Chapter Thirty-nine

EMILY

By the time the waitress delivered our food, I’d gotten over Mama tricking me. Sure, it was childish, but given everything that had happened between Logan and me the previous night, I was past caring about Mama’s attempt to force us together.

She’d won for crying out loud. Now, she didn’t know that yet, as I’d certainly not told her about us sleeping together on Saturday. There were some things she didn’t need to know about.

I dug into my pancakes, thinking over everything that had happened in the last week. I’d gone from pushing Logan away and thinking I’d never seeing him again to telling him I loved him.

I’d also gone from worrying that Lionel was going to take my daughter away from me to making sure I had full custody. It’d been both a busy and terrifying week.

Free. That’s what I felt. The dark clouds of Lionel that had been hanging over my head since the divorce were finally starting to part.

I wasn’t going to take his daughter from him, not totally. I was more than willing to let him have visitation, but things were going to change, and he’d never be allowed to use her as a weapon again.

All that assuming he didn’t end up going to prison. I didn’t know how serious the charges were against him, but given what he’d tried to pull, I’d have to prepare for that. Juniper might not understand, but I’d have to figure out some way to break it to her if it happened. Maybe Lionel would still weasel out of it.

I spared a glance over at Logan. So handsome, so intelligent, so loving. I’d been trying to push him away since I met him, and now the idea seemed insane. It was only by the grace of God that Logan hadn’t given up on me, even when I’d given up on myself.

Juniper laughed loudly at a joke of Logan’s. I chuckled myself. Who could have guessed he knew so many kid jokes? It’s like he’d been around young kids his entire life. Everyone seemed to be having a great time. Young and old, everyone smiling, laughing, eating. All relaxed with not a care in the world.

I didn’t care if brunch was turning into a loud affair. I loved it. Just like I loved all the people around the table who had done so much to help my daughter and me.

A contented sigh escaped my lips. This is what I’d been missing for a while. Juniper needed more than just Mama and me. Logan was the key that filled a hole that I’d not even known was there.

Honestly, I didn’t even know if I’d felt this relaxed and loved when I was still married to Lionel. We’d had our good times, but after we got divorced, I’d thought back to the early months of our marriage and the arguments we’d had.

Lionel always turned everything around on me, and I’d let him. He’d probably cheated on me from the very beginning. I’d always known there was something he was holding back, and it had always made everything very tense. The more I thought about it, the more it was amazing that our marriage lasted as long as it did.

After it’d ended, I’d believed that by keeping Lionel involved, I’d never have to worry about trouble with Juniper. How stupid I’d been.

I thought about that over the next few minutes as I worked on my pancakes, bacon, and fruit. Logan sneaked a glance at me every once in a while, a faint smile on his face like he knew some hidden joke.

“So that’s when Teresa walked in and asked where all the giraffes were,” Amelia said. She’d started telling a story about some of the stranger things that had happened at her fundraisers. I hadn’t really been paying attention to any of it.

“The poor woman was drunk out of her mind,” Mama said. “Bless her heart.”

They both laughed so much, one would have thought they’d been drinking themselves. I joined in the laughter, though more because of their antics than anything else.

I caught sight of my daughter being inappropriate. “Juniper!” I said. “You will behave. We are in public.”

“Oh, it’s all right, Emily,” Logan said with a wave of his hand. “I wasn’t going to eat it anyway. No point letting it go to waste.”

My little beggar of a daughter had snatched food off Logan’s plate, and that was not long after doing the same thing to “Grandma Amelia.” One time was maybe cute, but I didn’t want her to turn it into a habit, no matter how much Logan or his mother didn’t seem to care.

“Sorry, Mama,” Juniper said with a grin. “Sorry, Logan. Sorry, Grandma Amelia.”

I sighed and shook my head. I wasn’t sure how I felt about the whole Grandma Amelia thing yet. Obviously, we’d be spending a lot more time around Logan and Amelia, but his mother was getting a little ahead of herself asking to be called grandma.

Or was she? The thought struck me like a lightning bolt.

Would it be so bad to be with a man like Logan? We both loved each other. All our baggage was clear. There were no dark secrets left to scare either us off.

I took a sip of my sweet tea, hoping that drinking would cover any odd expression on my face. It seemed weird to even be thinking about marriage when a couple of days earlier I’d finally finished dealing with the fallout from my divorce.

Of course, I also wasn’t a fresh-faced woman with no life experience. I knew who Logan was, and he’d shown it through how he’d treat me, even when I’d treated him poorly. I was old enough to know what I wanted, and Logan was better with Juniper than her own father had ever been.

Then again, I knew Logan loved me, but that wasn’t the same thing as being ready to marry me. Maybe the person really getting ahead of herself wasn’t Amelia Hawkins but me.

“What’s on your mind?” Logan said, his voice low, a slight look of concern on his face.

Apparently, my attempt to disguise my feelings by drinking tea had failed. No one but Logan seemed to notice though. Our mothers were still cackling about some society parties among themselves. Juniper had decided to focus on coloring instead of trying to steal more food.

“Nothing’s on my mind,” I said, also keeping my voice low. I don’t know how long we could have a private conversation right in front of two nosy women like our mothers, but it didn’t hurt to try.

“Something’s on your mind,” Logan said, his dark eyes seeing right through me. “I can tell by looking at you.”

“So much has happened so quickly.” I shrugged. “It seems like yesterday we had that first date, and I, well, it didn’t seem like much was going to come from it.”

“That’s how life is. Does that bother you?”

I took another sip of my tea while I thought my answer over. “No, it doesn’t bother me. It’s surprising is all.”

I leaned against Logan. He put his arm around me. It was nice being able to relax into him, no worries, and knowing he loved me and cared for my daughter.

“I love you,” I whispered into his ear.

“I love you too,” he whispered back.

To my surprise, he tilted my head up and planted a big kiss right on my lips. He didn’t try to enter my mouth, and though I was dying to kiss him more, I did have to think of where we were. My daughter and our mothers were right there too.

I pulled away and smiled. He smiled back.

“Well, if we both love each other, then when are you moving in?” Logan said.

I opened my mouth to tell him why that was a bad idea and then realized that was silly. It was a bit late to complain about Logan asking for the very things I’d been wondering about myself. Of course, certain proprieties needed to be observed.

“Why not?” I said.

Our mothers fell deathly silent. I could feel their stares.

Logan’s eyebrows went up. “If I knew it was going to be that easy, then I would have asked a long time ago.”

“Not going to be quite that easy.”

He grinned. “Oh? What did you have in mind?”

I lifted my hand. “I’m not interested in games. I’m interested in commitment. I’ll move in once I have a ring on my finger.”

I heard a gasp, not from one of the mothers, but from a nearby table. Now our entire section of the restaurant had fallen silent. Out of the corner of my eye, I could tell everyone was watching us, waiting to see how this all unfolded.

Logan jumped up and grabbed my hand. He offered a big smile to our mothers.

“Can you two keep an eye on Juniper?” he asked.

They both nodded in unison.

“Wait,” I said. I liked playing the little game with Logan, but now I didn’t know what was going on. “Why would we need them to keep an eye on Juniper?”

“Because we’re going ring shopping.”

Everyone else in the restaurant cheered. Our moms both clapped. Juniper bounced up and down. I don’t even know if she understood why everyone was so excited.

I fished my keys out of my purse and handed them to my mother. “Assuming Amelia has no problem riding in my car.”

“Just go and get your ring, future daughter-in-law.”

I laughed, and Logan led me by the hand out of the restaurant, everyone still cheering.

I’d found my man, my prince, my beloved. A man who wasn’t only good for me but also for my daughter.

I’d never felt so blessed in my life.