The reality that she’d been the instrument of her own demise hit home all over again, crushing the air from her lungs and making her stumble a little as she walked. Logan instantly put out a hand to steady her, and the warmth of his touch filtered through her blouse to her arm. She pulled away, when all she wanted to do was revel in his touch. To take the comfort he offered and let it heal the darkness inside her.
“Still can’t keep your hands off each other I see,” Kristin sniped as she passed them in the hallway.
Kristin flung Logan a look laced with disgust and continued on her way. Honor closed her eyes briefly and groaned. This was impossible. Obviously Keaton had talked to Kristin. And if he’d told her, who else knew? This was turning into a disaster. The strife she’d caused with her careless and reckless behavior, and her inability to keep a sensible distance between herself and the temptation that was Logan Parker, was causing a rift between the reunited siblings that was wider and deeper than anything she could ever have imagined.
Simply by remaining here at Richmond Developments, she was making everything so much worse than it needed to be. She had no doubt they’d forgive Logan in time, but no one would ever forgive her. And, as much as that hurt, she had to admit that if the situation was reversed and this was her family that was being ripped apart, she’d be reacting exactly the same way.
But there was something she could do to make it right. She could step away. By doing so it would clear the path to allow the siblings to find their way back to each other without her presence being a constant reminder of the wedge she’d driven between Logan and Keaton. She had to at least try to make something right here.
Honor stopped in her tracks.
“What’s wrong?” Logan asked.
“There’s something I need to do. You go on. I’ll be in touch later about the cost analysis for the local waterfront restaurant and boutique complex.”
Before he could say anything else, she turned around and went back the way she’d come, heading directly for Douglas’s office. She nodded to Stella as she entered the inner sanctum.
“The boss man free?” she asked.
“He doesn’t have anyone with him right now, but—”
“Good,” Honor said firmly and continued to his office door.
She rapped her knuckles on the wood, and without waiting for him to answer, she let herself in. Douglas was sitting at his desk. He didn’t look too good as he lifted his head and acknowledged her.
“Honor, to what do I owe the pleasure? I hope everything is okay?”
“I’ve come to give you my resignation,” she said without preamble.
Douglas rose from his chair and walked around his desk. He took her hands in his.
“Now, which one of my boys has upset you? I’ll deal with it. There’s no need for you to resign over some petty argument.”
“The thing is, Douglas, this isn’t a petty argument. I’ve done something really stupid, and I’m the only person who can do anything to fix it.”
Then, to her absolute horror, she burst into tears. Douglas led her over to the sofas that faced one another on one side of his office.
“There, there,” he said, looking more uncomfortable by the minute. “I’m sure it can’t be that bad.”
“It’s worse. I slept with Logan. I thought he was Keaton but he wasn’t and now Keaton knows and our engagement is off and they’re not talking and Kristin thinks I’m evil and I just can’t stay here anymore.”
Douglas listened to her crazy run of words and reached into his pocket. He withdrew a clean white handkerchief, shook it open and passed it to her. She blindly took the square of cotton, wiped her eyes and unceremoniously blew her nose.
“I’m sorry,” she said through tears. “I didn’t mean to dump all that on you that way, but it’s the truth. I did a stupid thing, and the only way I can make it right is by leaving.”
Douglas looked at her, his expression serious. “We can work this out. People make mistakes. Some of us more than others,” he said with a somewhat wistful look in his eyes.
“I can’t stay here and be a constant reminder to them both. I need to move on. I’m sorry I was unfaithful to Keaton. You know how much I was looking forward to marrying him and being a true part of your family, but I had to admit that I didn’t love him enough to do that. I didn’t love him enough to recognize that it wasn’t him that I slept with three weeks ago.”
And she hadn’t loved him enough not to repeat the experience in Portland less than a week later.
“Let me talk to him,” Douglas offered.
“No, it won’t make any difference, and nor should it. I betrayed him, Douglas. I betrayed his trust with the brother he has spent his whole life trying to make up for.”
“Make up for? Why? Keaton has always been a source of great pride to Nancy and me.”
Douglas looked affronted. No, not affronted exactly, but not right, either. Something was bothering him deeply, and Honor felt even guiltier that she was the one heaping additional stress on him.
“I know he has, but he’s always felt he had to be more because of the one you lost. He never felt like he was enough.”
Douglas got up and began to pace the room. “That’s ridiculous. He never said anything to—” He put his hand to his head and grimaced. “This damn headache just won’t go away.”
“I’ll get you something. Look, I’m sorry to have offloaded on you like that, but I mean it about resigning. I’ll give you my written letter this afternoon, and I’d like to finish up as quickly as possible.”
He looked at her, and to her horror, his gaze went completely blank before his eyes closed and he dropped to the carpet in a crumpled heap. Honor rocketed to her feet and ran to him, kneeling at his side. He wasn’t breathing. She put her fingers to his neck, desperate to feel his pulse, but there wasn’t even so much as a flutter.
“Stella, help!” Honor yelled. “I need help. Call for a paramedic!”
When Stella opened the office door, Honor was already doing chest compressions, but somehow she knew, in her heart, that it was a waste of time. She’d watched the man die right in front of her. She’d seen the life dull then disappear from his eyes. Worse, she’d been the one to ensure his last moments were filled with worry and regret.
Twelve
Logan stood in the outer office together with his brother, sister and Nancy, as Douglas’s covered body was wheeled away. Kristin began to sob quietly, and Logan put an arm around her, offering her solace. Stella was quietly crying at her desk. Honor stood, leaning against the wall, her face pale and drawn, and her arms wrapped around her middle as if she’d fall apart if she let go.
He ached to comfort Honor but his sister needed him too, which left him feeling utterly torn. Honor looked shattered and so desperately alone in this moment and he knew she had to be grieving too. That, combined with the shock of being with Douglas when he died so suddenly must have been really tough to deal with. He’d heard she’d worked tirelessly, performing CPR until the paramedics had arrived.
He felt cold and numb inside. And cheated. He was only just beginning to know his father, and now the man had been taken from him. Keaton was holding their mother in a tight hug, and Logan could see how she shook as grief racked her body.
The paramedics who’d attended Douglas came through from the office—all their equipment packed up, somber expressions on their faces. One of the men stopped by Nancy and Keaton.
“We’re sorry for your loss, ma’am.”
“Thank you. I know you all did everything you could,” she said on a choked sob that cut right through Logan’s heart.
The silence in the room was near deafening once the medical professionals had departed. One of the police officers who’d attended the 9-1-1 call talked briefly to Keaton and Nancy, explaining the procedure with the coroner’s office.
“Sin
ce we’ve spoken with Mr. Richmond’s doctor and his vascular neurologist and they’ve confirmed his medical situation, it should be a fairly straightforward procedure with the autopsy. They’ll be in touch with you regarding the release of his body.”
“Thank you, Officer. So, we are free to leave now?” Keaton asked.
“Of course, and my condolences on your loss.”
“Thank you. C’mon, Mom, I’ll see you home. There’s nothing we can do here.”
“We’ll have to start making arrangements, letting people know,” Nancy said, a note of hysteria coloring her voice.
“Not yet, Mom,” Kristin said, pulling free of Logan’s embrace and crossing to her mother. “Soon, but not yet. I’ll come with you two.”
“And Honor?” Nancy asked, reaching out a hand in Honor’s direction.
“No, Mom, not Honor,” Keaton said firmly.
Keaton’s dismissal of Honor’s right to be a part of the family at this time cut Logan like a jagged knife. Honor deserved compassion, too. Logan wanted nothing more than to say he’d join them as well, but something in the set of Keaton’s shoulders and the expression on his face made it abundantly clear he was not welcome, either.
Kristin met Logan’s gaze. “Are you coming with us?” she asked, ignoring how Keaton stiffened beside her in silent protest.
“I’ll see that Stella and Honor are taken care of and try to join you later, okay?”
Kristin nodded, and Logan watched as his brother and sister shepherded Nancy from the office toward the elevators, and his heart ached for the man they had all lost so abruptly. He’d spent his whole life feeling as though he didn’t quite belong and he’d thought it would be different with his own blood relatives. How wrong could he have been? He’d never felt more of an outsider in his own family than he did right now. The others had drawn together in a way that had excluded him. They shared memories with the man who’d been such a powerful force in their lives—the person who had knitted them all together. Logan was no more than the new guy on the block, no matter what the DNA results had said.
He looked at Honor. “You okay?” he asked.
“I...he...he just dropped right in front of me. There was nothing I could do.”
Silent tears began to streak down her face, and her entire body shook. He couldn’t help but draw her against him in an all-encompassing hug of compassion. When she began to calm again, he reluctantly let her go.
“Let me see that Stella has a support person and then I’ll take you home. You can’t drive yourself in this state.”
He called HR and asked for someone to come and stay with Stella until a family member could be reached to collect her, and he asked that Honor’s coat and bag be collected from her office so she wouldn’t have to face anyone else just yet. She wasn’t in any state to field questions.
As soon as the HR staffer arrived with Honor’s things and to attend to Stella, he tucked Honor’s arm in his and began to lead her away. She immediately tugged clear of him.
“I’ll be fine,” she said.
But there was a tone in her voice that said she was anything but. The need to care for her overtook everything else and Logan quickly fell into step beside her. She was so brittle right now he was concerned she’d fracture into a tiny million pieces. Several other staff members looked up as they passed, a mix of shock and sympathy on their faces. It hadn’t taken long for the news of Douglas’s death to spread through the office.
“Give me your keys,” he commanded as they headed for the elevators.
She did so without another murmur of objection, and that worried him more than anything. As they waited for the car to get to their floor, he looked around. The decorations festooning the office had never looked more garish and overdone than they did at this moment. Christmas. A time for joy and sharing, but for the Richmond family, it would forever be a time marked by loss as well.
When they reached the parking garage, they walked to Honor’s car. He hit the unlock on the remote and opened her door for her. She settled into the seat with a softly murmured thank-you.
Once he was behind the wheel, with the seat and mirror adjusted for his far greater height, he turned to her. “I’ll need you to give me directions.”
In answer, she tapped on the navigation app on the dashboard screen and hit a location. Taking that as a very strong hint that she wasn’t up to talking, Logan put the car in gear and followed the directions issued by the disembodied voice through the speakers.
Traffic was heavy as he negotiated through the streets. People everywhere scurried around wrapped in hats, scarves and coats, obviously eager to get out of the elements. The sky, as usual, was thick with heavy, gray, low clouds, and drifts of rain kept the roads slick with moisture. At four o’clock in the afternoon, it was getting dark already.
He’d never felt so far from home as at this moment. Back in New Zealand it was sunny, warm and humid and people were in shorts, T-shirts and flip-flops already. This flip side of his reality felt more foreign than he’d ever realized. Did he even really belong here?
He’d thought he did, but the way things were turning out, maybe he ought to just cut his losses and head home to New Zealand. To the heat of summer, to the family where he’d never quite fit in, to his business and new opportunities there. But even as he considered all those things as he drove through the busy streets, he knew he wouldn’t—no, couldn’t—quit on his family here or on Honor. His feelings for her were complicated but he thrived on that. He’d find a way to make it work—to make them work. Somehow.
After parking Honor’s car in her underground parking garage and escorting her to her door, he was feeling about as wrecked as she looked. He’d get a cab back to his hotel, lock himself in his room and take a long, hot shower to try to chase away the chill that had invaded his body right to the marrow.
“Will you be okay?” he asked as Honor opened her apartment door.
“I guess,” she answered in a voice that was little more than a whisper. “How about you?”
He shrugged. Words defeated him right now, and a solid lump of emotion had taken up residence in his throat.
“Logan? Do you want to come in for a while? I can make some coffee, or something stronger, if you’d like?”
She sounded lost, alone and desperate for the company. Much how he felt, too. And despite thinking he was ready to leave her and dwell alone on his loss, he found that he wasn’t quite ready to do that yet. He nodded and stepped inside behind her. Her apartment wasn’t quite what he’d expected. In fact, it barely looked as if she lived here at all. For a woman whose workday was all about decor and color and design, very little of that was reflected in her home. There wasn’t even so much as a colored throw rug or cushion on the sofa to reflect her personality, he realized as he looked around. No photos or anything beyond generic art prints on the wall, either. It was about as soulless as his hotel room.
He followed her to the kitchen.
“So? Which is it? Coffee or something stronger.”
“Coffee will do, thanks.”
“Black with one sugar, right?”
He nodded, surprised she’d even noticed how he took it. Honor methodically made their coffees and handed him his steaming mug. He wrapped his hands around the ceramic cup, letting the warmth seep through his skin, but it didn’t touch the ice that had taken up residence around his heart.
“Come through and sit down,” she said, taking her cup as she returned to the sitting room.
She perched on the edge of a chair, resting her elbows on her knees and holding her mug between both hands. Logan lowered himself onto the sofa and tried to relax. Honor’s eyes still held a shocked, bruised look, and he imagined she was reliving everything she’d done and questioning whether she could have done more. He knew he would, in the same situation.
“You did everything you could, Honor. Even the
paramedics couldn’t bring him back.”
“Did I? Did I really do enough? I’ll never know.”
“The autopsy will give us the answers we need.”
“I didn’t even know he had health issues.”
“Judging by the looks on Kristin’s and Keaton’s faces, they didn’t, either. Maybe that’s why he was so happy to welcome me back into the family. Maybe he knew he didn’t have a lot of time left.”
“Logan, I’m so sorry. You must feel dreadful. You’ve only just got him back and now he’s gone.”
Logan took a sip of his coffee and let the hot liquid burn a trail down his throat to his stomach before answering.
“They say you can’t miss something you never had, but it’s not true. You can.” His voice broke on the last two words, and he bowed his head and closed his eyes against the stinging burn of tears.
He heard Honor’s mug clunk onto the wooden coffee table, then the rustle of her clothing as she moved from her chair to the couch. She wrapped one arm around his shoulders and with her other hand she took his mug from him, set it on the table and clasped his hand.
“He was so glad you came back into his life. You can take strength from that.”
“I know. I mean, I could’ve arrived here tomorrow instead of three weeks ago.” He shook his head. “But I should’ve been here all my life. That’s the thing that makes me the most angry at the mother who raised me. How dare she have stolen me from my true family? How dare she have kept the truth from me? If I hadn’t found that box, if I’d let someone else clear the house out when she died, I might never have known any of this. I’ve lost two people this year. Alison Parker and Douglas Richmond—and both of them, right or wrong, were my parents.”
“I can’t imagine how you must be feeling right now,” Honor said with genuine sympathy. “My own relationship with my mom isn’t great, but I don’t know how I’ll react when she’s gone. All I know is the person she was when I was growing up, shaped the woman I am today, for better and—” her breath hitched “—for worse. Alison Parker may have committed a terrible crime against the Richmonds and you by taking you as she did but even so, she loved you and she raised you as a good man. Your drive to succeed may not come from her, but what’s in here—” She let go of his hand and tapped his chest lightly. “That’s from her and the rest of the extended family you grew up as a part of. In fact, when you think about it, you’re doubly lucky. You have your family in New Zealand and your family here.”
Seducing the Lost Heir Page 12