by James, Avery
“A number one album. And, I’m taking the steps to make sure I have it, but that’s not the question. I upheld my half of the deal. I waited until your bill passed. Now it’s time to have some fun. Come on, you love having fun.”
Logan gritted his teeth as he held back from shouting at Veronica. looked over at Callie who was laughing and helping Henry and Evelyn stomp down divots by the sideline. “I can assure you, what I love is so much more than having fun.”
“Honey,” Veronica said reaching out her hand and placing her index finger over Logan’s lips, “you’re so much better when you’re being bad. Can’t you see that?” Veronica smiled as she watched the look on Logan’s face. “I think this is an opportunity for you, one you’d be foolish to pass up.”
“How could that possible be true? I know exactly what I want, and it doesn’t involve you and your plans.”
Veronica slid her hand over Logan’s shoulder, and he involuntarily tensed at her touch. She squeezed his bicep. “So strong,” she said, “but you lack a different kind of strength.” She winked at him. “Trust me on that one. You’ve never worked for anything in your life. It’s part of your appeal.”
“I will do whatever it takes to make sure you leave her out of this,” Logan said. He pulled Veronica’s hand off of his arm and scowled at her. He didn’t know whether to feel angry or defeated. He knew Veronica was right. He didn’t deserve Callie. He hadn’t earned her love or affection or whatever it was they were calling their connection, and he wouldn’t be able to keep it.
Veronica leaned over and looked around Logan to get a better look at Callie. “That’s so cute. You really think that the two of you have a chance. I’ll give you one thing, she’s cute. Not beautiful. Not sexy, but cute. You never struck me as one to settle. Maybe her whole uptight Washington thing is the appeal. If that’s the case, just think of how things will be once you’re famous for your exploits. Think of all the stuck-up Washington types you could have tripping over themselves to try to tame you, to fix you. Why settle for this one when you can have all of them? And why do you care about your image all of a sudden?”
“I don’t. You can make everyone in the world hate me, for all I care, but leave her out of this.”
Veronica smiled. Usually her smile looked fake, rehearsed, thin, but this smile was genuine, spread wide across her face as she looked on at the mess she had made with complete pride. “Sounds like I have you sufficiently motivated.”
“Why do you even need me for this?” Logan asked. “You have a tape. I have no say. Do you want money, is that it? I can give you money.”
“I don’t want your money. I want my money. Unlike you, I don’t need the handout.”
Logan clenched his jaw. “Leave. Now, before I make a really dumb decision.”
Veronica reached out and patted his cheek. “Tut tut,” she said. “Down, boy. I don’t need you beating me up in front of all of these cameras. The whole thing works better if you play along and we build to our scandal. A few tabloid articles, a picture or two on TMZ, and we’ll have primed the pump for the video. I won’t be a sweet little thing anymore, and my record sales will skyrocket.”
“Again, I’m not seeing any benefit for me in this deal,” Logan said.
“Well, I guess it matters on what you want most. Do you want to play house with goldilocks over there, or do you want to save her from, how did you put it, public and professional disgrace?”
“Nikki, I’m warning you. Leave her out of this.”
“I hadn’t planned on screwing her over, but I think I’m going to enjoy that part the most,” Veronica said.
“Do you enjoy stabbing people in the back?” Logan asked.
Veronica grinned again. She reached down and started fiddling with Logan’s collar. “I enjoy twisting the knife,” she said. “She got in my way, and now I’m getting her out of it. Play ball, and maybe she survives the whole thing.”
“How do I know you’re not bluffing?”
Veronica pursed her lips and batted her eyelashes. “Logan, I don’t know what I’d do without you,” she said, channeling her inner Callie as sweetly as possible and holding back her laugh until the last word. “You think you’re in love with her, don’t you?”
Logan closed his eyes for a second. He didn’t want to look at the venomous glee in Veronica’s eyes, and he didn’t want to turn around and look at Callie’s happiness behind him. He just wanted to find some way to fix things. “If I do this, will you leave her alone?” he asked.
“That’s more like it,” Veronica said, turning and smiling toward Callie. She waved to her. “My advice: enjoy the next few days together. It was never going to last between you two anyway. You and me, we are what we are. Even if you think you’re going to be all noble and save her, it doesn’t change the facts. Sooner or later, you’re going to break her heart, and I might as well be the beneficiary.”
“Get out of here, now,” Logan said.
“Don’t worry, lover,” Veronica said sarcastically, “I’ll be in touch soon. We’ll see if my news is good or bad.”
***
“So Callie tells us that you’re the wonderful young man responsible for our vacation here in Newport,” Henry said holding his hand out to Logan.
“It’s nothing,” Logan said. He quickly shook Henry’s hand. He shifted his weight back and forth and looked down at the ground, avoiding eye contact with the old couple. Wonderful. He had spent the past week lying to Callie. He had threatened to end the political career of one of his closest friends. He had gotten in a shouting match with his father, and these two wanted to call him wonderful? He was anything but wonderful. He was bad. He was lowly, and he was worse than he had ever been. Just two days ago, he had almost gotten Callie arrested, and now this old couple, who really did seem like wonderful people themselves, wanted to praise him just because he was rich and wanted to win a bet with a pretty girl?” Logan felt sick to his stomach. His run-in with Veronica had convinced him that he had no way to make things work. The past was past, and now he needed to face the truth. “I’m just glad that the two of you were able to enjoy your time in Newport as much as I’ve enjoyed having Callie here.”
Callie slipped her arm around her waist and pressed her cheek against his shoulder. Don’t do that, Logan wanted to say. He didn’t want to feel her comfort. He didn’t want her to tell him that he was good at heart, and that all he needed was to believe in himself. It was bullshit, all of it. All of this was spinning out of control because of him. The bill was going to become a law in a matter of hours, and Callie was going to either leave him or ruin any chance she had at building a career and a life for herself. Logan just wanted to go home and forget about all of this. As soon as the bill passed, Veronica would pounce into action and release the sex tape. God, he had a sex tape and these people wanted to shake his hand. If they only knew what he was really like, they’d turn and flee.
“Logan, is everything ok?” Callie asked.
“Yeah, it’s good. I just wasn’t expecting to run into Nikki. That’s all.” He studied the expression on Callie’s face. Did she believe him? Maybe it would be better if she didn’t. A dull pain throbbed behind his eyes. This was supposed to be a good day, the day where he gave her everything she wanted. Instead, his past was butting in at every turn. “Maybe we should go,” he said. He looked over at the far sideline to see which, if any, photographers had focused in on him. Nikki was famous for picking favorites among the paparazzi and getting them to do her dirty work for her.
Logan tried to piece everything together. A few photos of Logan and Veronica, paired with the tape, would be enough to get everything started, and if Veronica wanted to keep things going, a few photos of Logan and Callie would only help fuel the fire. “Maybe we should go,” he repeated. He turned to Henry. “Would you mind coming with me?” he asked. “I need to check on something back at the car. You wouldn’t happen to like vintage convertibles, would you?”
“I’ve liked them since th
ey were new,” Henry said with a smile. “Although, I never had much of an opportunity to see them up close. We were a station wagon kind of family. A little two-seater wasn’t exactly in the cards for us.”
“If you excuse us, Ladies, we’ll be right back,” Logan said. He and Henry cut through the crowd and started heading to the car. Logan looked back and forth across the crowd, looking for anyone who might be in league with Veronica. Once he got back past the concession tent and over to the stone wall that separated the spectator area from the dirt road down to the field where he had parked, Logan found what he was looking for. Two men, cameras in hand, were camped out next to his car. So that was her plan, a paparazzi ambush as he and Callie left?
“Well, Henry,” Logan said. “Today is your lucky day. How would you like to trade your rental car for that vintage corvette right over there?” Logan pointed out the car and watched the old man’s eyes light up.
“That’s too much,” Henry said, but his eyes showed his true excitement.
“You’d be doing me a favor,” Logan said. “See those men? They’re waiting to snap pictures of me for some gossip magazine.”
“Why would they want to do that?” Henry asked.
“Someone is trying to create a story about me, and I think they want pictures of Callie and me leaving here together to help finish that story.”
“Well, from the sounds of it, your girlfriend would be the one to take care of a situation like that,” Henry said.
“I’d like to keep her out of it,” Logan replied. “And it’s a bit difficult to explain our relationship.”
“And all I have to do is leave in that beautiful car?” Henry asked.
“Well, that and you have to bring it back at the end of the night. I’ll make sure you have the address.”
“You have a deal,” Henry said, handing over the key to his rental. “It’s the silver Chrysler over there past the next stone wall.”
Logan looked down to the other parking lot and nodded. “Looks, um, nice.”
“If you’re looking for inconspicuous, it’s the car for you,” Henry said. “I’ve driven cars like that for forty years, and no one’s ever noticed me.”
Logan laughed. “Except your wife, of course.”
“And she’s the only one who ever mattered,” Henry said. “Tell the girl how you feel. None of the other stuff matters. The cars, the clothes, my Eve and I never needed any of it and neither does your Callie.”
Logan looked back at his convertible. “Should I take the keys back, then?”
“I said we never needed any of it. Wanting is a different story.”
Logan laughed again. “Come on,” he said. “Let’s get back.”
Twenty Three
Callie propped her chin up on the railing and gazed down at the water below. Flashes of light glinted over the dark water. The sun sat low in the distance, partially hidden behind a few clouds. The pinks and reds of dusk were just beginning to branch up through the clouds. It was going to be a wonderful sunset, and she wanted to sit right there with Logan and soak it all in. “Honey,” she called to him, “come sit with me.” Logan was pacing back and forth across the deck. Callie had attributed his energy to nerves over the paparazzi and Veronica’s surprise arrival at the polo match, but now she was starting to wonder if there was something else on his mind. “You don’t want to miss this,” she added. As she waited for his reply, she wondered how many more sunsets like this they would have together.
Logan sat down next to her, leaning his head against hers. As much as he tried to indulge her, he clearly had something on his mind. Whatever it was, it was building up inside him. If his earlier gloom had been like a storm on the horizon, Callie wondered if this was the calm before the storm. He was holding back, biding his time. After a long silence, Logan said, “We should really go get the car. If we drive out there together, one of us can drive it back. Is your rental car still at the house?”
Callie slid her arm around his waist, resting her palm against his side. She just wanted to enjoy this moment with him. Couldn’t he understand that? She straightened her posture and turned her complete attention to him. “Don’t you have a butler or a driver or someone who could do that kind of thing for you? I had to pick up my sister’s dry cleaning for the first year that I worked for her. There must be someone on your payroll who can help us out here. Or you could have just let Henry and Eve leave in their own car.”
Logan shook his head.“No,” he said. “I don’t really want to get into it. We can’t leave it overnight there. The whole place will have cleared out by now, and the paparazzi won’t be anywhere in sight.” Logan pulled out his phone to check the time, and he looked out toward the water. “Come on. It will be fun,” he said. “Let’s take a ride.”
“I was having fun here. I just want to relax,” Callie said.
“We will relax as soon as we have the car back,” Logan replied.
“What’s going on?” Callie asked. Something wasn’t adding up. He had been more than happy to leave the car with some random mechanic in New Hampshire, and he had been more than happy to lend it to Henry, and, suddenly, he couldn’t be without it?
Logan sighed in frustration. “Fine,” he said. “I won’t say anything else about it, but I have one more surprise for you tonight, and the first part of it is in the car. I put a lot of work into this.”
“Why didn’t you just say so?”
“I wanted it to be a surprise,” Logan said.
“Do I need to wear anything in particular for this surprise?” Callie asked.
“You don’t have to bring a stitch of clothing if you don’t want,” Logan said. He flashed her a devilish grin. It didn’t make complete sense to her, but Callie couldn’t deny the thrill she felt whenever he looked at her like that.
“Let’s go,” she said. The sky had darkened to a bright red above them, and the sunset seemed to hang there as they prepared to leave. Callie followed Logan back to his speedboat. Within a few minutes, they were heading back across the water toward his father’s mansion with the wind in their hair. Callie had tucked herself underneath Logan’s arm as he piloted the boat across the calm water. She leaned her head against his shoulder and let herself relax. “Isn’t it beautiful?” she asked. “I know things got a little out of hand at polo, but it was wonderful. I had fun.” She was excited for the surprise, but mostly, she just wanted to spend as much time with Logan as possible.
“I’m glad to hear that,” Logan said. “I swear, I had no idea she’d be there.”
Callie had already put Veronica out of her mind. As far as she cared, she could pretend Veronica Jones didn’t exist for at least one night.“Let’s not talk about her,” Callie said.
“That’s fine by me,” Logan said. There was still something different in his voice, some reservation in the way he phrased his words.
Callie wondered if she had done something to upset him. It couldn’t have been the run-in with Henry and Eve, could it? She racked her brain to figure out what she had done. “Logan, you’d tell me if something were wrong, wouldn’t you?” Callie asked.
“Yeah,” Logan said,”everything’s fine,” he said. There was still that hesitation in his voice.
Maybe this was the time to tell him that she had decided to stay, she thought, but she wanted him to be happy when she told him. She wanted everything to be perfect, and at that moment, with the sky darkening to a deep purple-red above them, with the water growing dark beneath, she felt like the only thing holding her back was Logan’s mood. She made a decision, she’d wait until the car and his surprise, and she’d tell him as soon as he was happy again.
After a while the color started to fade from the trees and the houses on the far off shore, and the lights in the houses and on the boats blinked on. Hank’s mansion came into view around the point. For a while, Callie didn’t recognize it. Every other time she had seen it, it had been virtually empty, but tonight, she could see crowds of people on the back veranda and lawn. S
he pulled on Logan’s shirt and nodded forward. “Something’s going on,” she said.
“Surprise,” Logan said flatly. “You were right about the car. I sent someone to pick it up as soon as we got back to the boat, but I had to figure out some way to get you back ashore. The other day, you told me how much you would have loved to have gone to a great ball at one of the Newport mansions. Well, I can’t bring you back in time, but I know a thing or two about throwing a party.”
By the time they reached the dock, the entire scene had come into focus. The house was lit up from the basement to the roof, and blazing shadows stretched out between the lights across the lawn. Through the windows Callie could see a sea of people, dancing and laughing and moving from room to room. The happy sounds of a summer party in full swing floated across the lawn. Callie looked over to Logan. “You did all of this for me?” she asked.
Logan nodded sheepishly. “You wanted Newport glamour. Here you are. I wanted to give you a day to remember,” he said. Logan pulled the boat up to the dock and tossed a rope up. Two men took the other side and pulled the boat into position. “I hope you enjoy it.” He stepped up off of the boat and held his hand out for Callie to follow him. “I have your dress waiting in the guest house.”
It was quiet inside the guesthouse. Save for a low hum and the occasional vibration, Callie could barely hear the sounds of excitement from the big house once she had stepped inside. Logan led her over to her bedroom and opened the door. A black ball gown lay across the bed. “You did this? How did you know my size?” Callie asked.
Logan nodded. “I called your aunt and asked. Did you know she gave me her number last year at your sister’s wedding? I never thought I’d need it. Now I have to go get dressed. My clothes are upstairs. I don’t want to ruin the big reveal. I’ll see you soon.” He leaned in and kissed her cheek. His lips tickled her skin and she let out a little laugh before meeting his kiss with one dizzying kiss of her own. That warmth and excitement stayed inside her as Logan went and got ready.