Not Quite Married (2 page)

Julia had understood without Logan needing to say anything, but, at the same time, she felt an overwhelming sense of betrayal. She had wanted him to make it go away, but she was horrified for thinking that way. She generally had no respect for people who used their positions of power to bend the rules for family and friends.

“Julia, I can’t make it go away, honey,” Logan finally said. “I’ll pay the damn ticket.”

“I’m not mad at you for the ticket, Logan. I’m mad at myself. I know you can’t go around giving me any favors, especially in this town. How would it look? Just take me to work and drop me off—I can pay my own ticket,” she snapped.

“No, you’re going home to bed,” he said. “You have five stitches, and you heard the doctor: You probably jolted your shoulder from the seatbelt, so you’re going to have one hell of a bruise, probably a headache, and you’re going to be stiff and sore. You need to take it easy for a couple days. Have a hot bath. The café will be fine. The town will survive. And don’t forget, you’re pregnant. You need to rest.”

“Logan, I don’t need to rest. You heard the doctor. The pregnancy is so new that it’s unlikely the accident had any effect. Besides, closing my café for the day? I can’t do that. That’s my business; how I make a living. I can’t just shut the doors and not open for a day. It doesn’t work that way. I’d go out of business, and I need that money to pay the bills. I have a mortgage.”

They were almost home, and Logan pulled into the driveway and parked. He unfastened his seatbelt and slid around, putting his arm over her seatback. “Listen, Julia, we’re getting married, and you don’t need to worry about paying this ticket or the mortgage. You’re pregnant with my kid. I’ll look after us.” He smiled when he said it, the lines around his eyes deepening. He was breathtakingly handsome. “There’s still a lot we need to sort out, and it’s not about dividing things equally down the middle, you know? I’ll take care of it.”

He slid out as if it was settled, slipping around to her side before she could get out. He lifted her down, slid his hand around her waist, and walked her inside. She was still sorting through what he’d said when he settled her in bed, lifted her feet, and slid off her shoes, dumping them on the floor.

“Can I get you anything?” Logan asked.

She stared up at a man who was used to running the whole show. She understood that, but no one had ever run anything for her, and she wasn’t quite sure how she felt about it now. “No, I’m fine,” she said. “Thank you.”

He glanced away, letting out a sigh. He sat on the edge of the bed and didn’t say anything for the longest time, as if waiting her out. She could feel him watching her. The man could probably wait for her all day, so she stared down at her hands and then linked them, rubbing her thumbs together. Logan put his large hand over hers and squeezed.

“So we’re being polite now, is that it?” he said.

She shrugged. She knew she was being childish.

“I can outwait you,” he said. “I realize you feel bad, Julia, but it happened. It’s over now, and you’re okay, so let’s talk about the baby and getting married. Everything else is just stuff, honey. It doesn’t matter.”

“I know you’re right, but maybe, right now, I just want to wallow over what I did,” she began. She felt herself choking up, and Logan slid his arm around her and pulled her close so that she was resting against his chest. It made her feel better, of course.

“So how about this weekend?” he asked.

She moved and felt a twinge in her back, her neck. Maybe she had pulled a face, as Logan was instantly alert.

“Julia, you’re not okay,” he said.

“I’m fine. Just stiffening, I guess, like you warned me. Maybe a hot bath would be good. Would you mind?”

He slid off the bed, running his hand over her head. “Not at all…and the wedding? Come on, baby. Don’t keep me waiting.”

Oh, she wanted to be his wife so badly, and inside she was jumping up and down—but she opened her mouth and said, “How about waiting a week? Would that be okay?”

“Sure,” he replied. “Are you worried about something?”

She could feel a wedge coming between them, a distance she had put there. She could also tell, by the way he’d asked, that he was wondering whether something was wrong. He read people well—she knew that—but right now Julia couldn’t make sense of her own hesitation. She met his gaze and said, “No, of course not.”

Chapter 4

J
ulia sliced up some raw veggies and chicken before stirring a sweet and sour sauce in. She was heating a pan to brown the chicken when she heard the front door clicking open.

“Mom,” Trinity called out, echoed by Dawn. “Mom, where are you?”

“In the kitchen,” she said as the girls walked in, Logan behind them. She turned and took in the horror on their faces.

“Mom, your face!” Dawn cried with a gasp.

“Are you okay?” Trinity chimed in.

“I’m fine, really,” she said, turning to stir the chicken. She wondered for a moment how bad she looked, as Dawn was sliding her arms around her waist and hugging her. Julia put the wooden spoon on the counter to focus on her girls just as the doorbell rang. She glanced at Logan.

“I’ll get it,” he said, but Trinity was already racing to the door.

“Mom, are you sure you’re okay?” Dawn asked. “You have a big purple bruise right there.” She pointed up to Julia’s forehead.

Julia turned off the burner and decided to take a look. She glanced in the chrome toaster, but it was hard to see, so she went to the mirror in the hallway. A strange man stood on the doorstep, speaking with Logan. Neither of them seemed pleased.

“Julia,” Logan called just as she glimpsed her face in the mirror: the ugly stitched-up cut, her swollen brow, and a nice bruise around her eye. It was kind of scary.

“You’re right, that looks bad,” she said to Dawn, who was standing beside her with her long hair pinned back by two barrettes, nodding in agreement.

“Julia, come here,” Logan called again, this time reaching out his hand for her. When she took in his expression, her alarm bells started ringing.

“What is it?” she asked, taking his hand as she stepped to the door, her legs starting to shake. Trinity was standing on the other side of Logan, staring up at the light-haired man at the door, who was a little round in the middle and was wearing dark glasses.

“Julia Cooper?” he said.

“Yes,” she replied, unsure whether he had been asking. Before she had to time to think, the man slapped papers into her hand.

“You’ve been served,” he said.

She stared at the folded papers, her heart kicking up as Logan took a step outside. The man who’d served her was, of course, hurrying the other way, and Logan was obviously making sure he left.

“Mom, what is it?” Trinity asked.

Both of her girls were beside her, and she just shook her head as she unfolded the papers, her heart in her throat. She could feel Logan watching, and he stepped closer and somehow ushered them back into the house, closing the front door. All Julia could see from the stark black ink on white paper was that her ex-husband, Kevin Cooper, wanted full custody of the twins. The man had cheated on her the entire time they had been married, and he now lived with his new wife down in California and saw the girls only twice a year. He had never once been a true father, and now he wanted her girls?

She couldn’t speak. All that squeaked out was a gasp. Logan took the papers from her hands, and she just watched as he read. He looked up, taking her and the girls in before folding up the papers and holding on to them.

“Let’s have dinner” was all he said. “Come on, girls. Let’s give your mom a break and finish cooking.”

“Well, what’s in the papers? What did that guy want?” Trinity asked.

“It’s nothing for you to worry about,” he said. “Come on, let’s focus on dinner. Dawn, set the table. Trinity, let’s finish the chicken.”

The girls started into the kitchen, but Julia found that her feet wouldn’t move. She was absolutely numb, and her head…well, she couldn’t even begin to make sense of this. Logan must have known, as he pulled her into his arms, where she could rest her cheek against his chest. He pressed his chin on top of her head and just held her as if trying to keep everything bad from her. She was angry, furious, and she finally pushed away. Even Logan couldn’t make her feel better.

“How could he do this?” she snapped. “He’s never been there for the girls. I raised them, and when he showed up here when Trinity disappeared, accusing me, saying it was my fault… I guess I should’ve seen this coming. He’s despicable. He doesn’t want to be a father, he just wants my girls for that tart he married. He humiliated me. I couldn’t even stay in Boise because I couldn’t believe how stupid I was. Why, Logan? I can’t understand. Why would he do this?” She couldn’t keep her hands still, so she fisted them and then ran them through her hair before noticing that the girls were watching. They were scared and worried, of course. They didn’t know what the hell was going on except for the fact that their mother was freaking out.

“Dad wants to take us away?” It was Trinity who spoke, and Dawn looked so sad. So they
had
overheard.

“No one’s taking you anywhere,” Logan said. He slid his arm around Julia’s shoulder, leading her into the kitchen. He slipped his other arm around the girls as if he was their anchor, holding them together.

Julia wondered whether Logan had any idea what was at stake. After all, they weren’t even married yet. He had no rights to the girls. What did he think he could do?

Chapter 5

L
ock the doors, check the windows, make sure everything was turned off. That was Logan’s nightly routine before bed. The girls were tucked in, both in their own rooms, sleeping softly. Julia, too, had finally fallen into a fitful sleep. Logan decided he would check on Trinity again before bed, as he could always tell when a nightmare was taking hold.

Trinity had been doing so well. For the past six nights, she had slept peacefully—no nightmares. Logan had seen her worry tonight, though. She hadn’t been able to hide it as she picked at her dinner. Trinity normally ate everything and then rummaged through the fridge every night for a snack to tide her over until morning. Not that Dawn didn’t do that, as well, but Trinity could out-eat her sister any day of the week, and tonight was the first night she had ever skipped her snack. These were just the little things he recognized, because he understood, all too well, what it meant to live with a nightmare.

Even Dawn had spent the evening glancing from Logan, to her mom, to Trinity. Dawn held everything in, always so happy and smiling, and she was always trying to make everyone else happy, too. He’d seen her anxiety and how she had tried to lighten Julia’s mood by cleaning the kitchen after dinner and then helping put leftovers in the fridge. She was worried, too.

Julia had worn a tight expression all evening. She had re-read the legal papers half a dozen times after demanding Logan give them back. She had been all worked up, and no amount of reasoning would have appeased her. Logan, of course, wanted to have a word with Kevin—man to man, not via this cowardly bullshit he was pulling. Logan knew Julia was an amazing mother. From what he’d seen, he figured Kevin wasn’t a bad man, but that didn’t mean he had to like him.

Logan didn’t like cheaters, and the fact was that Kevin had made Julia feel like a fool and had hurt her so badly. There were deep scars inside of her, and Logan could still see how she struggled each day to trust. After losing her father, a soldier, to suicide, relationships meant a lot of challenges for Julia to overcome. Oh, he knew she tried to pretend she was okay, but she had major trust issues, and even though she wanted a relationship with Logan, wanted to get married, he could see the shadow of doubt that had been put there by another man.

He glanced at the papers again and thought of his little brother Samuel, who was finishing up law school and still had to take the bar exam. He needed some advice, and although he’d always watched over his brothers, he realized that with something like this, he wanted family—his family—to help him find the answers. He didn’t think of the time as he dialed the phone and listened to a sleepy Samuel answer.

“Samuel, it’s your brother,” he said. “Did I wake you?” He could hear rustling in the background over the line.

“What’s wrong?” Samuel replied, instantly awake.

“I’m getting married,” Logan said. He wondered how lame that sounded, since he hadn’t told anyone in his family—well, except his brother Ben, the oil executive who’d used his company chopper to help search for Trinity when she went missing. Had Ben told anyone? It was hit and miss as to what he’d say and what he wouldn’t, but Logan was betting he hadn’t said a word.

“No shit,” Samuel said. “Seriously? Didn’t know you were seeing anyone. Tell me about the woman who managed to snag my big brother! Hopefully she’ll be able to keep your nose out of our lives.”

“Ha ha, aren’t you the comedian?”

Samuel laughed on the other end. “Really, I want to know about this woman. I was starting to wonder if you’d ever meet anyone.”

“Julia, well…she’s amazing, beautiful—and she’s the reason I’m calling,” Logan said, pacing the kitchen and then glancing down the hall to make sure no one was stirring. He moved deeper into the kitchen and lowered his voice. “We have a legal problem, or rather she does, with her ex.”

“What kind of problem?” Samuel said, and Logan didn’t miss the caution in his voice.

“She has twin girls, Trinity and Dawn,” he explained. “Her ex, who lives in California, just served her with papers last night for full custody. She’s had the girls alone since they were small, and he only sees them a couple times a year.”

“Well, family law really isn’t my area of expertise, but I do know Julia should have an advantage here. I’ve got to ask, though: Are you sure getting involved with a woman with this kind of baggage is what’s best for you?” Samuel said. “I have to tell you, things like this can get really ugly, and everyone gets dragged into the middle of it.”

This was exactly what Logan didn’t want to hear. He squeezed the phone, wanting to shake his brother. “You know what, Samuel? Julia is decent and honest, and you’re not exactly one to be giving advice on women,” Logan snapped, remembering the family drama that had ensued when Samuel, nervous because his girlfriend was getting too serious, had hit on another woman in front of her at a bar. Jill had dumped him and left the bar with their youngest brother, Jake, and as far as Logan knew, Jake and Samuel still weren’t on speaking terms. He moved the receiver away, staring at the phone, then pressed it back to his ear. “Look, if this is going to make you start badmouthing Julia—”