“It starts at six thirty.” Logan glanced up at the clock on the wall. “I assume we’ll leave here about six o’clock.”
“Five thirty,” Nancy corrected. “It’s polite to arrive about thirty minutes early.”
“It’s an outdoor wedding,” Logan said. “I’d rather not be there early so we can sweat for an extra thirty minutes.”
“Five thirty,” Nancy repeated in a firm tone. “I may not be a part of the social circle anymore, but I know their expectations. Breaking the rules will only give them an excuse to criticize.”
“Fine. Five thirty.” Logan showed his mom the whites of his eyes as he rolled them toward the ceiling. “I’m going to take Ellery to get her nails done. Where should we go?”
Ellery set the plates in the sink. “That’s okay, Logan. No one’s going to be looking at my fingernails.”
“You should do it.” Nancy held out her hands for Ellery’s inspection. “Thanks to Logan, I get mine done every week.”
“They’re beautiful,” Ellery admitted. The idea was enticing. She hadn’t taken time for herself since…ever!
“It’s so relaxing. They massage your hands and rub lotion in.” Nancy’s eyes closed as if she were reliving the experience.
“Okay. I’m game.” Ellery smiled at Logan, and he looked inordinately proud of himself.
“I’ll make a call,” Nancy said. “And Logan, you could get a haircut and let them shave that beard off your face.”
“Don’t hold your breath, Mom.”
Ellery laughed, secretly glad he wasn’t going to shave off the scruffy, masculine beard that emphasized the square set of his jaw.
Thirty minutes later, they were in the SUV on the way to the salon, a fifteen-minute drive from the house. He cleared his throat a few times, and she waited for him to say whatever was on his mind. He was obviously uncomfortable starting the conversation.
Not as uncomfortable as I am waiting for it.
“All right…spill it,” she said. “What happened last night? I must’ve been really loud if I woke both of you up.”
He took one hand off the steering wheel and wiped the palm on his shorts. “You don’t remember any of it?”
“I kind of remember having a bad dream, but not any worse than usual,” she said, feeling more apprehensive by the second. What had she done during the night? Had she been sleep-walking?
“You have them all the time?”
“Not all the time. Lately, they only happen when I see something that triggers me. Like, I can’t watch those action flicks anymore—the ones with car-chase scenes and crashes. I used to love them.”
“That’s understandable.” His hands gripped the wheel, his knuckles whitening. “I’m sure it was pretty terrible when it happened…the accident…”
“Listen, Logan. I really don’t want you feeling sorry for me. I hate that. It makes me feel…My counselor said pity makes me feel inferior.”
“I wasn’t trying to—”
“I know you weren’t, but that’s how it feels. I liked you better when you were giving me a hard time. That made me feel like we were equals.”
He gave a slow nod. “Fair enough. I won’t pity you. But am I allowed to admire you?”
“Depends. Could be pity in disguise.” She let him see her smirk. “You don’t know me well enough to admire me for anything but having survived a car wreck, and that wasn’t even my doing. You should be admiring the firefighters and the doctors and nurses for saving me.”
One eyebrow lifted. “I can admire you for having a better response to your adversity than I had to mine.”
“Ah, but I had counseling. You probably didn’t talk to anyone about your feelings.”
“I’m a man. I don’t talk about my feeling.” He grinned as he emphasized the singular form of the word.
“Men have just as many emotions as women, whether they acknowledge it or not,” she said. “But anyway, I’d rather be admired for something else. Or nothing at all. I hate having that stupid accident define who I am for the rest of my life.”
“Okay, then. No pity and no admiration.” A grin played at the edge of his lips. “You’re the first woman I’ve met who didn’t want to be admired.”
“You can admire me all you want,” she corrected. “Just pick something that has nothing to do with the accident.”
“Hmmm…” His brow creased. “How about your eyes?”
“My eyes?”
“Yes. I’ve never seen eyes like yours…striated dark blue with a black outline. Your eyes are killer!”
Ellery’s heart skipped a beat. She’d been complimented on her eyes before, but she didn’t remember it making her pulse race like this. She knew his words didn’t mean anything. They were only friends, and barely even that. She hadn’t even known the man for twenty-four hours. He certainly wasn’t romantically interested.
So why am I reacting like he is?
She knew one sure way to put herself back in reality. “You never did tell me what happened last night.”
“Nothing much.” The casual tone in his voice was forced. “You called for help, and I kind of calmed you down.”
The sedative must’ve kept her from waking up. How humiliating! “I’m so sorry. I hope you didn’t lose much sleep.”
