Wish Upon a Christmas Star (22 page)

Emulating what Kayla had done to James on the beach, Maria
threw her arms around Logan’s neck and kissed him, laughing when their
sunglasses bumped. He flipped hers back from her face and then raised his own,
leaving the two of them free to explore each other’s mouths.

The certainty of how she felt about him soared through Maria.
She loved Logan Collier, completely and irrevocably.

Minutes later, she leaned back in his arms. “Let’s not go to
Kentucky or New York tomorrow morning. Let’s fly to Vegas!”

“Vegas? Really?”

“We’ll get a marriage license at one of those chapels,” she
said. “We can be married by Christmas.”

Logan didn’t answer immediately. A warning bell sounded in her
head, but she ignored it. Things between her and Logan would be different this
time. She’d make sure of it.

“What’s the hurry?” he finally asked.

“If we get married right away,” she said, “nothing will prevent
us from being together, like it did the last time.”

Logan’s mouth opened, then closed. He stared at her and shook
his head.

Her stomach dropped. It felt as if someone were gripping her
heart and had started to squeeze.

Here we go again,
she thought.

* * *

L
OGAN
WAS
AFRAID
that what he had to say wouldn’t go over
well. Maria had flipped her sunglasses back down to cut the glare of the sun
shining on the water, but her body language screamed at him to tread lightly.
She looked as if she were preparing herself for another blow.

He took both her hands in his. It was most important that she
know how he felt about her.

“I realized days ago that I loved you. Now I know I never
stopped.” He hesitated, thinking about how to express himself so she’d
understand.

“But?” she pressed.

“But I have obligations in New York.” He’d already put the
promotion he’d worked so hard for in jeopardy by delaying his return to the
city. It was imperative that he be at the Christmas Eve party at the Waldorf
tomorrow. “I can’t run off to Las Vegas and get married.”

“Okay. Maybe I was a little rash,” she said. He started to
relax, relieved that she was willing to listen to reason. The younger Maria
hadn’t been as rational. “We don’t have to go to Vegas tonight or tomorrow.
Anytime in the next month would be good.”

He was wrong. Maria hadn’t changed. They were having a
variation of the same argument that had broken them up.

“I think we should take things slower than that,” he ventured.
“What’s wrong with giving a long-distance relationship a try?”

She yanked her hands out of his and took a step back from
him.

“A try?” Her voice was so much louder than before that the
seabirds on the closest posts flew off into the blue sky. She seemed to gather
herself, because her next words were softer. “That sounds like you’re hedging
your bets in case things don’t work out.”

“C’mon, Maria,” he said. “You know what kind of person I am. I
don’t jump into things.”

“We were apart for fifteen years! How is that jumping into
anything?” She shook her head, the movement pronounced. “If you really loved me,
you’d take a chance on us.”

“If you really loved
me,
” he
countered, “you’d accept me for who I am instead of getting some crazy idea into
your head and refusing to let it go.”

She straightened her spine. “That’s what you think I’m
doing?”

“It’s what you’ve always done,” he said. “It’s the same thing
as with that art school in Louisville. I never understood why you thought that
me deciding against that school meant I was deciding against you.”

“Because you wouldn’t take a chance!” Maria cried. “Because you
can’t open yourself to possibilities. Look how hard it was for you to even
consider that Mike might be alive.”

“Oh, but I did consider it,” he said. “For a day or so, I let
your optimism rub off on me. But he’s not alive. Because there are no miracles.
Not even at Christmas.”

“Then how do you explain what Billy said? About Mike not
blaming me?” Maria asked.

“I’m glad you got closure, Maria,” Logan told her. “I
understand how hard it was to know your last words to Mike were angry ones. But
just because a brother and sister argue, it doesn’t mean the love goes away. Of
course Mike knew you loved him.”

“Well, I think it was a miracle,” Maria refuted. “The Christmas
season is full of them.”

“You also think you’ll get what you want by wishing on a
shooting star,” Logan said, then could have kicked himself for not keeping that
to himself. He had no doubt she’d wished for Mike to be alive. “I wanted you to
have your miracle, Maria. But if you were a bit more practical, you wouldn’t get
hurt so much.”

“How’s this for practical?” Her voice was strong, but her lips
were trembling. “I’ve accepted things will never work out with us.”

She whirled, turning away from the beautiful vista of sea and
sky and walking blindly back toward shore. Water slapped against the pier and a
bird cried overhead, the sound plaintive.

Logan opened his mouth to call her back. He could try to
convince her that everything would work out between them if she compromised just
a little, that he wanted to be with her forever.

In the end, though, he let her go. She’d had an emotional day.
He needed to give her time to calm down so she was more apt to listen to
logic.

Logan stood alone on the pier, watching the distance between
himself and Maria grow with every step she took.

* * *

“
I
CAN
’
T
BELIEVE
YOU
’
RE
leaving,” Kayla
exclaimed with all the fervor Maria had come to expect from her. The younger
P.I. had expressed the same sentiment a half dozen times on the drive from
Maria’s hotel to the airport.

Maria had gotten a call on her cell from Kayla minutes after
discovering she could fly out of Key West at six that night. The last-minute
flight cost more, but she was so eager to leave that she’d booked it
immediately. Since she’d turned in her rental car days ago, she readily accepted
Kayla’s offer to drive her to the airport and fill her in on what had happened
with her case.

“There’s no more reason for me to stay,” Maria said. “I told
you how Billy Tillman was pretending to be Mike.”

They were inside the terminal between the airline counter,
where Maria had checked her baggage, and the security checkpoint. People passed
them on both sides, most toting carry-on baggage. Nobody seemed to be in a rush,
as though the easygoing Key West spirit had spread to the airport.

“What about Mr. Tall, Dark and Dishy?” Kayla covered her mouth
with a hand and looked over at James Smith. Maria wasn’t terribly surprised that
her friend had shown up to drive her to the airport with James in tow,
considering the kiss she’d witnessed on the beach.

“Sorry, Jimmy,” Kayla said. “Nothing to worry about, though.
Logan and Maria have something hot and heavy going on.”

“I’m not worried.” James slung an arm around Kayla, who grinned
up at him. His answering smile transformed him from average-looking to something
special in a heartbeat. Then he dipped his head and kissed her sweetly on the
lips.

James was perfect for Kayla, Maria thought. Their relationship
was in its infancy, but she could already tell it would be a lasting one. Unlike
her own with Logan. She blinked back the sudden moisture in her eyes.

“Logan and I don’t have anything going on. Not anymore.” She
had to choke out the words. “It’s over between us.”

“Are you sure?” Kayla’s big, guileless eyes got even larger.
“Did you even tell him you’re leaving?”

“No.”

“Why not?” Kayla asked. “You know he wouldn’t let you go!”

Maria thought of her long walk down the pier and back to the
hotel earlier that afternoon. She’d waited in vain for Logan to come after her
and say that of course he was willing to take a chance on them, that their love
was worth every risk.

“You’re wrong,” she said. “He wouldn’t try to stop me.”

“I don’t believe that for a second,” Kayla insisted. Her denial
was to be expected. She was in a brand-new relationship brimming with promise.
It was perfectly natural that she would believe in the all-consuming power of
love.

“Can we drop the subject?” Maria’s smile felt tight. “I only
have a few minutes before I need to go.”

She had been advised by the ticket agent to arrive at the
airport early for additional screening, because she’d purchased a one-way
ticket, an extra security measure that stemmed from 9/11. Strangely, though,
Maria was not a nervous flyer. What had happened on 9/11 was an anomaly, the
likes of which she had to believe would never be repeated.

“You haven’t even finished telling me about what happened with
the case,” Maria pointed out.

Kayla had already filled her in about why she’d kissed James at
the beach. Not only had the photographer gone to bat for Kayla with the
president of the merchants association, he’d also called her uncle. James had
made sure both men knew they should believe Kayla over Alex, his own cousin.

“You know how I told you Alex has a girlfriend?” Kayla
asked.

“Vanessa, right?”

“Yes. She’s an absolute sweetheart,” Kayla said. “Turns out she
thinks one of her employees is stealing from the beauty salon she owns. She
called a short while ago and hired me to look into it.”

“Alex recommended Kayla,” James said, his voice full of what
sounded like pride. “He knows the stunt he tried to pull on Kayla was bogus.
Dude is already trying to make amends.”

“Vanessa wants me to go undercover!” Kayla added. “Isn’t that
cool?”

“Very cool,” Maria said, “but can you cut hair?”

“No, but I can wash hair. I’m going to be the shampoo girl!”
Kayla grinned. “A very well-paid shampoo girl.”

“If you need someone to bounce ideas off when you’re working
the case, you have my number,” Maria said.

“Thanks! You’re the greatest.”

“You’re not so bad, either,” Maria said. “Just remember to
believe in yourself.”

Kayla nodded, blinking rapidly. “Oh, Maria! We have to keep in
touch! I’m going to miss you so much.” Kayla hugged her, holding tight for
several minutes.

Maria hugged her back, realizing that she was going to miss her
young friend, too. They both were blinking back tears when they drew apart.

“I wish you were staying, too.” James came forward and also
hugged Maria, though briefly. “Any friend of Kayla’s is a friend of mine.”

James really was one of the good guys, Maria thought.

“Promise you’ll come back and visit,” Kayla insisted. “You and
Logan could even make it a Christmas tradition.”

“I told you, Kayla,” Maria said. “There is no more Logan and
me.”

Kayla pursed her lips, claimed the arm of her new boyfriend and
said, “We’ll see.”

If Kayla truly believed things would work out between Maria and
Logan, it seemed the younger woman was another one who believed in miracles.

Too bad the man Maria loved—the man she was afraid she’d always
love—didn’t.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

M
ARIA
HAD
CHECKED
OUT
of the hotel.

Logan stood at the front desk of the Blue Tropics, angry at
himself for missing her. He’d returned to his hotel room after their heated talk
on the pier and made the mistake of catching up on email. How could he have
overlooked the possibility that Maria would leave Key West sooner rather than
later?

He’d suspected Maria was gone after getting no answer either on
her cell phone or at her hotel room door. The front desk clerk had just
confirmed it.

“Anything else I can help you with?” The clerk had prematurely
gray hair he wore loose to his shoulders. He flipped it back. “We’ve got some
rooms available if that’s what you’re wanting.”

“No, thanks.” Logan shook himself out of his stupor. “That’s
all I needed.”

“Okay, then.” The man smiled. “You have yourself a happy
holiday.”

“You, too,” Logan said.

A happy holiday? Was that even possible? he wondered as he
turned away. He’d be in New York City for Christmas, while the woman he loved
would be seven hundred miles away, in Kentucky.

The lobby door swung open and Kayla breezed through, infusing
the lobby with a mix of energy and purpose.

Logan looked behind her, hoping Maria was with her. Nobody else
came through the door.

“Logan!” Kayla hurried over to him. He’d noticed she didn’t do
anything at half speed. “What are you doing here?”

“Looking for Maria,” he said. “Have you—”

“I knew it! I told that girl you’d try to stop her from leaving
Key West. But would she listen to me? No.”

Logan focused on the key point in her torrent of words. “Can I
still catch her?”

“Her plane left probably an hour ago,” answered Kayla. “I can’t
even imagine how much her ticket cost, booking it at the last minute like that.
She was in a real hurry to get out of town.”

To get away from him, Logan thought.

Kayla held up one of the large, old-fashioned keys the hotel
issued its guests. “She took the key by mistake and asked me to run it by the
hotel. Can you believe this place still uses these things? Wait till I text her
and tell her I ran into you. Then she’ll know I was right.”

Logan tried to keep up with Kayla’s lightning-fast change of
subjects. “You mean you were right about me trying to stop her from
leaving?”

“Yes! That’s what you would have done, isn’t it?” Kayla
gestured at him with the big key. “I knew things weren’t over between you and
her.”

“She said things were over?” Logan asked.

“She most certainly did,” Kayla declared.

That wasn’t good. Logan wasn’t ready to give up on Maria. Maybe
he never would be. He’d have to come up with some strong arguments to persuade
her why a long-distance relationship was infinitely preferable to going their
separate ways.

“She hardly listened to my suggestion about you and her coming
to Key West every year in Christmas week,” Kayla said. “That might be getting
ahead of things, though. You’ve got some work to do to get Maria to understand
where you’re coming from.”

“I do,” he agreed.

“Good,” she said with a sharp nod of her head. “So are you
headed to the airport?”

He might as well go there. If he could get a flight out today,
he’d definitely arrive in time for that party at the Waldorf. The thought was
depressing.

He’d spend Christmas Eve with clients instead of the woman he
loved.

“I sure hope it works out between you two.” Kayla held up the
key again. “I’ve gotta return this. James is waiting in the car. We’re going to
his cousin’s house for dinner.”

That sounded nice. Logan’s own parents would have loved to
spend the holidays with him and the woman he loved, but they were cruising the
Caribbean. Not because they needed to take expensive trips to be happy, but
because Logan had insisted.

He’d never heard his parents complain about not making enough
money to enjoy the finer things in life, the things that Logan had been working
so hard to afford these past eleven years.

All his parents had ever needed, he realized, was each other.
And possibly him.

“Merry Christmas, Logan,” Kayla said, oblivious to the thoughts
that were crowding his head.

“Merry Christmas, Kayla.”

She walked to the counter, her step even bouncier than usual.
Because it was Christmas and she was in love.

Logan was in love, too.

The question was, what was he going to do about it?

* * *

M
ARIA
BARELY
CALLED
OUT
a
greeting and shrugged off her coat before Jack barreled into the living room and
wrapped her in a bear hug.

“You’re back!” her brother said, lifting her clear off the
floor.

“Put me down!” she ordered. For the first time in more than
twenty-four hours, however, she cracked a smile.

“Not until you say, ‘Jack knows best,’” he retorted, just as
she’d known he would. Never mind that they were both in their early thirties.
He’d been greeting her this way since she’d told him—okay, nagged him—not to
aggravate his shoulder by lifting heavy things.

“No way am I saying that,” she teased.

He spun her around once. The rat knew going in circles made her
dizzy. He started to do it a second time.

“Okay! Okay!” she said. “Jack knows best.”

He put her down, gave her the full wattage of the grin that
made him look as handsome as sin, and punched her lightly on the arm.

“Seriously, sis. I’m glad you’re here.” His statement carried
an air of sincerity. She’d already filled him in over the phone about Billy
Tillman posing as Mike.

She nodded, not quite able to respond that she was glad to be
here. Her emotions were too jumbled, although she supposed it didn’t make sense
for her to be anywhere else. Her family spent every Christmas Eve and Christmas
Day together.

Maria spotted Jack’s girlfriend behind him. Her brother had
fallen in love with Tara Greer last summer, when he’d been recuperating from his
shoulder injury on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. They’d met, ironically,
because Maria had asked Jack to run down a lead on a missing person’s case she’d
been working.

“Tara,” Maria said by way of greeting. “I’ve asked you this
before and I’ll ask it again. Are you sure you’re willing to keep putting up
with my little brother?”

“Positive.” Tara laughed and came forward to give her a hug.
“I’m glad you’re home, too.”

“Where’s Logan?” Jack asked. “I thought he’d be with you.”

“You thought wrong.” Maria ignored the pang in her heart and
changed the subject. “Let me guess. Annalise and her family are in the game
room. And Mom and Dad are in the kitchen.”

Jack crossed his arms over his chest. “I take it you’re not
going to tell us what happened with you and Logan?”

“There is no me and Logan.” Maria pointed to the kitchen. “I’m
going to say hi to Mom and Dad.”

“You do that,” Jack said, apparently giving up on the topic of
Logan. “Just know that you enter at your own risk.”

Maria didn’t need to ask what he meant. Their parents prepared
an extravagant Christmas Eve meal every year and kept the menu a surprise.

“Want us to put those under the tree for you?” Tara gestured at
the bag of presents Maria had brought with her. She’d picked up most of them at
airport gift shops.

“That would be great. Thanks.” She followed the delicious scent
of what she guessed was a seafood dish into her parents’ spacious kitchen. They
both were at the stove with their backs to her, working away.

“Merry Christmas, Mom and Dad.” Maria made her lips curve into
a smile she knew wasn’t reflected in her eyes.

They turned from the stove in unison, blocking her sight of the
burners with their bodies. Her father wore the same red-and-green-checked
sweater he put on every Christmas Eve. Her mother was dressed head to toe in
red. Even her cheeks were flushed.

“Welcome home, darling!” she intoned. With her slim build,
thick brown hair and virtually unlined face, she looked a decade younger than
her fifty-five years. “Did everything go okay with your case?”

“What kind of case is so important you had to go out of town at
Christmas?” Her dad was a few years older than her mom but just as fit. He had
the same black hair and blue eyes as Maria. He also had a tendency to
grumble.

“You heard Annalise,” her mother told him in a slightly
scolding tone. “Maria can’t talk about the case. Her client demanded
discretion.”

So that was how Annalise had explained her absence in order to
shield them from the knowledge that Maria was looking for Mike. Maria was
grateful to her sister for not resurrecting their pain.

“What’s important is that you’re here now.” Her mother craned
her neck to see past her. “Is Logan with you? Annalise said he was helping you
on your case.”

Maria closed her eyes briefly. First Jack, now her mother.
Annalise, it seemed, hadn’t been entirely discreet with the information she’d
relayed.

“No, Logan isn’t with me,” Maria said. “I’m pretty sure he’s
back in New York by now.”

Her mom frowned. “Then you two aren’t getting back
together?”

“Celeste...!” Now her father sounded chastising. “You said you
wouldn’t bombard her with questions.”

“I can’t help it,” her mother said. “I was so hoping they’d
work things out.”

“Hey, Maria. How about you scram?” Her dad made a shooing
motion with his hand. She got the impression he wanted to cut off her mother’s
nosy questions as much as he wanted her out of the kitchen. “We’re cooking up a
surprise in here.”

She went willingly, following the raucous sound of what was
decidedly not Christmas music to the basement game room. Annalise’s husband and
two sons were gathered around a television displaying a video game. The older of
Maria’s nephews, fifteen-year-old Ryan, strummed a plastic guitar. His younger
brother, Bart, pounded a set of drums that were a cross between a toy and the
real thing. Scott, Maria’s brother-in-law, was singing.

“Hey, Aunt Maria!” Ryan called to her over the amateur band
music. “Isn’t it cool that we can play rock band? We got an early Christmas
present.”

Scott turned to Maria, belting out a line from a rock song—was
it a Van Halen tune?—in perfect disharmony.

Annalise stood off to the side, watching her family. She
covered her ears and made a face, then gestured for Maria to accompany her to
the opposite side of the room.

When they were away from the worst of the noise, Annalise
hugged Maria. She held on tight the way she used to when they were kids and
Maria was upset about something. Maria clung to her big sister.

“You looked like you needed that,” Annalise said when they drew
apart. “You barely cracked a smile at Scott’s horrible singing.”

“I guess I’ve had a tough couple days,” Maria said.

Annalise nodded. “I’m glad Logan was in Key West with you. Is
he upstairs?”

“Why does everybody think we’re together?” Maria glowered at
her. “And by the way, thanks so much for telling Mom he was with me in
Florida.”

“Hey, there are only so many secrets I can keep,” Annalise
retorted. “Besides, Mom and I have been hoping for years that you and Logan
would get back together.”

“Not gonna happen.” Maria tried to sound flippant. Instead, her
voice shook. She cleared her throat. “If I seem sad, it’s because of what I
found out about Mike.”

Even as Maria uttered the sentence, she knew it wasn’t entirely
accurate. Yes, it hurt to know her younger brother was irrevocably gone. But it
also hurt to know Logan was in New York when he could have chosen to spend
Christmas with her.

“You really thought Mike might be alive?” Annalise asked.

Maria nodded. “I really did.”

“I didn’t. Not even for a second.” Annalise looked over to
where the males in her family were attempting to perform another rock song, then
back at Maria. “When the North Tower fell, it was like I could feel Mike’s
spirit leave. I’ve had years to come to terms with his death.”

Maria reached for her sister’s hand and squeezed it. “Why did
you never tell me that before?”

Annalise shrugged. “I guess because I was afraid you might
think it sounded silly.”

“No sillier than believing the wishes I made on shooting stars
would come true,” Maria said wryly.

“That’s what Mom always claims,” Annalise said. “But I didn’t
know you’d seen a shooting star.”

“Two of them,” Maria told her. “The first outside my office and
the second when I was in Key West with Logan.”

“And you wished the same thing both times?”

Maria nodded.

“Let me guess.” Annalise’s voice was so quiet Maria could
barely hear it over the rock song. “You wished for Mike to be alive.”

That made sense. Maria had spotted the first shooting star
shortly after Caroline Webb had visited her office and told her about the
strange phone calls and letter.

Except Maria hadn’t wished for Mike to be alive. Not exactly.
She’d formulated her wish in much broader terms.

Maria had believed it hadn’t come true when the search for Mike
ended badly.

But maybe it had.

The band played on, the beat of the drums reverberating inside
Maria. Her mother often said all things happened for a reason. Maybe there had
been a compelling reason for Maria to be drawn into the drama with Caroline Webb
and Billy Tillman.

“What are you thinking about?” her sister asked gently.

“About Logan.” Maria figured she might as well confide in
Annalise. Her sister would get the information out of her eventually, anyway. “I
wanted to run away to Vegas and get married. He wanted a long-distance
relationship.”

“Then why did you say things were over between you?”