Hard to Handle Part 3

As soon as he was inside, he beckoned for me to follow him, and I did so quietly. He was instantly greeted by a man that seemed to be about my dad’s age, which I correctly assumed was his own dad. They talked about something I couldn’t follow, as I took in their condo. The walls were a light blue, with more than a few mirrors taking up a lot of the wall space. Sitting on the couch were a woman and a young girl that I also assumed were his mom and sister. The little girl saw me look over at her and she smiled sweetly, which I returned with just as much kindness as she had shown me. The room, from what I could see, was neat but also had a lived in feel. That was the kind of feeling I would kill for if I could just get a glimpse of it. My house, to me, was unsafe and scary, mainly because of the demons that haunted me constantly lingered there, lived there even.

“And who is this,” Logan’s dad’s tender voice found my ears and pulled me out of my trance. I drew my eyes up to look at him, and he smiled at me with the same welcoming kindness his daughter had.

“Hello, I’m….I’m Abbey,” I said quietly, without breaking his eye contact. He held his hand out to me, and I took it. As big as he was, his hand shake was very gentle and it took me off guard.

“It’s nice to meet you Abbey,” he said with another smile. “This is my wife, Anna, and my daughter Jamie,” he said gesturing to the woman and the little girl sitting on the couch. They both nodded in greeting and then went back to watching the television.

“Hey dad, I was hoping you could help us with something,” Logan said, breaking the brief awkward silence that left me at a loss for words.

“Yeah, sure, anything,” his dad said, as he whipped off the newly dirtied counter with crumbs from the sandwich he had just made.

“Abbey,” Logan began, his dad looked up at me and I saw where Logan got his smoldering eyes from. “Thinks she might have broken a couple ribs,” as he said this, his dad’s eye lit up with curiosity, “and we were wondering if you could take a look at it?” Logan finished, and I was grateful that he hadn’t put it upon me to say this.

“Certainly! What happened?” he asked walking around the counter towards me. “Do you mind?” he asked and when I shook my head, he began to feel around my rib cage, occasionally applying pressure. I was almost in awe of how similar Logan and his dad were. Though, it did put me more at ease with the whole situation.

“Um, I fell getting out of the bath tub,” I said, suddenly remembering he had asked me a question. Logan glanced over at me as I said this, but kept his mouth shut. I would have to thank him for that later.

“Do you have a swimsuit on?” Logan’s dad asked me, and when I nodded, he continued, “Would you mind taking off you shirt?” I shed my jacket first, avoiding Logan’s eyes as he saw the multiple bruises on my arms, then I took off my tank top slowly, as to not cause myself anymore pain.

“Oh! That looks awful!” I heard Logan’s mom mutter from across the room. Then I felt their eyes burning into my back as Logan’s dad continued to examine my ribs.

“Mom? Jaime?” Logan said to them, jerking his head. Shortly after, I heard Logan’s mom and sister getting up and walking into the bedroom. But I was soon distracted by a sharp pain in my side.

“Ow!” I cried and Logan’s dad stopped what he was doing immediately and stood upright.

“Sorry,” he said, “Your ribs are definitely broken,” he concluded and I now felt Logan’s eyes fall on me. The atmosphere around him seemed tense and I knew why. He, and only he, knew how this “accident” of mine really happened.

“Let me get you some bandages and a pain killer or two,” Logan’s dad said walking off into the bedroom, and it seemed to me that he felt a little uncomfortable around me all of a sudden. I wonder if Logan and his dad could read each others minds, and I knew what was running through Logan’s head was most certainly enough to make anyone uncomfortable. But who was I kidding, that’s absurd!

“Abbey, you need to tell someone!” he whispered, so that his family couldn’t hear, as he ran his hand gently down my arm. I shook my head, if anyone knew about my stepdad, I’d be in for it, for sure. It was out of the question.

“Well you most certainly can’t stand here and pretend like everything’s fine!” he said, still talking in a low voice.

“It’s fine, Logan. I’ll be fine,” I tried to assure him, “I can take care of myself.”

“I think what I’m seeing right now, is proving your case implausible,” he said, his eye full of doubt and worry. Just then, after what felt like forever, Logan’s dad came back. He had a roll of bandages in his hand and a bottle of pain killers, as promised.

“Time to tape you up,” he said, and then handed me four advil, “here, take these, they should help a little bit,” he said with a smile. I put them in my mouth and chased them down with the cup of water Logan had gotten me. After his dad had wrapped my side, he invited me to stay for dinner. I agreed and even helped make it. Logan and I were assigned to the salad. Everything went smoothly.

I found it very strange, that as I was eating, Logan’s dad continued to glance at me. Could he see through my happy façade? If so, how much could he see exactly? My mind was full of questions, that I was unwilling to ask. I spent most of the evening at Logan’s, but left with my questions unanswered.

“Thanks for dinner,” I said as Logan walked me to the door.

“Anytime, honey, we hope to see you soon,” Logan’s mom said, “You’re welcome back anytime,” she added. I thanked them again and said goodbye.

Logan walked me to my condo and kissed me goodnight, but not before expressing his concerns about me. I watched him walk away with a warm feeling in my stomach, like butterflies only better. I hadn’t been this happy in who knows how long, and I was enjoying every minute of it. The only thing that could ruin this feeling was what lay behind this door, which I now began to open. Or not.