Page 32 of Knowing Amelia

Rap-rap. Rap-rap.

“No. No, no, no. It can’t be eight o’clock already.” I search for a clock in this room. But another knock tells me it is. “Crap. Crap.” I peer down at myself—PAJAMAS! I am in pajamas. Winnie the Pooh pajamas, to boot. Lovely.

But I can’t leave Logan outside knocking. He knows I’m here. I knew when breakfast would arrive. And if Amelia believed in clocks in her spare bedroom, maybe I’d be less Pooh and more showered!

Still, Pooh and all, I race down the stairs and fling the front door open.

“Good morning.” Logan stands tall, like a Norse god in his dark jeans and fitted T-shirt. It’s a good thing I am very attached to Benjamin…

I shake my head and look him in the eye—and not the abs. “Come in.”

“Thanks.” He carries a box of cereal in one hand, a gallon of milk hanging from the other.

“You brought cereal?” A nervous giggle bubbles on my lips.

“Yeah, well, it’s better than nothing.”

I set one hand to my Pooh Bear hip. “I’m sure I could have found… umm… something.”

“Right,” he says, crossing the threshold and heading toward the kitchen once more.

I follow after him, his thick upper arm swaying with the milk jug. The muscles in his back twitch. I’m walking right behind him; I can’t help but see it. Still, I drop my eyes to the ground, because I’m not a doctor yet. No examining Logan. I see the line in the carpet when we cross into the dining area, when—whomp! Logan stops short, and I run right into the back of him, getting an up-close and personal view of those back muscles.

“Hmph!” I rub my nose. Ouch. “Sorry, I⁠—”

“What’s happening in here?” He turns, seemingly unaware that I just ran into the back of him. His brows furrow and his lips pinch in a frown.

I peek around him to the mess I left in the dining room the night before. I was too distracted to put any floorboards back into place. “I… uh… I was just checking out the floor.”

“By disfiguring it? You have something against these floors, don’t you?”

“No. It’s not damaged. See? It’s fine. It’s completely fine.” I jog around him and pick up one of the pieces of hardwood lying cockeyed. Kneeling, I shove and push, trying to snap the board back into place.

Logan sets the cereal and milk on the table and kneels next to me. He lays his hand over top of mine, stopping my frantic motion. His fingers are gentle as he takes the piece from my hands. He turns it around like a puzzle piece facing the wrong direction and easily slides the section back into place.

I rock back, sitting on my heels. “Thanks.”

Standing, he extends a hand toward me. I try to ignore the waves of shock that erupt through my body as I slide my hand into his. It’s simply new. Logan pulls me to my feet and drops my hand, making it feel like a lifeless plug without an outlet.

He snags dishes from the cupboard and pours two bowls of chocolate puffs. “So, do you want to tell me what that is all about?” He glances to the side where the hole in the floor had been.

I cannot lie to Logan… But I can’t tell him the truth either. So, I stuff a spoonful of cereal into my mouth and shrug.

He grunts out a laugh. “You don’t have to tell me, but for someone so in love with Amelia’s wooden floors, you were quick to dismantle them.”

I attempt a smile through my giant-sized bite.

“It’s your house.” But I’m not sure I believe him. “But it was hers first.”

What he doesn’t understand is that I’m trying to protect her too. I have kept Amelia’s secret for eleven years. I won’t betray her now.

I swallow and set down my spoon. “How well did you know Amelia?”

“Very well. We were friends and neighbors my entire life.”

“Do you think she was happy here?” Her entries about boring Ganesworth have me questioning.

“I do.” He nods, his eyes never leaving mine.