Can't Let Go - By Michelle Brewer Page 0,20

laying on that cold metal table, right beside Hayley, was enough to shock him back to reality.

Blake was dead. Hayley and their child, too. It was a fact he had to keep repeating to himself, over and over.

He had been within driving distance when he’d gotten the call, though he currently lived in Sacramento. But when the accident had happened, he had just happened to be in Pennsylvania, both for business and to attend to some of his personal dealings. Rather than waste the eight hours driving, though, he had decided to take the first plane out.

He wanted to make it into town before Abby did, not wanting her to have to deal with the task of identifying the bodies of their two closest friends.

It had been difficult for him, and after it was done, Logan had immediately turned his focus to the only person he knew would understand how he felt—both out of concern for Abby, and as an attempt to distract himself from his own heartache.

And he wanted nothing more than to take away the pain he knew would consume her. He had made certain that Abby wouldn’t have to set foot in the morgue before moving on to the funeral home and making what limited arrangements he could.

He’d made a brief stop at the motel and then returned back to the funeral home, knowing she would soon be arriving.

He had been so anxious about facing her again—so much time had gone by, and he knew that she was doing well. Hayley had been sure to update him often. She had gone back to school, and was now working at Rumor, which was a huge deal as far as he was concerned. He could see touches of Abby all over the place, in every issue.

She was living in Beverly Hills.

And she was engaged.

He had wondered briefly if she would bring her fiancé with her. He couldn’t imagine letting the woman he loved go through this alone—which was kind of ironic, considering Abby was the only woman he had ever loved.

The moment she had walked through the door, his heart had actually stopped for a moment.

She still took his breath away.

Logan sighed, balling his hands into fists and pressing them into his eyes in some vain attempt to stop the tears that formed there.

She hadn’t brought her fiancé, which made things easier and more difficult. Easier, because Logan knew that the two of them would be spending time together, and it was better not to have to worry about things being awkward.

Difficult, because Logan knew that, just two doors down the way, Abby was alone. And she was more devastated than she’d ever been in her life.

And that was something Logan couldn’t stand to think about. He knew that he’d given up any right to comfort her the morning he’d left her. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t hoping that she would let him help her through this—because if nothing else, he understood exactly what she was going through.

~*~

When a knock sounded at the door, Abby jumped up mid-sob, startled. She realized she still held the phone in her hand and she tossed it down to the bed.

“Just a minute!” She called, very aware of the tears in her voice. As she rushed around the room searching for her sunglasses, she ran her fingers through her hair and wiped the tears from her cheeks. At the last moment, she caught a quick glimpse of the dark lenses sitting on top of the television and Abby threw them on just as she opened the door.

Logan stood on the other side, his eyes sweeping over her. She knew it must be obvious what she was doing—what she was hiding. She also knew that it was senseless to even make the attempt. Logan would understand. He wouldn’t think her childish or pathetic. If anyone, he would understand exactly what she was going through. Logan was probably feeling the same way.

“I was just laying there staring at the ceiling,” Abby nodded, knowing that, had she tried to sleep, she would have done the same. “We can wait—”

“No.” She shook her head. Sitting in her motel room really wasn’t going to accomplish anything. Nothing worthwhile anyway. “Just give me a minute to grab my purse?”

“No problem.” She almost offered to let him wait inside, but at the last moment, she changed her mind, realizing that she wasn’t sure she could handle Logan Sheppard being in her room. Memories of the last time she’d shared