Big Girl Panties by Stephanie Evanovich

of trying to match every one of his long strides with two shorter strides of her own, Holly came to a grinding halt.
    â€œEnough. Uncle. You win.” She slowed down to a walk, and so did he.
    Logan was peeved, but he didn’t want to admit it. He wanted answers but wasn’t even sure what questions needed asking. He felt out of the loop. He felt taken, though he could never once recall being lied to. How could he have been so stupid? She told him she lived in Englewood Cliffs, a town that prided itself on its exclusive multimillion-dollar McMansions. What did he think, she was living in a cardboard box in front of one? He had made the assumption she was flat broke because of her haggard appearance and her reluctance to ever divulge any information about herself. He childishly took comfort in one thing though: while he was barely out of breath, Holly was huffing and puffing.
    â€œWhat’s really going on here, Holly?” he demanded. “Who are you?”
    â€œWhat do you mean? I was in total danger of eating all that crap.” She tried to inhale without involuntarily shuddering. “Do you think I’m kidding you? You’d want me to call if I was going to put a bullet in my head, wouldn’t you?”
    Logan was caught off guard, all thoughts of the mystery surrounding her momentarily suspended. He stopped walking. She seemed really serious. Would she really have eaten all that food in one sitting after all the hard work she had put in over the last four months?
    â€œYou really would have eaten all that junk? At once?” He didn’t bother to mask his awe, or his anger. Why was she so willing to get in the way of her own success? Settling his hands on his hips, he scolded her. “What could have driven you to do something like that in the middle of the night?”
    Even in the light of nothing but the moon, he could see her eyes growing glassy, reflecting its beams when she peered up at him.
    â€œCleaning closets.” She tried to add a sad little smile and failed miserably.
    Logan instantly understood. His heart gave a loud thud. She had been packing up the last remnants of her husband.
    â€œI just thought it was time, I guess,” she added wistfully. “Maybe I was wrong.”
    Abandoning his initial harshness, Logan turned to his professional expertise. “Maybe it is time, and you just have to rise to the challenge. Your endorphins should be raging right about now, and you look like you’d rather vomit than eat. I could stay awhile and help you with the closet.”
    Holly gave him a genuine smile he could see through the darkness. “It’s almost done. I’m down to the nitty-gritty. The stuff I can’t see being recycled.” The smile slowly faded.
    â€œCome on; let’s get it done,” Logan said, doing his best to sound encouraging. They walked at a more relaxed pace back to the house. He followed her up the stairs and down the hallway toward her bedroom.
    Glancing into another room, he stopped short. “Holly? What about this one?”
    The room was unlike any of the others he’d passed. This room was stark, sanitary, and sterile. From the plain white walls to the barren wood floor, the only contents of this room were a hospital bed and some medical equipment. There were oxygen tanks and monitors, all wheeled into one corner with the cords wrapped neatly around them. The bed was nothing but a mattress lying flat inside its adjustable frame with chrome half rails on each side. He stepped inside the room and instantly felt its sacredness. On one wall, the wall opposite the blindless windows, was the only decoration that adorned the room. It was a huge framed photograph of mountains; snow covered them at the top, and a refreshing lake at their base mirrored them. The backdrop sky was perfectly blue with the exception of a few puffy white clouds in the distance. It took up nearly the entire wall. Logan felt his chest start