Logan's Leap (19 page)

At
six p.m. the next day, Logan flew out of Casper/Natrona County International
Airport and landed at McCarran International at eleven p.m. By midnight he was
at his aunt’s house. His cousin Abigail and her husband Sam had met him at the
airport, insisting that she drive his rental car and Sam drive their car since
he hadn’t slept more than three hours the night before. He made a mental note
not to mention stuff like that to his Aunt Charlotte. But in the end he was
happy to talk to Abigail. She had been Ben’s best friend, and talking to her
about him was the perfect way to know he finally had his brother tucked away
safely in his heart. He knew for sure he was no longer capable of living in the
past.

He
hugged Abigail goodbye and watched until she climbed safely in her car with Sam,
then he turned and walked to the front door. Before he could even knock,
Charlotte was ushering him inside.

“Welcome
Logan,” she gushed as she hugged him. “It’s so good to see a genuine smile on
your face.”

“It’s
actually good finally having a genuine smile,” he said, kissing her cheek.

“Come
on into the kitchen with me. I’ll make us a snack.”

“You
read my mind Aunt Charlotte. I’m famished.” Logan sat down at the breakfast bar
while his aunt made them sandwiches.

“I’ve
met your young woman and the baby,” Charlotte said between bites. “What you did
for them was selfless.”

Logan
shrugged it off. “So, how are they?”

“They
are fine, aside from missing you that is.”

He
breathed a sigh of relief. He had worried about them since the day they left.
“Well, I’d better be getting out to the guest house and let you get to bed. I’m
sorry you had to stay up so late for me.”

Charlotte
smiled at him. “Nonsense. I always stay up really late when your uncle is gone.
I like to read when I don’t have to listen to him snoring.”

“It
sounds to me like you’re almost glad he had to stay in Harper’s Rock longer,”
Logan teased.

“That
reminds me,” Charlotte started. “Is he really hurt or is he faking to be able
to hang out with Jackson longer?”

Logan
laughed and hugged her. “He’s really hurt…and getting on Jack’s nerves. I’ll
see you tomorrow Auntie. Thanks for letting me stay.”

“You’re
family, kiddo,” she said, pulling a set of keys from her pocket. “Sleep well,
you have a busy day tomorrow.”

**********

Logan
opened his eyes to the sun shining brightly thought the drapes. He grabbed his
phone off the nightstand to check the time. It was ten-thirty in the morning.
He really had been tired; it had probably been years since he’d slept that
late. Feeling this rested was definitely worth the lost time in his day. He
felt like he could take on the world.

Stretching,
he climbed out of bed and went straight to the shower. His excitement about the
day ahead nearly made him use hand lotion as shampoo. When he grabbed the wrong
sample bottle off the counter. Hell, he couldn’t even concentrate enough to not
nick himself when he shaved.

He
fled the bathroom as quickly as he could, hoping to avoid killing himself
before he got to his cousin’s house. When he was fully dressed he triple
checked his plans and walked out the door. Fifteen minutes later he was parked
two houses down from Jackson and Deborah’s. Pulling his phone out of his pocket
he sent a text to Jayna. “Hey, what’s up? I’m coming to visit!”

“Yay!
I’m so excited. When are you coming?”

“Soon,”
he replied.

“So
you aren’t sure when? I’m so excited. CJ will be so happy to see you.”

“I’ll
let you know my exact plans as soon as I can. I have a surprise being delivered
for you.”

“A
surprise, huh?”

“Yeah,
the delivery man will call Jack when it’s there. When you go outside to get it,
don’t take CJ with you. You’ll definitely need both hands."

“Okay…Any
hints? Why do I have to go outside to get it?”

“The
delivery man only guaranteed delivery to the driveway. And NO HINTS. I gotta
go. I’ll call when I know my plans."

“Okay
ttyl.”

Logan
pulled up Jack’s contact info and dialed.

“Hello
C…”

“Don’t!”

“Uh
okay. What can I do for you?”

“Tell
Jayna her surprise is waiting in the driveway.”

Logan
ran up and stood at the end of the driveway, between the two cars sitting
there. Soon, the door opened and Jayna stepped outside. She looked absolutely
beautiful. “Don’t come any closer,” he called to her.

Her
head shot up and a smile formed across her face. “What…”

“I
love you!” he said loud and clear. “I love you so much Jayna. I’ve been so
stupid. I have so much to tell you, to apologize for…”

“Can
I move now, Logan?” she asked.

“Yeah,”
he chuckled. “If I don’t have my arms wrapped around you soon, I might just
lose my mind.”

Before
he’d even made it halfway through the sentence, Jayna was running between the
cars and launching herself into his waiting arms. He held her tightly, not
wanting to let her go. “Can you forgive me?”

“You’re
here,” she whispered. “That’s all I care about.”

Logan
kissed her hard and quick. “Are you willing to give this whole love thing a go
with me?” he asked hesitantly.

“
I’v
e
been willing,” she laughed. “I never stopped being willing.”

“I
love you,” he said, looking directly into her eyes.

“I
love you too,” she said, followed by a sweet slow kiss. “Would you like to see
CJ now?”

“Oh
yeah! Where’s my boy?” He reluctantly let her go and when they got around the
cars, his cousin and Deb were standing there, all smiles. Deb was holding CJ
and quickly handed him over to Logan. They all walked into the house where they
were greeted by Jackson’s preteen twins, Mikey and Maddie, and their toddler
Leo.

Logan
sat down with the baby snuggled close in his arms. “I missed you so much little
man.” CJ squirmed and Logan held him away from his chest to look at his face.
“Hey there.”

“He’s
happy to see you,” Jayna said, sitting down next to them. “Look at that smile.”

Across
the room, Jack snorted. “Just gas,” he mumbled.

“Still
king of the smart asses, I see,” Logan joked.

“Play
nice, you two,” Deb said pleasantly. “Or these two kids here won't be the only
ones on backyard clean up duty for misbehaving.”

“What
did you do?” Logan asked, directing his question to his notoriously mischievous
cousin instead of the two kids.

“What?”
Jack exclaimed. “They’ve been warned time and time again to do as I say and not
as I did in the past.”

“Incorrigible!”
Deb murmured as she ushered the two older kids outside to complete their
punishment clean-up of the back yard.

Logan
looked down at the child in his arms. “Do as I say and not as Cousin Jackson
does. Okay kid?”

Jayna
leaned her head on his shoulder. “You know, we’ve been talking a lot over the
last week or so.”

“Oh,
about what?” Logan asked as he snuggled CJ close again.

“About
how he wants you to be his daddy. You know, since he already has your last name
and all.”

“Well
kiddo, what do you think?” CJ burped and Logan chuckled. “I think he said he’s
willing to give me a chance.”

“We
both are,” Jayna said softly. “You’re going to be a great daddy.”

“So
I take it you’re willing to come back to Harper’s Rock with me?”

Jayna
kissed his cheek and snuggled closer to him. “Yeah, it started to feel like
home to me.”

“Lunch
time!” Deb called from the breakfast nook. “And then you two need to get out of
here and spend some time alone. Your son will be babysat by me and the two best
eleven-year-old helpers in the world.”

“Is
that okay with you?” Logan asked Jayna, unsure of how she felt about leaving
CJ.

“Yeah,”
she whispered. “I got a clean bill of health from the doctor.” Her eyes
sparkled and Logan suddenly felt like skipping lunch. But they stayed and ate,
catching up with Jack and Deb as Logan held onto CJ. By two o’clock they were
in his rental car on the way to the guest house. When they arrived, Jayna
excused herself to take a shower. When he’d first texted her, she had been
helping Deb and Jack clean the garage.

Logan
decided it was the perfect time to call his mother.

“Hey
son! How was your flight?”

“It
was fine, Ma. She’s coming home with me. They are both coming home,” he nearly
sobbed.

“Oh,
I’m so glad. I can’t believe that in one fell swoop you are a boyfriend and a
dad. I just never thought it was possible…”

“That
makes two of us,” Logan admitted. “But here we are.”
The line was quiet while Evelyn chatted with Ethan then she came back on the
line. “Your uncle wants to know why you're on the phone with me when you should
be with Jayna.”

Logan’s
voice broke with laughter. “Tell Uncle Cowboy that his princess is doing great
but she does miss him. And Jayna’s in the shower so I’m calling to ask you a
favor.”

“Okay,
what do you need?” she asked. “I already checked on the store earlier.”

“It’s
not the store, Ma. I need you to find someone to deliver baby furniture to my
house. Could you pick a room and make it into a nursery for CJ?”

“Oh,
of course I can. That will be so much fun! Should I get those painted wooden
letters so he has CJM on his wall?”

“Actually
Ma, I’m his legal father, so it would be CJH. But I think that’s a great idea.”

“Boy,
you and Miss McIntyre have some explaining to do…”

“When
I get home in a few days, Mama. Make the room look great! I trust you.” He
quickly hung up the phone and collapsed back onto the bed. Now that that was over,
he could concentrate on having the best night of his life with the woman he
loved. For the first time in his life he would be making love to someone, not
just having sex.

**********

“I’m
sorry I fell asleep on you,” Jayna said. “I haven’t slept too well in a while.”

“That’s
okay. I knew you were tired. And I got a chance to talk to my aunt for a while."

“So,
where are we going?” she asked as the freeway sped past them.

“One
of my Brother Russell’s restaurants. He runs them from Harper’s Rock now, so I
figured I would check on one of them while I was here.”

Jayna
remained quiet for the rest of the trip and Logan started to worry. He wasn’t
used to seeing her like this. Was she having second thoughts?

Logan
stopped the car in the parking lot and turned to Jayna. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m
sorry,” she murmured. “You were expecting me to…to have sex with you. I didn’t
mean to disappoint you.”

“No!”
he exclaimed. "Stop right there. You did
not
disappoint me. You
could
never
disappoint me just because we didn’t get to have sex. Why do
you think that, Sleeping Beauty?”

Tears
formed in her eyes and a few trickled down. “Reginald used to get so angry if I
wasn’t…compliant with his needs. I feel bad that you’ve had to wait.”

“Oh
Jayna, sweetheart. I don’t ever expect anything from you. We do what we want,
whenever we want to. My needs or wishes are no more important than yours. Do
you understand?”

“Yeah,”
she said, looking into his eyes. “And I was just so tired.”

“And
I also know that we have the rest of our lives to make love. I wasn’t worried
about waiting for you to wake up and for us to have dinner together.”

“I
hope it won’t always be like this,” she said softly. “I don’t want you to have
to live in Reggie’s shadow.”

“We’ll
work on it together. It will just take time for you to get used to your new
life of freedom.”

“I
can’t believe how fast being in a real relationship changed me for the worst,”
she worried. “When we were just acquaintances and then friends, I never felt
like I needed to be inferior to you. But now…”

“Stop
Jayna,” Logan said pulling her close. “You’ll just torture yourself. We will
work through this together. But right now, I want to eat. I’m starving.”

“Me
too,” she said with a sigh. “Let’s go eat and then get back to the guest
house.” Her voice lowered and she caressed his chest with her finger. “I get to
have my boyfriend pressing his way inside of me for the very first time. It’s
kind of one of those things a girl looks forward to.”

“Keep
talking like that and we’ll both be quite hungry come morning.”

********