Page 14 of Everything Has Changed
Her eyebrows shoot up. “This sounds like a romance novel Kennedy would write.”
“Don’t give her any ideas,” I say, but then see my change of subject and take it. “How is she? She hasn’t been very talkative lately. On a deadline?”
Ophelia exhales slowly. “Yes, and questioning her every life choice in the process. You know the usual.”
“I’ll try calling her later, see if I can work some little sister voodoo and light a fire under her.”
Ophelia squeezes my upper arm a couple of times. “I bet she would love that.”
We busy ourselves with a customer walking up and become lost in the usual hustle and bustle, but my mind keeps going back to those moments with Logan before we were interrupted and how easy it was for him to send those butterflies through my stomach again.
6
Logan
“My sweet boy.”
My mother’s voice rings out the moment I step through the threshold of their house. Almost as if she were waiting by the front window with bated breath for my arrival. The hug she wraps me in is warm, with the scent of her perfume bringing me back to my childhood. The good parts, at least.
“Hey, mom,” I smile down at her petite frame. My height fully comes from my dad’s side of the family and not hers.
Patting my cheek lightly, she returns my grin, but something in her expression keeps it from reaching her eyes.
Worry. A look I’ve seen on her face too often.
I open my mouth to ask the reason for it, there’s no need to act like I don’t see it, but she beats me to the punch. She wrings her hands in front of her stomach. The sight of her nervous habit a punch in the gut for me.
“I know. You don’t need to say anything. I just thought it would be good to have the family together again to welcome you back.”
I rub at my brow, trying to chill the nerves bubbling up within. She means well, but I still feel uneasy over the loss of control. By beingforced back here, I already felt control being taken from me. Losing even more feels like a complete loss.
“That’s fine, I get it.” I sigh, trying to figure out the best way to word my exasperation. “The problem is you didn’t even run it by me. You involved my ex when I have explicitly told you I don’t want to be around her.”
Mom rolls her eyes, dropping her hands to her side. She tsks, no doubt thinking I’m being ridiculous. Something she has mentioned many times before. “Oh, honey, you need to get over whatever happened between you two.”
“Mom, she cheated on me with my college roommate.”
She waves her hand in the air as if it’s simply ridiculous I would care about that. “You were kids. Mistakes were made. You weren’t a star player in your relationship either. You never took her out or visited.”
I blow out an exhausted breath. “Still doesn’t give her the right to cheat on me, Mom. Besides, isn’t it my choice to be with someone? And I choose not to be with her. Just because you choose to stay with Dad after all he did, doesn’t mean I need to stay with someone who doesn’t value me outside of my last name.”
She flinches and I instantly regret the words that escaped my mouth.
Her hands run down the front of her dress, tugging it just so to situate it into place. “You’re right,” she sniffs. “I chose to keep our family together after the mistakes your father made. He isn’t the same man, just like she isn’t the same woman. She feels awful about it.”
“Which you would know, seeing how you two are the best of friends.”
Mom huffs out a laugh, her hands going out to her sides with a shrug. “Well, she is your father’s assistant.”
Because why wouldn’t they keep it in the family, seeing as she was a shoo-in to be his daughter-in-law? At least that was the explanation I was given when I approached my parents when I found out.
I wanted a clean break, to start fresh. More than that… I needed it.
They wanted us to tie everything to one another. That’s what happens when you both come from families with big names. Your wants and needs fall by the wayside.
“Just think about giving her another shot now that you are home again. You two make such a beautiful match. Think of the grandchildren you could give me.”
I force my body not to react with an eye roll or a snarky comment, as I know I will never win the battle I’ve been fighting for years now. Because, in my parent’s twisted reality, love is nothing compared to status and public perception. “Can we not do this tonight? I’m here. Let’s have dinner. That’s what you wanted, right?”
