“Logan figured it out,” I told him. “He remembered seeing Spock at that storage shed when we went jet-skiing.”
Tyler nodded slowly, his eyes glancing around the room for Logan. His smile dimmed a little when he realized that his hero wasn't there. “Thank you for coming to get me, Aunt Liv. You and Logan.” He paled slightly. “I was really scared.”
I rose up higher on my knees and kissed his forehead. “Me, too,” I whispered before settling back into my original spot.
Tyler petted Spock's head. His mother started doing the same thing to him and the parallel of love and care made me smile. Tyler thought for a moment and then looked up at me with serious, big brown eyes. “Aunt Liv?”
“Yeah?” I answered with a soft smile.
“Will you find Logan for me?” he asked. “I didn't get to thank him.”
“I'll do my best,” I promised.
“And Aunt Liv?” Tyler caught me in his eyes. The pain medication was kicking in and he struggled to focus on me, but he looked serious. “Logan loves you. He can't tell you that, but he does. I was supposed to keep it a secret, but I thought you should know.”
I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. Maddy judiciously avoided my gaze. “What?”
“I asked him why you hated him. He said it was because he hurt you.” Tyler frowned. “I think you should forgive him. He's a good person.”
“It's not quite that simple, Tyler...” I rubbed my forehead, trying to figure out what I could say to make him understand.
“Yes, it is,” Tyler contradicted me. “Love is always simple. It's just our brains that make it complicated.” He smiled down at Spock. “If you love someone, you find ways to stay with them. Spock taught me that.”
I didn't have a good response for that. I could see Dr. James headed our direction with Keiko right behind him carrying blankets and towels, so I stood to give them space to work. Dr. James took my place as I stepped back. Tyler looked up at me, silently asking for me to get Logan while they worked on him. I sighed and nodded, turning to go look for him. The things we would do for the people we loved...
Chapter 25
I finally found Logan in the spa lobby. When the resort officially opened, this lobby would be busy with vacationers coming to get massages and pedicures, but with just us few travel agents and a hurricane in full force, the lobby was empty and quiet. It was the perfect place to be alone.
Logan was looking at a picture hanging on the main wall, his hands resting behind is back. The ocean, calm and gentle, filled the frame. Blues and greens that exemplified a tranquil, tropical, and relaxing vacation getaway stood in stark contrast with the howls and shrieks of the wind outside.
I knew he could hear my footsteps on the bamboo flooring, but he didn't move. I stood beside him, examining the picture. The only indication that he knew I was there was the slight stiffening of his body. He didn't move to leave, though.
“Tyler sent me to find you,” I finally said, breaking the silence between us. “He didn't get to say thank you.”
“He doesn't need to,” he replied.
“He doesn't see it that way,” I informed him. I looked at him, taking in his profile. Logan's hair was still damp from the rain, but that curl was back on his forehead. “He said something else that I wanted to ask you about.”
Logan's jaw tightened, but he didn't move.
“He said you loved me,” I told him quietly. He stood still as stone, staring at the picture. “Is it true?”
The only movement in the room was Logan's Adam’s apple as he swallowed. His eyes slowly closed as the word came out. “Yes.”
I wasn't sure what I was expecting, but that one syllable hit me like a punch. He loved me. Logan Hayes loved me.
“What? Why?” I gasped, reeling from his confirmation. A surge of happiness filled me, followed by a wash of confusion and then despair. He loved me, but we couldn't be together. Star-crossed lovers we were indeed.
He turned from the painting to face me. His eyes were soft and sad. He knew the regret we both felt. The tragedy that was our love. “I fell in love with you the moment you walked in my office,” he said simply. “You were so nervous and absolutely adorable. As we talked, I found out you were smart and funny. And driven. Very driven. I couldn't help it. That's why I asked you for drinks.”
I nodded, remembering that night; the giddy happiness I felt at being asked out on a date. The way his eyes had shone during our deeply intense discussions; the simple joy I had felt at seeing him smile and even the happiness at waking up the next morning and thinking I would see him again. As improbable as love at first sight was, I had fallen in love with him then, too.
A soft smile flitted across his face as he remembered as well. “Then you showed up for drinks looking sexy as hell, and I knew I was yours.” He shook his head slowly. “I thought not seeing you would make all those feelings go away. I thought it had to be just infatuation or lust. Love at first sight is something for fairy tales. Things that can have happy endings. Love at first sight doesn't last in real life.”
I looked down at my feet. I wanted love at first sight to be real. I wanted this to be my fairy tale, but my shoes were covered in mud and leaves. I was no Cinderella.
“When I came back from Malaysia, I was sure you had forgotten me, that you had moved on and that all those feelings were only on my end. And then I saw you at that wedding,” he said softly. I looked up to see a sad smile traipse his face. “And then Maddy...”
“Maddy blabbed that I wasn't over you; that I had those same feelings,” I supplied. A ghost of a grin tugged at my lips at the memory. “I was ready to strangle her for that. I'm glad I didn't.”
“It put sunshine back in my world,” he confessed, looking back at the painting. “I thought... I thought I had a second chance. But you were mad, and you had every right to be. I thought maybe, with enough time, you'd see that I cared. I started looking for excuses to see you at social events. I always seemed to miss you at them, though.”
“That's when I started avoiding you,” I said slowly. “I hated that Maddy gave me away and I didn't want to remember that you broke my heart after just one date. So, I hid from you.”
He nodded slowly. Regret and lost hope filled his voice. “You don't want to know how many events I went to, hoping that you would be there—hoping I could get another chance—only to find you had left moments earlier or suddenly declined.”