Hold Her Heart (Words of the Heart) Read Online Free Page A

me down the stairs.
    I was relieved to see that the seminaked man had pulled on some shorts and was sliding a T-shirt over his head as he approached me, his bare feet slapping each tread.
    He was tan, whether by genetics or from the sun I wasn’t sure. He had light brown hair, and as he reached the bottom of the staircase, I realized he was only a couple of inches taller than me.
    “I’m so sorry,” I said again.
    He blinked his very blue eyes and then nodded.
    I hadn’t been able to sort out my emotions since the day Ned showed up on my porch. But I could identify this emotion. Embarrassment. And maybe a stirring of another feeling, but I planned to ignore that one.
    “Ned said no one was using the house right now when he said I could stay here,” I said in a rush, anxious to be on my way. I wasn’t sure where I was going to go, but I knew it would be someplace other than here.
    “I just got in last night at about three in the morning. Ms. Pip said to use my key. She said to use the house as long as I wanted. I’d have stayed with Mom, but she’s moved out to Girard and I’m going back to school here in Erie. I have a year of my graduate degree done, so I’ve only got one more to go. I’m going to look for an apartment but . . .” His lengthy explanation faded. “Ms. Pip said no one else was using the place.”
    “Looks like their wires got crossed. Well, not really crossed. Piper doesn’t know that I’m here,” I confessed. Ned had called her Pip. This man called her Ms. Pip. Neither name felt right to me, though I didn’t know what to call her.
    The man raised his eyebrow, his question evident.
    “I am heading over there in a minute. I came here first because . . .” Because I was stalling. That’s why. But I didn’t owe that explanation to this man.
    “I’m Logan, by the way. Logan Greer. I feel as if women who’ve seen me in my boxer shorts should know my name.”
    It was a joke. I tried to smile but wasn’t sure I’d managed a convincing one. “Siobhan. Siobhan Ahearn.”
    “How do you know Ned?” he asked.
    I shook my head. “I don’t really.”
    “Ms. Pip?” he asked.
    I shook my head. “I don’t know either of them really.”
    He raked his fingers through his sleep-tousled hair. “I don’t think I understand. I’m still jet-lagged, so I’m a bit slower than normal.”
    “I don’t know you well enough to explain.” The words came out more snarky than I’d intended, and I saw that he’d taken offense.
    “Okay then,” he said slowly.
    “I’ll just get my stuff and leave,” I said.
    This meeting would give me the excuse I needed to go. I could put off meeting Piper a little longer if I had to go find a hotel.
    “No. I mean, if you need to go see them, go. We’ll figure out the house after you’re done. I can always find a couch to crash on. To be honest, I can crash with Mom until I find a place. It just seemed a bit emasculating to have to live with my mom at my age.”
    I found myself trying to guess his age. Late twenties? Early thirties? I wasn’t sure, but I knew it didn’t matter.
    “I . . .”
    I started to say no, it was fine, I’d just leave, but I was afraid if I took my bag back to the car, I’d get in and just turn around and head back to Ohio.
    I don’t know that I could make anyone else understand how torn I was. I’d wanted to meet my biological mother for a long time. Yet here I was, and I was hesitating. It didn’t make sense to me, so I was sure it wouldn’t make sense to anyone else. I didn’t say any of this to Logan. I just nodded, agreeing.
    “If you were going upstairs to freshen up, you’re welcome to. The bathroom’s the door next to the room I was in. The middle door at the back of the house.”
    “Actually, I was going to see if I could get a look at Ned and Piper’s backyard from your room’s window. It looks like a jungle from over the fence, and I thought the upstairs window would have a better view,” I