Before I knew it, the service was over, and Mom and I took our position at the door shaking hands as people left. Everyone nodded solemnly as they went by - apart from one person. Logan. He stopped as he took my mother’s hand, squeezed lightly, and smiled at her.

“He was an amazing man, Mrs. Tennison,” he remarked.

“Thank you, Logan,” she smiled sadly back at him.“I hope to see you at the wake.”

“I’ll be there,” he nodded, and his gaze briefly jumped over to me, making me blush. For goodness sake, Reeva now is not the time! I scolded myself, but it was no use.

Even after all those years, he was just as gorgeous as he’s ever been, and it seemed as though my crush was still going strong.

We made our way back home in silence, both of us reflecting on everything that had happened that day.

It had been so stressful planning everything, and now it was almost done, and we could retreat into our own private grief and be alone, at last. Mom was the one who broke the silence first, just as we pulled up at home.

“Do you remember Logan?” She asked, turning to face me. I nodded.

“Yeah, I think so,” I responded casually. “He lives down the street, right?”

“I thought you might,” she raised her eyebrows.

“Why do you ask?”

“No reason,” she shook her head. “Come on, we need to get everything set up for the wake. You’ll help, won’t you?”

“Of course,” I reached over and squeezed her hand. It was the two of us against the world now - not that she would ever let me forget that.

Not that I wanted to. I knew she would need me in the coming weeks, months, years, and that I would need her, too. And there was nothing wrong with that.

We set up for the wake in silence, both of us happy to have something practical to do to take our minds off the situation at hand.

I laid out plates, glasses, giant bowls of chips and dip and apparently every other kind of party food that my mother had been able to pick up that morning on her hurried run to the store.

Only moments after we had everything set out, the doorbell rang, making us both jump. We exchanged a reassuring smile, and she went to answer it, welcoming in the first of a parade of guests come to honor Dad’s memory.

Not before long, the place was busting with people - it felt good to see the place so bustling with life, especially after what had happened.

I plastered on a polite smile and made conversation with families that I hadn’t seen in months, and wondered when the last time most of these people saw Dad was.

After a couple of hours, I was exhausted, drained, and in need of my bed. Everyone seemed to sense that Mom and I required some peace - but as I surveyed the chaos left in the house, I couldn’t help but let out a sigh. All of this to clean up on top of everything.

“You want me to help out?”

A voice came from behind me - male, unfamiliar. I turned around in a flash, my heart jumping up into my throat.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to surprise you,” Logan smiled at me. I felt a flutter in my chest - what was he still doing here? After all this time? I hadn’t seen him once at the wake - too busy being cornered by well-meaning relatives, I guessed.

“Oh, Logan, that would be wonderful,” Mom busted into the room. “Would you mind helping tidy the place up? You know where everything goes.”

“Not a problem at all,” he nodded in Mom’s direction, and I glanced between the two of them as she left the room once again.

“How do you know where everything goes?” I asked, raising an eyebrow at him. “In fact, why are you here at all?”

“Sorry, I don’t mean to intrude,” he started piling plates up and carrying them through to the kitchen.

“Uh, it doesn’t seem like you are,” I gestured to the spot Mom had been standing in. Logan paused as he put the plates down, and turned to me.

“I helped out around the house with your Mom when your Dad wasn’t doing so well,” he shrugged. “Didn’t want to stop just because…you know.”

“How come I never saw you here?” I demanded.

“I guess your Mom didn’t need anyone to help out when you were around,” he pointed out. “Can you pass me the mugs over there?”

I did as I was told, and between us, we soon got the place looking back to normal. The whole time, I was thinking about what he had told me.

Why was he here? How did Mom come into contact with him after we had managed to avoid his family for so long? And why hadn’t I heard about it until now?

“Looks like we’re done,” Logan smiled at me, the same crooked grin that had done things to me all those years ago. I shrugged and looked around.

“I guess so,” I agreed, and I looked back at him. I should do something - something to thank him for what he’s done today, something to thank him for what he’s done for my parents over the last few months.

Maybe a drink? I opened my mouth, but before I could speak, my phone buzzed.

“Oh, sorry,” I muttered, reaching for it. I checked the screen, and saw I had a message from Ellis - he was waiting outside for me.

“I should get on my way,” he commented as if reading my expression and realizing that he wasn’t exactly welcome anymore. “It was good seeing you again, though. Reeva, right?”

“Yeah,” I cocked my head at him. “When did we meet before?”

“I don’t know,” he admitted. “I just…remember you.”

There was a beat of silence in between us, and I narrowed my eyes up at him - my usual reaction to wondering if I was being flirted with, since I wasn’t used to it, still.

“Anyway,” he clapped his hands together. “Tell your Mom to let me know if she needs anything, yeah?”

“Sure,” I nodded. “Uh, thanks. For everything.”

“No problem,” he nodded at me politely before making his way out of the house and back down the street.

I paused for a moment before I headed outside, my mind still racing. Then, I stuck my head in on Mom - who was already asleep. I grabbed my bag and headed out to meet Ellis.