Big Girl Panties by Stephanie Evanovich Page A

jealousy. Other kids all had normal names and tidy parents and pleasant lives. There was a real sense of accomplishment when I walked away from my past.” She said, after pausing a moment and shrugging dismissively, “My best friend is still there. She’s the only person I ever told about what was going on behind closed doors at my house. I think that’s why they thought I had no friends, although it was really the shame of anyone seeing how I lived that kept me from inviting people over. Most of my friends are Canadian, people Bruce and I worked with. We e-mail. Some of them came to the funeral.”
    â€œBut why such a huge house if there were only the two of you? This house is hardly representative of the term ‘no one.’ ” Logan looked around the living room with its twenty-foot cathedral ceiling, rich hardwood floors, and general opulence. It was clean and completely devoid of any clutter, almost like Holly was intent on going in the other direction from how she was raised.
    â€œBruce bought the house out of foreclosure for maybe half its original value the day after he was diagnosed. I don’t think it hurt that the timing really cooperated. The U.S. economy was starting to tank and the Canadian dollar was getting stronger. He bought it with the intention of my being able to sell it after he was gone. You know, appreciating assets and all that other terminology. I pretty much left that stuff to him, although he did try to educate me. I told you he was an investing genius. Besides, he couldn’t stand the thought of living on top of other people. He really liked his space. You should have seen our house in Canada. You had to go a quarter mile just to get to the mailbox.”
    â€œThis is an awful lot of house for one person,” Logan commented.
    â€œI know,” Holly admitted pensively. “But I’m not quite ready to let it go. Or him. I know we were only here a short time, and it sure isn’t filled with happy memories, but sometimes I can still feel him, and until that feeling is gone, I won’t leave him here alone. I was hoping that getting rid of his things might help that process along.”
    â€œOne foot in front of the other.” He quoted one of his favorite phrases, then added, “Holly, you are amazing.”
    â€œHardly.” She laughed. “From the day he died, I was a hot mess. I didn’t give a damn about anything or anyone. Getting out of bed was a chore. Fortunately—or unfortunately, depending on who you ask,” she said, rolling her eyes, “every take-out joint in a twenty-mile radius delivers. That day I met you? On the plane? I had just finished closing a deal on some stock options Bruce had left over, options I almost had to forfeit to the company’s new president because I waited too long. For a while there, I couldn’t even be bothered with opening the mail. But Bruce would have haunted me forever if I’d let that asshole have his stock. Bruce really didn’t like that guy.”
    Logan joined in with a laugh of his own, satisfied that he had finally uncovered some of her secrets, impressed by her ability to keep them to herself for so long. Clearly she no longer needed to, and Logan felt free to get caught up in the recovery of her seemingly ever-present sense of humor. He also had a much clearer picture of just how far back her eating disorder was rooted.
    â€œThat’s why I think you’re amazing,” Logan said with conviction before reaching out to meaningfully pat her knee. Then he stood up and made his way to the kitchen. He couldn’t change what had happened to Holly in the past, but he could see to it that she felt his support for her future. “Now, listen here, you,” he called in to where she was sitting. “There is something we have to get settled before I leave here tonight.”
    â€œI guess you’re going to start charging me your going