Chapter Fourteen
‡
Logan was going out of his mind. He expected to have the test results first thing in the morning. He didn’t care if it was a Saturday, this was important to him. He’d left Jon a voice mail an hour ago and still nothing.
Grabbing his phone, he tried Jon again. This time he answered.
“When did you lose your patience?”
When it became personal. “Do you have the results?” Their calls typically were lengthy, as their discussions entailed medical procedures and advancements to the robotic devices Jon developed. However he was not inclined to chat any longer than to hear the words he’d been hoping for.
“No family relation. I hope that’s what you wanted to hear.”
More than you’ll ever know.“The truth is all that matters.”
“I figured I owed you that. But for the record, I had your DNA on file from... another matter. Next time you need something urgent for a personal matter, just say it.”
“My DNA?”
“Yeah. Don’t ask, but know that this is why you go to your friends for certain things. Like this.”
He knew exactly what Jon meant. You couldn’t go to a lab and not risk things getting out you didn’t want made public. “Thanks for your help. I appreciate it.”
Once off the phone he sat back and felt a lot of tension release from his body. He hadn’t realized how much it was affecting him until that moment. He’d told Jon he only wanted the truth. That didn’t mean he wasn’t elated.
Logan had intended to wait until after Sunday brunch to talk to Cori, but he couldn’t hold back. He knew she’d spent years gathering information regarding Joe’s death, and he wanted to be the one to tell her what he’d found.
It was later than he’d thought, but he stepped on the gas and broke the speed limit the entire way. Whatever fines came his way meant nothing to him. There was one thing he was focused on right now, and that was seeing Cori’s sweet and beautiful face.
After pretending to be so sick last night, he didn’t want to show up empty-handed. Not far from her apartment he recalled seeing a florist shop. Thankfully he pulled in just before they closed. He’d never done such things before, but something in him wanted tonight to be special. The florist obviously knew he didn’t frequent florist shops and informed him of each flower’s symbolic meaning. After a much-too-lengthy lesson on roses, he chose the deep pink. Romantic way to say how happy I am to have you in my life.
Logan wasn’t sure if Cori knew the meaning, but assumed, like most females, she wasn’t clueless. All he could do was hope this subtle act would represent what was in his heart without having to reveal why. Not like I can sweep her into my arms, kiss her, and say, “Hey guess what, we’re not related.”
As he knocked on her door, he wondered if he should’ve called first. Yesterday he’d definitely caught her off guard, as she wasn’t dressed for company. However, he wasn’t opposed to her attire either.
As he heard the door being unlocked, his smile widened. There was no other place he wanted to be right now, and holding her again in his arms was going to feel like heaven.
It was like a punch in the gut when he saw her. Her eyes were red and puffy, and her cheeks drenched with tears. Oh, God. He rushed inside, shut the door, and pulled her into his arms, letting the roses fall to the floor.
“Sweetheart, what’s the matter? What happened?”
Her body shook, and her words were beyond comprehension. Logan needed to let her get past whatever was ripping her heart apart. All he could do was pray it wasn’t him and wait until she was ready to talk.
He wanted to take her to the couch and hold her on his lap. Instead, he stood where they were and gently rubbed her back as she clung to him, sobbing. He could feel her hot tears penetrate his cotton shirt. It was as though his skin burned from her sadness. Nothing in his life had ever made him feel like he was going to break down and cry. But knowing she was hurting caused him enough pain to bring him to tears too.
That was the moment he realized her happiness meant everything to him. Never would he want to do or say anything to make her cry. Whatever it is now, I promise I’ll find a way to make it better.
As her sobs slowly stopped, he knew it was time to walk her to the couch where they could talk. Logan had to resist the urge to wipe her face and kiss those tears away. This wasn’t about what he wanted. He needed to be there for her, listen to her, show her he could be more than he thought he was capable of.
Once they sat down, she blew her nose and said, “I’m really sorry about losing it in front of you like that. I’m normally better at containing myself than this. It’s just that... I was overwhelmed with something, and it broke my heart.”
“I can see that. Do you want to tell me about it?” His voice was soft and tender, as he reached out and touched her hand.
“Oh, Logan, it’s not so easy. I’m not sure where to start. But if I do, I’m afraid that... you’ll hate me.”
He wanted to reassure her that could never happen. Just seeing her cry was hard, so imagining her not being in his life was like a knife to his heart. “Sweetheart, I couldnever hate you. I don’t think you know what you’ve come to mean to me.”
She looked up at him, and her eyes went from green to the deepest blue he’d ever remembered seeing. He could see there was so much going on within her right now that it was not the time to tell her everything. That would be like brushing aside what she was trying to deal with. The night was young; what he had to say could wait.