Updated Nov 27, 2025 • ~9 min read
Marissa left town, and Jo felt like she could breathe again.
Things returned to normal. Logan stayed over most nights. They fell back into their routine—morning coffee, work messages throughout the day, dinners together.
Everything was perfect.
Which should have been Jo’s first clue that something was coming.
A week after Marissa left, Logan started acting strange.
Not bad strange. Just… distracted. He’d space out during conversations, check his phone more than usual, seem preoccupied.
“Everything okay?” Jo asked after the third time he’d zoned out during dinner.
“Hm? Yeah. Fine. Just thinking about work stuff.”
“Want to talk about it?”
“Not yet. Soon.”
That night, Logan got a phone call he took in the other room. Jo tried not to eavesdrop, but she caught fragments.
“…yeah, the numbers look good…”
“…by the end of the month…”
“…big investment, but worth it…”
When he came back, Jo asked, “Important call?”
“Just business stuff. Nothing to worry about.”
But he looked worried.
Over the next few days, Logan took more mysterious calls. Had hushed conversations with Carlie at the shop. Spent hours on his laptop doing something he wouldn’t explain.
And Jo’s anxiety, which had just calmed down from the Marissa situation, started spiraling again.
“He’s hiding something,” she told Erika.
“Maybe it’s a surprise?”
“Or maybe it’s bad. What if the shop is in trouble? What if he’s planning to move? What if—”
“Jo. Stop. Ask him.”
“I have. He says it’s work stuff.”
“Then believe him.”
“What if he’s lying?”
“Why would he lie?”
“I don’t know. But something’s going on.”
The breaking point came when Jo stopped by the shop unannounced (again, she really needed to stop doing that) and found Logan in his office with Carlie, both hunched over a stack of papers.
They looked up when she entered, and guilt flashed across both their faces.
Guilt.
“Hey,” Logan said, standing quickly. “I didn’t know you were coming by.”
“I can see that.” Jo’s stomach churned. “What’s going on?”
“Just paperwork. Boring business stuff.”
“You’ve been distracted for a week. Taking mysterious calls. Having secret meetings. That’s not boring paperwork.”
Logan exchanged a look with Carlie.
“I’m going to grab lunch,” Carlie said diplomatically, leaving them alone.
“Jo—” Logan started.
“Just tell me. Whatever it is, just tell me. The not knowing is worse than whatever the truth is.”
Logan ran a hand through his hair. “I was going to tell you. This weekend. I had a whole plan.”
“Tell me what?”
“I’m expanding. Buying the space next door. Doubling the size of the shop. Hiring two more artists.”
Jo blinked. “What?”
“And I needed capital to do it. So I reached out to Marissa to see if she’d be interested in selling back her shares completely. She is. We’ve been negotiating terms.”
“Marissa.”
“Yeah. That’s why she came to town. We had preliminary meetings about the buyout. Then she went back to Seattle, we’ve been finalizing details remotely.”
Jo’s brain struggled to process. “You’ve been talking to Marissa all week.”
“About business. Just business. The buyout, the expansion, legal paperwork.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I wanted to surprise you. The expansion includes a dedicated design space. For you. So you don’t have to work from home anymore. You’d have an office, a real professional setup, right next to my shop.”
Jo stared at him. “You’re… creating a workspace for me?”
“I wanted it to be a surprise. Was going to show you the space this weekend once the paperwork was finalized.” Logan stepped closer. “But you’re spiraling again, and I can’t let you think I’m hiding something bad when it’s actually good.”
“You’ve been planning this whole time.”
“For months. Since before Marissa even showed up. Her visit just accelerated the timeline because it made financial sense to buy her out now.”
Jo sank into a chair. “I thought you were pulling away. Or that something was wrong. Or that Marissa—”
“Was a business transaction. That’s all. I promise.”
“Why didn’t you just tell me?”
“Because I wanted it to be special. Wanted to show you the space, explain my vision, make it romantic.”
“Logan—”
“And because I’m an idiot who didn’t realize that keeping secrets, even good ones, would trigger your anxiety.”
Jo laughed, slightly hysterical. “I thought you were hiding something terrible.”
“I was hiding something wonderful. Which, in retrospect, was stupid.”
“No, it was sweet. Misguided and anxiety-inducing, but sweet.”
Logan crouched in front of her. “I’m sorry. I should have told you.”
“I’m sorry I immediately assumed the worst.”
“You were protecting yourself. I get it.”
They looked at each other, both slightly sheepish.
“Can I see it?” Jo asked. “The space?”
“Now?”
“Right now.”
Logan grinned. “Yeah. Let’s go.”
The space next door was currently empty—a former print shop, vacated months ago. Logan unlocked the door and led her inside.
It was perfect. Big windows, high ceilings, exposed brick. Room for multiple workstations.
“This half will be for the new artists,” Logan explained, gesturing. “That side—the one with the best light—that’s for you. Dedicated design space. Your own office within my building. We’d be working in the same place but separate. Best of both worlds.”
Jo walked through the space, imagining it furnished. Her desk by the windows. Shelves for references. A proper setup instead of her makeshift home office.
“This is incredible,” she whispered.
“You like it?”
“I love it. Logan, this is—” Her voice broke. “You did this for me?”
“For us. I want to build a life with you, Jo. A real life. That includes working near each other, supporting each other’s careers, creating something together.”
Jo turned to face him. “I’m an idiot.”
“What?”
“I spent a week convinced you were hiding something terrible when you were actually planning our future.”
“To be fair, I was being secretive.”
“But I should have trusted you. Should have asked instead of spiraling.”
Logan crossed to her. “We’re both learning. You’re learning to trust. I’m learning to communicate better. That’s okay.”
“I’m sorry I freaked out. Again.”
“Stop apologizing. Your anxiety isn’t your fault.”
“But I keep creating problems that don’t exist.”
“No, you’re responding to patterns from your past. People have let you down before. You’re protecting yourself. That’s human.”
Jo wrapped her arms around him. “I don’t deserve you.”
“That’s backwards. I don’t deserve you. But I’m keeping you anyway.”
“Deal.”
They stood in the empty space that would become their future, holding each other.
“When does the expansion happen?” Jo asked.
“Paperwork should be finalized this week. Then renovations. Probably two months before it’s ready.”
“And I really get office space?”
“Rent-free. Consider it a perk of dating the owner.”
“What if we break up?”
Logan pulled back to look at her. “We’re not breaking up.”
“You can’t know that.”
“I can. Because I’m going to marry you someday. Might as well get used to the idea.”
Jo’s heart stopped. “Marry?”
“Eventually. When you’re ready. No pressure. But yeah. That’s my intention.”
“You’ve thought about marrying me.”
“Constantly. Kind of obsessed with it, actually.”
Jo laughed, eyes stinging. “We’ve been dating for like two months.”
“Best two months of my life.”
“You’re ridiculous.”
“You love it.”
“I really do.”
Logan kissed her, soft and sweet and full of promise. “So we’re good? No more spiraling about secret phone calls?”
“We’re good. But next time you want to surprise me, maybe give me a heads up that you’re planning something nice? So I don’t immediately assume disaster?”
“Deal. I’ll say ‘I’m planning a surprise, don’t panic’ and leave it at that.”
“Perfect compromise.”
They locked up the space and headed back to the shop. Carlie was at the front desk, looking worried.
“Are we okay?” she asked immediately. “I swear I tried to convince him to tell you earlier but he was committed to the surprise thing—”
“We’re good,” Jo assured her. “He told me everything.”
“Oh thank god. I’ve been keeping this secret for months and it was killing me.”
“Months?” Jo looked at Logan. “You’ve been planning this for months?”
“Told you. I’m serious about our future.”
Back at Jo’s apartment that evening, they told Olive the news. The dog, as usual, was more interested in dinner than real estate developments.
“She’s underwhelmed,” Logan observed.
“She doesn’t understand the significance.”
“Do you understand the significance?”
Jo thought about it. “You’re creating a space for me in your business. Literally making room for me in your professional life.”
“And my personal life. And every other kind of life I have.”
“That’s big.”
“It is.”
“Scary big.”
“Also that.”
“But good big?”
Logan pulled her close. “The best big.”
Erika: Status update?
Jo: The mysterious calls were about business expansion. He’s buying out Marissa’s shares and creating office space for me in the building.
Erika: I’M SORRY WHAT
Jo: He’s been planning it for months. Wanted to surprise me.
Erika: This man is PERFECT
Jo: He also said he’s going to marry me someday.
Erika: screaming sounds
Erika: I TOLD YOU
Erika: I TOLD YOU SO
Jo: You’re very smug about this.
Erika: Because I’m ALWAYS RIGHT
Jo fell asleep thinking about office spaces and futures and a man who’d spent months planning a surprise just to make her happy.
The miscommunication had been scary.
But the truth was beautiful.
Logan wasn’t just planning dates or weekends.
He was planning forever.
And for the first time, Jo wasn’t scared of forever.
She was excited about it.
Terrified, yes.
But excited.
Because forever with Logan?
That sounded absolutely perfect.
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