“He did?!” The woman looked about ready to pass out right there on the spot. “Why Dylan! That’s a lovely idea!” She turned to the man next to her, barking out an instant replay. “Paul—did you hear that? Dylan’s bringing a date!”
The man chuckled, deepening the wrinkles by the corners of his eyes. “Of course I heard it, Susy. I’m standing right here.”
Susy clapped her hands with a watery smile. “Well Paul and I think it’s wonderful. And you, my dear, you are the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. What’s your name?”
Lacy held out her hand with a gracious smile.
“Lacy Larson. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Susy. Paul.”
She shook each one of them in turn, smiling with a dignity and grace far beyond her years. For a second, all Logan could do was stare. Then he realized they were all staring at him.
“Don’t worry about us,” he wrapped his arm around Lacy’s shoulder, drawing her up against him for the first time since they’d danced, “we’ll be there.”
“With the pie?” Susy demanded. “You promised you’d bring a pie.”
“Oh you of little faith,” he scoffed, ushering them away. “Of course I’m bringing a pie.”
They waved over their shoulders, chuckling as they made their way down the walk. Half-way there, Susy called out, “See you at eight!” before they disappeared around the corner.
Logan and Lacy stared after them for a moment, before she turned to him with a bemused smile. “Did you forget something?”
“Lacy, I’m so sorry.” He shook his head, feeling a little lost as to how to proceed. Every time he tried to take a step forward with this woman, something about Dylan’s crazy life always held him back. “I can try to get out of it. Track her down and say it’s not going to work—”
“Relax.” While she had turned to face him, she had yet to step out of his arm. Instead, she looked up at him with a little smile. “I love pie...”
Chapter 22
After a quick search of the kitchen came up with nothing but baking soda and alcohol, Lacy and Logan headed to the grocery store to pick up what they needed to make a pie. At first, he’d suggested that they just buy a read-made approximate, but after discovering that he’d never actually baked anything in his life, Lacy nixed that idea and said they’d do it from scratch.
Which turned out to be...interesting.
“I said sugar—not flour! Sugar!”
Lacy was perched atop the kitchen counter, wearing an apron and a self-fashioned chef’s hat. From the second they’d gotten back to the house, she’d promoted herself to management, and had been having the time of her life ordering Logan around the kitchen.
“One cup of sugar,” she said again, squinting down at the recipe book, “followed by two eggs—thank god we bought a spare carton, I can’t believe you dropped the first one.”
Logan glared up at her, his eyebrows whitened with flour. “Well maybe I wouldn’t have dropped it, if you hadn’t picked that exact moment to scream in my ear.”
“I thought I saw a spider!” She giggled at the scowling look on his face. “And it’s a good thing I did! What if I’d been right? That scream could have saved your life.”
Logan turned back around so she couldn’t see him grin. It was something he’d been doing rather a lot of lately. “So this potluck...you’re really down to go? If you were just saying that as some kind of escape from Paul and Susy, I’d completely understand—”
“No, I’d love to go.” She hopped off the counter, coming up behind him to peer into the mixing bowl. “It sounds cheesy, but I actually love stuff like that. Cleveland’s a big city, but it separates well into smaller neighborhoods. Kind of makes it feel like a small town, you know?”
Logan glanced over at her, staring for a second, before lowering his eyes quickly to the bowl. “Have you ever considered living somewhere else? Another big city? Another place?”
“Like New York?” She shook her head quickly. “No—the east coast’s too cold for me, a different kind of cold than what we have here.”
“Not all of it’s cold,” Logan said innocently, sprinkling a hint of nutmeg into the bowl. “A lot of it’s really warm. Places like Florida—”
“Nutmeg?” She scooped it out with a grin and held up the book. “Do you see nutmeg listed amongst any of these ingredients?”
Logan’s eyes scanned quickly down the list, before he lifted his chin defiantly. “I was improvising...”
“Oh, I see.” She laughed again, easing the bowl out of his hands so she could stir it herself. “Well judging by the state of your kitchen, how about you don’t improvise, okay?”
She was right. Logan had been shocked when they’d opened up the cupboards to find them almost completely bare. What did Dylan eat? Did he always just go out? It had been a little embarrassing—given that Lacy thought the house belonged to him. But she hadn’t said one word about it. She’d just smiled that sunny smile, and suggested they go to the store.