Twisted Fate by Summer Cooper
8
Logan
“I’m over six months pregnant, Logan, and I look like I’m about to give birth to a litter of puppies at any moment.” Keily moaned as he tried to talk her into going out for dinner. “The last thing I want is to climb in and out of that car of yours. Or mine for that matter.”
“I can fix one of the problems you mentioned. Well, both actually. I’ll bring dinner to you.” He said, a helpless smile on his face. She was very pregnant, after all, and he loved it.
“And the other problem?” She asked over the phone and he could hear the laughter in her voice.
That bothered him, that she was afraid to openly laugh around him. It was something he’d noticed over the weeks since they’d been back in contact with each other. She didn’t like to laugh, cry, or anything that might show too much emotion around him. That wasn’t to say they didn’t laugh together at all, but there was a sparkle to her that was missing now that had little to do with how pregnant she was and a lot to do with how he’d left her. Intuition told him that much.
“Well, I’ll need a day or two to rectify the other problem, but I’ll see to it.” Logan flicked the indicator to turn into a car dealership he was about to pass if he didn’t slow down. Keily didn’t want to go out because she had a hard time climbing out of either of their cars. He’d get one she could get in and out of without any struggle.
“Hmm, alright. What are you going to pick up for dinner then?”
“I thought Chinese. I’ll be an hour or so, I’ve just got to take care of a few things first. Is Chinese alright?” He asked as he pulled to a stop in front of the dealership. He saw the perfect vehicle right there in the showroom. It was small enough that she wouldn’t have to worry about learning to drive a tank, tall enough that she could just step in and out of it, and had enough space for a new mom.
“Yeah, just don’t forget the egg rolls.”
“I won’t.” He replied absently, too busy giving a smile to the saleswoman that walked out to meet him as he got out of his car. “I’ll see you later, Keily. ‘Bye.”
“See ya later, Logan.” Keily hung up just as the older woman with a name tag declaring her name was Patricia stopped in front of him.
“Hi, I’m Logan Sinclair, I’ll take that black Ford Bronco in the display room.”
“Oh, very good, sir. Can I show you some of the features?” The 40-something brunette with bright blue eyes smiled congenially at him and led the way into the main office of the dealership.
“Sure, but can you get the paperwork started while we do that?” Logan didn’t want to waste time on haggling, he just wanted to buy the car so he could be on his way to Keily.
“This is a relaunch of an older model that’s only become available this year.” Patricia started but Logan wasn’t paying a whole lot of attention.
He’d seen commercials for the car and from visual inspection of the car, he knew it would suit his purposes. What he really wanted was to be back in Keily’s presence, not at a dealership listening to the sales pitch.
“You really want this thing, don’t you?” The woman asked with an amused smile.
“Yep. Here’s my card, put it on that.” Logan fished his wallet out of his pocket and handed the car over. “My driver’s license, insurance card, and business card.”
“Very good. And you don’t want to test drive it first?” The woman looked uncertain but tried to hide it. She didn’t want to lose the sale, he could see, but wanted him to be sure.
“Tell you what, put a tag on it, and I’ll take it for a spin while you get the paperwork started.” Logan watched her eyes light up even more.
“Of course, sir, I’ll get these copied and have a colleague put a tag on for you. I’ll be right back with the keys.”
Logan drove the car to order the food he knew Keily would want. He knew her enough to know sesame chicken was her favorite and she’d never turn it down. He ordered the same thing for himself and put it in the back of the Bronco before he drove back to the dealership. The insurance and paperwork were done by the time he got back and all he needed to do was sign the papers.
“Thanks for this, would it be possible to leave my car here until later on this evening? I’ll come back and pick it up later.” Logan signed the paperwork presented to him, the sales slip, and stood back up to look at Patricia, perhaps one of the happiest people on the planet at that moment.
“No problem at all. We can deliver the Bronco if you prefer?” She offered, happy to do whatever it took to satisfy Logan.
He smiled a little and shook his head. “No, I’ve got the car for my, well, a friend, and I’m headed over there now so if you’re good with me leaving my car I’ll come back to get it later.”
“That’s fine. I’ll just put the temporary tag on for you and you can be on your way.” Patricia nodded and went out to put the tag on. Once she was finished Logan got in and looked around with more interest. It would suit Keily just fine, he decided and drove off to her place.
“You know, you could just go back to the apartment, don’t you, Keily?” He asked as he walked into her place a little while later, his eyes roaming over her to check for any signs of distress. She looked the same as she had yesterday, so he set the bag of food down while she shut the door and walked up to him.
“I know, you keep reminding me, but I’m fine here. I kind of like paying my own rent.” She pulled out the boxes and then turned to get plates out of a cabinet. She almost knocked over a bottle of cherry lime Sun Drop as she turned but Logan saved it.
“I know, but I’d feel better if you were in a safer area.” Logan looked at her with a smile on his face. Apparently, she was so hungry she hadn’t noticed he’d pulled up in a new vehicle.
“I’m fine here, Logan, I swear, stop worrying so much.” She’d already pulled boxes out of the bag and started to pile food onto plates.
He stood there with the car’s remote and key dangling from his finger. When she turned to hand him a plate with a fork on it, she stopped, her brows furrowed.
“What’s that?” She looked up at him before her head went to the window above the kitchen sink, looking out at the car outside. “That’s not your car, Logan.”
“No, it’s not. It’s yours. Merry Christmas or happy birthday, as that’s tomorrow. Take your pick.” He laughed as her jaw dropped and she looked back at him.
“What? Christmas is two days away.” She still held the plate out to him, but her eyes were on the car, taking it in. “I can’t accept that, shouldn’t, but I’m going to because I’m pregnant and hate my car right now.”
She took the keys from him, and with the plate still in her hand, walked out to the car.
“Let me take that,” Logan said with a pleased smirk, taking the plate from as she opened the door.
“It’s so…new!” She breathed and slid into the seat. “Oh, Logan, that was so easy.”
“It’s got heated seats, which move in all kinds of directions by the way, and all the features this model can have, and that’s a lot. I don’t know all of them yet because I just bought it and came here.”
“And picked up dinner.” She made a motion to ask him to give her the plate back and ate carefully while she looked around the car. “I really shouldn’t take it…”
“You really should. Those are my babies, their momma needs a good car that she’s comfortable in, and I’ll drive it when you can’t.”
“I guess.” She replied then stuck a forkful of rice and sesame chicken into her mouth, making sure not to drop rice on the seat. “It’s wonderful, thank you, Logan.”
“My pleasure, Keily.” He answered and watched her slide out of the car.
“I’ll finish eating, then we’ll come back out and look it over.” She smiled and sighed as she stepped out of the car. “That was so easy to get out of. That’s such a relief. I love it, thanks.”
“Good, that’s all that matters.” He answered and followed her into the trailer.
“I’m still not sure I should take it, but I do need something I can get in and out of.” She went on, but then took another bite of food as she sat down.
Logan picked up the other plate she’d filled and went to sit on the couch with her. He watched her as they ate together, silent except for the sound of music playing from the television. She wasn’t the same woman he’d left all those months ago.
Since then, she’d learned self-reliance and how determined she could be when she wanted something. She was still working, though he didn’t want her to. She’d even learned how to say no and mean it, he thought, with a rueful smirk he hid from her.
When they were finished eating, he got up to clean their plates and forks, threw the empty boxes away, and turned the kitchen light off. He was a man that lived in houses he’d have called mansions as a child, wore tailored suits, bought cars on a whim, and could have anything he wanted. As long as that wasn’t Keily, he thought as he looked around the trailer.
What bothered him wasn’t that the best she could afford was a trailer, it was that she was alone here. Okay, she had two helpful neighbors, but they were old ladies and he lived too far away if she needed help. And he wanted to help, he wanted to be in her life as more than the man that had fathered her children.
Shame filled him every time he thought about that night that he’d left her, pain tugged at his heart when he remembered how she’d looked at him. Not because the truth had been revealed, at last, but because he’d hurt her. He’d spent months wondering how she was, and now he knew. She was pregnant, that’s how she was.
One of his biggest regrets was that he hadn’t been there for her when she first found out. She’d been so hurt by him that she’d left the apartment, left him behind. He wanted another chance but didn’t want to add to her stress right now. She was…fragile.
It wasn’t a term he’d have ever used for Keily when he first hired her to work for him, but since then a lot had changed. They had both changed, but Keily had changed the most, perhaps. Physically, emotionally, mentally, it was a different Keily that he sat beside now.
“Are you going to stare at me all night or are you going to tell me why you’re here? Other than the car. You were on your way over here before the car scenario cropped up.” She put her feet up on the coffee table and looked over at him, relaxed, happy, calm.
“I just wanted to check on you and the babies.” He brushed the question off as if his being there wasn’t important. As if he didn’t want to beg her to move into his house with him so he could sleep beside her again.
He’d slept better since the trial ended and Joe ended up in prison. He still had the nightmares occasionally, but they were tapering off. He might actually get to do some sleeping beside her, if she’d just move in with him. There was still the worry that sleeping beside her would bring the memories and the nightmares back, but he had a feeling it wouldn’t be so bad.
The few hours a day he spent with her now reminded him of why it had been so hard to leave her in the first place. He’d wonder if he loved her, but he wasn’t sure he was capable of things like that. His parents might as well have been cold scientists, they’d been so standoffish with him. It was clear from the moment he was old enough to know what it meant, that he was an accident they’d come to regret.
He didn’t really know any of his extended family, and friends had been few and far between over the years. Keily might just be the first person he’d ever felt anything for. That wasn’t as uncomfortable a thought as it used to be. Months of regret and anger had dulled that discomfort, turned it into a need to have her back with him.
He’d played it cool, acted like leaving her hadn’t torn him up inside, but now? He was almost certain that they could build something together, if they tried.
“You’re not getting a present as expensive as that car, Logan.” She broke into his thoughts and he blinked before he realized what she meant.
“Oh, that’s fine, Keily, really. You agreed to come to dinner, that’s good enough.”
“Hardly.” She drawled and looked over at him. “I really shouldn’t take it.”
“Stop, it’s yours and that’s all there is to it.” He sat up a little straighter and glared at her. That usually worked on people that wanted to argue with him, but it never really did work on Keily, not really.
“You stop that, it’ll get you nowhere. It doesn’t work on me and you know it.” She grinned and leaned over, so he could get a good look at her cheesy grin. “I’ll keep the car, but no more, understand?”
“If the babies need stuff or I want them to have something, I’ll get it. If it’s something you need to help take care of our babies, then I’ll get that too. You aren’t doing this alone, no matter what.”
Even if she wouldn’t really touch him now, even if she didn’t want to be close to him anymore, he’d find a way to change that. He’d prove to her, one way or another, that he was with her for good now. If that meant he had to be subtle until he won her over, so be it, but he sure hoped she’d give in soon. He missed having her smile at him the way she just had, even if it was only for a moment.
