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So they could give her every pep talk in the world. None of that would make even the slightest bit of difference because not an ounce of it would change the facts.
Logan Grant would never love her.
After Shay finished her coffee, she headed for the door. Apparently, she knew a lost cause when she saw one, but she at least had the decency to make small talk and pretend like the silent war waging between them wasn’t going on.
When the door clicked shut behind her, Andy heaved a sigh of relief, but within seconds her friend opened the door again.
“I forgot something. I can’t go to the gala tonight.” Shay bit her bottom lip, a motion only ever used to beg Andy’s forgiveness.
It was truly amazing how quickly every cell in Andy’s body could convert from relief to dread. She couldn’t make up for Shay this time, not tonight. She knew how vital this event was. It was make or break for their company.
Andy couldn’t do that social stuff. She couldn’t land the big clients. She couldn’t mingle.
She couldn’t see Logan again.
“You what?” Andy spluttered.
“I’m really sorry, but Greg flew into town to surprise me—“
Andy held up a palm. Sure, she would have preferred Shay go to the party instead of spending more time with her on-again, off-again sleaze bucket of a boyfriend, but they both knew that Shay didn’t owe Andy an explanation. In truth, Shay deserved more time off than she had, and she’d been carrying the weight of the company for far too long. Andy could spend one night filling in.
“It’s fine. Have fun,” she said.
Shay squealed her thanks and bounded out the door again. Once it was closed, Andy leaned against it and banged the back of her head on the oak for good measure.
Yep, filling in for Shay for one night was no big deal at all.
Unless the way her heart shriveled and withered at the thought of it counted for something.
Chapter 10
There was no end to the awfulness of hospitals. The sanitized smell of the air, the almost certain likelihood of seeing an old person's exposed behind, and the florescent lighting alone was enough to deter any sane person from so much as attempting to cross the threshold.
Or at least that was what Logan had told himself the last time Matt was here.
He'd stayed away, waited until all the press and the doctors had faded to finally go see his friend, and even then it had been a struggle.
Now? Well, now he had more than one reason for avoiding Matt. Not only had he ruined his life, but he'd wrecked his sister's heart, too. Like he was a one man wrecking crew sent to make the Archer family miserable.
It might have been easier to stay away again, but not even the empty stadium could calm his nerves now. He had to do something, say something to make things right. Going to Andy wasn't an option, not after all that had happened. Besides, if he saw her now, he might lose his determination. Might backslide into that same temptation that had led him astray the first tim
e.
No, there was only one person who could help him.
Logan squared his shoulders and marched through Matt's ward. They'd put him in the same room as before, or at least that's what he'd been told when he got there. He'd expected the door to be closed. To have a moment of silence to collect himself and try to decide how to explain himself.
If there were words for that, though, he probably would have found them in the million times he'd thought this over before. The door was wide open and before he'd said a word, Matt had spotted him and ushered him inside.
"I was wondering if you'd show this time," Matt said. The words were friendly, but they stung all the same. There was no getting out of this. Logan ran a hand over the back of his neck and crossed the threshold, stopping short at the foot of the hospital bed.
"Sweet digs," Logan said.
"Check it." Matt adjusted the bed with his good hand, filling the room with the sounds of mechanical whirrs until he was finally upright. "I'm like an X-man or something."
Logan tried for his most casual smile, but based on his friend's reaction, it had looked just as half-hearted as it had felt.
"Ah," Matt said, "why don't you take a seat?"
