Sandpiper Shore

by Debbie Mason

  Poppy reached across the desk and took his phone, deleting the photo. “You’re not writing the story. I’ve got a better one.”

  “It better be, because I guarantee there are several versions of that photo already online along with the story, Pop-Tart. It won’t look good that the local newspaper isn’t covering the story and everyone else is. In fact, some people might say we’re in bed with the Gallaghers.”

  Jenna hoped no one was saying that about her. Although right now, she’d love to rub it in Lorenzo’s face that she’d slept with Logan last night and that he was a far better lover than Lorenzo could ever dream of being. After the total humiliation of knowing that she’d been taken in by him, of knowing that he’d stolen her car and the money she been saving since she was a little girl, she wanted him to suffer. No, she needed him to, so she poured out her anger and humiliation into a text.

  As Poppy and Byron discussed a replacement story, Jenna scanned what she’d typed, imagining Lorenzo’s shock when he opened it, his fear that she really would hire a lawyer who’d go after him with the sole purpose of not only getting back her car and her money but sending him back to Italy without his precious ring. Her finger hovered over Delete All as she vowed to get rid of not only her text but him for good.

  “Did you not hear anything I just said?” Poppy asked, taking the phone from her, no doubt as a means of getting her attention. It got her attention all right. She heard the familiar whoosh of a text being sent. Poppy must’ve read the panic in her expression because she looked from Jenna to the phone’s screen and said, “Oh crap.”

  “What’s going on?” Byron reached across the desk to take Jenna’s phone from his sister before she could stop him. As he scanned the text, an eyebrow shot up. “Are you sure you want to write a story about how Lorenzo conned Jenna? Because I’m thinking our female audience would love to hear just how amazing Logan Gallagher really—”

  Poppy grabbed the phone from him. “No one thinks you’re funny. That was privileged information, and Jenna will sue if she finds out you’ve breathed a word of it.”

  “We’re partners, sister dearest. If she sues me, it means she’s suing you too.”

  “Byron,” Poppy muttered.

  “Relax. I’m sorry, Jenna. I shouldn’t have teased you. We’ll do the story on Lorenzo. If there’s dirt on the guy, we’ll find it. And while we’re at it, we’ll look into Wilson. Find out why he’s got it in for the Gallaghers. There, am I back in your good graces, little sister?”

  “If you get enough evidence on Lorenzo to get him kicked out of the country, maybe.”

  He leaned back in his chair to study his sister. “I should’ve known. It reminds you of what happened with—” He lifted his hand. “Off-limits. Understood. We all have a right to our secrets. Except Lorenzo and Wilson, of course.”

  And Jenna, because obviously she’d just agreed to have the story of how badly Lorenzo used her, how big a fool she really was, splashed across the front page of the Gazette for everyone in Harmony Harbor to see, including her stepsisters.

  “You know, I think we’ll have enough of a story to serialize it. Maybe run it for three to four weeks,” Byron said to his sister.

  Jenna got unsteadily to her feet. “I should get going. Pippa’s probably hungry, and the tide will be going out soon.” And maybe she’d spend another night at the beach, this time alone, because the last thing she wanted to do was go home and prove to Arianna and Serena that they’d been right about her all along.

  But thirty minutes later, when she’d finally limped her way onto the beach, she discovered she wasn’t alone after all. Logan was there, moving a metal detector over the spot she’d searched that morning. He looked lost in thought and not happy. Knowing what she did, she couldn’t say she blamed him.

  As though sensing someone’s presence, he looked over, his smile more subdued than the one she’d seen yesterday. “Hey. I wasn’t expecting to see you. How’s the ankle?”

  “It’s okay. The compression bandage helps.” Along with the T-shirt and denim shorts, Poppy had loaned the bandage.

  “Did you walk over from Main Street?” At her nod, he gestured to a mound of sand. “Sit down and give your ankle a rest. I’ve gone over that spot a couple of times already.”

  She looked at the white-capped waves rolling onto shore; she had some time before the tide went out. He took her arm and guided her to the spot. “I can manage myself, you know,” she said with a smile.

  “I know.” He smiled back, and this time it was more like the one she remembered. She realized why when he nodded at the scarf. “I see you haven’t given up on him.”

  “It’s a she, not a he, and her name is Pippa,” she said as Logan helped her awkwardly lower herself to the mound of sand.

  He stroked the top of the bird’s head. “Cute.”

  His gaze held hers, and she grew flustered, more from the way her body was responding to the look in his eyes than the intensity in his gaze. Which was probably why she blurted, “How’s your mom? Michael wasn’t right, was he?”

  “Yeah, he was.”

  “Oh, Logan, I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything.”

  “No, it’s fine.” Obviously it wasn’t because he backed away, putting some distance between them. Picking up the metal detector, he returned to sweeping it over the sand.

  She didn’t know what else to say and considered leaving him on his own. But she didn’t want to. He’d stayed with her on one of the worst days of her life. She didn’t want to think what it would’ve been like without him there to lean on. “Are you okay? Is there anything I can do?”

  “I’m just trying to process it all. Figure out how to get my mom to go to the doctor, have the tests, deal with it instead of burying her head in the sand.” He glanced at the metal detector, giving his head a slight shake at his choice of words, she presumed.

  “Does she not want to have treatment?” After a year and a half of chemo and radiation, her mother had refused to have any more.

  “She doesn’t even have a definitive diagnosis. The doctor wanted to do more tests. She never went back. She got into her car and came here. Her mother, my maternal grandmother, had ovarian cancer. Today was the first time my brothers and I heard about it. The first time we heard about a lot of things, actually. Anyway, as soon as the doctor brought up the possibility she had ovarian cancer, she shut down. She was in her late teens when her mom was fighting the disease. I guess it left a pretty big impression on her.”

  Jenna nodded, knowing a little something about that herself. “It would. But now that it’s out in the open, she has her family to lean on. You can talk about her options and figure out next steps.”

  “She doesn’t want to talk about it, at least to us. We’re hoping my grandmother can get her to open up.”

  “Give her time.”

  “That’s the thing, Jenna. She might not have time.”

  “You probably don’t want to hear this, but in the end, it’s her decision. You just have to find a way to support her.”

  “Easy for you to say. You’re not the one who has to stand by and watch your…” He bowed his head and then raised his gaze to hers. “I’m sorry. That was a crappy thing for me to say. I forgot you lost your mom to cancer.”

  “It’s okay. I do understand how you feel, Logan. You’re dealing with a lot today.”

  He gave a dry laugh and came to sit beside her. “You have no idea.”

  “I might. I was at the Gazette when Byron came back from the manor.”

  “You’re kidding me. He was there?”

  “Yes, but don’t worry. He’s not printing the story.” She stopped short of telling him about the story Byron was publishing. As hard as it would be to tell her stepsisters how badly Lorenzo had used and abused her, it would be far worse having to share with Logan. She had no doubt he’d be kinder and more compassionate than Arianna upon hearing the news, but Jenna didn’t want him to know just how big a sucker she’d been. And that
was something else she didn’t want to delve too deeply into—her feelings for the man sitting beside her.

  “At this point, it doesn’t really matter if he does or not. Wilson didn’t appreciate my uncle and my father threatening him and took it upon himself to call my supervisor. Until further notice, I’m on administrative leave.” He looked out to sea as he slowly moved the metal detector back and forth over the sand between his bent knees.

  “I’m so sorry. This is all my—”

  He placed a finger gently on her lips. “No, it’s not. Maybe it’s for the best. I can take some time to spend with my mother.”

  Her lips tingled, her body aglow from just that simple, innocent touch. If Poppy knew how Jenna felt right now, she’d kick her out of the anti–Prince Charming club before it even got started. A metallic pinging drew her attention. It was the metal detector. Logan leaned over and began digging in the sand. Seconds later, he grinned and held up the ring. Rubbing it clean on his jeans, he took her hand and slipped it on her finger. “At least one thing went right today.”

  She didn’t have the heart to ruin the moment. She couldn’t tell him just how bad things had gotten.

  Chapter Ten

  It took a concerted effort for Logan to place the pink diamond on Jenna’s finger. It had nothing to do with size. The ring slid easily onto her narrow finger. The problem was he didn’t want to see another man’s ring on her hand. The thought brought him up short. Clearly, Logan had too much going on right now and wasn’t thinking straight. Thinking straight? He was having a hard time breathing right.

  Despite his brothers’ earlier worries, and his own for that matter, it was still a shock to discover his mom had cancer. Then, as if it couldn’t get worse, she more or less told them she had no interest in fighting. Not fighting was anathema to him. How could she just give up like that? It felt like she was giving up on them. He didn’t know if he could stand by and watch her die. He wasn’t made that way.

  And maybe that’s why, while he was sliding an engagement ring on Jenna’s finger with a smile that he wasn’t close to feeling on his face, he said to her, “How? How am I supposed to support her if she won’t fight?”

  Jenna made a soft sound of sympathy and leaned forward. Placing her hands on his shoulders, she touched her forehead to his. “I promise, when the time comes, you’ll know how to support her. You’ve had a terrible shock on top of a crappy twenty-four hours. Give yourself a break.”

  “A few of those hours weren’t crappy.” Neither of them had said a word to each other about last night. At the time, he’d thought it was the best way to play it. No embarrassing morning-after rehash. Granted, Poppy’s arrival was hardly conducive to intimate conversation. But he didn’t want Jenna to think he was blowing her off, that she was just a booty call. She was more than that.

  And as he sat with his forehead touching hers, his hands resting on her bare thighs, asking a question he couldn’t bring himself to ask of anyone else, he realized their time together meant more to him than he’d expected it to. More than it should.

  “No, they weren’t. They were lovely. Thank you,” she said.

  “Lovely, huh. I must not have brought my A game last night.”

  “Trust me, you did,” she mumbled, her cheeks flushing a pretty pink. She ducked her head to peek in the scarf. “Oh, look, somebody’s waking up.” Her relief at the distraction was obvious.

  He glanced over his shoulder at the beach, thinking she had the right idea. It was best to drop both subjects. “Good timing. Tide’s out. I’ll give you a hand getting her some grub.”

  “It’s okay. I have lots of time to kill, and I’m sure you’re busy. You already wasted part of your day finding my ring.” She rubbed her forehead as though rubbing his touch away. “I didn’t even say thank you. Sorry, I don’t know where my head is at today. That was sweet of you to come and look for it when you have so much more important stuff going on.”

  “I didn’t mind, Jenna. To be honest, I’d much rather be here than at the manor.”

  “Well, you know what they say. Everything’s better at the beach.” She bent to unwrap the bandage from her ankle, glancing at him. “I get the impression that you don’t want to talk about your mom anymore. But if you ever do, you can call me, Logan. Anytime, day or night.”

  “Appreciate it. Thanks, Jenna.”

  “No problem.”

  He stood up and offered her his hand, carefully pulling her to her feet.

  “Thanks.” She smiled. “And this is the last I’ll say about it unless you bring it up, but talk to your mom, Logan. Find out why she doesn’t want treatment. It’ll help you understand what she’s dealing with. Let her know how you feel. Why it’s so important to you and your family that she has the testing done, and then the treatment if she needs or wants it.”

  “Your mother chose not to have the treatment, didn’t she?”

  “She fought hard for more than a year, but yes, in the end, she chose not to continue with the treatment. She didn’t want to spend the last few months of her life fighting. She wanted to spend them living and enjoying what time she had left.”

  He gave her hand a gentle squeeze. “That would be a choice I could accept and support. Your mom sounds like she was a smart lady. I’m sorry you lost her so young. It must’ve been tough.”

  “I couldn’t have wished for a better mother. Which made it even harder to lose her, I guess. But I had my dad. He was amazing too. It was almost harder to lose him than it was my mother. She’d suffered and fought so hard, but one minute my dad and I were making plans to meet for lunch, and less than an hour later he was dead.”

  From the expression on her face, the wound was still fresh and painful. And then, as if losing her father wasn’t difficult enough, her stepmother had stolen her business and her fiancé. He hoped there was a special place in hell reserved for Gwyneth Bell and Lorenzo Romano. Logan should’ve done more than give the guy a bloody nose. “I take it you haven’t heard from your ex.”

  She gave him a startled look. “No. Why?”

  He frowned. “What’s going on? You look like—”

  “Nothing. Nothing’s going on.” She gave him a forced smile and let go of his hand to fuss with her scarf, clearly avoiding contact of any kind.

  Which meant something had happened, and if it involved Lorenzo, that something wasn’t good. Now to figure out a way to get the information from her. “Okay. You seemed upset. Not surprising though, right? It hasn’t been that long.”

  “Long enough for him to ruin my life,” she murmured, and then grimaced. “Yours too. But now that we have the ring, I can use it to get Lorenzo to back off. And if I can’t get through to him, I know someone who can. His uncle. Lorenzo looks up to him. Even better, I think he’s afraid of him.”

  To Logan’s mind, the less she had to do with Lorenzo and his family the better. “You do what you want with the ring, Jenna. After what went down at the manor this morning, it won’t make much of a difference whether Lorenzo drops the charges or not. Here’s an idea. Give the ring to Arianna. See if she can use it to get your company back.”

  She barely managed a nod and a weak smile. It looked like she was carrying an albatross around her neck and not a baby sandpiper that weighed less than a couple ounces.

  That did it for him. He had to get to the bottom of this. She was worse off than she had been last night. Lorenzo must’ve contacted her. Logan waited until they reached the mud flats and she’d gently removed the bird from the scarf to tenderly place her on the wet sand. It looked like a cotton ball sitting there. All it would take was a strong wind to blow the peep away. Jenna must’ve come to the same conclusion and crouched to block the light wind. Finally giving in to the obvious pain the position caused, she moved from a crouch to a kneel. And that’s when he put his plan into action.

  He took his phone from his pocket, moving it around as though he couldn’t get a connection. “Jenna, you mind if I borrow your phone? I wanna check in with Mic
hael. See how my mom’s doing.”

  “Yes, of course.” She pulled her phone from her back pocket and naively typed in the passcode before handing it over.

  “Thanks.” He walked a short distance away and then turned his back as though protecting his privacy while he invaded hers. He pulled up her texts, hit Lorenzo’s, and scrolled down until he reached the last one. It was from Jenna to Lorenzo and was about the length of a small book.

  Okay, so apparently he had brought his A game last night. He covered a laugh with a cough at the way Jenna emasculated Lorenzo by using Logan’s sexual prowess as a knife. However, the further along he read, the less he felt like laughing or smiling or high-fiving her. Nor could he pretend he didn’t know that Lorenzo had basically bankrupted her.

  Pulling out his own phone, Logan called his brother. Connor picked up on the second ring. “I have a case for you.”

  “Wish I could help you out, but I can’t, big brother. My caseload just doubled, and I’m down two assistants.”

  “That wasn’t a request. I’m calling in my marker.”

  “No way. You’ve already got Dad and Michael on your case. And, I might add, Uncle Daniel, who isn’t a lawyer but has the BS down. So you’ll be fine.”

  He heard the amusement in his brother’s voice when he referred to their uncle. Logan found it interesting that they seemed to have bonded in such a short time, especially after learning that his uncle and mother had apparently been involved when they were younger and his uncle seemed anxious to take up where they’d left off. Logan didn’t trust the older man.

  “It’s not for me. I have a friend who needs your help,” he said as he walked toward Jenna. She looked up from trying to feed the baby bird. He handed her back her cell phone.