Page 67 of Real Good Love
“Jesus fucking Christ, man. They told me you were inside.”
Logan releases me to hug the other man. “Fuck, Granger. I don’t know if today is my lucky day or the unluckiest day I’ve ever had.”
“You’re breathing and not a charred corpse, so there’s that. I gotta get back up there, but fuck, it’s good to see you.” Granger steps back and replaces his headgear, but before I can speak, Emmy chimes in.
“I’m so glad you’re okay. I think my heart about stopped when I thought ... well, never mind that now. I’m gonna get back to the restaurant and try to calm people down again. Granger, if any of you need coffee or water, it’s on the house. I’ll start brewing some now.”
“Appreciate it, Emmy.” Granger walks backward. “We got all hands on deck to put this one out.”
“Me too,” Cody says before striding away. Over his shoulder, he adds, “Logan, I don’t need to tell you this, but don’t go anywhere anytime soon. We’re gonna have a bunch of questions for you.”
“Jesus, what a clusterfuck,” Julianne whispers.
“My fucking shop is gone.”
“I’m sorry, babe. So sorry. But I’m so glad you’re okay.” I sniffle and tears fall again. “Don’t you ever make me think you’re dead again. I will seriously kill you myself.”
Logan crushes me to his chest. “You scared the shit out of me too. I thought you could’ve been inside. Jesus. What a disaster.”
I look at the car standing a few feet away, still running. “It’s a miracle you weren’t.”
“Thank Rick’s forgetfulness.”
“You better believe I will. I’m going to give every woman he dates a vibrator. It’s the least I can do.”
“I’ll leave you two alone,” Julianne says. “I gotta go track down some plywood for my front window. Blast shattered it.”
Logan looks from me to her. “Call the lumberyard and tell them to put it on my account. Explain what happened, and that you need it delivered tonight so you can actually leave your shop.”
She nods and pulls out her phone before walking away to make the call.
I look up at Logan. “Cody said you can’t go anywhere, but you gotta get the car to Nashville tomorrow.”
“And I will. We will. You’re coming with me. This world could be headed straight for hell, but I wouldn’t let it stop me from delivering that car on time. Especially not after I talked to Boone tonight and told him it’s ready to go.”
“But what about Cody?”
Logan thinks for a few moments before responding. “Whatever questions they have aren’t going to change the fact that I have a job to do. They’ll get to the bottom of it, and I’ll clean up the mess. But my business isn’t gonna be worth much if I can’t deliver on my word to Boone Thrasher.”
“This timing sucks.”
“Sure does, but there’s not a damn thing we can do about it.”
I lay my head on his chest, the acrid scent of smoke now clinging to both of us. “I’m sorry.”
He presses a kiss to my forehead. “There’s nothing for you to be sorry about. You and I are both okay, and at the end of the day, that’s all that matters. Everything else can be replaced with money. There’s no way in hell I could ever replace you, Banner.” He pauses. “I’ve never felt fear as blinding as I did when I saw those flames from over the post office. In my gut, I knew it was coming from my shop, and I thought my worst nightmare was coming true.”
I don’t have to ask what his worst nightmare is because I already know.Losing me.
“I thought I was going to die when Julianne told me you were inside.”
He brings me close to his chest again. “Like I’d ever leave you without a fight. Never.”
“What are we going to do now?” I ask.
“For now, we wait. Tomorrow, we’re driving to Nashville to deliver this car before anything else can happen.”
Chapter 35
