Roses For Sophie (25 page)

One anxiety meshed into another at his words.

Rigby propelled her forward out of the room to where Amanda was waiting. As her Matron of Honour didn't judge anything to be amiss, Sophie must've responded appropriately to whatever comments Amanda made. Just as well she could function on automatic as this entire situation felt surreal.

Her thoughts flew back to her marriage to Jake, when she'd gone to the church, trying to convince herself she was doing the right thing, and had known as soon as she'd uttered the words ‘I do' that they'd both been kidding themselves thinking that their friendship alone could sustain a marriage. This time she was a bride who was madly in love with her groom, but it was all so horribly one-sided, how could she stop it from being another disaster? She prayed that when she uttered those vows tonight things would turn out differently.

The Cask Hall was more beautifully decked out than she'd ever seen it. The ceiling had been adorned by bolts of white satin, and fairy lights. The room was heady with the scent of flowers and the entire setting was every bride's fantasy. Even so, it was far surpassed by the sight of the tall, dark, handsome groom who stood at the end of the red carpet, waiting for her.

You really shouldn't be doing this. You'll end up hurt
, the voice of common sense told her.

But the love and happiness on her grandfather's face, and the gorgeous groom waiting for her, kept her placing one foot in front of another toward Logan.

Who are you kidding that you're doing this just for your grandfather? Even though you're anxious, you know there's a part of you that's hoping this is going to turn out this time. You're hoping you'll make Logan see that all those feelings he has for you are true love.

Yes. She was. But was she right and would she survive the impact if she were wrong?

The sudden empowering conviction she felt to make this marriage succeed made her stand a little taller. This would work because Logan was a man worth holding onto.

As she took her vows, Sophie didn't hold back. Logan would think she was giving an Academy Award winning performance, but in reality, she meant every word she said. Logan was just as convincing. And, now that they were almost husband and wife, she added her own silent vow. This marriage would last. All the things Logan felt for her would deepen and one day, without any prompting from her, he'd bring her the red roses she craved.

Lying in bed the following morning, his limbs still tangled with Sophie's, Logan found it hard to believe Sophie was his wife. It didn't matter that she'd married him for Rigby's sake. It only mattered that they were married. Now he could start making her believe this had been the right decision. Despite having sworn he'd never marry, nothing had ever felt so perfect, and now he was committed to making it a permanent arrangement.

‘You were a beautiful bride,' he told her.

‘You liked the dress Daphne chose for me?'

‘I did, but I like what was inside it better.'

The smile she gave him warmed him. It surprised him just how important it was to him to make certain he kept her relaxed and happy the way she was now.

‘You're very smooth, Mr Jackson.'

Running the instep of his foot up over her calf muscle, he smiled back at her. ‘You're feeling pretty smooth yourself, Mrs Jackson.'

That elicited a laugh and a shake of her head. ‘Well, you were a very handsome groom, and I don't think the evening would've gone any better had I planned it myself.'

Watching her carefully, he said, ‘Except that you didn't plan it. We both know you hadn't come around to the idea of marriage and only intended to go as far as being engaged. Now that we are husband and wife, what are your intentions?'

For a moment, she looked away from him and he sensed she was searching for her reply. When her eyes met his again they were clear, and her expression was sincere. ‘You don't think I might have had a change of heart?'

‘Did you?' He found himself holding his breath as he waited for her response.

‘If I didn't think we had a chance, I'm not sure I would've been able to take my vows, even for the sake of my grandfather.'

That was quite an admission.

‘We're in this together now, Logan, for better or worse. I don't want another trip to the divorce courts, so we're going to make this work.'

Relief flowed through him. There was no doubt he intended to see this through. It wasn't until she indicated her commitment to their marriage that he realised how uncertain he'd been about how she'd deal with it.

‘This is going to work, Sophie.' He raised a hand to her head and allowed his fingers the pleasure of trailing through the soft silkiness of her hair.

‘I wonder whether Felix's heard the news of our marriage yet?' She uttered the words with a frown and levered herself up on to one elbow to look at him. ‘Grandfather told me you insisted that he tell me that he knew about the fraud.'

‘I'm glad you know.'
One hurdle down
. Had Rigby also mentioned anything about his wild notion to sell Logan his shares and put him in charge of the company? Probably not. Sophie would hardly be this easy with him if she knew what her grandfather had been planning. Logan needed to seek Rigby out at first opportunity. He didn't want Sophie to think that his reasons for marrying her had anything to do with her being related to Rigby Carlisle. Her relationship to the mining magnate was the main reason she'd always doubted her own value in the past and felt she was vulnerable to being used. If their marriage was to succeed, he had to ensure she had no reason to doubt that he wanted her, not shares in her grandfather's company and certainly not the MD role at Carlisle Mining.

‘Now that I know Grandfather knows about Felix, I think I'd rather corner my cousin today and confront him.'

‘Is your grandfather going to do that with you?'

She shook her head. ‘He didn't offer. I think it would be too much strain on him and I don't want to put him through that.'

‘He said as much to me.' He placed his hand on her bare shoulder. ‘Would you like me to be there with you?'

‘No.' Her reply was immediate and decisive. ‘Thanks for the offer, but this is something I'm going to do one-on-one. I'll talk to him today, but I won't make the official report to the authorities until after Grandfather has his surgery.'

‘Wouldn't it be better to get this out in the open before somebody else stumbles across it and makes it public? You wouldn't want the rest of the board to think you were involved in a cover-up.'

She sighed. ‘There'll be so much bad press and the media won't respect Rigby's health issues. They'll camp out and badger him relentlessly.'

‘I see your point, but I'm worried about your reputation if this gets leaked. How about calling a board meeting for later in the week and that way at least if anyone questions what you were going to do about this, you can advise them that you were planning to tell the board at that meeting.'

‘Oh, Logan, I love…' She stopped abruptly. ‘I love that idea. That's great.'

Logan's breath caught. Had she been about to say that she loved him? Why, when he didn't believe in love, had he known an acute stab of disappointment when that word ‘you' hadn't been forthcoming?

Before he could say anything, Logan's mobile phone rang. Inwardly cursing, he reached over to the bedside table for it and saw a number on the screen he didn't recognise. The phone had been turned off all night because he'd decided his wedding night wasn't going to be interrupted by anyone. It was only minutes ago that he'd switched it back on. He was tempted to ignore it, but as easy as it was in theory to delegate the responsibilities of his business to others, it was much harder in reality.

Reluctantly he put it to his ear. ‘Jackson.'

‘Mr Jackson, I'm Serena Bayley from the Department of Children's Services.'

Logan's body tensed. ‘What can I do for you?'

Sophie shot him a quizzical look and shifted so she was sitting up fully.

‘I'm Charlotte Mannering's case worker, and I understand you're applying for custody.'

‘That's right.'

‘Charlotte is okay, apart from dehydration, but she was reported missing early last night. Her grandmother rang police and said she'd been abducted but it turns out that she actually ran away from her grandmother.'

A chill seized his heart as he sat straighter. Only yesterday Rigby had spoken to him about security. For a few seconds nothing else registered as he thought the worst. ‘You said she's okay?'

Beside him, Sophie put her hand on his arm and shot him a worried look of enquiry.

‘She's unharmed. The police found her a short time ago, and took her to Hornsby Ku-ring-gai Hospital for a check-up. I have tried phoning you through the night.'

Logan closed his eyes, his fingers gripping the phone tighter. ‘My phone was off. You said she ran away?'

‘Yes. Mrs Winston lied about the kidnapping. Charlotte told us that her grandmother had gone into a club at lunchtime yesterday afternoon to play the poker machines, and had left Charlotte locked in the car. When it started getting dark and Mrs Winston hadn't returned, Charlotte got hungry and decided to run away.'

Logan swore.

‘Obviously Charlotte won't be going back to her grandmother,' the caseworker stated emphatically. ‘Rather than putting her in foster care while you await the court case for your custody application, I've recommended she be placed in your care immediately. If it's convenient for you to have her, I'll have a court order granting you temporary custody within the hour.'

‘Of course I'll have her.' This was it. Scott's little girl would finally be under his protection, just as he had promised his friend she would be. She'd never be neglected by her grandmother again. A sudden unfamiliar prickle of nerves shot through him as he hoped he'd do a good job.

‘How soon can you get here?' the caseworker asked.

‘I'm in the Hunter Valley. It'll take me about two hours.'

‘I'll wait with her until you arrive.'

‘Thank you.'

‘What's happened?' Sophie asked him the second he ended the call.

He relayed the news to her as calmly as he could, even though he was boiling with anger at the way Kathleen's mother had left Charlotte in a car. Sophie was similarly outraged.

‘We've got to get to her straight away,' she said. She hurried out of bed and was in the process of reaching for her clothing when she stilled. ‘If the case worker's recommending that you have temporary custody rather than placing Charlotte in foster care, that probably means you would've won your custody case without being married.' Her expression was one of dazed horror. ‘Logan, you didn't need to marry me at all.'

Her need for reassurance was palpable. Inwardly he cursed that Sophie, who was so confident in so many ways, was so unsure of her own worth because of how she'd been treated by an absolute louse.

Reaching out, he took her hand. ‘Maybe you're right, maybe not. It doesn't matter. I'm glad we're married, Sophie.'

The slight furrow between her brows was sign enough that she wasn't sure whether or not she believed him.

‘I don't regret for a second that you're my wife.'

‘Truly?'

‘What I said still goes; we're going to make each other happy, sweetheart.' He kissed each of her hands then pulled her closer so he could reassure her with a deep kiss. When he felt all the tension seep out of her, he said, ‘I can't allay a feeling of apprehension as to whether my best efforts at parenting Charlotte will be completely what she needs.'

Sophie placed her hands on his shoulders and gave him a sympathetic smile. ‘You love her so much already, you'll be great.'

‘No way I'd put her in anyone else's care, but that doesn't mean I'm completely confident about the situation and how well I'll handle it now that push has come to shove. I don't want to botch it.'

‘You won't botch it.' She gave him a sunny smile. ‘I won't let you. If you're still happy we're married then I meant it when I said before that we're in this together.'

Oh man, that was good to know. Negotiator of multi-million dollar deals, tough campaigner for human rights, and not afraid to take on militia groups he may be, but the responsibility he faced for the future of a five-year-old girl was way outside his comfort zone.

‘I'll get dressed straight away.' Sophie brushed her lips against his and when she would've pulled away, he pulled her back down to the bed and enfolded her in a hug full of thanks.

‘I'm the luckiest man alive,' he told her, and meant it.

Although she smiled, he couldn't help but feel she was disappointed — pleased with his response, but the shadow that flitted over her features hinted that she wanted more. He hoped she didn't want more than he was capable of giving her.

‘Hey, Scamp.' Logan tried hard to keep the relief from his voice as he strode straight into the hospital room to give Charlotte a hug. For the hundredth time since hearing of Charlotte's plight, he cursed Thea Winston because his little goddaughter looked frail, and had dark shadows underneath her eyes.

‘Uncle Logan! I've been praying you'd come.' There was an instant brightness in the blue eyes that reaffirmed to him that she needed him, and that he was doing the right thing applying for custody. ‘Mummy and Daddy always promised me you'd look after me.'

He held her tight. ‘I'm here now, Charlotte.'

‘Someone's awfully glad to see you.'

He turned his head to see a young woman getting up out of a chair. ‘You must be Serena?' He shifted Charlotte slightly so he could extend his hand to the case-worker.