The bakery was easily found, and the beignets were as good as promised. Logan took a trio of adorable pictures of Tori, with her phone, and when she was finished devouring the donut, she posted one of them to Instagram with a quick note that she was having a great time.Beignets are healing, she wrote, and showed it to Logan before posting it for the world to see.
It didn’t take long for her phone to blow up with notifications. They went to the coffee shop for cappuccinos, and while she checked those messages, Logan did his own check-in with the world. Nothing from his chain of command, which was good. He sent an email to Quinn Parry, telling him he’d run into his brother, and they should catch up when he was back in Coronado.
When he glanced up from sending that message, Tori was scowling at her phone.
“What is it?”
Her lips pulled tight. “Stephen liked my photo.”
Well, that was fucking ballsy. Was the guy sitting around on Instagram waiting for her to pop up? “How do you feel?”
She scowled. “I don’t know.”
In her hand, her phone vibrated.
Her eyes went wide. “It’s him. Calling. Now.”
“Steve?”
“Yeah.”
“Do you want to answer it?”
“I should.” She stared at the screen.
“You don’t have to.”
“I know.” She swallowed hard enough he could see her throat moving. “Yeah, okay. Uh, I’m going to…” She hopped up and gave Logan a grimace. “Give me a few.”
You’ll give her anything she wants in the world.And right now, she wanted some space. He nodded, hating how his chest hurt. This wasn’t about him.
“Hello?” He heard her answer the phone, her voice getting quieter as she walked off. “I wasn’t expecting to hear from you. No, I don’t mind that you called, but I’m surprised.”
And then she was gone, out the door, and when he turned to look after a painful few seconds, she’d disappeared. Tucked around a corner, maybe.
He wouldn’t follow. Instead, he returned their coffee mugs to the counter, then headed back the way they’d come. There was something he wanted to grab at the market.
