Loveland Vol.2

Chap 1

Autumn

It's late February now. In Georgia that meant 60 degrees and mild winds. But in Loveland, Pennsylvania that meant ice, and snow and slush everywhere. It was cold every day. Most people complained about though. As Melissa and I walked down main street to the flower shop to pick up Beth Anne, I overheard people talking about the shitty weather. I laughed as it occured to me that they've dealt with this probably their whole lives and still hate it. This is my first yankee snow and I loved it. 

"What are you giggling about over there?" Melissa says to me, bumping me with her elbow. She's been doing so well lately. Her jaw finally healed and the girls are thriving in the better environment. Not to mention She had a handsome brave detective Phillips watching over her. Even through all of this nastiness we've been through they were able to find love. Even though she doesn't like to admit it. Ryan dropped everything back in North Carolina to move here and be with her and the girls. He'd also made very good friends with Logan. 

Logan. That was another subject all together. In just a few short months of starting mine and my son's life over, we managed to collect a large circle of friends, creating our own little community. And at almost 32 years old I have found the love of my life. Things were almost destroyed. We came very close to losing it all. But my Logan, my love saved us. 

He's been acting strange lately though. Kind of distant. In that moment I realized I actually missed him. Which was crazy since I had just seen him 20 minutes ago. Love can be sickening. Just then I felt another nudge to my ribs.

"Yo! Snap out of it! Geez I've been talking for the last 5 minutes and you've been stuck in lala land haha." Melissa hollard at me. 

" God I'm sorry I'm such a spaz. I guess my brain is elsewhere this morning. I think it's this weather throwing me off." I said dismissively. As we approached the door to the shop, a woman bows into my shoulder. She was tall and lanky but pretty. "goodness. I'm so sorry." She said apologizing. "oh no it's fine, I guess I wasn't watching where I was going." I said. She gave me a quick smirk that made me feel uncomfortable before saying," I guess not." I shook my head and let it go.  

"I'm telling you I just feel off today. Maybe I need more sleep?" I said opening the door to the shop. I ushered Melissa in while sipping my coffee. 

"It's probably all that sucking and f*****g your doing with Logan." With that I literally spit hot coffee everywhere and nearly choked. I loved my sister and how blunt she could be but good lord. 

As we walked in I saw Beth standing at the counter. There was copious amounts of lily's around the shop and all over the counter. Before I could ask Melissa did it for me. 

"s**t. Who died?" She said looking around confused. 

"Wow missy. Way to be direct." 

"Hey ladies. Sorry I'm not quite ready yet. A huge order came in first thing this morning. I guess you never know when someone is gonna kick the bucket am I right?" Beth anne said trying to hide a smile. Not because she was happy someone had passed but she never could hide her joy when putting together arrangements. Business was slow at the moment. Off reason. So... "Any business is good business" as she would say.

   Later on as we were dropping off the flowers at the funeral home I asked about Ray. In the recent weeks he had finagled his way into getting his licence back. "A whole 2 years without a seizure, were lucky Autumn. Most people don't react this well the the medication he's on. I'm still worried about him driving. But it's not like I'm gonna tell him no. Logan did say he would ride along with him anytime he wanted to drive. But still... Speaking of, how is our boy? All healed up by now I'm hoping." She started to laugh when my cheeks started to blush. Even thinking about Logan made my internal temp rise. 

" He's good... Very good. All healed thank God. I think he's feeling a little down though. It's the shitty weather, or that's what everyone else is saying anyway." I said climbing into the drivers seat. 

"We all need to have some fun. All anyone ever does around this place is drink whiskey and go to bed early." Melissa said from the back seat with her nose stuck in her phone. She was right though. We needed to have some fun. 

"Well then. Let's do something!? Let's go have fun, cut loose!" I said as I danced to footloose in my head. Beth anne sat straight up and started fanning her hands in excitement. 

"Oh oh! I know just what we can do!" 

Logan 

This morning was just like all the other ones. I woke up with a start. It felt like as soon as I opened my eyes, I needed to go run a mile. It's been like this for a couple of weeks now. But just as I was wiping the sleep from my eyes there she was. My Autumn. After spending the morning with her nothing else mattered. 

I dropped the kids off at school leaving kisses on both their heads. Aiden and I had gotten pretty close over the months. I never knew how much fun having a son could be. Michaela was always my little angel, but Aiden had quickly become my little buddy. 

'bye dad! See you this afternoon!" Mac said throwing her pack over her shoulder, giving me that half smile like looked just like my own. "Bye kiddo! I LOVE YOU!" I made sure to say loud enough for all the other kids to hear. Maybe it was wrong but I loved being the embarrassing dad whenever I could be. 

Before Aiden could scurry off I tossed his hair around making him smile. He looked up at me through his shaggy hair. 'Bye Logan. Don't forget I have basketball practice tonight. It ends at 5" he said. 

"I'll be here." I said simply. I hoped he knew that I always would be here. 

As I drove to the shop I couldn't help but wonder about Paul, Autumns first husband. I had so many things I wanted to ask him. But unfortunately I'd never get the chance. Like, "How could you have her and not want her? How could you marry her and not love her? For that matter, how could have a child, a son and not want to spend every moment you could with him?" I shook off the thought and remembered, "It doesn't matter. He's dead. And they're mine now." 

A few hours into the work day I was sitting at my desk, going through some paperwork. The only part about my job I didn't like. But I didn't trust anyone else to do it. My head was beginning to hurt when I felt my phone buzz. I saw it was Autumn. Immediately my mood began to lighten. 

 "Hey baby. What's going on? I miss you." I was such a chump. I just saw her this morning and I already miss her? 

"Hey honey. Me and the girls are just finishing up a delivery. I miss you too. How's your day been?" Her voice was always so warm. She was always so damn caring. Who cares if I was being a p***y. 

"It's been pretty boring honestly. How's your day been?" Listening to her talk about her day, to others might be dull, but it was always the highlight of my day." 

"So Beth Anne had a thought, well we all were thinking about going out tomorrow night. Cut loose? What do you think?" I thought for a few moments, it suddenly occurred to me that we really haven't done much in a few weeks. The weather has been shitty, and I've been so tired lately. But I knew this what we needed. 

" Sure baby. Whatever you wanna do. I'm up for anything." I said with a smile. I heard her sweet little giggle, that always make my d**k jump. When she spoke again her voice was deeper, warmer. " I'm gonna hold you to that baby. I'll see you this evening at home. I love you." Right then I couldn't wait to get home. My d**k was hard as a rock just thinking about her. I looked at the clock. 2:30. Seriously? I thought to myself. I've got at least 3 more hours of work here. But in that moment I was more than willing to head out early and let Ray lock up. 

"I can do it. Just 3 more hours." 

Autumn

I loved teasing him. This relationship was still new and exciting. We were still learning so much about each other. One thing I learned about Logan, delayed gratification always worked in my favor. Teasing him, flirting and 4 play was something we were both good at. Which was interesting, seeing as how this is the first really s****l relationship I've ever been in. Being married to Paul for so many years and going without for so long, I had pretty much given up hope on that part of my life. 

But being with Logan has breathed new life into me. He made me special and important. I was more confident in myself since being with him. More comfortable in my own skin. That made me love him even more. 

We said goodbye to Beth at the shop and helped her close up. I dropped off Melissa with Ryan and the girls. They had dinner plans this evening. I was ready to go home. 

As I approached the drive way a blue Nissan I had never seen before drove past. I could see who was driving, whoever they were, they had on huge dark sunglasses. It did make me a little nervous. As I turned down the driveway, a named popped into my head. 

Andrew Tucker. 

Since the kidnapping and the explosion afterwards nothing has been seen or heard of him. Ryan has said repeatedly that they didn't find any remains in the fire, but given how close he was to the explosives, there may not be anything left to find. It still nagged me not knowing for sure. I did my best to put him out of my mind. I can't let him take anything else away from me. I won't. 

 I looked up in time to see a fat orange stray cat run into the barn. It had been blue when we first purchased the place, but logan insisted we paint it white. I remember how goofy and handsome he looked half naked on the barn floor that night. 

"I'm gonna paint it white. Big beautiful white barn out here in the middle of the pasture." He held his hands up framing the air. "perfect." I loved him so much. 

I was smiling like an i***t when I got out of the car and walked up the cobblestones. I looked at my phone, 4:00. I didn't know when logan would be home but I hoped it was soon. 

 When I walked in I immediately smelled something incredible. Something familiar. Like warm citrus and honey. It smelled like summer back in Georgia. As I turned the corner I saw him. The most wonderful sight in the world. My Logan. His grey V neck and flannel shirt may have been understated but it melted my butter. 

He held two glasses of Bourbon. Without words i took the glass he held out for me. I downed it in one gulp. This made him smile. 

"You look beautiful. I missed you." He said coming closer to me. He wrapped his arm around me pulling me in. His lips leaving kisses on my neck. He pulled away just enough to down his drink. Sitting it down he looked up at me in a way that set me on fire. No 4 play would be needed this time. 

His hands were rough but they felt amazing on my skin. They reached around grabbing hold of my ass. When his lips smashed into my mine, I suddenly felt like I was starving. And all I wanted was him. My fingers pulled at his hair. I thought we could make it upstairs but that wasn't going to happen. 

We stumbled into the hallway removing clothes but never letting go of each other. He picked me up and placed me on the catch all table knocking all the books and keys into the floor. Then he was inside me. His lips devoured mine. With his hands holding me up behind my knees he f****d me in that little hallway like his life depended on it. 

Somehow we ended up on the floor in front of the fireplace sometime later. His hands were everywhere, so were his lips. Pushing him on to his back, I straddled him, kissing my way up his stomach and chest. His arms were tucked behind his head, and he had the sexiest most satisfying smile on his face. I rode him for another 20 minutes before my organism rocked us both into nirvana.