Page 94 of Sapphire Sunset

Chip gestured to their surroundings like Logan had built theplace. But Logan knew what he meant. Sensing a private moment between fatherand son, the rest of the group wandered deeper into the lobby.

“All right, out with it,” Chip said.

“Out with what?”

“Come on. I saw the way he looked at you. And the way you lookedat him. Whatever it is didn’t start yesterday. How come you never told me aboutthis guy ’til now?”

“This whole thing kind of gave us a second chance,” Logansaid.

“What happened to the first chance?” Chip asked.

“It wasn’t the right time.”

“When? When wasn’t the right time?” Chip asked.

“Five years ago.” Logan could see realization dawning in hisfather’s eyes. There was no turning back now. “I didn’t want to mess things uphere.”

The devilish smirk left his dad’s expression. “Because of myaccident. And the bills.”

“It was my first day.”

“Holy crap. That night you put your fist through the wall.Was that about Connor? You told me you’d OD’d on caffeine.”

Logan cleared his throat, grunted, shifted on his feet, thenfinally nodded.

Chip was nodding too, studying the floor. God, how he hatedthe look of shame that could sometimes come into his father’s eyes when hethought about the past.

“I should’ve saved,” his dad said. “I should’ve plannedbetter.”

“Come on, Dad. You don’t have to do this now.”

“Nah, it’s true. I thought I was invincible. Not perfect.But invincible. And I thought that made up for being really not perfect. Butsometimes you had to pull the weight for both of us. You deserve this place,sport, even if it’s more than I could give you.”

“Old man, what you gave me could fill Orange County,” Logansaid.

“Maybe,” he said. “She could have given you a lot more,though.”

“Maybe just different things.”

“Great things,” his dad said, “because she was pretty damngreat.”

He threw his arms around his dad before he could think twiceabout it, and his dad returned the hug for as long as he was comfortable doing so.Which wasn’t very long. When he stepped away, Jed was headed for them. “Hey,Logan, is it all right if we hang out in the bar for a bit?”

“Yeah, sure,” Logan said. “Spend lots of money while you’reat it. Then maybe we can all keep our jobs.”

“Good. I didn’t know if it was wildfire victims only,” Jedsaid, then taking Chip by the shoulder, he added, “What do you say, Kickstart?You ready to knock off or you want to tie one on? Remember, I’m designateddriver.” It was an inside joke—Jed had been clean and sober for ten years.

“Sure, why not?” Chip said.

His father was about to turn toward his awaiting friendswhen Logan spotted Donna Langdon sitting by herself at one of the bistro tablesin the Sapphire Lounge. The bar was otherwise full of evacuees, and at first,it tugged at his heart to see her all alone. Then he noticed the largesketchpad on the table in front of her and saw her furiously at work,surrounded by the crowd. Given how many canvases she’d lost to the fire thenight before, that seemed like a sign of recovery.

“Hey, Pop.”

His father spun away from the group. When Logan beckoned himover, he complied.

“That woman over there, the one sketching,” Logan said. “Hername’s Donna. Go talk to her.”

“She looks like serious business. You setting me up for adate or a flogging?”

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