by Lacey, Leila
Now wrapping her arms around his waist and kissing him longingly, Shelby whispered, “Well, would you like me to go back across the room and assume the previous position?”
Smacking her on her ass, Logan growled and said, “Don’t play with me, woman. I will give you a work out this rehab facility will never forget.”
They both laughed as Shelby closed up her last bag. She was getting her jacket on when the last person she wanted to see today, or any other day for that matter, Jackson Beasley, walked in.
“Well, I figured if I did not come and make my presence known in your life today, baby girl, I would not get the chance to,” Jackson said to his daughter completely ignoring Logan’s presence in the room. Jackson had once told Shelby when she was a little girl that the mark of a person with class was one that acknowledged everyone from the lowest of beggars to the richest of kings. Shelby thought that was ironic. But there was something else that was making her feel like this was a déjà vu moment; the words he had said “make my presence known in your life.” She had heard those words before from her father. Then it hit her. “Oh my God,” she said stumbling backward away from her father. Logan sprang forward to catch her before she fell. Sitting her down in the oversized reclining chair in her room, tears welled in her eyes and Logan kneeled down in front of her. She could see his lips moving but could not hear what he was saying. There was an ocean going through her head, or at least that is what it sounded like, as she remembered it. She remembered it all. The accident, what had happened in that car with that monster Zach, her and Logan’s baby and her father’s role in all of it. Looking up at the man she had called Father and worshipped and had even placed on a pedestal. She became physically sick, grabbing her mouth like she wanted to vomit. Logan sprang into action grabbing a trash can. Shelby wretched into the trash and while Logan was getting her a towel, Shelby started to scream at her father. “GET OUT! GET OUT NOW! GET OUT!” Shelby screamed so loud and she was making such a fuss that nurses came running into the room. Logan was trying to soothe her but she continued to scream. As Jackson eased his way out of the room, the doctors had no choice but to give Shelby a sedative to calm her down.
*******
“NO!” Shelby screamed. Waking up from a terrible dream, Shelby looked around trying to get her bearings. Realizing she was no longer at the rehab facility, this place also looked familiar; she was at home in her bedroom. How did she get here?
“Hey there she is. Good Morning, Sunshine, “Logan said from an overstuffed chair in the corner of Shelby’s bedroom.
“Oh thank goodness you woke up. I was starting to think they hit you with a mallet instead of giving you a sedative,” Cassidy said from the small loveseat that was in the sitting area of Shelby’s bedroom.
“How did I get here?” Shelby whispered, looking at them confused. Logan and Cassidy looked at each other with concern as they both sat down on her bed near her.
“You don’t remember, honey?” Cassidy asked.
“The last thing I can remember is my father walking into my room at the rehab facility,” Shelby said running her hand over her face.
“Yes, Jackass, I mean, Jackson came to see you before you left the rehab facility. You apparently had a memory we have yet to know about and went 1970’s horror flick on him with the scream you let out,” Cassidy said laughing
“Cassidy!” Logan said in a warning tone. The doctors had told them to let her tell them what had caused the panic attack; that she was not in any physical danger from her memories and that she could go home but that they may need to have her talk to a therapist. Sarah had contacted the family therapist when they got her home. Logan thought it was ironic and sad that these people had a therapist and a lawyer on retainer and on speed dial, but THAT was none of his business.
“What do we have to do to get the recollection going here?” Cassidy said to Logan. “I am too damn nosey to wait any longer.” Shelby laughed as she sat back against the pillows on her bed, thinking ‘do I remember why I was so upset?’ and realizing she did. That was when she realized for the second time in as many days that she had been a mother if only for a few weeks and that her child had died, because of what had happened on that trip and that Logan still didn’t know, well at least she didn’t think he knew.
“I remember,” Shelby said quietly. “Cassidy, do you mind if I talk to Logan alone for a minute, please? I need to tell him something’s that is private,” Shelby said to her friend. “ARE YOU SERIOUS? I have waited thirty six hours to find out what is going on and you are going to make me wait longer?” Cassidy said with a look of disgust and total disbelief on her face. Shelby looked at her friend with a look of total disappointment on her face as Cassidy jumped off the bed and started stomping toward the door.
“It starts! Start getting dicked down on a regular basis and forget about the little people,” Cassidy said as she was walking. “I am leaving but I am just going down stairs to eat your cheesecake. I am NOT leaving this house until I hear the good stuff,” she finished before slamming the door closed. Shelby could still hear Cassidy talking to herself in the hall saying, “Some people’s kids and their men.” Logan and Shelby laughed quietly. Reaching across and grabbing her hand Logan said, “There is something wrong with her. But she loves you.” Laughing and gripping his hand tighter, Shelby whispered, “I know but I need to tell you something.” As she looked up at him, Logan could see the tears in her eyes start to run down her face. He decided to stay silent and let her talk and from the looks of things, she needed to. So she nodded, took a deep breath and Shelby began to tell him the things he didn’t know.
“First, Logan, I want to tell you that I am so sorry!” Shelby whispered. “I am sorry that I did not tell you about the baby. I don’t know why I didn’t, it was so unfair. When I found out about that woman, Tessa, being pregnant by you and all my family secrets and then the baby, I just didn’t know what to do or think or feel. I knew that I wanted our baby more than anything but that was all I knew.” She stopped, pausing to see if he was still with her. From the look on his face, he was sad and already knew of the baby but was still listening so she continued. “Although I was angry with Daddy, I needed help. I knew if I stayed in Georgia that eventually you would see and realize that I was pregnant, with Tessa expecting and Gia. I needed time to think.” She was getting more and more upset at what she was going to have to relive to help Logan and everyone else understand what happened to her.
Taking her hand, Logan said, “Shelby, Tessa is not having my baby.” He paused when she looked at him in total shock. “After your accident, I came to find out that Tessa was paid by… wait for it… your father to get me drunk, have sex with her and take pictures. Tessa, being the trash that she is, decided to take it to a whole other level and also claimed to be pregnant,” Logan finished. Initially when Logan had found out what that bastard had done, he had almost gone straight to Jackson’s hell hole on the hill he called a home and kicked his ass. Then he had realized that if Jackson Beasley had gone through the trouble of setting him up to keep him and Shelby apart it meant that he knew there was a chance for them to be together. That was when Logan had decided to do all that he could to show Shelby how much she meant to him
“Oh my God, Logan, I am so sorry!” Shelby said in shock and anger. “Who does he think he is? My father is not the man I thought he was and that breaks my heart.” Logan sat next to her on the bed and wrapped her in his arms. “I know it’s hard, baby. There have been so many things that have been thrown at you lately,” Logan whispered to her.
“You don’t even know the half of it,” Shelby whispered. Wrapped in Logan’s arms with her head on his chest, Shelby went on to tell Logan what she had remembered about the week of her accident. Going to her father telling him she was pregnant, him telling her that he was going to take care of things and “make his presence known in her life” and that she would not have anything to worry about. That’s when a few days later, Zach had come to her and told her t
hat they needed an interim professor at Brown University for the summer and fall semester and he had suggested her to help her out. She had been so grateful for his help that she never imagined her father was setting her up until she was on the road to Brown with Zach. Because Shelby was afraid to fly, they drove and that’s when she found out from Zach that there was no job and that her father had paid him to get her out of Georgia for the next ten months. It had gotten late and they had decided to get off the road and had found a hotel to stay in. There was a convention; Shelby still couldn’t remember what and there was only one room with two beds. Shelby had been so tired and thought that Zach was a good guy so she had agreed to share the room with him. She had thought nothing of it until she woke up in the middle of the night with Zack on top of her raping her. “WHAT!” Logan said springing out of bed. “Shelby, he RAPED YOU? We have to call the police!” Logan had started yelling.
“NO!” Shelby yelled at him. She could see that Logan was devastated that he was not there for her, to protect her, but he needed to know the whole story. “Logan, please!” she whispered, tears streaming down her face. “I need to finish telling you what happened, I need you to hear the rest. PLEASE!” she said. Shelby was so tired from just telling the story; tired, broken hearted and angry. She just needed to get it out.
“I am sorry, baby!” Logan said going back to his spot on the bed wrapping her even tighter this time. Taking a deep breath and continuing the story, she said that she had tried to get Zach off of her and scream, but Zach had tied a scarf around her mouth while she had been asleep and he was so big and strong that her struggles were all for naught. He had whispered to her, “come on, baby, you know you want it.” Shelby had been in such shock and despair and disgust. She had gotten up the next morning and tried to scrub the Zach smell off her body. She then had gotten in the car and started to drive, still going toward Brown. She was in auto pilot until she had heard him say from the passenger seat of the car, “You know that if you tell anyone that I raped you, no one is going to believe that a guy like me would rape a fat pig like you. You will be laughed at and ruin what reputation you have. So I would not advise it. Besides your father said I could have anything I needed to get his ‘baby girl’ out of Georgia,” he had finished rubbing his finger down the side of her face.
“At that moment, I knew that my life would never be the same. But I also knew that I would never let him do this to another woman,” Shelby said quietly wiping tears from her face. “That was when I saw my chance. There was a huge tree around the bend of the winding road that we were on. I put my foot down on the gas and drove us at eighty miles an hour into that tree,” Shelby said finally bursting into tears. “I did it on purpose, Logan. I killed him and I killed our baby,” she said finally falling apart. For the next five hours, Logan held Shelby as she cried. Consoling her and assuring her that she was not a murderer, that she had snapped and defended herself and that Zach was a monster. He had gone to the kitchen to make her something to eat, and had himself a good cry for Shelby and their baby and for him not being a better man to keep her from danger. When Shelby had finally fallen asleep, Logan had called Lance needing someone to talk to.
“HE WHAT??” Lance had screamed into the phone. “You have got to get her to go to the cops.”
“For what? “ Logan said to his brother. “The guy is dead. It’s not like Shelby is going to get any justice for her rape and you know our judicial system. If Shelby tells them the story the way that she told me, they will have her up on manslaughter charges before you know it.”
“You’re right,” Lance said sighing “What are you going to do?” he asked his brother.
“Support Shelby!” Logan said and was thinking about putting Jackson Beasley out of his misery.
After talking to his brother for a little while longer, Logan had gone and climbed in bed and held Shelby as she slept. Earlier that day, Logan had made plans in his mind to seduce Shelby tonight and make love to her until the sun came up. But all he wanted to do now was protect her and love her. Just before drifting off to sleep, Logan made her a silent promise. Jackson would pay for what had happened to her, if it was the last thing he did on this earth.
CHAPTER FIVE
Logan pulled up to Graham house and whistled. “I thought your family home was big!” he said to Shelby. It had been a week since Shelby had told Logan the truth about her accident, her rape and the death of their child. Logan and her therapist had finally convinced Shelby a couple of days ago to tell her family what had happened to her. They needed to know what Jackson had done. Shelby had called her entire family and asked them to come to a family meeting which Cassidy had insisted they have at her house saying, “The last family meeting you people had I needed a fainting couch and had nowhere to faint!”
“Yes, Mother was always very jealous of the Graham mansion. I remember spending so many days hiding in one of the eleven guest rooms playing hide and seek with Cassidy,” she smiled at Logan. The Graham estate was nestled in extensive gardens in the center of hills of Shelbyville. It was a 5-minute walk from the beach. The house had been passed down to the first born son of the Graham family for years until Cassidy’s grandfather. He only had daughters, with Cassidy’s mother as the first born. Grace had been determined to keep her father’s family legacy strong. The house was steeped in over a century of history.
“ELEVEN BEDROOMS?” Logan said in shock. “Explain this to me; why do you rich people need so many bedrooms in their houses? Do they grow extra assholes for every extra ten million they have?” he finished.
Laughing, Shelby shook her head. “Are you going to help me out of the car or not?”
“I am coming, woman,” Logan said as he got out of the car and came around to help Shelby out. As they stood waiting for someone to open the front door, Logan looked at her with concern. “Are you ready?” he whispered rubbing her back.
Thinking for a minute, Shelby nodded and said, “I guess I won’t know until I tell them,” she said to Logan who wrapped her into his arms. “I am here, baby” he whispered kissing the top of her head.
“Get in here!” Cassidy said swinging the front door open and pulling Shelby into the house at the same time who pulled Logan in behind her.
“What’s wrong?” Shelby said pulling her arm back and rubbing her shoulder. Cassidy had pulled her arm tight.
“If you don’t get your hoe bag sister, Daddy is going to have to pay off every judge within the Georgia state line to keep me out of jail!” Cassidy said walking toward the solarium. Shelby looked over at Logan and he shrugged his shoulders signaling he had nothing.
“Um. Cass? Did you forget that she is your sister, too?” Shelby said sarcastically holding her smile back. Cassidy stopped in the middle of the grand foyer.
“Shel, don’t make me cut you today!” she said looking her up and down and starting to walk again dragging Shelby along.
Giggling to herself a little, Shelby said, “It’s about time someone else besides me has to deal with Savannah.”
The solarium had a hand painted ceiling and two marble fireplaces. It had French doors that led out to the Garden Conservatory. Grace was very much into horticulture. Shelby and Cassidy had had the best English breakfasts with Grace when they were little girls with cream teas and home-made cakes. The solarium was decorated in green, brown and cream hues, with a grand piano and fireplace. It overlooked the family’s private beach and had a built-in music system, wine bar antique furnishings with plants and flowers placed strategically throughout the room.
“Good Morning, baby girl!” Sarah greeted Shelby as she walked into the room. She wrapped her daughter in a bear hug. Sarah and Shelby had gotten so close in the last month’s since her accident. She realized that her mother had always loved them all but had been burdened by the secrets that her father had her keep and knowing that one day all of her children would know that she was not their biological mother. She also nodded at Logan, “Hello, Logan, how are you today?” she said. L
ogan smiled and nodded to her.
“I am well, thank you.”
“Finally, Grand Dam is here. Can we get this meeting underway?” Savannah said from the grand piano.
“Will you shut up?” Cassidy said to Savannah. “Were you born a bitch or did they have to pour water on you and sit you in a window to grow like a Chia pet?”
“Chi-chi-chi-chia,” Logan mumbled. Cassidy laughed, giving him a high-five. “Normally I work alone but that one was good,” Cassidy said to him.
“Cassidy,” Grace said in a calm yet serious tone. “Sit down, please.” Cassidy rolled her eyes at Savannah and sat in the chair her mother had pointed to. “Momma, why…” she started to say to Grace who only held up one finger at her. Cassidy knew that was the clue to shush.
“Savannah,” Grace said turning and addressing her other daughter. “You will sit down and be quiet. I will not have you speaking to anyone in my home like that,” Grace said to her calmly.
“You are not my mother,” Savannah said to her.
“As a matter of fact, young lady, I am,” Grace said to her pausing. “Now sit down and shut up.”
“Momma, aren’t you going to say something?” Savannah said to Sarah, shaking her head. What Sarah said next surprised them all. “Savannah, sit down and shut up.”
“Bravo, Bravo!” Cassidy said standing up and clapping. “Oh, I am sorry, I will be quiet,” she said after Grace turned to look at her with a look of warning. ‘Good Lord!’ Shelby was thinking. Greyson, Ivy Meade, Queenie and Lance were all there for the meeting too but she had not been able to focus on that for all of the immediate drama that Savannah brought to every situation.
