“You could have told me.” Her voice was hoarse with emotion.
“I didn’t know how.”
Their gaze met again, and Logan could see all the hurt and betrayal she’d felt for so many years. And he’d caused it. He wanted to rush over there and hold her in his arms. He wanted to protect her, but all he seemed to be doing was breaking her heart.
“Prom night… Last night… You have to know—they meant something to me,” he said, testing the waters.
Hannah chewed her lip. “But that’s the problem with the past. It’s the past. Here. Now. This is your future. Charity and Piper—they’re your future.”
“But, Hannah—”
“Stop. You have a daughter you have to think about. If you and Charity can make it work, you should do it.” A smile teased her lips. “Piper’s such a good kid. She deserves that chance.”
“But, Hannah, I can’t just…” His heart was breaking with each word she spoke. He wanted to tell her. She had to know. He loved her. He’d loved her since he pulled her hair in kindergarten.
“No. Let’s leave what we had in the past. I’ll cherish it. But you and I will never work. We should have taken that hint from the cosmos from the beginning.” Her smile turned into a sad one. “I’m happy for you. Really.” She wrapped her arms around her legs as she rested her chin on top of her knees.
Logan swallowed. This was not what he wanted, but he couldn’t force her to love him if she wouldn’t. He couldn’t force her to be with him if that’s not what she wanted. “You’re great. You know that?”
She shrugged. “Yeah.”
Her phone rang, and she picked it up. Looking up at Logan, she covered the phone with her hand. “I should take this.” She stood and made her way toward her open window. Once inside, she disappeared from his sight.
Not wanting to sit on the roof and pine after Hannah, Logan stood and made his way back into his room. Shutting the window broke his heart. For some reason, as the window thudded into the place, all he could think about was the fact he was shutting it on Hannah.
He rolled his shoulders. There was one thought he needed to get used to and used to now. They were officially over. Hannah wanted nothing to do with him, and he had to accept that. It was time to see if Charity really was different. Even though his stomach twisted at the very thought of starting over with her.
HANNAH
“You’re here? You’ve landed?” Hannah tried to keep her gaze from making its way back over to the window. Her heart still ached from the conversation with Logan, but her mind reassured her that this was the right thing to do. Piper deserved to have both parents, and she wouldn’t be the person to stand in the way.
“I’m here, babe. Excited to see you,” Samson’s New York accent drawled over her speaker.
“Great. I’ll call you a cab. I know a guy.”
“Sure. Tell him I’ll meet him outside of baggage claim.”
“Perfect…” She hesitated. Why was she hesitating? “I love you.”
“Love you, too.”
As she hung up the phone, she stared at the picture of Samson. His messy hair and half smile no longer caused butterflies to erupt in her stomach. All she could think about was Logan.
Groaning, she flung the phone across her bed and it slipped off the edge. Flopping down, face first, onto her comforter, Hannah groaned. Since when had her life become such a muddled mess? She should have stayed in Ohio. North Carolina was the wrong move. Even if it was Christmas.
Bert. She needed to call Bert. After a few minutes of searching around under her dusty bed, she emerged triumphant. Hitting his number on the speed dial, she brought the phone up to her cheek.
“Whatcha need, girlie?” he drawled.
“First, how are things with you? What happened yesterday? Is everything okay?”
His deep laugh rumbled through the speaker. “Yeah. Everything’s okay. My wife cut her finger pretty bad opening the cat’s dinner. Had to take her to the doctor. She got five stitches.”
Hannah cringed. She hated slicing her finger on cans. She was no stranger to that. “I’m happy to hear everything’s okay.”
“Yeah. Her pride’s hurt a bit, but she’ll mend up nicely.” He paused. “So, did you need something?”
Hannah sighed. Oh yeah, that. “I need you to pick up my fiancé.”
There was sputtering on the other side. “Your what?”
“My fiancé.”
“How long has it been since we talked?”
Hannah picked at some lint on her bed. “Yesterday.”
“What happened to that boy next door?”
Hannah groaned. She did not want to talk about Logan.
“He’s getting back together with his ex.”
There was silence. “Bummer.”
Hannah forced a smile even though he couldn’t see it. “It’s okay. I’m over it. Besides, I’m marrying Samson.”
There was a soft chuckle from Bert. “And I need to get him?”
“Yep.”
“Airport?”
“Yep.”
“On my way.”
“Thanks.”
He hung up, so she put the phone down on her bed. She wanted to get up. She wanted to go downstairs and clean up the mess she’d made with Logan last night. But going down there meant facing her memories and she wasn’t sure if she was ready to do that just yet.
A text chimed on her phone, and Hannah picked it up.
Bachelorette party tonight, maid of honor! With a few too many emojis after.
Hannah stared at it. Was she serious?
But, I haven’t planned anything.
No problem. Tricia had it planned. She’s emailing you the itinerary right now.
Another chime sounded. Sure enough, Bachelorette Party Details showed up in her inbox. Big block letters and all.
Hannah sighed. This was not what she wanted to do right now. Hiding in her bed under her covers was how she was planning on spending her evening.
Got it. I’ll look it over
Another chime. Can’t wait! Tomorrow I’m a married lady.
Before Hannah could answer, there was a pretentious knock on her door. Ugh, even her mom’s knock sent chills down her spine.
“Yeah?”
“I was called into the hospital,” her mom called through the door.
Hannah sighed. Of course. “Okay, Mom.”
Silence. Hannah gnawed on a nail. She was looking forward to Christmas morning when she’d be at her dad’s house and not here.
“Can I come in?”
Her mom’s voice caused Hannah to jump. She thought she’d gone. “Um, sure?”
Her door opened, and her mother stood there with a strained look on her face. After a few seconds of awkward silence, Hannah waved to her mom. “You can actually come in.”
Her mom took a wary step into her room and crossed her arms. “I had some time to think about how I acted last night, and I wanted to say I’m sorry.”
Hannah’s jaw almost fell off. Was her mom apologizing? “Um, okay.”
“You were just trying to get into the holiday spirit, I understand that now. It’s just that I need things to be a specific way.” Her gaze shifted to Hannah’s. “I don’t do well with change.”
Hannah’s heart broke. She never wanted this kind of relationship with her mom. She loved her. If she was honest with herself, she wanted to be closer. “I know, Mom.”
A tense smile spread across her mom’s lips. “I was thinking that we could order some Chinese and watch Jane Eyre tonight.”
“BBC version?”
Her mom nodded as if there really was no other choice. And there wasn’t. Not in this family, at least. “Of course.”
“Sure,” Hannah said. She actually felt excited about this. Then Sandy’s texts came back to her. “Wait, no.”
Her mom’s face fell. “Okay.”
“No, it’s not that, Mom. I promised Sandy I’d be her maid of honor and her bachelorette party is tonight.
” Then Hannah raised her eyebrows. “You could come with me.” Hannah would actually like another familiar face there.
Her mom sputtered. “Like, strippers? I’m not sure I could handle that.”
Hannah’s eyes widened. She hadn’t thought about that. What had she gotten herself into? “Hang on.” Scrolling through her phone, she located the email. Clicking it open, she read the instructions. Thankfully, there was no stripper planned. She smiled up at her mom. “No strippers. Just a few bars and a mini golf place.”
Her mom winced. “Hopefully, mini golf first.”
Hannah peered at her mom. “Does that mean you’re coming?”
She hesitated, then nodded. “I’ll come. Drew says I need to get out more.”
Hannah raised her eyebrows at her mom, who instantly pinched her lips shut.
“Who’s Drew?”
Her mom kept her lips tight as she shook her head.
“Mom… Who’s Drew?”
Finally, her mom sighed. “He’s a nurse from the hospital. We’re sort of…dating.”
Hannah smiled. “Mom! Hopefully, an older nurse?”
Her mom’s face flushed. “Of course. He’s my age.”
“Good. I didn’t want to have the cougar talk with you.”
“Hannah Bell. I am not a cougar—whatever that means.”
“It means, you like young guys.”
Her mom’s eyebrows flew up.
“But I know that’s not you.”
“Thank you.”
Hannah pulled a pillow from her bed and hugged it. “So, why all the secrecy?”
Her mom brushed down her shirt. “I didn’t want you to know until we were serious. I didn’t want to confuse you.”
“Mom, that’s for little kids. I’m an adult. You can tell me about your boyfriends.” Hannah tried not to wince. The word tasted strange on her tongue.
“Regardless, I like Drew, and I’d like for you to meet him.”
“It’s serious?”
For the first time in Hannah’s lifetime, she saw her mother smile. It was a carefree, joyous kind of smile. “Yes.”
Hannah returned it. “I’m happy for you, Mom.” Then she paused. “Speaking of guys, I’m engaged.”
Her mother’s eyebrows flew up. “What? To whom?”
“His name is Samson. He’s actually on his way here right now.”
An uneasy look passed over her mom’s face. Then she shook her head. “I’d be fine if he stayed here. Downstairs, of course.”
Hannah was shocked. “Wow, Mom. Really? You’d be okay with that?”
She nodded. “Really.”
“Thanks.” Maybe this Drew guy was the key to her mom’s issues. Now she was intrigued. “So, tonight then?”
“I’ll see you tonight.”
When her mom was gone, Hannah glanced out the window. For the first time this holiday season, she actually felt hopeful. Maybe Bert was right. Christmas was a magical time. Too bad it wasn’t magical enough for her and Logan.
17
LOGAN
Logan gave up hiding in his room and headed down the stairs. He braced himself as he slipped into the kitchen. The counter was a mess and the sink was heaped with dishes. Charity sat at one end of the dining room table with a disgruntled look while his mom fumed at the other end.
“Ladies,” he said as he made his way over to the cupboard and grabbed a glass.
His mom appeared next to him. “Charity stayed the night?”
He glanced at her while he drank the water from his glass. “Not in my room,” he said as he put it down on the counter.
His mom’s cheeks flushed as she glanced toward the basement. “That explains why I found her in Bobby’s room this morning.”
Logan’s stomach lurched. He’d told her to go to Tim’s old room, not Bobby’s. He glanced at his mom, who was fighting back tears.
“No one’s been in there since…” A sob escaped her lips.
“Mom, I’m sorry. I should have gone down there with her.” He reached out and wrapped his shaking mom into a hug. When Bobby died, his mom couldn’t bring herself to move anything or change anything. Instead, his belongings sat untouched all these years. Piper wasn’t even allowed into the room.
His mom nodded into his shoulder. “Just get her stuff out of there.”
Logan nodded as she pushed away and left. Turning, he glanced at Charity. She raised her hands.
“I had no idea. How was I supposed to know that was your dead brother’s room?” She pushed away from the table and grabbed her bowl.
“Geez, Char.” He glanced around, hoping his mom was out of ear shot by now. “Have some compassion.”
She paused, her shoulders tightening. “Your mother came into the room and screamed at me to get out.” She pinched her lips as she stared pointedly at Logan.
“You have to understand. My mom’s not dealing with this.” A fire burned in his stomach as he studied Charity. How could she be so insensitive about this?
Silence engulfed the room as Charity stood there. He wondered what she was thinking. Experience told him that when her eyebrows were furrowed like that and her gaze whipped around the room, she was about to let him have it.
“Mommy! You stayed!” Piper exclaimed as she came racing into the room and up to Charity. They embraced, then Piper pulled away and studied her, then Logan. Her shoulders slumped.
“What’s wrong, pumpkin?” Charity asked.
“Were you and Daddy fighting again?”
Disappointed in himself for letting his daughter see his frustration, he plastered a smile on his lips and bent down. “Mommy and I aren’t fighting.”
She glanced at him and then back to Charity. “Really?”
Charity nodded. “Really.”
“Good, ‘cause I’ve got fun things planned for today. I was thinking we could go to Merdoc’s hill and go sledding!”
Charity glanced up to him. “Merdoc’s hill? Don’t we need snow?”
Logan shook his head. “It’s a dry ski slope. The day before Christmas Eve, they let families come and sled.”
Charity smiled at Piper. “Let’s do it!”
Piper squealed and pushed away. “I’ll grab my shoes.”
Before Logan could say anything more, his phone rang. Glancing down, he almost groaned. It was Jimmy. Right now, he didn’t feel like running errands again.
“Hello?”
“Hey, if it isn’t my best man.” Jimmy’s voice boomed from the speaker.
“How’s healing going?”
“Eh, I’ll be good as new if these doctors will just leave me alone.”
Logan chuckled. Jimmy was never going to slow down, He always lived on the side of danger. “You need something?” He reached into the cupboard and pulled out a granola bar.
“Just making sure everything is in order for my bachelor party tonight.”
A chunk of granola flew to the back of Logan’s throat. Crap. He’d forgotten about that. “Um, yeah. It’s gonna be great.”
Jimmy chuckled. “You didn’t forget, did you?”
“Of course, not. Your bachelor party is going to be epic.”
Charity’s gaze flew to his face and she raised her eyebrows. Logan waved it away.
There was silence on the other end. “Can I ask you something?” Jimmy asked.
“Shoot.”
“So, I’ve been hearing some chatter and it is insane, let me tell you. But…”
Logan squinted as he tried to think what exactly Jimmy might have heard about him. As realization settled in his chest, he chewed a bit harder on the remaining bar.
“Are you…like, rich now?”
Crumpling up his wrapper, he threw it into the garbage. “Something like that.”
“I mean, I know you said you got some money when your dad died, but from the way these people are talking, it was like millions.”
Yet again, his relationships were changing because of this money. “Hey, Jimmy. It’s all true. But it’s not som
ething I want to talk about right now. Just know, I have your party planned and it’s going to be great.”
There was a whooping on Jimmy’s side. “Now it will be!”
The line cut off on Jimmy’s laughter. Logan looked down at his phone. Did that mean he now needed to spend a ton of money on this party? Was this what the rest of his life was going to be? People expecting him to use his money?
Scrolling through his contacts, he located Veronica’s number. He’d hired her to plan Piper’s birthday party last year. They’d gone on a few dates, but decided to end it and just be friends.
He slipped into the hall. He didn’t need Charity to hear their conversation.
“Veronica’s Parties and Events.”
“Ronnie? It’s Logan. I need a favor.”
After five minutes of explaining and waiting for her to calm herself once he told her money wasn’t an issue, Logan hung up and headed back into the kitchen.
“Who was that?”
Logan tucked his phone into his pocket. “Jimmy and Sandy are getting married tomorrow. I’ve gotta plan the bachelor party.”
“Sandy’s getting married?”
Logan nodded slowly as he studied her. “Yeah. Why?”
Charity shrugged as she slipped on her shoes. “Nothing. Just thinking it might be nice to go to her bachelorette party. We did know each other in school. And she’s your friend.”
Logan winced. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”
“Why?” He could detect a hurt tone in her voice.
“Well, I’m planning Jimmy’s and I’m guessing Hannah’s planning Sandy’s.”
“Hannah? The girl you were kissing last night?”
“Geez.” Logan glanced around, thankful to see that Piper had bounded outside and was twirling in the yard. “It was one time.”
Charity narrowed her eyes. “Good. ’Cause I’m here to make this work.” She turned and headed outside.
Logan flexed his hands and followed after her. As they walked to his truck, a cab pulled up in Hannah’s driveway. Logan squinted against the morning sun as a man with dark hair and olive-colored skin stepped out. Heat raced from his spine as he watched Hannah rush from her front door and barrel right into the guy’s arms. They hugged and kissed, and Logan wanted to throw up.
Forgiving the Billionaire (A Clean Billionaire Romance Book 2) Page 12