By nature, Marie was not a vengeful person, but the man sitting in front of her was causing her to change that opinion. Someone had hurt him-- hurt him bad --then left him out in the snow to die. If it hadn’t been for Boris, he would have died out there in the snow. It was just chance that she had stumbled upon him.
Marie felt bad that she didn’t know his name. Again, that was the fault of the men who had hurt him. He couldn’t speak and, due to his frustration when he had tried to speak earlier, Marie guessed that he’d been able to talk at one point in time. It made Marie’s blood run cold that it had been silenced in such a way.
“Since talkin’ doesn’t really work all that well with ya, how ‘bout Ah save all the tough questions. Ah don’t think that yer up t’ answerin’ them yet anyway,” Marie told him as she fixed the two of them lunch. “So we’ll just skip the questions fer now an’ eat some lunch. All right?”
He nodded his head, a ghost of a smile appearing on his face. Marie didn’t think that she’d ever had a man look at her quite like that. It was a look of.... Marie would almost say that it was a look of devotion. Like she was the most important person in the world. There was a softness to his eyes that hadn’t been there before.
“It’ll prob’ly be best if Ah just make ya some soup. Mah Momma always told me that chicken soup was best fer a person that was sick. Ah’m sure it counts fer people who pretty near freeze t’ death out in the snow,” Marie rattled off as she searched through the cupboards for a can of chicken noodle soup.
Her companion made a noise, something akin to a growl. It wasn’t a threatening sound. It sounded almost like Boris when he wanted to get her attention. When Marie turned around, she saw that he was pointing at something with a slightly trembling finger.
“Whatcha pointin’ at?”
As soon as Marie saw what he was point to, she began to blush.
The can of soup she had been searching the cupboards for was right there on the counter.
“Y’ knew that was there all the time, didn’t ya?” Marie accused as she picked the can up from the counter.
He must have heard that lack of malice in her voice because he simply grinned at her and mouthed a single word.
“What was that?” Marie asked, not having caught it the first time.
He mouthed the word again, slower this time.
“Logan?”
He nodded his head rapidly when she said that and mouthed the word, “Logan,” again.
“Is that yer name?” Marie questioned, crouching down next to him so they were eye to eye. “Is yer name Logan?”
His smile got even bigger then and he nodded his head. “O-gin.”
“Ah think Ah’ll call ya Logan, sugar. Ya don’t look too much like a O-gin,” Marie teased. “But yer already startin’ t’ talk better. Last time ya tried t’ tell me yer name all Ah heard was a bunch o’ growly noises. Maybe yer throat’s not as bad as Ah thought.”
Marie decided right then and there that she loved Logan’s smile. His entire face lit up when he smiled and Marie couldn’t help but smile back. For someone who had been on death doorstep a few hours ago, Logan was in very good spirits.
While Marie made them lunch, she prattled on endlessly about nothing. She just talked to him, telling him all sorts of thing about her life. For the life of her, Marie couldn’t figure out why she was being so open with a man she had found all but dead in the snow, but, at the same time, she didn’t really care. Something inside her told her that Logan hadn’t been out there for anything that he had done. There was too much of a vulnerability about him for that.
Plus there was the fact that he looked like he’d been hurt pretty badly in the not too distant past.
Logan’s chest, arms and legs were covered with a series of still-healing scars. They still looked very tender and there was a deliberateness to them that made Marie’s blood run cold. They weren’t the jagged, angry tears that you’d expect someone to get from a fight. These wounds were perfectly straight and uniformed. The type that a doctor would make during surgery.
“Granted, Ah’m not the greatest cook out there, but Ah’m not the worst either,” Marie said as she filled two bowls with the steaming soup. It was a condensed soup, so the chicken was non-existent, but that was a plus in this situation. Marie wasn’t quite sure about giving Logan solid foods yet. They might not stay in him.
Logan gave her one of his small smiles as she set the bowl down in front of him. Before she could step away from him, he reached out and grabbed hold of her free hand. When he was sure that he had her attention, he mouthed the words, “Thank you,” to her.
“Don’t worry ‘bout it, Logan. It’s really no trouble at all,” Marie assured him, turning her hand over so that she could give his a light squeeze. She had to restrain herself from adding, ‘How many girls can say that they’ve played nurse fer such a good lookin’ man?’
Once she set her bowl down on the table, Marie went and got them some spoons. She was amazed at how much steadier Logan’s hand was when she handed the utensil to him. It was still trembling, but only slightly now.
Marie was just about to start eating her own soup when she glanced over at Logan and saw him struggling with the spoon. It was almost as though he didn’t know how to use one. Setting her spoon back down on the table, Marie walked over Logan and molded his fingers around the spoon properly so that he could eat without spilling most of the soup before it even got to his mouth. She watched to make sure that he could feed himself before taking her seat again.
While she was eating, Marie kept an eye on Logan to make sure he was doing all right. Watching his laboured progress as he did something as simple as bring spoonfuls of soup to his mouth made Marie’s heart ache. He looked so lost, so helpless.
“Ah was thinkin’ that after we’re done eatin’ ya could go back t’ bed an’ get some rest while Ah go inta town,” Marie suggested after polishing off the last of her soup. Glancing over at Logan, she noticed that he was barely halfway through the bowl that she had given him. Ignoring the pang of sorrow that hit her then, she continued, “There’s some things Ah need ta get plus some clothes fer ya. It’s too cold fer ya ta be walkin’ round in nothin’ but those shorts.”
Logan’s eyes grew wide when she said that and Marie could clearly see the panic in them. At that moment, Marie was really hating the people who had hurt Logan.
“It’s all right, Logan. Ah won’t be gone long an’ ya’ll have Boris t’ keep the bad people away,” Marie assured him.
Logan seemed to grow wary when Marie mentioned Boris and she realized that he hadn’t seen the dog yet. He’d been unconscious when Boris had found him and the rottweiler had been outside the rest of the time.
“Guess Ah should introduce the two o’ ya ‘fore Ah leave,” Marie said as she cleared her bowl from the table. She set it in the sink then came back to join Logan at the table. “Ya won’t hafta worry ‘bout anythin’ with Boris around. He’ll look out fer ya while Ah’m in town.”
Logan still looked a little nervous, but he seemed to trust Marie and went back to eating his soup.
In the end, Logan didn’t finish all of it. That worried Marie because she hadn’t given him very much to start with and Logan was a big man. She didn’t push him, though. If, in a couple days, he still wasn’t eating much, then she would start to push. She’d also have to do what she could to figure out a way to interpret what he was saying until his throat got better. She’d have to get him a little notepad when she got herself some more paper in town.
It hit Marie quite suddenly that she was thinking about the long term of Logan’s stay. Not just a day or so, but in the coming weeks when the snow got so bad that going into town would be a next to impossible task. The stranger part was that it didn’t seem the least bit odd to her that she was thinking about having Logan stay with her until he was better.
“Ah’m just gonna go get Boris,” Marie told him as she set his bowl in the sink along side hers. She headed over to the back door and opened it a tiny crack, wanting to keep as much cold air out as possible. “Boris!! Get over here ya bit mutt!! It’s time fer yer lunch!!”
Within seconds she could hear Boris barking as he bolted towards the house. Marie grinned when she saw him loping towards the cottage. The dog always did seem to have more energy than was necessary.
Boris practically bowled her over as he trotted into the house. He gave her hand a customary slurp then stilled completely, his eyes focused on the person sitting at the table. He growled low in the back of his throat and advanced on Logan who, surprisingly, was growling back at him. Marie had to restrain herself from laughing as she watched the two of them. As Boris stalked towards Logan, the two of them kept their eyes locked, growling at each other. Boris was about a foot away from Logan when they both stopped. They regarded each other silently for another moment before Boris let out a bark of greeting and slurped Logan’s outstretched hand.
“Ah think ya’ve made a new friend,” Marie teased as came to scratch Boris behind his ears. “Boris ain’t usually so friendly ta people. He must like ya.”
Logan grinned up at her somewhat sheepishly and Marie knew that he was thinking about his growling. She simply returned his smile and crouched down next to Boris to give him a hug.
“Yer gonna hafta give me Logan back now, Boris. Ah’ve gotta get him up ta bed ‘fore Ah go inta town,” Marie told the dog.
Immediately, Boris backed away from Logan and headed into the living room to take up his customary place in front of the gas fireplace. Marie helped Logan back upstairs to her bedroom and got him situated in bed. She piled him with blankets to make sure that he stayed warm, knowing that he’d kick them off if he didn’t need them. But it was better that he was too warm than too cold.
“Ah’ll be back in a little while,” Marie told Logan as she sat down next to him, running her fingers through his hair. “Hopefully ya’ll still be sleepin’ when Ah get back. If not, just make yerself at home. Bye, Logan.”
Logan gave her a sleepy smile, his eyes already beginning to fall shut.