Logan wasn’t coming without a date, and I really didn’t want to go alone.”
“I’m looking forward to it,” she said.
“But more importantly,” Nancy said, “I’m glad Logan has found a nice girl to go out with.”
Logan rolled his eyes. “Mom, we’re not—"
“We’re not serious.” Ellery cut him off. “We’re taking it a day at a time.”
Logan shot her a grateful glance.
“That’s smart,” Nancy said. “But I have a good feeling about the two of you. Maybe I’ll get that daughter I always wanted.”
“Mom!” Logan growled.
Ellery laughed. “I bet you’d be a great mother-in-law.” Logan looked a little green until she mumbled, “Don’t worry—just kidding,” under her breath.
Wouldn’t it be nice to be part of a family again? Even a slightly dysfunctional one?
“Logan, you should probably leave Ellery alone so she can get some rest.” Leaning against the bedpost, Nancy gave every indication that she was going to stay until Logan was out of the room.
With a roll of his eyes, Logan put his hands on his knees and pushed up from the love seat. “If you need anything, Ellery, I’ll be right next door.”
“And I’ll be across the hall.” Nancy pursed her lips as she herded her son out the door. “Good night, Ellery. Sweet dreams.”
The door closed, and she was alone.
Sweet dreams…if only that were possible.
The nightmares weren’t as frequent these days, but they always came after seeing a car accident. Today, she’d seen two—the fender-bender in Austin and the wreck in Houston. She carried a prescription sedative for an emergency situation like this, which mostly worked like a sleeping pill. It wouldn’t necessarily stop the bad dreams, but at least she wouldn’t wake up every twenty minutes in a full-blown panic attack. A quick search of her purse produced the prescription bottle, and she downed a pill with a handful of water from the tap.
The menacing bed loomed, its pristine sheets and fluffy comforter promising a night of torture.
“Might as well get it over with.”
She climbed in bed and waited for sleep to take her.
Chapter 6
Logan woke with a start, his chest thumping. He sat up in bed, his eyes probing the darkness in confusion, trying to determine his strange whereabouts. As he recognized the guest room at his mother’s Houston home, his pulse began to slow. What had pulled him out of a dead sleep? Was his body that off kilter from being away from home?
Josiah’s right. I’m turning into a hermit.
He checked the time—2:10—and laid back on his pillow, forcing his muscles to relax. Maybe he’d had a panic attack in his sleep. No doubt, tomorrow would be hard, facing his old friends without Allegra’s support. Allegra had always been his crutch. As long as she was by his side, no one had dared to criticize him. At least, not to his face.
He knew nasty things had been spoken behind his back, but part of that had come from jealousy. With Allegra, he’d had status. Without her, all his education and money and success had bought him tolerance, at best. He wouldn’t have been invited to the wedding at all if his mother hadn’t been best friends with Allegra’s mom, Carlotta. Defying social and family pressures, Carlotta had stood by Nancy throughout the ugly affair and divorce that had ruined Nancy’s life and catapulted her out of their social circle.
This wedding would be hard on Logan’s mom, that much was certain. His mom had always put on a brave front as if nothing bothered her. The divorce, the ensuing financial crisis, the loss of most of her so-called friends…none of those things had made her lose her faith in God or her gracious attitude. Yet he’d seen her crying when she’d thought no one was looking. Now Logan wanted badly to protect her from any more pain, to shield her from the harsh whisperings of all those hypocrites. Everyone knew his stepdad had been the one who’d cheated, gotten a girl pregnant. Yet his mother was the one who’d been shunned, while the other woman—almost half her age—had taken her place at his stepfather’s side…the new Mrs. Abercrombie.
Chester Abercrombie had never been an affectionate man. Yet ever since Logan could remember, he’d been trying to earn the man’s love, even after he divorced Logan’s mom and left them struggling to survive on a teacher’s salary. Even now, Logan wondered if his existence hadn’t been at the root of his parents’ problems.
Somewhere in his adult years, Logan had finally recognized the truth…his stepfather was a vengeful man