by Kristi Gold
It all sounded so logical coming from Logan. “David’s the one who’s bent on taking me out of his life.”
“Then fight him, dammit. Fight for your son.”
Logan’s adamant tone, along with the prospect of missing more of J.D.’s milestones and years of possible regret, fueled Jenna’s determination and prompted a decision she should never have had to make. “You’re right. I’m going to fight him on this. I want to be there when my child grows up.” Yet she still foresaw one problem. “But let’s face it Logan, if it goes to court, he has the best argument—a two-parent home.”
“We could give him that.”
Her shock meter was now off the scale. “What are you saying1?”
He took both her hands into his. “I’m saying I want to marry you.”
His proposal was totally outlandish, and so was her urge to say yes. But reason didn’t always take precedence when the human heart was involved. “You and I both agree that you don’t marry for the sake of a child.”
“What if we do it for our sakes?”
“Do we really know each other well enough to jump into matrimony?”
“Look, we were both in long-term relationships that didn’t pan out. Commitment might be a crapshoot, but we’re not. I know in my gut it’s going to work with us.”
“How do you know that, Logan? How can you be so sure?”
He sighed. “Alter my experience with Helena, I’d pretty much given up on marriage. I didn’t think I’d ever fall in love, either. But here I am, more than ready to get married and long overdue in telling you that I love you.”
He’d said it with such heartfelt sincerity, she almost believed him. “How could you possibly know that when you still know so little about me?”
“I know that you burn toast. I know that your lip quivers when you sleep. I know your politics, where you went to school, what makes you afraid. I know your preference for taking up more than half the bed at night, your taste in food and your love of flowery shower gel. I know what you really, really like when we make love and I also know that you are the most headstrong, independent, sexy woman I’ve ever known. Do you want me to go on’?”
She laughed through a few latent tears. “Please, stop. At times you make me sound as appealing as a rush hour traffic jam.”
“But there’s still one thing I don’t know, Jenna.”
She smoothed a hand over his face to discover his expression matched his suddenly somber tone. “What’s that1?”
“I don’t know how you feel about me.”
She brushed a kiss across his lips. “I know you’re as stubborn as I am and that you’re the one who takes up more than half the bed. I know the same little tidbits about your personal history and I know exactly what’s going to happen when you make that really low, animal sound while we’re making love. I also know that you love and respect your mother, which is saying a lot. More important I knew I loved you the minute you took off my makeup.”
“Oh, yeah?”
“Oh, yeah.”
“Then we definitely need to get married so we can fill in any missing gaps.” Now it was Jenna’s turn to be serious. “We can’t rush into this, Logan.”
“I’m not saying we should do it tomorrow, or next month, for that matter.”
“Good, because I’d like to wait until after I have the transplants, so I can see the man I’m marrying.”
“You already see more in him than anyone else ever has, Jenna.”
They kissed a long time then, seated in the garden where he’d almost kissed her the first time, until the lights had interrupted them And now the sun was responsible for doing that very thing.
Reluctantly. Jenna pulled back. “This light is—”
“Hurting your eyes. I should’ve realized that. You need to go into the house, anyway, and pack a bag for our trip.”
He was certainly full of surprises. “What trip?”
“The one we’re going to take together as soon as you’re packed.”
“If you don’t tell me where we’re going, I won’t know how to pack. Should I bring my hiking boots’?”
“Nope, because we’re not going camping and we’re not driving, either. We’re going on a plane.”
Just the word plane made her anxious. “I hate to fly, Logan. I have since my vision became so poor. I don’t like crowds and those narrow aisles and—”
“We’re taking a chartered jet and I’ll hold your hand the whole time. It’ll just be me, you and the open skies. And a crew of two experienced pilots in the cockpit. It also has a nice fold-out sofa in case we get bored on the way.” Jenna felt a serious bout of boredom coming on. “How do you know all of this about a plane?”
“I’m in the transportation business, babe. And I also own the plane, or half of it, I should say. Your father owns the other half.”
Having the two most important men in her life working together again couldn’t have pleased Jenna more. “So you and my father have finally made amends?”
“We’re getting there.”
“Speaking of getting there, exactly where are we going’?” She pointed at him. “And don’t tell me it’s a surprise.”
“When Avery gave me the letter, we also looked over the terms of your divorce. According to the joint custody clause, David’s several months overdue in giving J.D. back to you, even if you originally agreed that he’d stay until you had the transplants. We’re going to see if what David told me is true—that he’s a reasonable man—by telling him you’re ready to bring J.D. home, surgery or no surgery.”
As much as she wanted that, she still had reservations. “What if John David doesn’t want to come with us?”
“Look, Jenna, he was impressed with a ship. How do you think he’s going to feel about a plane he can fly in anytime he wants’? Not to mention what he’ll have on that plane.”
“A widescreen TV with access to even’ sport channel known to God and little boys of all ages’?”
“His mother.”
If Jenna had ever had any doubts over whether Logan honestly loved her, they’d all been dispelled. “You’re an amazing man, Logan O’Brien.”
“You are one helluva woman, Jenna Fordyce.”
She didn’t have the words to express how much he meant to her, so she settled for the three that meant the most. “I love vou.”
“I love you, too. And I only have one small condition I haven’t covered. If you don’t have the surgery in three months’ time, we’re going to get married, anyway.”
“Why is that?”
“Take my word for it. In my family, three months is a lucky number.”
Epilogue
Three months later
For the past five minutes, Jenna could only stare at the man standing next to the banquet table in the hotel ballroom. The beautiful man whom she’d married a few hours ago in her mother’s garden, surrounded by family and close friends. The first face she’d seen when she’d undergone the corneal transplants nine weeks before. The second had been her child’s, who now happily lived in the house she and Logan had purchased the previous month. A lovely two-story home with a large backyard, many trees and myriad flowers.
Though her vision wasn’t perfect, the new contacts allowed Jenna to see clearly enough to recognize her image of Logan hadn’t come close to the real thing. His eyes were bluer than the early morning sky she’d always cherished, his hair as black as the night she’d once dreaded before she’d met him. And his smile was the kind that had women struggling to find something funny to say so he would reveal those gorgeous dimples. But she’d learned how to do that with only a special look, and she gave that to him now when he met her gaze.
When he held out his hand to her, she crossed the room, her steps steady as she joined the man she’d grown to love more each passing day.
He wrapped one arm around her and kissed her cheek. “Where’ve you been?”
“Talking with Kevin who I mistakenly thought was Kieran. I don’t know ho
w you tell them apart.”
“After you’ve been around a while, you’ll figure it out. Kieran’s the one who’ll offer sound advice. Kevin will offer to take you out if you get tired of me.”
She elbowed his side. “I’ll never get tired of you, and Kevin can’t be that bad. In fact, he was very cordial and charming.”
Logan looked beyond her and grinned. “.And it looks like he’s charming your friend Candice. You might want to warn her.”
“Candice can take care of herself,” Jenna said as she spotted Dermot at the front of the room, standing on a chair that looked as if it might not hold him. “I believe your father’s trying to get everyone’s attention.”
Logan grinned. “Brace yourself, babe. He’s about to toast us.”
John David chose that moment to burst through the masses and hurl himself at Jenna’s legs. “Can I have more cake, Mama?”
She bent down and nibbed the spot of chocolate from the corner of his mouth, the same chocolate that now dotted the front of his miniature tuxedo and the skirt of her satin wedding gown. Obviously, he’d inherited her tendency to wear his food. “We’ll see about that as soon as your Grandpa Dermot gives his toast.”
J.D. frowned. “I don’t want toast. I want cake.”
Logan laughed. “Come here and I’ll put you on my shoulders so you can see better, bud.”
Without hesitatin, John David complied, demonstrating the solid relationship that had formed between her son and her new husband. Jenna had acknowledged that Logan could never replace David, nor would he try, but he would serve as an integral part of the mix of their blended family.
After Logan hoisted J.D. into position, the new family of three turned toward Dermot who had let go a shrill whistle loud enough to wake every hound in Houston.
After Lucy brought Logan and Jenna their own glasses of champagne, she took her place on Jenna’s other side and slid an arm around her waist. “I apologize in advance for anything my husband might say.”
Jenna wasn’t sure what to expect from Dermot, although, she firmly believed it would be interesting.
“Ladies and gents,” Dermot began. “We are gathered here today to welcome a new lassie into our family and a new grandpup, too. And on this blessed occasion, I have a wee bit to say to the happy couple.”
“Let’s hope this doesn’t take all night,” Logan muttered, earning him a quelling look from his mother.
Dermot raised his glass to Jenna and Logan. “To my middle boy, Logan. You have honored us by choosing a woman who is not only fair on the outside, but just as fair on the inside. And to lovely Jenny, I am glad you have finally seen in Logan what his family has seen all along—a good man with a strong heart and his da’s good taste in women. And I’m especially tickled that you can finally see what a handsome man I am.”
Following a spattering of laughter. Dermot tapped his glass again and took on a somber expression. “And now I’ll be repeatin’ the blessing passed onto me from my Irish forefathers. Jenny, Logan and little Johnny, may you be poor in misfortune, rich in blessings, slow to make enemies and quick to make friends. And may you know nothing but happiness from this day forward.”
The crowd shouted “Here, here,” and in response to the applause, Dermot took a bow. As the band began to play a romantic ballad, Logan set J.D. back on his feet, gave their champagne glasses to his mother and took Jenna’s hand. But before they made it to the dance floor, her father intercepted them.
“I’d like to have this dance with my daughter, Logan, if that’s all right with you.”
Logan regarded Jenna. “It’s fine by me.”
Jenna smile at the remembrance of other dances she’d shared with her dad. “Of course, as long as you don’t expect me to stand on your feet like I did when I was five.” Avery grinned. “Not with you wearing high heels.”
After Logan handed her off, Jenna followed Avery onto the floor and took a moment to survey his face—an endearing face she had missed during her time of darkness but had never forgotten. “You’re looking rather dapper tonight, Dad.”
He set her back and twirled her around before taking her into his arms. “And you’re a vision, Jenna. I wish your mother were here to see what a remarkable woman you’ve become.”
She swallowed hard when she noted the slight tremor in his voice. “I know how much you miss her. Dad. And I know how difficult it’s going to be for you now that I’m no longer at home. But I expect you to visit us often.”
“I’ll be fine sweetheart, as long as I know you’re happy.”
She couldn’t begin to express the depths of her joy. “I am. Logan’s a good man and he loves me.”
“I know. And I want to apologize…”
She pressed a linger against his lips. “You don’t have to apologize for anything. But I want to thank you for being the most incredible father a girl could ever hope for.”
He bent and kissed her cheek. “I love you. sweetheart.”
“I love you. too. Daddy.”
After giving her a long embrace, Avery guided her back to Logan. “Take care of her, son. She’s a gift.”
“You can count on it. Avery.”
When Logan and Jenna returned to the dance floor, he held her closely and whispered, “Are you ready to get out of here?”
She was definitelv moving in that direction. “Maybe we should wait a bit longer.”
He looked decidedly disappointed. “I’m in a hum’ to get you in bed.”
“We still have a long drive to Arkansas.” Some brides might take exception to a honeymoon camping trip, but not Jenna. She found it fitting to start their new life in a place where they’d laid the groundwork for a solid friendship and the start of an exciting future.
“We’re not going to Arkansas tonight,” Logan said. “I reserved a room upstairs.” That was her Logan, always full of surprises. “I left my bags in the Hummer.”
“You’re not going to need any clothes.”
“True, but unless you have your luggage, then you’re going to have to make a stop at the gift shop or risk getting me pregnant.” She smoothed a hand over his lapel. “Or we could just not worry about it and make a baby.”
Finally, she’d sufficiently surprised him. “I didn’t think—”
“That I wanted to have another child? I changed my mind when the geneticist explained that our children have almost no chance of contracting the disease and neither does J.D.” When Logan simply stared at her without responding, she added, “Of course, if you’ve decided you don’t want—”
He kissed her gently and smiled. “I can’t think of anything I’d like more than to give you a baby, and J.D. a brother or sister, which he’s already mentioned he wanted at least five times. And nothing would make me happier than to give my parents the next grandchild before someone beats us to it.”
Jenna nodded toward her right at the couple who’d joined them on the dance floor. “I think Devin and Stacy have already beaten us to it.”
Logan glanced at his borther and sister-in-law before returning his attention to her. “Do you know something I don’t know?”
She shrugged. “I heard a rumor, but don’t repeat it since it’s not official yet.” He frowned. “If we’d married right after I’d proposed, you’d be pregnant by now.”
“Possibly, but I wouldn’t have wanted to miss seeing your face when we exchanged vows.” Or finally seeing the love in his eyes that she’d sensed all along. “Now, let’s hope these transplants hold up so I can continue to see you and our children.”
Logan paused and settled his gaze on hers. “If, God forbid, something happens with the transplants, just remember, I’ll be your eyes for however long it takes.”
Jenna could trust that he would, and she also trusted that, no matter what the future held, his love would always be a constant. She knew she would never wake up alone again, or go to bed alone again. And she vowed never to lose sight of what mattered most—friendship, family and the love of an exceptional man
who held her close, but not so close that she couldn’t be herself.
She’d found all of that in Logan O’Brien, and so much more.
ISBN: 978-1-4268-0214-0
THROUGH JENNA’S EYES
Copyright © 2007 by Kristi Goldberg
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