by Krista Lakes
“Yeah?” I answered with a soft smile.
“Will you find Logan for me?” he asked. “I didn't get to thank him.”
“I'll do my best,” I promised.
“And Aunt Liv?” Tyler caught me in his eyes. The pain medication was kicking in and he struggled to focus on me, but he looked serious. “Logan loves you. He can't tell you that, but he does. I was supposed to keep it a secret, but I thought you should know.”
I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. Maddy judiciously avoided my gaze. “What?”
“I asked him why you hated him. He said it was because he hurt you.” Tyler frowned. “I think you should forgive him. He's a good person.”
“It's not quite that simple, Tyler...” I rubbed my forehead, trying to figure out what I could say to make him understand.
“Yes, it is,” Tyler contradicted me. “Love is always simple. It's just our brains that make it complicated.” He smiled down at Spock. “If you love someone, you find ways to stay with them. Spock taught me that.”
I didn't have a good response for that. I could see Dr. James headed our direction with Keiko right behind him carrying blankets and towels, so I stood to give them space to work. Dr. James took my place as I stepped back. Tyler looked up at me, silently asking for me to get Logan while they worked on him. I sighed and nodded, turning to go look for him. The things we would do for the people we loved...
Chapter 25
I finally found Logan in the spa lobby. When the resort officially opened, this lobby would be busy with vacationers coming to get massages and pedicures, but with just us few travel agents and a hurricane in full force, the lobby was empty and quiet. It was the perfect place to be alone.
Logan was looking at a picture hanging on the main wall, his hands resting behind his back. The ocean, calm and gentle, filled the frame. Blues and greens that exemplified a tranquil, tropical, and relaxing vacation getaway stood in stark contrast with the howls and shrieks of the wind outside.
I knew he could hear my footsteps on the bamboo flooring, but he didn't move. I stood beside him, examining the picture. The only indication that he knew I was there was the slight stiffening of his body. He didn't move to leave, though.
“Tyler sent me to find you,” I finally said, breaking the silence between us. “He didn't get to say thank you.”
“He doesn't need to,” he replied.
“He doesn't see it that way,” I informed him. I looked at him, taking in his profile. Logan's hair was still damp from the rain, but that curl was back on his forehead. “He said something else that I wanted to ask you about.”
Logan's jaw tightened, but he didn't move.
“He said you loved me,” I told him quietly. He stood still as stone, staring at the picture. “Is it true?”
The only movement in the room was Logan's Adam’s apple as he swallowed. His eyes slowly closed as the word came out. “Yes.”
I wasn't sure what I was expecting, but that one syllable hit me like a punch. He loved me. Logan Hayes loved me.
“What? Why?” I gasped, reeling from his confirmation. A surge of happiness filled me, followed by a wash of confusion and then despair. He loved me, but we couldn't be together. Star-crossed lovers we were indeed.
He turned from the painting to face me. His eyes were soft and sad. He knew the regret we both felt. The tragedy that was our love. “I fell in love with you the moment you walked in my office,” he said simply. “You were so nervous and absolutely adorable. As we talked, I found out you were smart and funny. And driven. Very driven. I couldn't help it. That's why I asked you for drinks.”
I nodded, remembering that night; the giddy happiness I felt at being asked out on a date. The way his eyes had shone during our deeply intense discussions; the simple joy I had felt at seeing him smile and even the happiness at waking up the next morning and thinking I would see him again. As improbable as love at first sight was, I had fallen in love with him then, too.
A soft smile flitted across his face as he remembered as well. “Then you showed up for drinks looking sexy as hell, and I knew I was yours.” He shook his head slowly. “I thought not seeing you would make all those feelings go away. I thought it had to be just infatuation or lust. Love at first sight is something for fairy tales. Things that can have happy endings. Love at first sight doesn't last in real life.”
I looked down at my feet. I wanted love at first sight to be real. I wanted this to be my fairy tale, but my shoes were covered in mud and leaves. I was no Cinderella.
“When I came back from Malaysia, I was sure you had forgotten me, that you had moved on and that all those feelings were only on my end. And then I saw you at that wedding,” he said softly. I looked up to see a sad smile traipse his face. “And then Maddy...”
“Maddy blabbed that I wasn't over you; that I had those same feelings,” I supplied. A ghost of a grin tugged at my lips at the memory. “I was ready to strangle her for that. I'm glad I didn't.”
“It put sunshine back in my world,” he confessed, looking back at the painting. “I thought... I thought I had a second chance. But you were mad, and you had every right to be. I thought maybe, with enough time, you'd see that I cared. I started looking for excuses to see you at social events. I always seemed to miss you at them, though.”
“That's when I started avoiding you,” I said slowly. “I hated that Maddy gave me away and I didn't want to remember that you broke my heart after just one date. So, I hid from you.”
He nodded slowly. Regret and lost hope filled his voice. “You don't want to know how many events I went to, hoping that you would be there-- hoping I could get another chance-- only to find you had left moments earlier or suddenly declined.”
I could imagine. After the wedding, I came up with a plan never to see Logan Hayes again. In addition to my constant Google searches, news article alerts, and myFace stalking, Twitter and all of its over-sharing socialites suddenly became my lookouts. I had alerts set on my phone for all trending posts about Logan Hayes. I had driven up to so many parties, only to leave without even getting out of the car because someone tweeted that Logan was there.
“When I heard you had accepted the invitation to this resort, I took Noah up on his offer to come see it.” He gave a dry chuckle. “I'm pretty sure I have a pissed-off employee whose place I stole.”
His weak attempt at humor made me smile. When he glanced over at me, I was flooded with emotions: regret, hope, loss, joy, love, sadness, and so many others that I couldn't even place all vied for a place in my consciousness. I stared at the picture of the peaceful ocean, trying to sort my thoughts so I could identify them. I didn't know what to say, so in a bid for time, I blurted, “Why did you go into the storm for Tyler? You didn't have to.”
“Because I knew you needed me to.” He stated it like it was a simple fact. Like the sky was usually blue and water was wet. “I could see it on your face. You were ready to head out the front door and start searching. I went out in that storm because I knew you were going to.”
“I didn't realize I was that obvious,” I admitted. He had read me like a book.
“You love Tyler. And he loves you. I had to make sure you were both safe. Losing him would devastate you. Losing you would devastate him.” He paused and glanced at me again, his voice going soft. “And me as well. I went out in the storm to keep that from happening.”
We both focused at the painting again. We were silent, but the roar of the storm outside reverberated off the walls of the spa lobby. I needed to sit down and think. Possibly with wine. No, definitely with wine. Possibly with 151 rum. I was done with emotional upheavals for the day.
One thought was clear, though, as it sailed through the storm in my mind. Logan had risked his life to save Tyler, and by extension, me. He loved me. He had always loved me, just as I had always loved him.
But that didn't matter. The original problem-- the one that had kept us apart in the first place-- still existed. We were competitors,
and our love was too fragile to survive in the harsh business world. We'd already proven that once. As much as I was tempted to try again, I knew it would be a futile exercise.
So I stayed quiet, and didn't tell him how much I loved him back; how just one glance from him sent my whole day into a giddy daydream; how I had dreamed of him for two years straight.
No, to save ourselves from another tragic ending, I said nothing and just stood there, contemplating a painting and listening to the rain. I wished my life were more like the tranquil ocean waves of the picture.
“I talked to my father today,” Logan said after a long silence. I turned and looked at him. He smiled to himself, still focused on the picture. “I think I'm the first person in a long time to call him an idiot.”
I felt my eyes widen and my eyebrows reach for the ceiling. “You said that?”
“More than that. I told him he was wrong. That he was wrong two years ago. That he squandered a prime business opportunity because he couldn't see past his own prejudices. I told him if he didn't want me to take proof of his negligence to the board of trustees in not only this matter, but the six others that I have cleaned up for him, I was to handle all future merger and business acquisitions.” He stopped and took a breath before adding, “without him.”
I could hardly believe the words coming out of Logan's mouth. I stared at him. “You took him out of the process? In his own company?”
Logan shrugged as if it were nothing. As if he hadn't just defied thirty-two years of seeking his father's approval. “He's been talking about retirement for a while now. I simply put a timeline on it.”
“Wow,” I whispered. This was far more than just putting his father on track to retire. From what I understood, Gerald Hayes was not a man who liked being resisted. Part of the reason he was so successful was because he was ruthless and incredibly controlling. And now, Logan had threatened to revoke that control. It was Zeus taking down the Titans. “How did your father take it?”
“Not well,” he said flatly, shifting his weight slightly. “But I got what I wanted. If I took half of what I have to the board, he would be drawn and quartered right there in the boardroom.”
“I didn't know it was that bad.” I was back to studying the painting.
“He's made some bad decisions. I just finally realized that I don't have to be the one who suffers for his mistakes. He'll be retiring at the end of the fiscal year, and my brother and I will be taking over the company. He won't be running things anymore,” Logan explained.
“Wow.” I couldn't believe it. Logan had taken control of his destiny. “That's some big news.”
“Yeah,” he said, cracking a smile. He ran a hand through his tangled curls. It was a relaxed and natural motion that relieved the tension in his shoulders. He was free of his father for the first time in his life.
I swallowed hard as I wondered about the question brewing in my mind. I decided to ask it. After today, the worst he could do was not to gratify me with an answer. “Did you do it for me?”
There was a long pause. “Yes and no,” he responded carefully. “It needed to be done. You just gave me the impetus to do it. You defied him with your success and showed me that I can't thrive in his shadow anymore.”
I looked down at my shoes again and nodded. “I'm happy for you. You're going to do great.” I just wished he had done this two years ago. Things would have been so much simpler. It felt too late now.
“Well, actually, as the soon-to-be CEO and department head of mergers and acquisitions, I do have some business I need to attend to.” Logan turned away from the painting. He didn't move closer to me, but somehow I felt like the space between us grew smaller. “I'd like to offer you one last proposal. One I've wanted to give you for a long time, but one which my father would never approved of.”
My throat was suddenly dry as I watched Logan dig around in his pocket. For a moment, I thought he was going to drop to one knee and propose. What would I say? Yes? I had no idea.
Instead he handed me a neatly folded piece of paper.
“I'd like to offer you a partnership. Dream Vacations and Travel, Inc.” He smiled and looked down at the paper in my hands. “You would keep your company exactly the way it is, just with access to Travel, Inc.'s resources.”
I unfolded the paper and stared at it. It was a typical-looking contract, but my eyes were blurring with tears and I couldn't read the legalese. This would solve everything.
“I don't want to be competitors anymore,” he said softly, taking my shaking hands in his. I looked up and focused on the warm caramel of his eyes. “I want to be partners. If Dream Vacations succeeds, then Travel, Inc. succeeds and vice-versa.”
“I'd get to keep my company?” I gasped. “And still be part of yours?”
“Yes.” He nodded. A smile was waiting to blossom fully onto his face if I gave the right answer. “You will have to go to board meetings. And I'm expecting several one-on-one meetings between the CEO of Travel, Inc and Dream Vacations. Don't worry, though, I hear he's cute.”
I laughed, tears running down my cheeks. “Yes. Yes, I will partner with you!”
His face split into a grin that made my heart soar. In a smooth motion, he tipped his head forward and kissed me. Our teeth clicked together because we were both smiling so broadly that we couldn't stop, but I didn't care. It was a great kiss.
“Promise me I won't lose you again,” Logan requested when we pulled back to catch our breath. Hope and happiness filled his face. I felt like I could burst from too much joy.
“This time I have a contract.” I held up the paper and grinned. “You're stuck with me now.”
He kissed me again before I could even think, dipping me back in a liplock that would make a Hollywood director proud. I giggled as he released me from his kiss, but not from his arms.
“You'll have to get Maddy's approval on this,” I told him. “She owns a fair chunk of the company.”
Logan shrugged. “I just walked through a hurricane to save her son. I think I've got enough brownie points to pull that off.”
This time, I kissed him. I pulled him in to me, tasting his lips and sharing my joy. We could be together. Our love, and our businesses, would flourish more together than they ever would apart. Outside, the sounds of the hurricane raged and screamed, but when I was with Logan, there wasn't a storm we couldn't weather.
Epilogue
The ocean breeze is soft against my skin. The water is calm this time, and the sky is blue. I would almost call it a perfect day, except that in my mind, the perfect day here involved a hurricane.
But that was a whole year ago.
Today is about celebrating. Celebrating that storm and how it brought Logan and I together.
“You ready?” Maddy asks, adjusting the straps of her sundress one last time.
“I am,” I say. I take a deep breath.
“All right, then, let's get this party started.” She grins and takes my hand as we step onto the beach. The wind makes the hem of my dress flutter around my ankles. It's nothing fancy, just a white cotton sundress that is comfortable and soft. There is beauty in simplicity. There's no need to impress anyone with designer labels or couture gowns. We are here just for us.
The sun is almost painfully bright, but I don't care. I can see him. He is like a beacon, shining softly, yet almost more brightly, than the sun itself. He's standing next to his brother and a man in a dark suit. His tall frame stands out against the deep blue of the ocean, and his short curls catch the gentle breeze.
He sees me and I am suddenly the most beautiful thing on the planet. His jaw drops just enough, then widens into a smile like he's won the lottery. I smile, because I know have won the lottery of love.
Maddy stands beside me. Tyler is the only person in the guest area. He had wanted to bring Spock, but Maddy and I had both told him no. We managed to convince him that Spock would be far more comfortable lounging on his bed at home than sitting in the sun.
I smile as
I take my place across from Logan. The only people present for the ceremony are the people who care the most about us; the people who have been the most supportive of us and the most understanding of our love.
I glance out at Tyler, and he gives me a big thumbs-up. Logan chuckles.
“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today...” The minister in the dark suit recites the words to the ceremony in a gentle voice. I've heard them enough times for others that I don't listen. I don't need formal words; I already know in my heart what he is saying. I love Logan, and he loves me. We are joining ourselves together in front of our family and friends so that we never have to be apart again.
I look into Logan's eyes. They are deep pools with glowing embers of love and joy illuminating them. Looking into them, I am content and at peace.
“Repeat after me: I, Logan Hayes...”
“I, Logan Hayes,” Logan repeats in his deep voice. He sounds nervous, but that makes him all the more loveable. I know he's been looking forward to this for a long time and has been practicing because he doesn't want to mess it up. He wants this to be perfect for me.
Except, everything is already is perfect. As long as he promises to love me, I get to promise the same, and we seal the promise with a kiss, this wedding is all I could ever want. I don't need the perfect words or the perfect dress to have the perfect wedding.
“I promise to be true to you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health. I will love you and honor you all the days of my life.” Logan's hand shakes as he slides my ring onto my finger. He grins once it's situated. Then it's my turn.
“Repeat after me: I, Olivia Statler...”
“I, Olivia Statler...” My voice comes out strong. I've wanted to say these words to Logan almost since the moment I met him. He is my happily ever after. With him by my side, I know we will ride off into the sunset and kiss until the curtain draws. We were made for one another. “I promise to be true to you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health. I will love you and honor you all the days of my life.”