And he was built. Very well built.
Finally, Paydon looked up from his shuffling and spotted Logan.
Logan didn’t stop at Paydon’s parents.
He didn’t even spare them a smile as he skirted around them on the walk, using my mother’s precious grass to get to his friend.
And when he finally arrived at Paydon’s side, he threw his arms around him and hugged him so hard that he came off his feet.
Paydon, not expecting that, started to laugh.
“You can tell that they’re best friends now,” I said. “Paydon looked like he was going to be sick. Now he looks like the world is shining out of his eyes.”
“Hard to find friends like that,” he agreed. “Glad to have a few of those in my life.”
I thought about AJ, who I hadn’t talked to much more than to send the occasional text here and there about what was going down.
She’d given me the ‘oh shit that sucks’ comment here and there, had been quite excited to hear about Logan, but honestly hadn’t had much to say.
Which surprised me because normally she was a whole lot more talkative.
I’d met AJ in high school. She’d skipped ahead a few grades like me but had been two years older than me. She’d also been one of the ones that had befriended Bruno with me.
Which reminded me, I needed to tell her that I’d now seen Bruno, who looked a hell of a lot different from the little emo kid I’d once known.
“AJ isn’t that for me,” I found myself saying. “But Logan, I have a feeling, is.”
“Your mom is for me, too,” he agreed. “Are you sure about this, Katerina?”
I looked over at my father, who was no longer watching the reunion outside, but instead steadily focused on me.
“You mean, am I sure that Logan is a good man?” I asked.
“Your track record…”
I started to laugh.
“You damn well know that Luca was good,” I told him, then saddened slightly at remembering him. “Jakobe was kind of awful…but…”
“Kind of awful?” he asked skeptically. “Have you been smoking something?”
Okay, well, he was really awful.
There was no kind of to it.
“What I’m trying to say is that Logan is a good man,” I finally said. “Who else would go to those lengths to make sure that his friend had access to that baby’s life?”
Dad made an agreement grunt then turned back to outside.
“I just don’t want you to ever be hurt, Katy,” he said, sounding worried. “Parents worry about these things. They want their children to have everything. I want you to have what Reese and I have.”
“I think I do,” I found myself saying. “It’s been a very short time but…he’s amazing, Dad. I don’t even know where to start with how amazing he is. And I get this feeling in my chest every time I see him. And the butterflies.”
“Sounds like love,” my mother said from behind us. “I get those when I see your dad still. And when he’s in full uniform? Yeah, still gets me every single time.”
I grinned up at her and saw that she no longer had Gibby.
“Where’s Gibby?”
She pointed to the floor behind us.
“Thought it best that she play there. When they come in, I don’t want her turning away from them and to me,” she explained.
We all turned back to the window.
“Logan looks like he’s doing okay for seeing his best friend for the first time in two years,” Mom mused.
“Yes,” I agreed. “He doesn’t look like he’s about to throw up anymore, either.”
Dad snorted. “This shit is going to rock this town.”
I looked away from the reunion once again.
“Yeah,” I agreed. “Or at least the police department. Y’all gossip more than women.”
My mom started to laugh uncontrollably behind me.
“Your dad is the worst of the lot,” she said. “Him and his old SWAT team. I swear, they’re always there in the thick of those rumors, whispering and chittering away.”
I believed that, too.
“Looks like they’re coming in,” Dad said, standing up from his seat and walking to the door.
He opened it before they arrived, and held out his hand to Darius Maxwell.
He did the same to Nina.
“Nice to meet you both,” Dad said. “Logan here has told us a lot about you.”
He saved the last handshake for Paydon, who took it, but he appeared much more unsure than his parents.
“Nice to meet you, too,” Paydon said politely.
I guess maybe I expected Paydon to sound ‘off’ I guess. So, when he spoke, and the sound was so deep that it made my eyes widen slightly, I must’ve shown the surprise.
Because Logan’s smile caught my attention.
“Paydon,” Logan said. “That woman sitting there is Katy. Katy, this is Paydon, my best friend.”
I waved from where I was but didn’t get up.
Mostly because Paydon offered me a distracted smile, and then his gaze went to the little girl on the floor.