Logan looked at himself in the mirror for the fifth time the next morning. He was dressed sharply as ever in his work clothes. Already he had tied and retied his tie three different times. This final time, he undid it and tossed it carelessly to the side. It fluttered down onto the floor of my bedro
Logan stayed seating when they arrived at our table, so I did too. Tammy and Frank took the two open seats. They didn’t even try to hide that they were staring at Logan.“Hello Frank, Tammy,” I said.“Oh, Hazel. Thank you,” Tammy sniffled. “Logan, I…”“Tammy,” Frank said. “Careful now. We don’t want
“Of course we did,” Frank said.“We love you, Logan,” Tammy said. “You are our son.”Logan sat frozen, staring between the two of them. The words must have been taking their time sinking in down through the protective barriers he’d built around his heart.Frank and Tammy made everything seem so simp
She wasn’t far off the mark, so Logan didn’t answer, letting his silence be his agreement.Mom then glanced at the opening to the kitchen and back to me. In a whisper, she asked, “Hazel?”“Hazel,” Logan told her.Mom’s eyes lit up brightly, her smile growing wide. “Oh that perfect girl. We approve m
In the Christoper’s kitchen, Frank and I wait by the oven for the pizza to heat up. We were quiet for a long while, listening to the creak of the oven as it heated up.Then, out of nowhere, Frank looked at me and said, “We approve of your relationship with Logan.”I startled so hard that I had to pl
“You are a real piece of work,” Tina snapped, glowering at Dylan. “Why are you protecting him like this?”“I’m his attorney, and also his friend,” Dylan said. “You knew the rules and agreed to play the game. Why are you now trying to flip the table?”Behind them, Mr. Hatfield must have said somethin
“I’ll go with you,” I said at once.“No,” Logan said, almost as quickly.“Why not?”“Tina doesn’t play fair. I want you as far out of this as possible.”“But Logan, this is my fight too.”Logan placed his hands on my shoulders. “Let me get there first and pave the way, alright? I’m not asking you to
I liked the silence until I abruptly didn’t, and the loneliness took hold. Then, as I always do when I feel alone, I called my friends.“Why don’t we try to recreate a girls’ night?” Maria said through the phone, excitement in her voice. “We can get on one of those video chats and talk and drink our
“I’ve been in this game for too long,” Senior said. “When I first got the news, I could only think about my legacy. I became obsessed with it. I’m not like you, Walter. I didn’t think about my family, or anyone else. Only myself.” “It’s hard to teach an old dog new tricks,” Mr. Hudgens said. He la
“Janice,” Senior said. All smug arrogance disappeared from his voice. “What are you doing here?” “At first I didn’t think I would come,” Janice replied. “After all these years… I didn’t want to see your face ever again for as long as I lived. Better to leave well enough alone. But… after hearing e
I glanced down at my pink blouse and gray slacks. What was so wrong with my outfits? I dressed professionally… mostly. He really thought I needed supervision to pick out an outfit.Looking at Logan, I saw my own disbelief mirrored back at me. This was absolutely ridiculous.“Is that it?” Walter aske
In front of the partition screen, a large table had been assembled, with rows of chairs on either side, facing each other. We took our side, and Senior and his team of lawyers took theirs. There were so many lawyers that many of them had to stand.Senior sat across from Logan, though his glare of di
“He might surprise us,” Dylan said, a shred of hope in his voice, under a healthy level of cynicism.“Don’t hold your breath,” Frank replied.“The problem is we don’t know fully what to expect,” Mabel said. “Well – other than Senior being a crotchety asshole who will try to cheat us at every turn. W
“It’s time to talk to Logan and Hazel and stop this whole thing,” Dylan said. “You are outnumbered and outmatched, with so many people ready to stand against you.”Opening the top of the folder, Senior glared down at the stack of papers in the stack. “Disgruntled former employees. Fake friends. Fami
“We were just hoping to talk to her,” I said.The man’s brow lifted slightly. “Are you selling something? Wait -- why do you look familiar?” Narrowing his eyes, he gazed at us with suspicion. Then, suddenly, recognition must have struck him because his eyes widened. “You’re those people from the new
Despite the general unpleasantness of the conversation with the mayor and the governor, they eventually agreed to let us go. They had no real reason to hold us, and Logan saw through their veiled threats easily enough.In fact, he even seemed to make them feel to make them feel like unsupportive fri
That day, we changed our minds and decided to release six interviews to the website, with Michael Hatfield’s being the final. Overnight, the story gained so much national traction that the sheriff and two security men show up at our door.“Logan Hatfield? Hazel Whitaker? The mayor wants to speak wit