Logan laughed at his transparency. “Definitely.” He leaned over and kissed his mother’s cheek and hugged her the best he could given the hindrance of her seat belt.
“Please offer Toni my apologies for upsetting her.”
Staring into his eyes, Mom pet his curls as if he were her favorite lap dog. He didn’t mind in the least.
“You’ll have to do that yourself when you meet her.”
If Mom ever got to meet her. First he had to set things straight and if Toni didn’t answer her phone or read his texts, he was going to have to hunt the woman down and reassure her—and himself—that everything was all right between them.
On the elevator, he checked his phone, praying he’d somehow missed a text or an email or a call. Nothing.
The elevator stopped on the third floor and the door slid open. Logan had never been more happy to see Butch in his entire life, and the man had gotten him out of some real jams in the past.
“Butch! Are you busy?”
“Never too busy for you.” He grinned crookedly beneath his mustache. Logan wondered how quickly the band would fall apart if this man ever left them to their own devices.
“I need to use the jet after the show tonight,” Logan said.
“Let me guess,” Butch said with a wry grin. “You want to go to Seattle. And you want a car waiting with gifts of chocolates and flowers and sex toys and socks.”
Logan laughed, not even caring that he was so easy to read. “Actually, I thought I might head to the Caribbean for some parasailing, but I guess I’ll go with your plan.”
“You’re damn right you’ll go with my plan. Do you know how hard it was for me to force that little sweetheart to leave? It broke my heart to make her cry. And then to find out that whole mess wasn’t her fault?” Butch shook his head. “If you don’t go get her, I will.” He grinned again. “And I’ll buy her a whole busload of socks if that’s what it’ll take to have her forgive me.”
“I could go now,” Logan said.
“You’ll never make it back in time for the concert tonight.”
He had half a mind to say fuck the concert. He had more important things to do.
The elevator doors opened on the top floor, and they stepped out into the corridor.
“She won’t answer her cellphone,” Logan said to Butch. “Can we get her home number? Office number? Send a carrier pigeon? Something?”
“Carrier pigeons are extinct,” Butch said. “But I’ll get a message to her somehow. What do you want it to say?”
Heat flooded Logan’s face. Was he actually blushing? Lord. “Uh. I love her. It was my Mom who answered my phone this morning. I’m not cheating on her.”
Butch’s eyes nearly bugged out of his head. “She thinks you’re cheating on her?”
Logan sighed and nodded.
“No wonder she won’t answer her phone. I thought she must still be upset about being accused of selling you all out to the tabloids.”
“I told you I straightened that out last night. This is a whole new fuck-up.”
Butch chuckled. “I guess I’ll add a florist and chocolatier to my speed dial. I have a feeling I’m going to need their numbers often.”
Butch was probably right, but Logan shook his head at the dig.
“I’m still going to try to get a hold of her, but yeah, I need everything ready to go so I can head to Seattle directly after the concert.”
Butch shrugged. “No problem. It’s not like I have anything better to do.”
Logan was certain Butch had thousands of better things to do, but the man was Logan’s hero and had yet to let him down. “Thanks for having my back, dude.”
“One of these days I’m going to call in all my favors. And then you won’t be thanking me.”
Logan doubted that. If Butch helped him get Toni back, Logan would owe the man his every happiness.
And he’d pay in any currency Butch demanded.
Thirty-Five
Toni was about five miles from home when she realized she’d left her cellphone in her desk drawer at the office. She was truly having a shit-tacular day. Driving up the long drive to the A-frame wood cabin she’d called home for the past fifteen years made her heart ache. How could Mom even consider selling the place? Toni simply could not let it go. And Toni wouldn’t let her father go either. It wasn’t time to move on. It would never be time to move on. There was plenty of room in her heart for both the living and the dead. Especially now that the mistreated organ had a gaping hole recently carved into it by a certain cheating son of a bitch.
The sun was already setting behind the pine trees, casting long spear-like shadows on the walls of her home. Gravel crunched beneath her feet as she made her way up the driveway, and she reveled in the little nuances of the place that she usually took for granted. The scent of the pine forest, crisp and clean. The soft clucking of the hens settling into their nests for the night. The picturesque sight of the snow-tipped hunk of craggy granite in the distance. And the feeling, the comforting feeling of home. No place on Earth could compare. She had to figure out a way to keep this place. For Birdie’s sake, yes, but also for her own.
Toni climbed the steps to the deck that surrounded the entire house and let herself into the mudroom. She figured she could fall asleep standing up until the mouth-watering scents of garlic, oregano, and basil filled her nose. Her grandmother must have spent the entire day cooking. Toni closed the door behind her and dumped her messenger bag and laptop case on the floor with a weary sigh.
“Eloise?” Grandma called from the connecting kitchen.
“No, it’s Toni,” she said.
“About time you came home. These delivery guys are about to drive me nuts. Ringing the doorbell every hour on the hour like clockwork.”
“Delivery guys?”
Toni came around the corner into the kitchen and stopped dead in her tracks, her eyes widening and mouth dropping open with shock. Vases of flowers were perched on every available surface. The fragrant and colorful blooms ranged from a simple dozen red roses to several arrangements of mixed flowers to a bouquet of brilliant pink and white stargazer lilies that was as wide as the table that bore its weight.
“What in the world?” Toni said.
“You better call that young man and forgive him for whatever he’s done. I don’t think the next batch will fit through the door,” Grandma said. “And don’t get me started on those damned balloons.”
“Balloons?”
“I told Birdie to take them to your room. It isn’t safe to have them floating about in the kitchen while I’m cooking.”
Over the sound of water boiling on the stove, Toni could hear Birdie giggling and the playful yap of one of Grandma’s Pomeranians.
“Are these all from Logan?” Toni wondered aloud. She reached for the card on the closest bouquet.
Grinning at Toni, Grandma tapped the vase closest to her. “Unless you have more than one man who is crazy in love with you, I’d guess so.”
The card read: Please call me, Toni. The woman who answered my phone this morning was my mother. Logan
“His mother?”
Toni snatched the card from the next bouquet. Toni, I swear didn’t cheat on you. I would never do that to you. Please call. I need to hear your voice. Love, Logan
She went around the room, reading one card after another. The next one seemed a little angry. What do I have to do to get you to answer your damned phone, Toni? Answer it! Now. Stop fucking ignoring me.
Then pleading. Please call me, Toni. Text me. Email me. Something. Please. Even if it’s to yell at me. I can’t take your silence.
Desperate. I’ll do anything to win you back, lamb. Just tell me what to do.
Insulting. You are the most stubborn woman I’ve ever met. Will you just talk to me?
Threatening? I’m going to track you down and kiss you until you see reason. We are meant to be together. Don’t you get that?