Whisper of Bones (Widow's Island #3)(28)

“That was smart,” Tessa said, impressed.

Logan flushed. “It only took a second. I could reach the outboard from the dock.”

“Still smart.”

“Can you get Abby up to the house?” Logan marched Roger ahead of him.

Tessa climbed to unsteady feet. “Yes.” She tried to pick up Abby, but the child resisted.

“I can walk.” Abby ran out of the boathouse.

“That is one tough kid.” Logan propelled Roger toward the house.

“Good thing.” Tessa shivered hard in her soaked uniform and boots.

As they approached the back of the main house, Emma came out the back door. Her hair was wet, as if she’d been in the shower. “What’s going on?”

Tessa explained.

Emma’s face whitened. She wrapped her arms around her daughter. She looked up at Roger. “How could you? You treated us like family. I didn’t think you would ever hurt anyone.” Her eyes searched Roger’s.

He looked away. “I want a lawyer.”

“I can’t believe I was so wrong about you.” Emma carried her child inside.

A few minutes later, Kurt arrived and loaded Roger into the back of his county-issued SUV. “I’ll put him in the holding cell. You get dry clothes and a meal. Take your time. He isn’t going anywhere.” Kurt closed the vehicle door.

Logan loaded Tessa into the passenger seat of her SUV. She didn’t object. She was shivering too hard to drive.

“Your house or mine?” he asked.

“Yours. Seeing me like this would disturb my mother.” Tessa called Cate and asked if she’d stay with her mother overnight. Cate agreed.

Logan drove to his cabin at the entrance of Bishop State Park. Tessa grabbed her backpack from the cargo hold of her SUV, where she always kept emergency supplies, including a change of clothes.

Tessa showered and dressed. When she returned to Logan’s kitchen, he set a box of crackers and two steaming bowls on the table, then sat opposite her.

“Thanks.” Tessa ate the whole bowl of soup without stopping.

“Kurt called with some updates, all good,” Logan said as he pushed his bowl away. “There’s no warrant yet, so no need to rush back to the inn. He sent Emma and Abby to a motel for the night. Bruce will be back on the morning ferry. Marybeth has improved. She’s going to pull through.”

“That’s great news.” Relief filled Tessa. She leaned back in her chair. “Why did Roger attack her?”

“My guess is he was afraid she’d find the hidden environmental survey before he did.”

Logan smiled. “You look exhausted. You should get some sleep. You take the bed. I’ll bunk on the couch.”

“Would you mind sharing the bed, even if all we do is sleep? It’s been a stressful night. It would be nice not to be alone.” She rounded the table and walked into his arms. Finding time to be with him could be impossible, but she needed to focus on herself, just for one night.

He hesitated for a few seconds before wrapping his arms around her. “Sharing the bed would not be a hardship.” Logan leaned forward and kissed her. “Though you should know that what happened tonight will probably trigger a nightmare. I might wake you.”

“OK.” Tessa waited. She sensed he wanted to say more.

“I told you a while ago about the bombing of the vaccination clinic. The building was full of mothers and children. There was one, a little girl.” He looked away, his face tormented. “She died in my arms.”

She took his hand. “Tonight must have been so awful for you, seeing Abby in danger like that.”

He nodded and cleared his throat. “I’m calling a psychiatrist this week. I need to deal with this instead of crossing my fingers and hoping it goes away.”

“I’ll always be here for you,” she said. “Through nightmares or anything else.”

He sighed. “I didn’t want to add to your burden. You already deal with a lot of stress. You don’t need my personal drama too.”

The thought that he put his own needs and well-being so far below hers gave her an ache in the center of her chest.

“You could never be a burden,” she said. “You help me. I help you. We help each other. That’s how this relationship thing works.” Tessa tugged him toward the bedroom. “Logan?”

“Yes.” He let her pull him forward.

She’d almost forgotten what desire felt like, but it heated low in her belly and warmed her far better than the shower or soup. “I lied. I don’t just want to sleep.”

He chuckled, a low masculine sound that curled her toes. “I’d wanted to romance you a bit better.”

“I don’t need romance,” she said.

“But you deserve it.” Logan backed her to his bed and cupped her cheek. “You deserve moonlight and roses. You deserve effort.”

“All I want is you. All of you. Not just the happy parts. You can’t separate your life into parts and only give me half.”

He nodded. “I’ll make you a deal. I’ll share the negative with you, and you’ll let me romance you.”

She rose onto her toes and linked her hands behind his neck. “I think I can live with that.”