Page 113 of Structure of Love

A brief pause. “What is on fire?”

“Logan’s grandfather died on Saturday. He was informed about an hour ago.”

“Two fucking days later?!”

“Yeah.”

“Oh my god.”

“Gets worse. It was a law firm who told him. They thought he already knew and called to tell him what he inherited.”

“I am so utterly livid on his behalf. I don’t care what kind of bad blood is in the family, if someone is actively dying, you tell people and let them say their goodbyes!”

“I’m with you, man. It’s beyond shitty.”

“I’ll tell everyone here, don’t worry, and take both today and tomorrow off, sounds like he needs you right now, since he can’t rely upon any support from that asshole family of his. Wait, does Erin know yet?”

“Not yet. He wants to wait until she’s back at the house and tell her face-to-face.”

“I guess that would go over better.”

“Riggs, let me ask you something. I’m a petty, petty man, so I know how I’d feel, but you’re more logical. If, say, someone had this pretty amazing thing you desperately wanted as a kid, and you asked to inherit it as a young adult but were told you weren’t worthy of it—which naturally would be hurtful—but when that relative died, they left it to you in their will, how would you feel about it?”

Riggs sat on my question for a second. “So to unravel that run-on sentence, the bar Logan wanted to take over from his grandfather was left to him in the will?”

“I didn’t realize you knew about that. Yes, correct.”

“Logan told me something of his journey of owning Blackbird, and he mentioned it sort of in passing. Did that man seriously leave the bar to Logan without trying to reconnect with him first, or anything?Not even a damn letter to go with it?”

“Not that I know of. Logan didn’t mention anything about a letter.”

“Okay, I see the situation, and frankly?I’d be livid.”

“I know why I’d be mad, but I’m curious on your take.”

“Because it was never about the bar itself. It could have been anything, any business. Logan wanted it because it was part of his grandfather’s life. He wanted to share that, to work alongside the man, to invest in something his grandfather loved. That’s what he was truly robbed of. Being given the bar now is kind of a slap in the face, in my opinion. ‘Here, I don’t need it anymore, I guess you can have it now.’ That kind of feeling.”

Spelled out in such a way, I understood Logan’s feelings better. It felt like a slap in the face, even to me. “The part that pissed me off was someone trying to hand over something that was denied without even a conversation. People trying to foist a responsibility off on me burns my gonads, as you know. I didn’t think about the emotional angle.”

“Logan’s not the type to covet what someone else has, either. That’s not what he was truly after. His grandfather was too blind to see that. Even in death, the man didn’t get it.”

“Clearly.” Oh, Logan had hung up and now just sat there, staring blankly forward. “I’m going to hop off.”

“Keep me posted. Tell Logan we’ll all attend the funeral to support him, if he wants us to.”

“Will do.”

I ended the call and returned to the couch, taking a seat next to Logan. “Taking a break?”

“Two of my brothers can’t answer their phones during work unless they’re on a lunch break,” he explained tonelessly. He still sat there, staring blindly forward, and he seemed…lost. Like he had no idea what to do next or how to process any of this shit. “I have to wait an hour to call them.”

“Ah. I just told Riggs I’m out of the office today and tomorrow. He asked me to pass along that all of my crew will attend the funeral if you want their support.”

Logan turned his head and regarded me for a long moment. “Your friends are so damn cool.”

“I happen to think so.”

“Tell him yes. I should tell my friends too. I just…” He blew out a breath. “Repeating it, over and over, makes it more real. I need a second.”