“Logan, there you are!” Mimi shrilled as she sidestepped the employee trying to seat her in another section.
Logan shot an apologetic glance at Emily as he stood to greet his mother.
“Robbie said you’d be in here,” the older woman chirped.
Making a mental note to thank Robbie personally the next time he saw him, he gave his mother a tight smile and tried to block her from getting too close to the table.
“Pippa needs to use the printer.” Mimi set right to work. “Be a dear and show her to the hospitality office, won’t you?”
Logan looked at Emily, feeling that something was off with the whole setup. She gave him a small encouraging smile as if to let him know that she’d be fine, but he was still hesitant.
“Maybe you should—” he began, but Mimi was quick to cut him off.
“Nonsense, Logan,” she said over him. “Be a good host and show her to the office.” Mimi looked at her son defiantly as she took a seat at their table.
For her part, the woman beside Logan looked a little confused but didn’t say anything.
“Please, excuse me for a moment,” he told Emily before he turned his head to Pippa again. “If you’ll follow me.” He gestured toward the hallway, his expression serious. As they walked away from the table, he cast a glance back over his shoulder and didn’t miss the unease on Emily’s face.
“Emily, I’ll be right back,” he called out reassuringly.
Chapter 13
Emily
After all she had heard about Mimi Marshall, Emily was unsure what to expect when she was left alone with her. She didn’t allow herself to be intimidated, but the woman’s penetrating gaze definitely made her feel uncomfortable.
“So, your name’s Emily,” Mimi said, her tone flat. She stared at Emily, squinting her eyes as if she were studying a scientific specimen.
“Yes.” Emily tried to keep her voice strong. “Emily Taylor.”
This got a nod from the woman. “Ah, yes. The event planner. Congratulations on that rather monumental promotion to assistant vice president.”
There was something calculating about the woman’s expression that put Emily on edge. It sounded like anything but a congratulatory sentiment. She had somehow managed to make Emily’s promotion sound insulting and shady.
“Thank you.” She forced herself to smile, hoping Logan would return soon. She squirmed in her chair as she looked out the door he had left through. Mimi followed her glance.
“They’re great together, aren’t they?” she said, batting her eyes.
Emily swallowed hard as she struggled to hide her discomfort.
“I couldn’t tell you. I’ve never met her before.”
The words were bitter in her mouth, but she and Logan had agreed to keep things quiet. Besides, she knew all about his mother’s efforts to manipulate him.
“She’s an old friend of the family,” the woman went on without prompting. “She and Logan have so much in common.”
“Sounds fascinating.” Emily thought that, if she sounded bored, maybe Mimi would move along to another seat.
The older woman paused for a few moments, her eyes still glued to Emily. She crossed her arms over her chest and finally broke the silence with a surprisingly direct question.
“What’s happening between you and Logan?” she asked, her voice demanding.
“Excuse me?” Emily stammered, shocked by her lack of subtlety.
“You can’t fool me. I’ve never seen him like this, and I don’t like it one bit,” Mimi snarled, letting all pretense of civility fall away.
“You don’t like to see your son happy?” Emily shook her head, frowning.
Mimi gave a humorless laugh as she rolled her eyes.
“You think you make him happy? Then you’re even less intelligent than I thought.”
“That’s not what I said. There’s nothing between—” Emily started to explain.
“Whatever it is, it won’t last.” The woman cut her off. “Don’t pretend you don’t realize that he’s out of your league. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure it out. Just look at you and look at him. You’re nothing like us, and you never will be.”
Emily glared at the woman as she took a deep breath. She felt anger and frustration swirling inside her, and she struggled to keep her emotions in check. “Thank God I’m nothing like you. And you know what? Thank God your son is nothing like you either,” she said, holding her head high, before she rose from the table.
“You don’t know who you’re messing with. Get away from my son or I’ll make your life miserable,” Mimi growled, banging her fist on the table.
Emily’s stomach twisted tight at her words. “Have a nice day,” she said as she walked away. Fighting back tears, she dashed to her cabana, without waiting for Logan to return.
While on the way to Santa Barbara most executives responded in monosyllables or simply ignored Emily when she greeted them or attempted small talk, she felt that their attitude had changed on the flight back to Portland. People all around her nodded politely and smiled at her. Some of them even approached her, apparently eager to get to know her better. She couldn’t figure out, though, how to interpret their sudden interest.
Following a rocky start, the retreat was ultimately considered a success as a number of interesting proposals were presented. After Emily shared her own idea with the team, she also actively participated in discussing other presentations. Team members might have appreciated her contributions to the meetings. Or, perhaps, the rumors sparked by Logan’s closeness to her during the retreat led them to believe that they might benefit from being on good terms with the CEO’s favorite. She preferred, by far, the first option. She wanted to be recognized on her own merits rather than getting a special treatment thanks to her ties to the boss.
The only one who maintained her arrogant stance with her was Bertha Jones.
“Is Logan not coming?” she asked before the plane took off, a hint of provocation in her voice.
“How would I know?” Emily replied drily and put the earphones back on her head. She knew. Of course, she knew that Logan had meetings to attend in New York and Boston and that he would be back in Portland three days later.
As she buckled her seat belt, she replayed their last encounter in her mind. After the conversation with Mimi Marshall, she heard a hard knock at the door of her cabana. It was him. She was already familiar with his plans to return to Portland on a different date, and she knew that they had less than a half hour before parting ways.
“Why didn’t you wait for me?” he demanded when she had opened the door, wasting no time with formalities.
“I had to pack a few more things. The team will be leaving for the airport shortly,” she answered, careful to keep her tone casual.
“How did my mother behave? Did she say something inappropriate? She usually does.”
“No, not really. Everything was okay. Just small talk, you know.” She felt the need to tell Logan all about her tense exchange with Mimi and hear his words of reassurance, but she knew this wasn’t the right moment. There was little time, and she didn’t want to upset him without getting a chance to thoroughly talk over the issues his mother brought up.
“Are you sure?” He arched an eyebrow, his suspicion apparent.
“Absolutely sure.” Emily smiled and leaned in to give him a soft kiss on the cheek.
“Seriously?” He smirked. “We won’t see each other for three days and all I get is this little peck on the cheek.”
She looked into his eyes as she reached out to touch his face. He curled his arm around her waist and drew her closer until their mouths fused together with trembling passion.
Looking out the airplane window, that kiss flashed in front of her eyes over and over while his mother’s words reverberated in her head. “It won’t last.” “He’s out of your league.” Her eyes filled with tears. The thought of losing him made her stomach twist with dread. She needed to keep herself busy unt
il his return to avoid losing her mind with worry. She closed her eyes and started to pray. Her life was in God’s hands, and so was her future with Logan. An immediate sense of tranquility drizzled over her.
The sight that she was treated to when she arrived home looked like an answer to her prayers and a sign from above that everything was going to be all right. The entrance to her apartment was covered in dozens of bouquets of daisies. Tucked in one of them was a card that said, “No food trucks this time. I have something more stylish in mind. I’ll be waiting for you (impatiently) in front of your building. Wednesday, 8:00 p.m.”
Chapter 14
Emily
Emily knew that she and Logan would eventually have to talk about her conversation with Mimi Marshall, but she did her best not to think about the woman until his return. Although both of them were busy with meetings and negotiations over the rebranding campaign, they constantly exchanged texts, pictures, videos, and phone calls during his absence. Every night, before falling asleep, she read all the messages she had received throughout the day over and over again, and a smile kept dancing on her lips.
Logan: When I said I will be counting hours until I see you again, I really meant it. 31 hours, 52 minutes, 15 seconds left. This is proving to be harder than I thought.
Logan: Missing you so much, baby.
Logan: Can you please leave my mind just for a moment? I’m trying to work here.
The evening before Logan returned, Emily drove up to her brother’s house, tucked away in Portland’s West Hills neighborhood. She hadn’t seen Lucas and his family since she left for Santa Barbara, and she looked forward to playing with her niece, Luna, and catching up with her brother and his wife, Claire. As she parked her car in front of the house, she remembered the texts she exchanged with her brother the day after she and Logan kissed at the beach.
Emily: “I have something incredibly exciting to tell you.”
Emily and Lucas were close, and she never kept anything from him. He was, after all, her oldest friend.
Lucas: What is it? I hope it’s not business-related.
Emily: You’ll have to be patient. This needs face-to-face and a couple of hours. P.S. Not business-related.
Lucas: Not business-related??!! This is huge!!! Can’t wait!!!
Emily knew Lucas would be excited about the news that his little sister might have finally found love. He was concerned about her reluctance to open her heart since her breakup with Jason, but he had always been confident that she would get over what she referred to as “trust issues with men” once the right person came into her life. She had been alone for four years, and it hurt him to see that, as he put it, “a woman who was so full of warmth and light couldn’t share her life with someone who really deserved her.”
She knew that it was too early to predict how her relationship with Logan would evolve. Still, despite Mimi Marshall’s hurtful remarks, she was excited and hopeful, and she wanted her family to be a part of it. Jason was her high school sweetheart and the only man she had ever kissed or held hands with. But she had to admit to herself that, with him, she had never experienced the intensity of the emotions she felt with Logan.
Lucas opened the door for her before she even rang the doorbell.
“Hello, little sister,” he said with a grin as they hugged.
“Hi, big brother.” She kissed him on the cheek.
“Aunt Emily!” her niece Luna called out, running toward her with her arms open wide.
“Hello, my love!” Emily wrapped the little girl in a tight hug. “I missed you, Sunshine.”
“I missed you too, Auntie.” The girl grinned from ear to ear as she laid her head on her aunt’s shoulder.
Luna was a smart and curious seven-year-old, and Emily loved spending time with her. They enjoyed making crafts and reading books together, and the little girl often boasted in front of her friends of having “the best auntie in the world.” Emily’s transfer to Portland was a true blessing for the whole family for many reasons, but the fact that she would be close to her niece as she grew up was the thing that she looked forward to most eagerly.
“Look what I got for you in Santa Barbara.” Emily pulled out a seashell necklace out of her bag.
“Mom, can I wear it at Rebecca’s party?” the little girl asked, dancing around the room.
“Of course, you can, honey.” Claire nodded with a smile as she gave Emily a hug.
“But that’s not all. I got three more shells for your collection. Actually, I brought you seven, but three of them are really special. Come, I’ll show you. I put them in a super safe little box.”
Luna shrieked with excitement and pulled Emily’s sleeve.
“Come to my room. This is top secret.” They chuckled as they rushed to the girl’s room, holding hands.
Emily and Luna played for over an hour in the girl’s room before Lucas came to announce that dinner was ready.
“Emily, will you stay until I fall asleep?” Luna asked.
“You bet I will.” Emily pinched her niece’s cheek.
“And you’ll read a bedtime story for me?”
“Sure, Sunshine. Let’s eat now. Something smells delicious.”
The atmosphere at Lucas’s home was always relaxed and filled with laughter. As much as Emily was happy there, spending time with his family reminded her of the kind of life she longed for, and the idea of getting back to an empty apartment saddened her. On this occasion, watching her brother’s happy family reminded her of Logan though. She had known him for such a short time, and she tried to chide herself not to get her hopes up, but she couldn’t help it. She felt her heartbeat quicken at the possibility of sharing her future with him.
After dinner and three bedtime stories, Luna was fast asleep, and Lucas and Claire were waiting for her to tell them all about her “not business-related news.”
“Now it’s time for our bedtime story.” Lucas grinned at her when she came out of Luna’s room.
“And I warn you that we’ll be disappointed if the genre is not romance,” Claire said with a wink.
“Clean romance, please.” Lucas smirked, his arm slung around his wife’s shoulders.
“The most incredible thing’s happened to me.” Emily slumped down in an armchair and released a deep sigh. “Everything’s been so fast, so intense. I don’t even know where to begin. All right, I’ll start with Aspen.”
“Mmm, Aspen, we’re off to a good start here.” Claire patted her husband’s hand.
Emily loved Claire like a sister and the feeling was definitely mutual.
“So, Maggie and I were in Aspen, celebrating our promotions. The location is stunning. We’re on the top floor, overlooking the mountains. Beautiful. Suddenly, she remembers Erik.”
“Poor thing,” Claire chimed in.
“Yes, she’s still not completely recovered, but she’s doing much better now. So, she goes to the toilet to splash some water on her face. I stay by myself. And now I want you to imagine the most gorgeous, stunning, irresistible man.” Emily couldn’t stop grinning while she remembered the scene. “Have you imagined the most gorgeous, stunning, irresistible man? Well, the man that you just imagined is the ugly cousin of the guy who came through that door.”
“That sounds too good to be true. I want some evidence. Where are the visuals?” Claire demanded, giggling.
“Oh, you’re curious to see the picture?” Lucas frowned jokingly and squeezed Claire’s hand.
“I mean, I can’t imagine anyone more handsome than my husband, of course.” She smiled and ran her fingers through Lucas’s hair.
Emily’s brother and her sister-in-law were so deeply in love, and the thought that she might finally be close to having that kind of love herself meant so much to her. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and quickly found the last selfie Logan had sent her.
“Wow! He looks like a Hollywood star,” Claire said, clearly impressed.
“Hey,” Lucas gave her a jealous glance. “What about me
? I don’t look like a Hollywood star?”
“Of course, you do, honey. But you can only get the bride’s brother role in this movie.”
They all laughed before Emily continued. She couldn’t wait to share her story with them and hear their thoughts. After her upsetting conversation with Mimi Marshall, she needed to talk to someone who loved and supported her.
Chapter 15
Emily
On Wednesday, from the moment Emily woke up, her heart fluttered with anticipation. She did her best to focus on the tasks at hand, but she couldn’t help checking her watch and daydreaming about Logan and their night out.
When she left the office for the day, it seemed that getting ready would go smoothly because she had already prepared her outfit the night before. However, as she checked out her look in the mirror, she changed her mind and spent another half hour choosing another garment. She finally put on a red, square-neck dress and matching stilettos. It was still too early. She couldn’t take the wait any longer and decided to leave her apartment at 7:40 p.m. When she walked out of the building, Logan was already waiting for her, leaning against his red convertible.
“Woman in red, I seem to have chosen the right car for tonight,” he called out with a smirk, his intense gaze fixed on her.
She grinned, approaching him slowly. He started walking too, his steps accelerating. When their bodies finally met, he slid his hand behind her head and brought his lips down on hers with an urgent need.
“You’re even more beautiful than I remembered,” he said when she finally pulled back.
“I missed you.” She touched his lips with her fingertips.
“I missed you much more.” He leaned in and pressed his forehead against hers. They remained silent for a while, merely listening to each other’s uneven breathing.
When they got into his car and began to ride down the streets of Portland, Emily was suddenly overwhelmed by the intimacy of the moment. The encounters at the beach resort were like their little bubble in space and time, but being together in the outside world felt more real and full of promise.
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