of friends. “It’s really great to meet you.”
She gently smacked Logan’s chest. “Tell me what you’re doing with this guy?”
“Hey, now, hey. Is that any way to treat your favorite brother-in-law? So rude. And here I thought you loved me.”
Laughing, she curled her arm around his waist. “You’re lucky I do, that’s for sure.”
Her smile was playful when she shifted her attention to me. “This one, I tell you, you have to watch out for him.”
“Oh dear Salem, what is this nonsense you say? We all know there’s no looking away from me.” Logan gestured at himself, all tease and arrogance.
The undercurrent of the vapid grin he sent me knocked my knees again, one that promised he was right there, that he wasn’t looking away from me, either, that he knew this was difficult, but he was asking me to do it with him, anyway.
The why was what I didn’t get.
Why not just hide me away for thirty days? But the newfound glint that speared me from that gaze made me wonder if he were contemplating how much it might cost to keep me.
“Ah, here come our superstars.” He gestured toward the side of the stage.
Trent’s wife, Eden, all but floated our direction. She held Juniper and Gage’s hands.
“Holy cow, that was amazing!” Logan shouted as they let go of Eden and came bounding our way. “Like, seriously epic. I see Tonys in our future. Broadway, baby.”
Logan shook his arms in the air like he was catching a dream.
“Right, Uncle, right? I was the best drummer in the whole wide world, right?” Gage bounded across the floor, words flooding from his mouth the entire way.
“Heck, yes.” Logan swept him into his arms. “Seriously, so good. Or maybe it’s a rockstar I see in our future. Those were some wicked drum skills.”
“Wicked?” The little boy scrunched his nose.
My fingers tingled while my feet itched.
Trent grunted again. “Keep it up, man, keep it up.”
“Prepare yourself.” Logan grinned. “This one right here has entertainment in his blood. I can feel it, and you know I’m never wrong.”
Trent rolled his eyes. “Never.”
The little girl was right behind. She went for Jud, and he tossed her into the air then caught her. “There’s my angel.”