by Tara Randel
She hurried to the small office and returned to hand a check to his grandmother.
“Thanks, Mrs. M., but I don’t need any investment money.”
“Are you sure, my dear? You seemed quite convinced when you first told me about the proposal.”
“I got the money I need from a different source.”
“And who is that?” Logan asked.
Serena’s eyes went wide at his sharp tone.
“Logan,” his grandmother cautioned.
“It’s okay.” Serena faced him. “My father.”
None of this was making sense. The Matthews brothers letting the investigation go. Stanhope showing up, giving Serena money. What was he missing? “Grandmother, could you please excuse us?”
“No, I will not.” She opened her purse and dropped the check inside. “Serena has made up her mind and I, for one, accept her decision.”
He gritted his teeth. “I only need a few minutes.”
“Which I don’t have,” Serena said. “My class already started without me.”
“You see, Logan. Serena has work to do. Why don’t we leave her to it?”
“I’ll see you later,” Serena said, stopping to give him a quick kiss before walking to the sales floor.
Logan leveled his tone, not wanting to lash out at his grandmother. “I wanted to talk to Serena.”
“And spill the beans? I could see you were going to. She doesn’t need to know I asked you to check into her business before I decided to invest in the store.”
“It’s so much more than that.”
His grandmother must have sensed his distress. Her expression softened. “Let’s go outside.”
They walked toward the exit, Grandmother waving before they left. Then she led Logan a few feet away from the door.
“What is going on, young man?”
“You aren’t the only one who hired me to get information on Serena.”
His grandmother’s eyes widened. “Why, who else is interested in her?”
“It doesn’t matter. The truth is, I’ve been investigating her without full disclosure and now I have to tell her.”
“And you’re afraid she won’t like it?”
“Would you?” he asked, sounding as contemptible as he felt.
“I see your point.”
He spoke his deepest fear out loud. “What if she doesn’t want to see me again?”
“Then you apologize and beg her forgiveness,” his grandmother advised, her words filled with passion. “Don’t lose her, Logan.”
“I don’t plan on it.”
As he battled with his conscience, trying to come up with the best way to reveal the truth, he said, “It’s ironic. Here I’m always talking about truth. How it’s so important in a relationship, and I wasn’t forthcoming with Serena.”
“Doesn’t seem like it would have worked to your advantage when you were investigating,” his grandmother pointed out.
“In the beginning, no, but once I started to fall in love with her? What was my excuse then?” He blew out a breath. “I’m as bad as my father, hoping to cover up my part in all this so I didn’t have to face the consequences.”
“But you always planned on telling her.”
“I did, especially once I realized how important she’s become to me.”
“That has to count for something.”
Did it? He’d find out soon enough.
He glanced across Main Street and saw James Stanhope sitting at a table outside Sit a Spell.
“Grandmother, I’ll meet you at the car.”
“Where are you off to?”
“To get some answers.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
LOGAN CROSSED THE street in long strides, itching to make some sense out of the day. He wanted to hear Stanhope’s story. Felt he’d earned it after all the time he’d put into the investigation.
“You owe me an explanation,” he said as he approached James Stanhope. The older man frowned at first. Then his expression slipped to recognition.
“I was wondering when we’d speak.”
“You expected me?” Logan asked as he came to a stop on the other side of the bistro table from Stanhope.
“I didn’t convince people into handing over their hard-earned money by not being able to size them up.” Stanhope angled his head. “We only met briefly last night, but when we shook hands, I realized you knew about my past. Or suspected, anyway.”
“How could you?”
“The blatant way you appraised me. The way in which you carry yourself. Police?”
“Ex-military.”
“Now?”
“Private investigator.”
The older man’s jaw clenched. “I see. And you made sure to find any and all pertinent facts concerning my past?”
“As much as I could,” Logan said. He hated to admit the guy had outsmarted them. “You covered your tracks well.”
Stanhope gave a careless shrug. “It’s something you learn to do.”
“But your past still caught up to you.”
“Indeed, it has.” Stanhope took a sip of his coffee. Changed tack. “You haven’t told my daughter yet. Why is that?”
Perceptive. Logan wasn’t sure he liked that trait. “I was still on the job.”
“Sounds like a convenient excuse.”
Logan gripped the iron chair before him, Stanhope’s words fueling the anger in him. Anger mostly focused on himself. “I’ll tell her.”
“She won’t be happy.”
“I don’t expect her to be.”
Stanhope regarded Logan for a long moment. “Did you report to the Matthews brothers?”
“Deke specifically.”
“I see.” Stanhope moved his mug around on the tabletop. A breeze kicked up and dried leaves fluttered at their feet. “You’ll want to touch base with him. We had quite an enlightening conversation this morning.”
“I saw Deke earlier. You know they ended the investigation.”
“I didn’t for sure. Until now.”
“They were concerned for their mother.”
“Which is their place. Jasmine and I had always planned on telling them the truth of my past. You and Deke accelerated the timetable.”
Logan tried to control his temper. “They should have known from the start.”
Stanhope’s eyes narrowed. “It wasn’t their business.”
Logan thought about his grandmother. Of the lengths he’d go to protect her. He understood why Deke and his brothers wanted to know all about Stanhope and he wouldn’t hesitate investigating a case like this again. “I disagree.”
Stanhope gave an angry jut of his chin. “What you think doesn’t matter. We told the boys.”
“And you’ll get away with cheating those people?”
“Aren’t you off the case?”
“I am.”
“Then, again, it’s none of your concern.”
Stanhope was right. It wasn’t any longer Logan’s concern. Sure, he could continue the case with the information he’d gathered. If Deke and his brothers decided not to pursue Stanhope’s past, Logan could still override them. The only hiccup in the plan was Serena.
“You’d be wrong. I’m worried about Serena.”
Voices carried from the coffee shop, and the owner, Delroy, stepped out of Sit a Spell. He waved to Logan but thankfully walked off in the opposite direction.
“So tell me,” Stanhope said moments later. “Do you have feelings for my daughter?”
“I do.” Logan pulled out the chair and sat down.
“I see. You aren’t very good at hiding it.”
At this point Logan didn’t care if the whole world knew how he felt about Serena, as long as he could explain himself to her before she heard it from Deke or
one of his brothers.
“She’s a very caring person, my Serena. Always had a tender heart.”
This wasn’t news to him. Logan thought about the way Serena had befriended his grandmother. How she’d listened to him tell the story of his parents’ betrayal and comforted him. She took in her friend Carrie when she showed up on her doorstep, no questions asked.
“She thought she was protecting me, you know.”
The anger returned. “You’re the parent. It should have been the other way around.”
“I won’t argue that point, but you have to understand that I wasn’t in my right mind.”
Logan snorted. Someday when he had a family he’d never let them carry the burden of his decisions.
“When I lost my wife my world ended. I loved Serena, but I couldn’t see past the grief. My wife had always been my guiding light and when she was gone? I was thrust into darkness.”
“Now who’s making excuses?”
“Ask me that when you lose someone you love more than life itself. It’s not an excuse—it’s fact. I’m not proud of myself, but I’ll make it up to Serena.”
“By investing in her store?”
Stanhope looked startled. “She told you?”
“Too little, too late, if you ask me,” Logan scoffed.
“Then you don’t know the entire story.”
Tourists strolled around them, soaking up the afternoon sun, bags full of souvenirs and goodies from the local stores and Oktoberfest booths.
Life went on around them as Logan sat here, trying to make sense of why Serena’s father would put her in such a problematic situation. As far as he was concerned, there was no good reason. The only point he could agree with was how bereft he’d feel if he lost the woman he loved, because it was a distinct possibility that Serena might walk away after she learned the truth.
“Let me ask you this,” Stanhope said. “What made you enlist in the military?”
Logan was suddenly on guard. Where was he going with this? “Why does it matter?”
“Humor me.”
After debating whether or not to say anything, Logan finally said, “To leave Golden.”
“It can’t be that simple.”
Logan got the distinct impression that Stanhope was reading him much too well. He’d always prided himself on remaining neutral in an investigation. He never gave away his cards. But facing Stanhope, he could see why people would fall for his scams. Especially when he found himself responding to the man’s statement.
“To serve my country.”
“That’s it?”
“I—I needed to get away for personal reasons.”
A pleased grin curved Stanhope’s lips. “Ah, now we’re getting somewhere.”
“I don’t have to tell you my motivation.”
“No, you don’t. But whatever happened to you in the past set the course for your future. Brought you to this place and time, whether you had control over your situation or not.”
“I had no control,” Logan said tightly.
“Neither did I. My wife died and I lost my way. I didn’t choose a noble path, but I got out before permanently damaging Serena.”
“I’m supposed to respect you for that?”
“I want you to try and understand. For Serena’s sake, not mine. I accept what I’ve done. Will pay the consequences. Serena deserves better.”
Logan thought of what he was keeping from her. “She does.”
“She has a way of making you think everything will be fine, even when it isn’t. She’s been like that since she was a little girl, trying to make sense of her mother’s death and convincing me that we’d carry on after. I believed her...for a time.”
Logan could envision a young Serena comforting her father, a little girl dealing with an adult problem, all the while hiding her worry from the man who was supposed to shield her. How it must have hurt her, to encourage her father and not have him respond. Logan had seen the lingering shadows in her eyes firsthand. But also the strength.
He’d been the recipient of her sound advice. He’d confided in her and she’d listened. He knew deep in his soul that she got him. Hadn’t she encouraged him in her own way to make things right with his father? If she didn’t understand the power behind family secrets, she never would have affected him. She had an insight into family pressures because of what she’d experienced. So how could he be so judgmental about her family when he hadn’t built bridges with his own?
Stanhope looked over Logan’s shoulder. Sat up straight. “I love my daughter.”
“So do I.”
“Then you know what you have to do.”
Behind him, he heard Serena’s voice. “What does Logan need to do, Daddy?”
Dread washed over him. It was time to face the facts.
Logan stood. Gazed at the woman who had come to mean everything to him. He nodded to Mrs. Matthews, who stood beside her, but his attention navigated back to Serena. When he didn’t answer, her smile slipped.
“We need to talk, Serena.”
She visibly tensed. Her gaze darted to her father and back again. “Why don’t I like the sound of that?”
“You need to go with him,” her father said. Her eyes went wide and Logan could see she was getting nervous.
“Daddy, you didn’t tell him, did you?”
Stanhope shook his head. “I didn’t need to.”
Her shocked gaze flew to Logan. He swallowed hard. Took a step forward. “I know everything, Serena.”
One hand flew to her mouth. Tears sparkled in her eyes. “How?”
He ran a hand over the nape of his neck. Wished he’d been up-front weeks ago.
“I’m a private investigator. Deke and his brothers hired me to find out information on your father.”
She dropped her hand. “Through me?” she whispered.
At her expression, a sharp pain flared in his chest. This was a million times worse than he’d anticipated. “Yes.”
Her face went pale and she whirled around, dodging traffic as she ran across Main Street.
Logan followed, his breath lodged in his throat as they managed to weave between cars without being hit. He followed her down the alley to the back of her building, catching her before she ran up the stairs to her apartment.
“Serena. Wait. I can explain.”
She turned. Straightened her shoulders, eerily calm.
* * *
SERENA WENT COMPLETELY NUMB. A surreal type of frozen. Then an ache swept over her, walloping her with a punch so massive it was all she could do to keep from doubling over.
She gripped the handrail. “Information retrieval?” she asked, finally managing to say something.
Logan shifted his weight but his gaze never left hers. “Yes.”
“Wow. I just... Wow.”
“I wanted to tell you this morning.”
“How decent of you.” The sarcasm came unbidden from her tongue. “It would have been nice to know the real extent of your business when we first met.”
“That wasn’t possible.”
“Right. The truth puts a damper on surveillance.”
Logan grimaced.
A heavy weight, sure to crush her heart, settled on her chest. “Makes me wonder what else you haven’t told me.”
“I never intended to deceive you, Serena.”
“But you did.”
“Other than to do my job, I’ve been honest with you, which is a lot more than I can say about you.”
Serena rubbed the inside of her wrist, wishing her mother was an actual angel who could intervene right now. “You’re right. I have no excuse.”
They stared at each other, at an impasse, here in the shadow of the building that housed her life’s dream. A chill crept over her skin. Mere feet away the bright autumn sun sh
one down on the paved alleyway. From the sidewalk she could just make out the voices of tourists laughing and enjoying their visit to Golden while her life came crashing down around her.
Yes, Logan was only doing his job. But what bothered her the most was that he hadn’t been honest with her, after their relationship had progressed to where her feelings for him outweighed her concern about being discovered. He could have been straightforward with her, trusted her once the professional and personal lines became blurred. She didn’t think she could be with a man who deceived people, period. It had taken a long time for her to get past what her father had done.
And that was when Serena recognized the door closing on her relationship with Logan. Already started grieving the end. What a mess the best time of her life had turned out to be.
She recalled the encouragement in her father’s eyes moments before. “Tell him your side,” he’d mouthed soundlessly. She shut her eyes as if she could shut out the gravity of the situation. She’d finally fallen in love and now her past and Logan’s actions were going to ruin the hope she had for happiness.
She lifted her lids. Took in her surroundings. Wished she was anywhere but here, getting ready to ruin what Logan might feel toward her. She wanted to run to the park, her safe place, but right now Gold Dust Park was overflowing with tourists enjoying Oktoberfest. She briefly thought about her friends working their shift at the festival. Once she told Logan the truth, she’d have to be honest with them, too.
Sinking onto the nearest step, she nearly groaned out loud. Thankfully she wasn’t going to hash this all out with Logan in public. Still, the shame she’d desperately wanted to shed returned with a vengeance. She’d have to deal with the fallout of her secrets, but she could only handle one revelation—no, make that two—in one day. Her friends and fellow business owners would learn soon enough and she’d deal with it.
Nervous now, Serena looked up and met his hooded gaze. “I love Golden,” she said as a way to start. “Wanted to begin a new life here.”
“A life based on lies?”
Her inner armor barely withstood the hit. “I should have put two and two together. I suspected you might be interested in me for all the wrong reasons, but I chose to ignore what was right in front of me. Instead I’d hoped you were interested in me because of your grandmother’s matchmaking.”
