Rocky Shores - lisawolfe80 - Veronica Mars (TV) [Archive of Our Own] (2024)

Chapter 1

Chapter Text

Chapter 1

Veronica stretched out in the chair that she'd rolled over toward the giant fan sitting in the middle of the reception area. It had been an unusually hot week in Neptune and the office still didn't have central air-conditioning so the fan was an attempt to blow the small amount of cool air coming from a window A/C unit around the room. Veronica was regretting that she didn't try to find some sort of summer job that would have had A/C as a perk. At this point though, with only a few more weeks until she'd be heading up to Stanford for law school, it was a bit too late for that.

Her dad had a lunch meeting with a client, of course at a restaurant with air conditioning, so she was sluggishly working on some filing and billing updates alone. She was debating about giving up for the rest of the afternoon and coming back in the evening when it might be cooler when she heard the door to the office open.

Her eyes opened wide when she saw who had just walked into their office. Even though it had been a little over three years since she'd seen him, he looked basically the same. He gave her a nervous smile and tipped his head down slightly. His brown hair seemed a bit shorter than she remembered but the smile was definitely the same.

"I'm sorry that I don't have an appointment but was hoping I could hire you to help me find someone," he said a bit nervously as he looked back up at her with pleading brown eyes.

"Who are you looking for?" she asked, her tone a mixture of curiosity and apprehension.

He let out a deep sigh and his expression became troubled. "My brother," he said so softly that she almost couldn't hear him over the fan.

Her heart felt like a vice was squeezing around it. "Logan?" she asked in an equally soft voice.

Charlie looked up at her with a hopeful expression and nodded. "I wasn't sure if you'd remember me. I realized shortly after you'd stopped by my class, when I saw a picture of the two of you on some tabloid, who you were."

Veronica nodded and stood up from her chair pushing it back to her desk. She hadn't seen Logan since the end of freshman year. She'd been angry with herself that she'd momentarily been glad that he'd beaten up Gory for her, because that was exactly why she'd been mad at him in the first place, for beating up Piz. His irrational and dangerous behavior was going to get him killed or lead to him killing someone else and she couldn't bear to watch either happen. It was just like when he'd charged into the River Stix to save her. She was certain that Logan's passionate recklessness was going to end with someone's death and she really didn't want to feel like she'd contributed to it. She ran into him a few nights after the Gory incident and laid into him a bit harder than she probably should have. She'd left for Virginia shortly after that and when she came back and started the new school year, he didn’t seem to be around at all. She refused to act like an obsessed ex-girlfriend so didn't actively try to track him down. She'd run into Dick a few weeks into the term and made a casual remark about not seeing Logan around. He'd responded with some flippant comment that Logan had finally wised up and gotten out of the gravitational pull of the evil planet Mars, so she figured he was fine wherever he was.

Veronica sat down at her desk and gestured to the chair in front of her for Charlie to sit down. Charlie gave her a grateful smile and walked over to the offered chair. "So first tell me why you want to find him," Veronica asked as she gave Charlie a curious look.

Charlie took a deep breath before he began to explain. "I have a two year old son, Nick, and he has a disease that the doctors say may be cured with a bone marrow transplant," he paused a moment with a worried expression on his face. "My wife, Wendy, and I aren't able to do it for various medical reasons, and I was desperately looking for other options and thought I'd see if Logan might be willing to do it if he was a close match. I know it's a total long shot, but at this point I'm willing to try anything. He probably hates me for never giving him a chance to apologize before and I don't blame him at all. I wish now I could go back and change that, but unfortunately I can't."

Veronica could see the tremendous amount of regret in his expression. She wondered if Logan would be happy to get the opportunity to finally know his brother or not. She knew three years ago he was devastated with how that all turned out. But given she hadn't talked to him in over three years as well, she had no idea how he'd feel about it now. Not to mention she didn't have any idea where he even was, although she'd tracked down enough missing people before to believe she could find him if she wanted to. It was just Logan after all. It wasn't like someone was asking her to find Duncan who was on the run from federal agents.

"I'm afraid I haven't talked to him in over three years, so I'm not sure what his response will be, but I'll try to find him for you and let him know," Veronica said after deciding to take his case. They spent some time talking over more details about his son’s illness and what the procedure would require.

After Charlie left Veronica logged into the PI database to get Logan's latest contact information. The only thing she could find was the driver’s license that had been issued to him when he was 16 still at the address that his parent's mansion had been before it was burned down. She'd actually driven by the property not more than a week before for a case she was working on and knew it was still just a vacant lot. She pulled out her cell phone and took a deep breath, trying to think of what to say to him if he answered. He'll probably see my name and send me to voicemail and I'll get one of his inspirational messages instead. She hit send and immediately got a no longer in service message.

She groaned to herself, but typed in Dick's name in the PI database and got a current address for him. Maybe I'll get lucky and he won't be home and I can come up with another way to track Logan down.

When she arrived at the beach front condo that matched the address from the DMV system for Dick, she heard loud music and figured he was probably there. She really didn't think Logan was still in Neptune since she'd never once run into him around town. She rang the bell and waited for someone to answer it.

After the second time she rang the bell, Dick finally answered the door. "Ronnie!" He said exuberantly when he realized who was there. He leaned against the door frame, holding a beer and giving her one of his goofy smiles.

"Hi Dick," she said as politely as she could muster. "I'm trying to track down your BFF."

"Chip?" Dick asked with a thoughtful look on his face, as if trying to actually think of where he might be.

Veronica let out a frustrated sigh, "No, Logan."

Dick gave her a salacious grin as he replied. "Running out of rich guys’ souls to suck dry and going back through your Rolodex again?"

Don't tase him Veronica. He can't answer questions if he's unconscious. "No, I'm trying to get a message to him for a client."

"Ahhhh... did he knock up some chick and she went to the great and powerful Mars to track him down?"

No taser Veronica. "No. Do you know how to reach him or not? Current address or phone number?"

"Nope, nope and nope. He'd called a long time ago and said he'd been having trouble with some reporter getting a hold of his number and was going to get a new phone. He didn't want the number falling in the wrong hands again," Dick paused and gave her a questioning look, "so didn't think he'd send it to me."

Veronica rolled her eyes. "So you don't know where he is or how to reach him?"

Dick looked thoughtful again. "He did say if I ever needed to reach him, I could get a hold of him through his lawyer."

Veronica waited a minute for him to continue, but he just gave her the same oblivious look. She let out a loud sigh. "Did he say what the lawyer's name was?"

"Oh... yeah... but I forget now. It was like three years ago."

Veronica took a deep breath and restrained herself from grabbing her taser. "Think Dick. Anything you can remember at all?"

"Um... I think it was like McDonald or Macintosh."

Great he was probably just stoned and remembering what he wanted to eat instead of the lawyer's name. She gave him a grim smile. "Thanks for being so helpful," she said sarcastically. Of course the sarcasm was lost on Dick and he said 'anytime', and closed the door.

Veronica headed back to the office to look up lawyers with food like names. She'd called a few with no success when her dad came back to the office followed by Cliff. Veronica gave Cliff a curious look.

"So a new client dropped by when you were at lunch," she explained to her dad, though keeping an eye on Cliff. "Charlie Stone. Ring a bell?"

Both men gave her blank stares and shook their heads.

She watched Cliff more closely as she said the next part. "Logan Echolls' half brother." She saw Cliff barely raise his eyebrow at the mention of Logan's name. "You wouldn't happen to know where I could find Logan would you Cliffy?"

"Now why would I know where he is?" Cliff asked innocently.

"If memory serves, you were his lawyer a couple times many years ago." Veronica replied with a suspicious look on her face.

"That was years ago kid," Cliff replied with a smug smile.

"So you wouldn't know where he is now?" Veronica asked with a quirked brow.

"Hmm... I'd have to check my files, but you know there is something called attorney-client privilege. Maybe they'll teach you that at law school kiddo." Cliff replied smugly. "I'll just grab that case file and get out of your hair," he said to Keith with a grin as they headed into her dad's office.

"Oh, the hair jokes... They never get old..." Her dad said humorouslessly as they disappeared into his office.

Cliff came back out a minute later with Keith behind him. "Thanks Keith," Cliff said as he briskly headed out the door.

Keith turned and gave Veronica a quizzical look. "You can't find him in the system?" Veronica shook her head and then shared her visit to Dick with him as well as what Charlie had told her.

"I'm sure you'll figure something out," Keith said with a wink. "I've got to run across town for the Richardson case. I'll see you later for dinner."

As soon as the door closed Veronica grabbed her cell and pressed a contact name in her phone.

"Good afternoon Bond," Mac answered with a chipper tone.

"Hi Q!" Veronica replied back. "Feel like doing a little hacker work for me?"

"Always!" Mac replied back enthusiastically. "What have ya got for me?"

"I need to get some contact information on one of Cliff's clients."

"Sure, I still have the IP address from the last time. What's the name?"

Veronica took a deep breath. "Logan Echolls," she said somberly.

"Oh... okay... give me a little while and I'll get it for you." There was a loud crash in the background and the sound of Mac's mom yelling at her brother. "Actually... would it be okay if I just come there to do it?"

"Of course. See you soon."

Thirty minutes later Mac was sitting on the couch in the office typing away on her laptop. She had a discouraged look on her face.

"Can't you get in now?" Veronica asked as she watched her from her desk.

Mac scoffed. "Of course I can get in. its just there isn't an entry for Logan in his contact list."

Mac typed a bit more. "The only 'Logan' I even see listed is a Logan Lester."

"Wow... He's going by a different name?" Veronica asked curiously, more to herself than Mac.

Mac shrugged. "It might not be him."

"His mom's maiden name was Lester," Veronica explained. "So where is he?"

Mac's expression became a bit troubled. "Oregon?" Veronica quirked an eyebrow at her. "Some place called... Yak-hats..."

"What?" Veronica asked with a tone of disbelief as she walked over and sat down next to Mac. Mac pointed at the screen and said Yak-hats again.

"Maybe it's Ya-chats," Veronica said as she looked at it. "Where on earth is that?"

Mac pulled up a browser window and typed it in to a search engine. "Well it's actually YAH-hots, although I liked Yak-hats better and it's on the Oregon coast."

They sat there for a few minutes reading about the small Oregon coastal town. "Only about 600 people. Should be easy to find him there." Mac said with a chuckle.

"Yeah... And look, in 2007 it was named one of 10 coolest small towns in the US." Veronica read off the screen with a confused look on her face. "What on earth is he doing there?" Mac just shrugged again.

"Certainly not dying of a heat wave like we are," Mac said as she continued to scroll down the page looking at the climate information.

"Is there a phone number listed for him?" Veronica asked. Mac flipped back to the other screen and shook her head.

"Guess I'm taking a little trip. At least it will be nice to escape this heat wave. I wonder if he's even there though. Can you tell when that address was added?"

Mac typed on her keys again. "It looks like it was updated about 9 months ago, but I can't tell what it was before."

"Hopefully whoever is there now might know where he went if he's gone," Veronica said as she took a deep breath and stood up from the couch. She grabbed a notepad from her desk and wrote down the address. She thanked Mac who said she needed to get back home for dinner. After Mac left, she went to work figuring out travel logistics for how best get to Yak-hats Oregon.

Chapter 2

Chapter Text

Chapter 2

Veronica pulled off the highway and drove down a side road that ran along the rocky shoreline. She could see the house at the end of the road. While it looked like a beautiful house, it was much smaller than she would have ever expected Logan to be living in. It was probably only a 3 bedroom house, with just a double car garage. Much smaller than the huge mansion he’d grown up in when he'd lived in Neptune. It had a contemporary feel to it with warm wood tones and a few natural stone pillars. The landscaping in front was very meticulous, although also very simple. There was a low black cyclone type fence that ran around the back of the house, enclosing a yard that would otherwise drop right off to the rocks below. On the side that faced the highway, the yard bordered a heavily wooded area, making it hard to see from the main road.

She was doubtful he was actually still living here, but hoped that maybe the current occupants might know how to reach him. There weren’t any cars in the driveway, so she was hoping someone may be home and their car was just in the garage. Given it was almost late-afternoon on a weekday, she decided she may have to come back in the evening when whoever lived here would be home from work. Although from what she’d read about the small town, it seemed to be mostly comprised of vacation homes and rentals, so there could also be no one here at all. The fact most homes were just short term vacation rentals was the other reason she was skeptical of finding Logan here now.

She parked her car and nervously walked up the steps that led to the front door. The house was designed so the garage was below the main living level and you had to walk up stairs to the front door. She’d seen several houses with similar designs on her way there, likely designed that way so the living spaces would have better views of the ocean. She pressed the doorbell and was relieved to hear a dog bark from inside. At least someone is here to talk to or will at least be back later if there’s a dog here. Her heart nearly stopped as she heard a male voice just barely audible from behind the large front door.

“No Bella!” the voice that sounded eerily like Logan’s commanded the dog. “Sit. Stay.” Maybe it’s just someone who sounds an awfully lot like Logan living here. She couldn’t quite imagine him with a dog. “I need to get the door Evie,” the voice yelled out as she heard footsteps nearing the front door and then the deadbolt being turned.

If her heart hadn’t stopped when she heard the voice, it certainly stopped as the front door opened and Logan’s soft brown eyes were staring into her shocked blue ones. She could tell by the expression on his face that he was just as surprised to find her there as she was to find him. Although you had the advantage of knowing there was a slim chance you’d actually find him behind that door.

“Veronica?” he said in what could only be described as complete shock. His mouth stayed partly open as if to say something else, but it appeared he was at a complete loss for words.

Before she had a chance to even say hello, a little blond head poked out from behind his leg, as a little arm wrapped around his thigh. “Who is it daddy?” the little girl asked with her sparkling blue eyes staring up at Veronica.

“Um, an old friend sweetie,” Logan said after a moment, still seeming to be in shock to see her. “...Veronica.” And now I’m in even more shock than he may have been.

Veronica stared at the little girl with shoulder length straight blonde hair, who she estimated to be 4 or 5, although she was never very good at judging the age of little kids. 4 or 5 years old… Hannah? Could she have gotten pregnant and that’s why they whisked her away from Neptune? Who else could it have been? Caitlin Ford, oh god I hope not… probably too young to have been when he was with Caitlin… She seems too old to have been Madison’s though... at least… hopefully. The little girl looked the most like Hannah out of any of them, so that seemed like the likely option to her.

The dog barked from a little farther within the house.

“Bella doesn’t like her daddy,” the little girl said resolutely as she looked suspiciously at Veronica. Her eyes narrowing slightly as she continued to study this strange woman who had shown up at their house.

“Bella barks at everyone sweetie,” Logan replied with a soft timbre to his voice as he rested his hand on her head.

“She doesn’t bark at Nana.”

“That’s because Bella knows Nana, Evie,” Logan replied again as he looked fondly down at the little girl.

“She doesn’t bark at Sara.”

Logan let out the smallest little sigh, “That’s because she knows Sara too.”

Veronica saw a different sort of expression cross his face briefly as he glanced down at his wrist, which actually did have a watch on it. At least he’s not just going to pretend to know what time it is just to blow me off.

“I’m sorry, please come in…” Logan said turning his attention away from the little girl and toward Veronica again. “I um… I only have a little while before I need to go though.”

Veronica gave him an understanding smile, “Yeah, me showing up on your doorstep probably wasn’t in your day planner for today.”

Logan let out a soft chuckle and nodded his head a bit hesitantly. “Yeah, I had that down for next Tuesday.” She laughed at his quick reply, glad to see he still seemed to have some of his old sense of humor. “I’m guessing you weren’t just passing through and stopped here out of sheer coincidence?” he asked with a questioning look on his face. "Not our new neighborhood Avon lady?" His eyebrows quirked up just like they used to whenever he would ask her ridiculous questions.

She nodded and gave him a small smile, “Yeah… there was a more specific reason for the unexpected drop by... And it wasn't to sell you moisturizers or lipstick."

"That's too bad. I could really use some new mascara," he said as a small smirk crossed his face. She gave him a quick smile, and then he looked back down at the little girl who was still standing with her hand around his thigh carefully watching Veronica.

“Hey Evie, do you want to go get a juice box and a cheese stick from the fridge and wait for me in the kitchen?”

“No,” she replied adamantly and continued staring at Veronica.

Logan let out a small sigh. “Can you please go wait for Daddy in the kitchen so I can talk to Miss Veronica for a moment?” Wow, ‘Miss’ Veronica, that just sounds so wrong coming from him.

“No,” Evie replied again with the same unyielding tone.

“Evelyn, go to the kitchen please,” Logan said with a firmer inflection than before. Evie looked up at him with a pout on her lips and stared at him for about 5 seconds before she let out a little huff and walked toward where Veronica could make out kitchen counters through a doorway. Evelyn… Lynn? Did Hannah name her after his mom?

“Sorry about that,” he said to Veronica as the stubborn little blond deliberately stomped off toward the kitchen.

“It’s okay,” Veronica answered with a small smile on her face.

“I’m sorry I don’t have much time to talk right now…” he said glancing at his watch again.

“No, I’m sorry for just dropping by unexpectedly, but I wasn’t really sure how to reach you.” Veronica explained. “I could come back later... or tomorrow... or whenever would be good for you.” Please don’t say never. Suddenly a strong wave of déjàvu hit her and she remembered him saying something similar to her when she’d found out he’d had the GHB at Shelly’s party and shown up at her door trying to find out why she was mad at him.

“Are you staying in town tonight then?” He asked as he leaned to the side a bit and looked out the front window back toward the road she’d driven in on. I wonder who he’s expecting? Hannah to come home… some other blonde… Sara?

“Um… well I haven’t actually arranged for anything yet. I wasn’t really sure if I’d find you here, so I hadn’t made any specific plans,” she answered a bit hesitantly.

Logan pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. “Let me call a friend of mine who runs a nice B&B in town and see if she has a room for you.”

“That would be great, thanks,” Veronica answered as he was already touching the screen with his finger.

“Hey Paige… Yeah it’s Logan…. Good… she’s good too… Yeah, I was actually calling to see if you might have an extra room… Yeah an old friend stopped by and needs a place to stay… that’s great… just until the weekend though? Okay I’ll let her know. Thanks Paige... Yeah her name is Veronica… Mars?” He glanced at Veronica and she nodded. Yeah, I’m still Veronica Mars… not the one who’s apparently settled down with a new name and new family. All of a sudden she couldn’t help but look at his left hand. Well no ring at least, but that doesn’t really mean that much.

Logan said goodbye and put his phone back in his pocket. “Um… let me find a piece of paper to write down the address for you. She only has a room until the weekend though, since its summer and a busy time around here.”

“That’s fine. Thanks Logan.” I’m guessing you’ll be happy to see me go as soon as possible.

Veronica followed Logan toward the kitchen where they found Evie sitting at the counter with a cheese stick and juice box. A Brittany was sitting next to her and barked again as she noticed Veronica behind Logan.

“No Bella,” Logan said as he scratched her on the head and walked over to a built in desk apparently searching for a pen and paper.

“Hi Bella,” Veronica said softly as she held her hand out for the dog to sniff. After letting her sniff her hand for a moment, she reached up and scratched her head too.

“I guess she does like Vonica,” Evie said as she watched them carefully.

“Ver-on-i-ca,” Logan said slowly, correcting her.

“Ver-on-i-ca?” Evie repeated and Logan nodded giving her a proud smile.

“You got it now munchkin,” he said before turning back to the desk. He finally found a notepad, but had to grab a crayon to write with. “Um… sorry… I’m not sure what always happens to my pens.” He shot a quick glance at Evie who just shrugged and gave him an innocent look as she sucked on her juice box loudly. Veronica chuckled to herself, actually a little glad that if he did have a kid at least she was a handful for him.

He scribbled down a few things and then handed the paper to Veronica. “That’s the address to the B&B and then my number below that.” I should be free in a couple hours if you want to talk later, or we can talk tomorrow, whatever works better for you.”

Before she had a chance to answer, she heard the front door open and close and a female voice call out, “Lo? Evie?”

“In the kitchen Sara,” Logan replied loud enough for her to hear him. Bella whined in her spot, but didn’t get up even though Veronica could tell she clearly wanted to.

A blonde girl, probably 16 or 17 walked into the kitchen and looked almost as surprised to find Veronica there as Logan had been when he opened the door.

“Oh, I didn’t realize you had company,” she said a little surprised.

Logan gave her a puzzled look. “Didn’t you go by her car in the driveway?”

“Um…. I guess I was talking on the phone and didn’t realize there was another car here.”

“Sara,” Logan said in a terse voice. “You’d better knock that off, or you’re going to get grounded from driving again.”

“Please don’t tell my mom,” Sara asked in a pleading voice. “I was almost to the house when I answered, not on the highway.”

“Fine,” Logan replied a little softer than before. “But don’t do it anymore.”

Sara nodded and looked at Bella who was still whining in her spot. “Logan,” Sara said in a slightly annoyed voice.

He sighed, “Fine, but if she jumps on Veronica, she’s sitting again.” He gave Veronica a small smile before he said “Release” and the dog happily stood up and ran over to Sara.

“There’s my girl,” Sara said as she leaned down and scratched the very happy dog’s head.

“Sorry, I forgot to introduce you. Sara this is Veronica… Veronica… Sara.”

Veronica gave her a small smile and a little wave.

“I um…” Logan gave Veronica a nervous smile, “I really should get going. But you can call me later so we can figure out when to get together to talk. Say around 7pm?”

Veronica caught Sara giving him a curious look before she nodded her head and turned back toward the front door.

Logan followed her through the house back to the door. As he reached out to open it for her he spoke again. “I um… I forgot to say this earlier, but it’s nice to see you Veronica.”

She let out a sigh, and nodded. “Yeah, it’s really good to see you too. I’ll call you later then.” He nodded and gave her a small smile as he opened the door for her to walk back out to her car.

Chapter 3

Chapter Text

Chapter 3

Logan did find it a bit ironic that less than 10 minutes ago he was scolding Sara for not paying attention when she was driving, and now he was clearly on auto-pilot as he drove toward his destination. He still couldn’t believe that Veronica had shown up at his front door. He also couldn’t believe how thoroughly rattled he was by it. He’d tried convincing himself years ago that she was part of his past, and that he had accepted that, but seeing her again just brought all those old feelings rushing right back to the surface as if no time had passed at all. You should have known the obvious signs of denial by now.

He parked toward the backside of the gallery and let himself in the back door with his key. He really wasn’t ready to deal with talking to anyone yet. Sara had tried to give him the third degree already on who Veronica was as he was trying to say a quick goodbye to Evie and leave. He could easily tell that ‘she’s just an old friend’ hadn’t really fooled Sara at all. He was glad that he could hear Kathleen talking with customers out in the front part of the gallery, biding him some time before he’d have to face her too. Crap, I hope Sara didn’t text or call her about it already.

He looked around at the new freight that had been delivered deciding on where to start. He grabbed the packing slips off the boxes and went over to the small work desk and laid them out to figure out which ones to start with, but really his mind was focused on what had just happened at home. Veronica Mars, at my front door. Maybe this is just a dream. He pinched himself and shook his head. Nope, guess not.

He was too lost in his own thoughts to hear the bell chime as the gallery door opened and closed, but he did hear the curtain slide open that hung in the door that separated the backroom from the gallery out front. He kept staring down at the slips and didn’t turn around. Maybe if I pretend she’s not there, she’ll go back out front. If I don’t look at her, she won’t see me. Yeah, that doesn’t work for Evie either.

“I thought I heard you come in,” Kathleen said in a slightly suspicious tone. Logan didn’t turn around yet, but it sounded like she was standing in the doorway. He couldn’t quite tell from her tone if Sara had contacted her either and told her that she had found him at home with some mysterious blonde woman.

“Yep, just me, not some nefarious art thief,” he said in as normal of a voice as possible. Act normal and maybe she’ll just go back out front. It’s Tuesday, she usually gets new art catalogs on Tuesday’s and stays buried in them for half the afternoon.

“Logan,” she said with growing concern in her tone, “What’s wrong?”

Logan turned toward her and gave her the most convincing smile he could, “Nothing.”

She studied him for a minute, and then let out a deep sigh. “Did Katy come back again?” Logan shook his head and picked up a pen from the work bench and clicked it open and closed a few times. She kept her glare firmly locked on him. He could tell she was quickly getting irritated by the pen clicking, but he didn’t stop and she didn’t say anything about it. After she stood there watching him for a few seconds she finally spoke again. “Did she call?” He shook his head again and looked down at the ground.

“What’s going on then, and don’t lie to me again and say ‘nothing’?” she asked in an even sterner voice than before drawing his attention back up to her face.

“An old friend from where I grew up stopped by unexpectedly today,” Logan explained as he went back to clicking the pen and looking down at the floor again.

“Neptune?” she asked as she impatiently tapped her foot on the floor. Definitely her signal that the pen clicking is pissing her off. I’d better stop if I don’t want an actual argument with her. Logan nodded again and looked up, giving her a small smile. She let out a loud sigh. “An old girl friend?” she asked as she raised her eyebrows questioningly.

Logan gave her a half smile and nodded, “Yeah, the old girl friend, Veronica.”

Kathleen’s eyes opened a bit wider. “Oh… did she leave already?”

Logan shook his head. “No, not yet.”

Kathleen narrowed her eyes at him. She’d been just standing in the doorway, but now she leaned back against the frame and crossed her arms in front of her chest. “Then what are you doing here?”

Logan shrugged. “It’s Tuesday. I always unpack the freight for you on Tuesdays.”

Kathleen let out a frustrated sigh, “It could wait until tomorrow Logan. You know that. So why are you really here?”

He shrugged again, “I don’t know.” He’d looked down at the floor for a moment, then back up at her slightly, still keeping his head tipped down. “I guess I was being a chicken sh*t and didn’t want to find out why she was here yet. Then Sara showed up and well…”

“Mm hmm,” Kathleen said as she finally left her spot by the doorway and walked over toward him.

She stopped in front of him and took the pen out of his hand and sat it back on the work bench, and then grabbed his hands with hers. She looked up at him with her kind blue eyes and gave him a tender smile. “Maybe there’s a good reason for why she’s here.”

Logan shook his head. “You’re the glass half full person, not me,” he said with a slightly teasing tone.

Kathleen shook her head and was about to say something when the bells rang out front as someone came into the gallery. “Don’t hide back here all day Logan,” she scolded as she turned to head back out front. She gave him a small smile over her shoulder before she walked through the door and pulled the curtain closed again. Her short cropped blonde hair swung lightly at the base of her neck as she turned back toward the front. Logan heard her chirp out a friendly welcome to whoever had come in and asked if she could help them find something specific.

Logan let out a deep sigh and then turned back to the work bench and looked over the papers again to try to decide which boxes to start with. You’d better actually get something done rather than just standing her staring at papers all afternoon. He carefully unpacked a new sculpture that Kathleen had been excited to get a chance to display in the gallery and got it all ready to go out front. He knew she’d sold a piece a few days ago and there was an empty spot that would be perfect for the new sculpture to go. He carried it out and put it in place, giving a friendly smile to a young couple that had come in and were browsing around the gallery. Kathleen gave him a warm smile and walked over to look at the sculpture.

“It’s even more beautiful than her last one,” she said as she ran her fingers over the curves of the sculpture. This one had sea turtles while the last one had dolphins, and Logan knew Kathleen always favored turtles whenever there was a choice. He nodded in agreement with his lips quirked up in a small smile and did one last adjustment before he turned to head to the back room again.

He spent the next hour or so going through the other boxes and took a few new items out to the front, asking Kathleen where she wanted them to go. She seemed to be giving him a pass for being withdrawn and quiet, but he was just waiting for that to end and her to push him about things again. Kathleen could be patient for a while, but it was against her nature to just let things be and eventually her patience would wear out. He was busy in the back restocking some wine that they had started carrying for both selling and offering to customers for wine tasting, when he heard the curtain open again. He figured her patience had probably finally worn out and she was going to press him for more information about Veronica and how she had fit into his past. They’d never actually talked much about her, not directly at least. If only there had been a more steady stream of customers to keep her totally occupied the rest of the afternoon. He thought he’d try to come up with something else to talk about to try to delay the inevitable conversation.

“Vincent sent the wrong Pinot Noir again,” Logan said as he reached into the crate and pulled out a bottle, his back was still turned toward the door. “Do you want me to send them back or is this variety selling well enough to keep?” He spun around and took in a gasp of air as he saw Kathleen standing in the doorway with Veronica standing right next to her. Actually seeing the two women standing next to each other, it was impossible to deny how much resemblance there was. You shouldn’t be surprised. You always knew she looked like her.

“You um… you have a visitor,” Kathleen said as she gestured with her head toward Veronica.

“Oh, I guess I do.” He gave Veronica a small smile, then focused on Kathleen again. “Thanks Kathleen.” Kathleen nodded and gave him a slightly concerned smile then turned back toward the front of the gallery. Of course I should have known Paige would tell her where to find me. You can’t say you’re surprised that she eventually turned up here.

Veronica gave him a little wave and a small smile. “Hi again,” she said a little nervously glancing out front again and then back at Logan. He could tell her eyes went to the counter out front where Kathleen had probably returned to. Logan glanced down at his watch more from a nervous reaction than really wanting to know what time it was. “I know, it’s not 7 yet,” Veronica said and then bit on her lower lip. “I can come back later…”

“No Veronica,” he said as he put the wine bottle he was holding back in the crate. “It’s fine.” He glanced around the room for a minute. “I’m actually about done here.”

She nodded and let out a small sigh, but kept a faint smile on her face. “Okay… if you’re sure… I don’t want to get you into trouble.” She gestured back to the front of the gallery with her head.

Logan chuckled softly. “Don’t worry, you can’t fire free help.” Veronica gave him a confused look. He gave her a sly smile, and walked toward her. He gestured with his head as he passed her, so she’d follow him back out to the main room.

Kathleen was sitting on a stool behind a high counter looking through some art catalogs. Our simple lives are so predictable. Logan cleared his throat so she’d look up. “Veronica Mars, this is Kathleen Montgomery… she’s Evie’s grandmother.”

Veronica’s expression changed to be slightly surprised as she reached out and shook the other woman’s hand. Both Kathleen and Evie’s mom had been quite young when they had their daughters, so Kathleen was now only 45 and didn’t look much like a grandmother at all. Even with everything she’d been through, she still had quite a youthful appearance and could easily pass for mid-thirties. “It’s nice to meet you,” Veronica said with a friendly smile as she pulled her hand away.

Kathleen nodded and said the same thing back to Veronica.

“I guess I’m done for today,” Logan said with a small smile. “Unless there’s something else you need me to take care of before I go?”

Kathleen gave him a broad smile, “Nope, we’re good here. And if you two need some extra time, I can relieve Sara when the gallery closes and watch Evie until you’re home.”

“Thanks Kath,” Logan said with a shy smile. “Just call me though if you need me home for anything.”

Kathleen rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Logan, I’m sure we’ll be just fine without you for a while.” She glanced between the two of them. “Now get out of here you two. I have a strict no loitering policy you know.” She gave them a little wink and shooed them away with her hands.

Logan chuckled nervously and held his hand out toward the door for Veronica to lead the way. He reached around her though and grabbed the door to open it for her. He looked around for her rental car and didn’t see it parked by the gallery. “Um, is your car here?”

She shook her head. “No, I ah… Paige told me where the gallery was and I decided to just burn off some energy with a little walk.”

“Oh… okay. Um…” God I sound like a nervous idiot. “Did you want to grab a bite to eat before we talk… or talk while we eat… or talk first?” Yeah, that didn’t get any better. He realized he was nervously rubbing his hand at the nape of his neck, and pulled it down, sticking it in his pocket.

“Yeah, food sounds good,” she replied with a sly grin. He chuckled softly and gave her a slightly teasing smirk. When did food ever not sound good to Veronica? “Is there some place quiet we could go and eat and talk?”

Logan smiled and nodded. “I have a perfect idea. Come on.”

He led her toward his Range Rover, and opened the passenger door for her to climb in. He took a deep breath as he walked around the back to get in the driver seat. He couldn’t believe how nervous he felt. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt this nervous around a woman. Who are you kidding, this isn’t just any woman.

Chapter 4

Chapter Text

Chapter 4

Logan drove to Heidi’s Italian restaurant and asked Veronica to wait in the car and told her he’d be right back. He ran in and got two orders of lasagna to go, along with two Italian sodas and two pieces of tiramisu for dessert. Veronica gave him a questioning look as he put the bag in the back seat and climbed back in the driver’s seat.

“Where are we going?” she asked with a curious expression.

He gave her a sly grin. “You’ll see.”

He headed south out of town and saw her look toward the road to his house, as they drove by. He glanced over at her and saw her raise her eyebrows questioningly. He heard her let out a small laugh a couple miles later as they passed a sign for the state park that was coming up on the highway.

“Dinner at Neptune… how unexpected,” she said with a laugh in her tone.

He smiled and nodded as he pulled into the parking lot at Neptune State Park and parked the Range Rover. “Would you rather sit up at a picnic table, or walk down to the beach and eat?”

“The beach would be nice,” she replied as she opened her door and climbed out of the SUV. He grabbed a blanket from the back and then the bag with the food. They walked down the stairs to the beach and headed to the left where there were some logs they could lean against while they ate. Logan spread out the blanket and then sat down first. She sat down right next to him with just a few inches in between them. Even with the faint ocean scent in the air, he could still smell the perfume she was wearing. She still smells like marshmallows and promises.

He handed her one of the lasagnas while he took the other for himself. “Thanks,” she said as she took it from him. “So…” she said hesitantly before she started to eat anything, staring down at her food. “You have a daughter?”

Logan gave her a grim smile and nodded, “Yeah…”

“How old is she?” Veronica asked as she took her fork and stabbed at the lasagna slightly.

“She’s almost five,” Logan answered as he watched her carefully. He could see she was thinking really hard about his answer. “Don’t worry about doing the math Veronica, she’s not biologically mine.” He said with a serious expression on his face.

“Oh,” she replied in surprise.

He let out a deep sigh. “Why don’t we eat and then you can tell me what brought you here and then I’ll explain about Evie.”

She gave him a grim smile and nodded. She finally took a bite of the lasagna and couldn’t help the small ‘mm’ sound that escaped her lips.

“Yeah, they have really good lasagna,” he said with a smirk. “Wait till you try the tiramisu.” He laughed softly as her eyes lit up with delight. “It’s nice to see you’re still easy to please with food.”

She laughed softly back and nudged him slightly with her shoulder. It was the first time they had actually touched at all and even that slight gesture made him feel nervous butterflies in his stomach. He’d had such a desire to just reach out and touch her when she first showed up at his house, and then again at the gallery, but he knew if he did, he’d want to do more than just touch her for a moment. He so badly wanted to just wrap her in his arms and hold her, but then he was afraid he wouldn’t be able to let her go. He knew she’d be going back as soon as she finished whatever business had brought her here in the first place, and the thought of holding her and having her leave was just too unbearable to him.

“It’s really beautiful here,” Veronica said after they had eaten in silence for a few minutes.

Logan nodded, “Well it is summer. Unfortunately the weather isn’t always this nice. It’s nothing like Southern California.”

“It’s more than just the weather though,” she said giving him a small smile, “the scenery and the town. It just seems like a really nice place to live, even if it’s a bit small and remote.”

Logan chuckled and nodded. “Yeah, it’s pretty much the opposite of Neptune.”

“Says the guy sitting on Neptune Beach,” she replied quickly with a smirk.

He laughed a bit and nodded his head. There were a few other families and couples also enjoying the beach and warm weather. As usual on the Oregon coast, there was enough wind for kite flying and a few kids were trying their hand at keeping their kites a float a bit farther up the beach. They watched them as they ate their food. “Ouch,” Logan couldn’t help but remark as one of the kites dove and crashed hard into the sand. He heard her let out a soft laugh and saw her nod in agreement.

They finished up their lasagnas and he put the empty containers back in the bag. “So dessert now, or did you want to talk first?” he asked giving her a slightly worried look. I still have no idea what she’s doing here, but can’t let myself believe it’s for anything good.

“We could talk for a while,” she said with a small smile. He nodded and gestured for her to continue. She took a deep breath and bit on her lip for a minute before she started talking again. “I’m actually here because Charlie hired me to find you.”

Logan was a bit stunned by that. Charlie? Why on earth would he want to find me? Trina wouldn't have surprised him, but Charlie certainly did. “Really?” he asked doubtfully.

She nodded her head and gave him a concerned look. “Yeah, he has a son now… and he has thalassemia and needs a bone marrow transplant. Charlie and his wife aren’t viable matches and Charlie was hoping there was a chance you’d consider being checked to see if you might be a match. He um… he said he’d understand if you didn’t want to help given how he acted before, but he still wanted to try to get in touch with you anyway. He really loves his son and was just looking at every possibility to help him get better.”

“Oh,” Logan said a bit shocked by the information. “I can understand though… wanting to protect your kids and keep them healthy.”

Veronica looked at him with a tender expression and nodded. He could tell from just looking at her, that she was still extremely shocked to have found him there with Evie and he couldn’t really blame her. If someone had told him three years ago this would be his life now, he would have thought they were insane.

“Do I have to give you an answer right now, or can I think about it?” Logan asked cautiously. A part of him really did want to try to help, but another part was struggling with how Charlie had completely shut him out when he’d called and apologized multiple times.

“Oh no… you can have a little time to think about it,” she said with an understanding smile.

Logan nodded and took a deep breath. “How old is he?”

“Two,” Veronica replied softly.

“Did you meet him too?”

Veronica shook her head. “No, just Charlie came to see me. Nick was too sick to come along that day and he was at home with Charlie’s wife, Wendy.”

“Oh,” Logan replied and looked down at the blanket. Veronica reached over and placed her hand on his knee. Logan tried not to react to her hand being on his leg, but he couldn’t help taking in a sharp breath. He just hoped she didn’t notice.

“I do have a picture he sent though, but I forgot it back in my room. He also sent some brochures on what the procedure would entail if you are a match and want to help.”

Logan nodded and took a deep breath. She smiled and then pulled her hand back almost as quickly as she’d put it there. She looked expectantly at him, but didn’t say anything else. He looked down at the blanket again for a moment then back up at her. “My turn I guess?” She shrugged and nodded. He pulled his knees up closer to his chest and wrapped his arms around them.

“Look Logan,” she said hesitantly after a moment. She reached out and placed her hand on one of his. “You don’t owe me any explanations. If you’d rather not tell me that’s fine. That’s not why I came here.”

He slowly moved his thumb to gently stroke the tips of her fingers. The movement happened reflexively without him even thinking about it. He hoped she couldn’t tell how fast his heart was beating.

“Why don’t we have dessert and then I’ll tell you about how I got here,” he said with a lopsided smile.

“Sure,” she replied and leaned toward the bag, not knowing he was going to do the same thing and they bonked heads.

“Sorry,” he said as he reached up and gently stroked away her hair where they’d collided. Their eyes locked for a moment and it was almost like they’d gone back in time to years before. Every fiber of his being wanted to just lean in and press his lips to hers, but he knew he had other things to consider now and being young and reckless wasn’t something he could let himself be anymore. He saw her nervously lick her bottom lip as she nodded.

“It’s okay, my fault,” she said softly as she reached up and placed her hand over his. He quickly pulled his away and turned his attention back to the bag. He pulled out the desserts and handed her one.

“Mmm… this is really good too,” Veronica said after taking a bite of the tiramisu.

“Yeah,” Logan agreed. “It’s really the best Italian food place here.” She gave him a pointed look. “Okay, maybe it’s the only Italian food place in town, but it’s still really good.”

Veronica smirked and nodded. Logan ate half of his and then offered the other half to her. She gave him a sheepish grin, but accepted it anyway.

Logan took a deep breath and then cleared his throat nervously before he began. She was slowly finishing off the other piece of tiramisu and watching him carefully. “So shortly after school got out for summer break our freshman year, I guess I was feeling restless and a bit depressed. Dick had taken off to spend time with his dad, you and I weren’t really speaking either, and I felt the sudden urge to just gamble and drink my time away in Vegas.”

“To be fair Logan, I was in Virginia then, so it wasn’t like I was avoiding you or anything,” she suddenly interjected a bit defensively.

He took a deep breath. Yeah, why’d I think this was a good idea? “Sorry, I wasn’t trying to blame anything on you. I was just…” He shook his head in frustration and looked down at the blanket again.

She quickly reached over and placed her hand on his knee again. “I’m sorry Logan. I don’t know why I reacted like that.” He looked up at her as she spoke. “Please continue?”

He swallowed and nodded. “Okay… On my way to Vegas I ran into this girl whose car had broken down. I don’t know… I guess I just had a soft spot for blondes in distress so I stopped to see if she needed help.” Veronica gave him a grim smile and nodded. “I didn’t notice it at first when I stopped, but after asking if she needed help and determining it clearly wasn’t something as easy as fixing a flat tire, I noticed she had a bruise on her face that she was trying to hide under her makeup. I also didn’t notice at first either that she had a little girl in the backseat. Since I couldn’t fix her car and she didn’t have anyone she could call, I offered to give her a ride home.” Logan paused a moment and chuckled slightly. “Of course she was a bit reluctant at first, but must have decided she could trust me.” Logan stopped again and gave her a little smirk, “She also warned me if I tried anything funny she had a taser and wasn’t afraid to use it.”

Veronica laughed softly and gave him a similar smirk back.

Logan’s smirk quickly disappeared and he became serious again. “I quickly realized when we got to her apartment that there was a creepy neighbor that she seemed terrified of, and I don’t know…” he paused and looked out at the ocean.

“You felt like you needed to protect her?” Veronica asked in a soft voice. He turned back to look at her with a sad smile and nodded.

“I didn’t really have anywhere else to be, and I don’t know…” He shrugged before he continued. “I guess I knew how it felt to be afraid of someone hurting you… and… it felt good to have someone to watch over that actually wanted me to help them.”

Veronica gave him a guilty look and nodded again.

“At first I just slept on her couch and kept an eye on them you know. She had one nice neighbor that would help watch Evie when Katy… sorry I forgot to mention her name was Katy… when Katy would have to work. She was a waitress at a small café not far from her apartment.” He paused again thinking back about what it was first like all those years ago. “I don’t even know why she let me stay to be honest, other than maybe she could tell I’d been in the same position before and could relate to what it was like.” He took a deep breath before he continued. “After a week or so, I guess I stopped sleeping on the couch and…” he trailed off and gave Veronica a quick worried look. She gave him a small smile and nodded for him to continue. “I could tell that she seemed to be happier and more relaxed the longer I was there. After several weeks it was like the person I’d first met on the side of the road was gone and was replaced by someone different... someone much happier. But then…” he swallowed a lump in his throat and took a deep breath. “I’d fallen asleep waiting up for her one night and Evie was already asleep. I always made sure I was awake when she got off work and would walk out and meet her at her car when she got there. Luckily her scream woke me up, but the bastard had still grabbed her and thrown her against the wall before I’d made it out the door.” He watched Veronica’s expression turn dark. “I of course didn’t just stand idly by and sent him to the hospital with quite a few broken bones. Katy wasn’t hurt too badly physically, but emotionally she’d gone back to the quiet scared version of her I’d met the night her car was broken down on the highway.” He looked down at his hands for a moment before he continued and noticed he’d unconsciously clenched them into fists.

“I thought she was getting better. The creep at least was gone, but I guess she was still having a hard time with everything. One afternoon, Evie and I came back from a park near the apartment to meet her when she would be getting home from work and when I walked in the apartment, I found two letters. One to me and one to her mom.” Logan took a deep breath and shook his head. He still felt sick to his stomach thinking back to that moment. “God Veronica, you have no idea how scared I was when I saw the letters. All I could think about was my mom you know?”

“Oh Logan,” she said softly and reached over to squeeze his hand.

He took a deep breath before he continued. “Luckily it wasn’t that bad at least… She asked me to take Evie to live with her mom because she just felt like she couldn’t be a good mom to her with how she was feeling. I called her a dozen times before she finally answered and when she finally did I begged her to come back and that I’d help her get better… get whatever help she needed… but she wouldn’t listen and pleaded with me to just take Evie to her mom… I finally agreed.”

“Kathleen?” Veronica asked softly. Logan nodded.

“Yeah… All I had was her address and her name. I didn’t have a phone number to call ahead and doubted Katy had called her either, which of course she hadn’t. When Evie and I arrived, Kathleen was a bit surprised to say the least. She’d only seen Evie when she was first born. Katy had taken off with her when she was about 6 months old and Kathleen hadn’t seen them since.” Logan stopped for a minute before he continued. “I don’t mean to make Katy seem like a horrible person… I guess some people just aren’t really cut out to be parents.” He gave Veronica a worried look as soon as the words had left his lips. You’re such an idiot sometimes.

Veronica bit on her lip and nodded. He could see she was almost on the verge of tears now too. “I’m sorry Veronica… I didn’t mean…” He shook his head and stopped.

She swallowed and shook her head. “Hey, it’s okay. That’s not your fault either.”

Logan nodded and decided continuing with the story was probably best. “I um… I didn’t intend to stay you know… I was just going to bring Evie to Kathleen and then go… go back to Neptune I guess… but then when we got here… I guess I’d been with Katy and Evie for at least two months by then… and Evie was used to me and didn’t know Kathleen at all. She was so scared and just clung to me, not understanding why Katy was gone and why we were there… I just couldn’t leave… not right away… then the longer I stayed… I just didn’t really want to leave. Kathleen was so nice… I finally felt like part of a family you know…” Veronica gave him a small smile and nodded. “I guess we’d been here about 6 months maybe when Katy came back.” Logan shook his head and sighed. “I really wanted things to be okay again… for Evie to have her mom back… but after about two months, Katy was gone again. I’d found the house a few weeks before she’d come back and then started the process to buy it and she was gone before I even closed on it.” Logan took a deep breath and sighed again. “She came back a few more times, and it was the same thing… she’d stay a while, and then get overwhelmed with everything and take off again… the last time was about nine months ago I guess. I finally confronted her when she first arrived, before she even saw Evie that time and told her she couldn’t keep doing that to Evie… to me. I said I wanted to legally adopt Evie and that if she wasn’t going to stay this time, that I didn’t think she should come back at all.” He paused and shook his head. He’d regretted saying it later, feeling like he’d finally pushed her away from Evie forever. “She signed the papers and we haven’t seen her since.”

Veronica took a deep breath and looked out at the ocean. The sun was getting much lower in the sky, starting to make everything look more golden. She was still holding on to Logan’s hand as she sat there quietly processing everything he’d just told her.

Veronica finally let out a deep sigh after a few minutes. “Thanks for telling me.” She turned back to him and gave him a troubled smile.

Logan nodded. “I do love Evie though… and Kathleen…” He took a deep breath. “A part of me feels like it was a second chance to be part of a real family…” He looked at her with a pleading expression. He wanted her to understand, but didn’t want her to feel bad or hate him for it either.

She smiled more tenderly at him and reached up and put her hand on his cheek. “I get it Logan.” She took a deep breath. “You seem really happy here. With her… with them… I could tell watching you at the house with her that you really do love her.”

Logan took a deep breath and closed his eyes. I’d be happier if you were still part of my life too though. But this is the life I chose and I can't force you into it now. He reached up and put his hand on top of hers. He opened his eyes and looked intently into hers. “Can you stay a few days? It’s so good to see you Veronica.”

She gave him a tender smile and nodded. “Yeah… I um… I didn’t know how long it would take to track you down, so I didn’t have a return flight booked yet. So if you’d like me to stay a while, I can.” Her smile became a bit more playful, “but you have to promise me another Italian dinner.”

He laughed softly and nodded. “I promise.”

She watched him for another few moments, and then pulled her hand back down.

Logan finally cleared his throat and broke the silence. “I should probably get home pretty soon. Evie can be stubborn sometimes about bedtime.”

Veronica gave him a sly smile. “Yeah, she seemed a bit strong willed earlier when I stopped by.”

“Pot… kettle?” He asked with a teasing smirk.

“Touché,” she replied with her own little smirk.

Logan stood up and offered her his hand to pull her up from the blanket. He quickly pulled his hand away when she was standing to pick up the bag and collect the blanket. They were pretty quiet on the drive back into town. He realized he’d forgotten to explain that Sara was actually Katy’s younger sister, so he shared that with her on the drive back. Fourteen old Sara hadn’t been a fan of the title ‘Aunt Sara’ when they first arrived, so she’d always just been Sara to Evie. When he arrived at the B&B, he got out and walked around to the passenger side as she was climbing out.

“So um…” he said a little nervously. “If you’d like to come over for breakfast, you could spend a little more time with Evie too... Only if you want to though of course.”

Veronica smiled and nodded. “That would be great. What time should I be there?”

“She’s an early riser, so anytime after 7 would be fine.”

Veronica laughed. “Well why don’t we say 8 then? I’m still not much of an early riser.”

Logan smiled and nodded. Veronica gave him an affectionate look. “It’s really great to see you again Logan.” She took a deep breath, then suddenly lunged herself toward him and wrapped her arms around his waist. He took a deep breath and carefully hugged her back. “I’ve really missed you.” She said so softly that he could just barely hear it. He tightened his hold a bit more and rested his cheek on the top of her head.

“I’ve missed you too.” He whispered softly.

She took a deep breath and then he felt her drop her arms, and he immediately did the same.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” she said as she quickly turned and headed into the front door of the B&B.

“Good night Veronica,” Logan called out as he watched her vanish into the house.

A/N – I hope Logan’s white knight tendencies and his lack of growing up with a loving family makes where he’s ended up believable. I really loved all the creative ideas that people had come up with for who she was. I know some comments from the earlier chapters wondered how Veronica would react to him being with someone else’s child, but the two of them actually have a lot in common since they were both abandoned by their moms. Not to mention Evie’s personality is a lot like hers. Most of the fluff I promised comes from Evie and Veronica interactions in future chapters.

I’m trying to put things in the story that are actually really in Yachats, and the Oregon coast, but the Gallery and some of the other things may not be. Heidi’s is actually an Italian food restaurant listed online in Yachats. There’s actually also a State Park called Neptune that’s right outside of Yachats. I came across it last summer on a trip down to Florence and we’ve visited it a few times since then. I guess that was one of the reasons I ended up with this idea for a story too.

Chapter 5

Chapter Text

Chapter 5

Logan’s mind was on overdrive as he drove home. He was more than just a bit overwhelmed with everything that had happened that day. Finding Veronica at his front door in the middle of the afternoon was not something he’d ever expected to have happen. And then to find out that Charlie was the one who’d been looking for him was even more surprising. He was ecstatic that she agreed to stay a few days. He already knew she’d graduated from Hearst because he’d checked their graduate listings online and saw that she’d graduated at the top of her class. But he was curious about what she planned to do next. He wondered if she was planning to go and work for the FBI since she'd done at least one internship with them and then completed her degree in criminology.

Even though he’d never tried to contact her in the years since he left, he still couldn’t completely forget her either, and would occasionally check the Neptune paper for articles about her. He'd found that living in a house that was only a couple miles from Neptune State Park, meant he couldn't completely forget about where he'd come from. That little reminder would pop up every time he'd drive south to Florence for larger shopping trips, and then once Evie was older, that was the beach they'd always visit to play in the sand since their property was bordered only by rocky shoreline. He knew that Veronica had kept working with her dad on cases even while she was going to Hearst from a few of the articles on higher profile cases they'd solved. He was always relieved that she seemed to be staying safe and that the cases hadn't been homicidal maniacs or dangerous serial killers. He didn't really want to admit to her that he'd been keeping tabs on her. I’m sure she’d think I was some sort of creepy stalker if I admit that.

Obviously from her reaction today she hadn’t been keeping tabs on him. He had of course tried to vanish with a different name, although really the new one wasn’t that big of an identity change. At least it was enough to keep the media out of his hair since he’d left Neptune. It was also nice because no one here seemed to care much about the offspring of two deceased actors and he’d never even had someone recognize who he actually was. He’d always wondered if Veronica had asked Dick about him at all when he disappeared from Neptune. He hadn’t given Dick many details other than letting him know he was fine and not coming back to Neptune. He’d had the staff at the Grand pack up the things in his room and ship them to Kathleen’s several months after he’d decided to stay. And then of course he’d worked with Cliff to change his name and then later adopt Evie. Cliff must not have mentioned anything about Evie if that was how she’d found him since she was obviously surprised to find him here with a daughter.

It was dark by the time he arrived home. He pulled into the garage and headed inside. He’d loved this house the first time he saw it. Not only was it on an amazing ocean front lot, but the size of it was perfect for him and Evie. Of course like most of the shoreline around Yachats, it was rocky and rough, but gorgeous nonetheless. The garage and a few rooms were on the bottom level, and he’d turned one into a workout room and the larger open one into a TV room. On the main floor there was the kitchen that opened up into a big great room that had windows that looked out to a deck and had an amazing view of the ocean. He climbed the stairs and found Kathleen in the great room watching TV.

“So…” Kathleen asked curiously as she turned the TV off, “how’d it go?”

“Any trouble getting Evie to bed?” Logan asked glancing at the stairs that led up to their bedrooms and ignoring her question.

Kathleen shook her head and gave him a knowing smile. “She was a little bummed that she had to go to bed before you came home, but we read a story and she settled right down and went to sleep.” Logan quirked an eyebrow questioningly at her. Kathleen sighed, “OK maybe I had to read several stories, but she did finally go to sleep.”

“I’m just going to go and peek in at her and make sure she’s really asleep.” He said as he started for the stairs.

“Okay, but I’m waiting to talk,” she said as he started walking up to Evie's room.

When he reached her room, he opened the door quietly. He heard her soft little snuffle sounds that she would make when she was asleep. He saw quite a few books stacked up on the table next to her bed and chuckled to himself imaging Kathleen reading them all. He walked over and pulled her blanket up a bit higher and gave her a kiss on the forehead. He knew if she was sick and needed some sort of transplant that he would do whatever it took to help her get better. He’d even track down Katy if that were the case, and knew he probably would have gone to Keith or Veronica for help in doing that. He was actually a bit surprised that Charlie had gone to them to find him. Charlie must have paid a bit more attention to him than he had ever thought if he had connected Veronica to him. It would have been too big of a coincidence if that wasn’t why he’d gone to them for help. There had been plenty of articles over the years that he was in trouble that mentioned her or Mars Investigations, so it wasn’t a huge secret, but one that would have taken a little digging to find out. He let out a deep sigh and then turned and headed out of the room.

Kathleen was standing in the kitchen when he came back down the stairs. “Hot chocolate?” she asked holding out a mug for him. He smiled and nodded and took a seat at one of the counter stools. She grabbed her own mug and sat down next to him. “So spill,” she said playfully as she bumped her shoulder into his. “What brought your ex to town?”

Logan laughed slightly and shook his head. “She was actually hired to find me.”

“Ah… so she’s Nancy Drew?” Kathleen asked with a light-hearted smile. Logan had told her a few stories of growing up in Neptune, but had tried not to obsess too much about it and usually didn’t get specific with names whenever he did. Maybe it was his way to try to pretend he’d left most of it in the past.

Logan smiled and nodded. “Yep, that’s her. And surprisingly it was my half brother Charlie that hired her to find me.”

Kathleen’s eyes opened wide in disbelief. Logan hadn’t initially told Kathleen who he really was when he first arrived with Evie, since he had already decided to go by Logan Lester, but eventually he’d told her the truth and talked a bit about his family history.

Logan let out a sad sigh. “Charlie has a son now and he’s sick and needs a bone marrow transplant and they are trying to find a donor. He was hoping I would check to see if I might be a match.”

“Oh Logan,” Kathleen said with a compassionate expression. She reached over and squeezed his hand. “You’re going to do it?”

Logan wasn't sure if it was a question or a statement, but knowing Kathleen it was probably the latter. "Yeah, I know if it was Evie I'd do whatever it took to help her. I'm not even sure I'll be a match, but figure the least I can do is get checked for them."

Kathleen nodded. "And Veronica?" She quirked an eyebrow up. "Is she leaving already then?"

Logan gave her a small smile and shook his head. "No I asked her to stay for a few days."

Kathleen smiled and nodded. "Good. You could use a friend around for a while."

Logan gave her a faux hurt expression. "What? I have tons of friends!"

"The stuffed animals in your daughter's room don't count." She replied with a teasing smile.

"Mr. Huggles is going to be offended by that." Logan tossed out with a smirk.

Kathleen rolled her eyes. "When was the last time you went on a date Logan... And tea parties with your daughter and her dolls don't count."

Logan let out a huff of air. "You made me take that barista out for dinner a month ago, remember?" The one who made Gia seem like a quiet introvert.

Kathleen chuckled and shook her head. "Okay, so I'm not a great match maker."

Logan smiled broadly and shook his head, and then his expression became a bit more serious. "But Veronica's just here as a friend. She didn't come to find me for any other reason than Charlie hired her. She has a life back in California and I have no intention of ever going back."

Kathleen let out a loud sigh. "I saw the way you two looked at each other at the gallery, Logan. Don't try to tell me you don't still have feelings for her that are stronger than just friendship. Maybe you shouldn't be so quick to rule out something more with her."

"I'm never going back," Logan said a bit terser than before. "And I'm sure she'd never consider giving up her life there to move here, so there's no sense in hoping for something more. I'm thrilled she's going to stay for a while because I did really miss her and having her back as a friend means a lot to me even if I wouldn't get to see her very often."

Kathleen gave him a worried look and reached over and squeezed his hand. "Not everyone is like Katy, Logan.” The ‘or your mom, or Lilly, or Duncan’ weren’t said but he could see it in her eyes. “Not everyone is going to leave you. If you still care about Veronica, just don't start putting walls up, okay?"

Logan let out a loud sigh and nodded. Kathleen stood up and took her empty mug to the sink and rinsed it out before putting it in the dishwasher. Logan stood up too and walked over toward her.

"Thanks Kath," he said softly as he looked down at the mug in his hand before he rinsed it and put it in the dishwasher too.

"I just want you to be happy, Logan," she said softly as she gently put her hand on his forearm. "You do deserve to be happy, regardless of what you might think sometimes."

"I am happy though," Logan replied and gave her a small smile.

Her expression looked skeptical but she smiled and nodded anyway. "I'll talk to you tomorrow," she said as she grabbed her purse and headed toward the front door.

Logan slowly followed behind her. "Drive safely," he said as she opened the door to go out. She nodded and gave him one more small smile before closing the door behind her.

Bella had been sleeping on the floor by where Kathleen was watching TV and finally stood up and walked over to Logan after the door closed. "Some guard dog you are." He patted her on the head and then headed up to bed with her following closely behind.

He stopped at Evie's door again and stood in the doorway watching her sleep for a few minutes. He couldn't even begin to imagine how hard it would be for him if she were to get as sick as Charlie's son was. She really had become the most important thing in his life over the past three years, which he'd never expected to happen after just stumbling across her and Katy that fateful day. As soon as he recognized that scared look in Katy's eyes, he couldn't help but try to protect her even though he'd barely known her. He'd almost seen a reflection of himself when he had been afraid to go home to Aaron when he looked at her. He wasn't even sure what she was afraid of when he'd offered her the ride home, but couldn't stand the thought of knowing her and her little girl might be heading into something dangerous. Even then Evie had given him the warmest smile and had so much love in her that he couldn't just walk away and let something bad happen to either of them. At some point he really had hoped things might work out with him and Katy. It wasn't immediate but it was before that night that she'd been attacked. It had killed him that he hadn't been there fast enough to protect her when it happened. And then after that, she just drifted farther and farther away from him. Even all the times she'd come back, they never got back to where they had first been. She never admitted to blaming him for not being there that night, but he certainly blamed himself and worried that guilt was part of what always pushed them apart.

After leaning in the doorway watching Evie sleep for a while he finally went to his own bedroom and got ready for bed. His mind was still swirling with thoughts of Veronica and how excited he was to see her again. Even if it was just for a few days, maybe it would be enough to erase that loneliness he sometimes felt, at least for a while. And if they could stay friends this time he'd have someone to talk to every once in a while, even if it was just an occasional text or phone call. That thought as he drifted off to sleep gave him more hope than he remembered having in quite some time. A hopefulness that he didn’t even realize he was missing.

Chapter 6

Chapter Text

Chapter 6

Veronica woke up earlier than she expected the next morning. She'd had a tough time falling asleep with her mind trying to process everything Logan had told her. Of course she still had a million questions that she wasn't even sure it was her place to ask at all. He'd made these decisions on his own and it certainly wasn't her place to jump in now after all this time and question him on any of them. Not to mention she was still in a bit of shock that he'd adopted someone else's daughter. Of course she couldn't deny how much more at ease he seemed in his overall demeanor than he'd been all those years ago. No matter what else she had tried to think of before she went to sleep, her mind quickly found its way back to all her questions. She'd wondered what happened to Evie's real dad and how he fit into the picture. She also couldn't help but wonder how in love with Katy Logan had been and if some part of him hoped she'd get her act together and come back. She knew she'd hoped that about her own mom for years. Naturally she also wondered how Evie was feeling about that too, although she was so much younger than Veronica had been. She wondered how much she even remembered about Katy if she hadn't seen her in almost a year or more. Logan hadn't said if Katy had even seen her the last time she'd turned up or not. Veronica kept trying to remind herself that she was just here as a friend and that Logan's life now was really not something she had any right to question or judge.

She was genuinely surprised when he’d asked if she could stay a few days. When she’d first arrived at his house, she thought it felt like he was trying to get rid of her by the way he was initially acting, although then he did help her get a place to stay. Of course a place to stay that wasn’t a guest room at his house, which surely he likely had given the size of it and only the two of them living there. Really Veronica, what were you expecting? He hadn’t seen you in over three years and you show up unannounced at his front door. She couldn’t deny the feelings that coursed through her though when they were together on the beach. Why does life always have to be so complicated for us? She had tried to tell herself all the way from Neptune that she was only finding him for the case, though deep down she knew a part of her just really wanted him back in her life. She hadn't connected to anyone in the last three years the way she'd connected with him. No matter what challenges they’d been through before, a part of her had never stopped loving him. But now, it wasn't as simple as just falling back into their old rhythms at all.

She debated about whether to call her dad before she headed to Logan's for breakfast. She hadn't felt like talking to him when she got back to her room the prior night. She'd talked with him after she'd first found Logan and let him know she was going to talk to him again later and that she'd update him when she could. She'd at least sent a text last night before she went to bed that everything was fine and she'd talk to him soon.

She decided if she waited too long to call him though that he might start to worry, so she settled on calling him right before she left. She was uncharacteristically nervous as she took a shower and got ready to go back to Logan’s. It looked like it was going to be another beautiful day, so she put on some light linen shorts and a dark gray tank, and added a light jacket since it still seemed to look a little chilly out in the early morning hours. She was still having a hard time wrapping her mind around the fact that she was on her way to have breakfast with Logan and his daughter… that Logan was actually a dad now.

She was finally ready to go at about 7:30 and hoped her dad would already be awake. She wasn't sure if he'd been out late on a case the night before, but hoped he hadn’t. He picked up on the second ring and didn't sound sleepy at least.

"Good morning," she said in her best chirpy voice. "Surviving without me?"

"Barely," he replied, though she could tell it was just to placate her. "Sooooo... you had a chance to talk to Logan last night?" She could tell there was something up by his tone.

"Yeah..." She answered a bit hesitantly.

"I um... I had a beer with Cliff last night and told him where you were."

She let out a frustrated sigh. "So did he bare all once he knew I'd found him."

"Well not at first. But he... uh... he did tell me what the last thing he worked on for him was."

"The adoption?" Veronica asked, deciding she didn't want to waste time beating around the bush and by his tone she already knew that he knew.

"Yes," Keith replied softly.

"Yeah... He told me all about that last night. Cute kid." She let out another sigh. "I've got to get going. We're going to talk more today. He’s still thinking over Charlie’s request. I'm... I'm not sure how long I'm staying. You'll be fine without me for a few days right? If he does decide to help them, I want to stay to get the testing all set up since I have all the information from Charlie."

She wasn't sure if he could detect something more in her voice, but if he did, he didn't say anything about it. "Of course. No rush to get back. Enjoy the change of scenery too. When you start school in a couple weeks, you probably won't see much besides the inside of text books."

She let out a loud groan. "Thanks for the reminder."

He chuckled softly. "No problem. I love you honey. Talk to you soon."

"Love you too. Bye."

Veronica hung up, grabbed her purse and headed out the door of her room. Paige was in the front entry way as Veronica headed toward the front door. Veronica guessed Paige was probably a few years older than Kathleen and she’d noticed a wedding band on her finger, though hadn’t seen her husband around. The main living area of the B&B was furnished with more generic pictures and artwork, and she hadn’t noticed any personal or family photos around to know what the story was with her gracious hostess. "Good morning. There's breakfast in the dining room if you're hungry," Paige said with a pleasant smile.

"Thanks," Veronica replied politely, "but I'm on my way to have breakfast with Logan."

Paige gave her a knowing smile and nodded. "Tell him I said hello."

Veronica nodded and headed to her car after saying a quick goodbye.

As she climbed the steps to his front door again she took a deep breath. She wasn't sure why she was so nervous since she had just been there the day before. She rang the door bell and heard Bella bark. She could hear Logan's voice telling her to sit and stay and then heard him say something she couldn't quite make out before she heard the door being unlocked and opened.

"Good morning," he said with a large grin on his face. She couldn't help but match it with her own smile and followed him into the house. She noticed Bella was sitting in the same spot that she'd been in the day before. She barked as they walked into the kitchen and Logan told her 'no' and she stopped.

Evie was sitting at the kitchen counter working on a pancake. "Sorry," Logan said as they walked in. "Someone was dying of starvation and couldn't wait." He gave Evie an accusatory look and she just shrugged and kept eating her pancake.

"It's fine," Veronica said as she stood there a bit awkwardly.

He must have noticed she felt a bit out of place and gestured to one of the stools. "Go ahead and have a seat. Can I get you some coffee?"

"Yeah, thanks," she said as she sat on the stool next to Evie and hung her purse off the back rest. Logan gave her a warm smile and handed her a cup of coffee and then set the cream and sugar by her. "I have some vanilla or hazelnut creamer too if you'd rather have one of those." He must have seen her eyes light up at the hazelnut option and smiled and grabbed it from the fridge, swapping it for the regular creamer.

"So I can do chocolate chip, blueberry, banana or regular pancakes. Or any combination of those. What's your poison?"

Emotionally unavailable women... How do I even remember that... It struck her at that moment how cruel fate seemed to be to Logan. Was that how Katy was too? Is that why she didn’t try to stay and work things out. He’d said that to me even before I’d shut him out during College. I was never even able to say ‘I love you’ directly to him. For a moment she felt a horrible surge of guilt pass through her. Logan never really had people who loved him unconditionally, until now. She realized he was staring expectantly at her."Ummm..."

"Banana chocolate chip's my favorite," Evie interjected before Veronica was able to recover and give her answer.

"That sounds good," Veronica replied with a smile and a nod toward Logan.

"Do you want another one too Evie?" Logan asked as he reached for some bowls that were on the counter. Evie nodded as she finished the last bite of the one she'd already had.

Evie turned her attention from her empty plate to the dog. "Release, daddy," she said giving him an unhappy look.

"She's fine there Evie." He gave her a small smile. "She can wait for us to eat to run around. Down Bella," he said and the dog laid down in her spot. "Good girl," he replied and Veronica could see her short tail wagging.

Evie let out a disappointed huff and turned back to Logan. "Can I have Mickey again?"

"Of course" he replied with a smile. "Do you also want Mickey ear pancakes?" he asked Veronica with a smirk.

She laughed and shook her head.

"Yes Daddy," Evie interjected again. "Make hers Mickey too. They taste better when they're Mickey."

Veronica shrugged and gave him a small smile. She glanced around the room while he was working on the pancakes. She’d been so overwhelmed with everything the day before that she hadn’t really taken in her surroundings when she was there. She saw that the kitchen was connected to a large great room that had huge windows that opened up to the backyard and the view of the ocean. She also noticed a large wooden deck outside the windows with a pair of French doors that opened up to it. She imagined the view of the ocean was probably even better from out on the deck.

The pancakes were done a little while later and Logan also took some bacon out of a warmer drawer.

"There was more bacon?" Evie asked in surprise.

Logan laughed. "Yes, I knew if I didn't hide it, you'd eat it all before Veronica got here."

Evie didn't seem to mind the comment and reached quickly for some of the bacon. "Two pieces only, Evie." Logan said followed by a sigh from Evie.

"You can have more than two pieces," he said to Veronica, apparently noticing the curious look she gave him as she also only grabbed two pieces.

Veronica laughed softly. "Thanks," she said as she reached out and took another piece. He reached over and put two more pieces on her plate and gave her a sly grin.

They sat and ate mostly in silence besides a little bit of polite requests to pass the syrup or the butter. Veronica noticed Logan had gone with blueberry pancakes and he must have caught her looking at his plate. He subtly moved half of one of his over to her plate without saying anything about it, just giving her a small smile when she looked up at him. He always was good at sharing his food with me, though sometimes he made it seem like it was reluctantly, but I knew he always wanted to.

When they were done eating, he finally released Bella from her spot and she hesitantly walked over toward Veronica. She held her hand out again for her to sniff and then she scratched her head when she seemed comfortable with her. Logan was starting to clean the dishes but kept a watchful eye on them.

"Do you want to see my room?" Evie asked giving Veronica a look of anticipation.

Veronica looked in Logan's direction. "Do you need any help with the dishes?"

He gave her a grateful smile. "No, I've got it. You can go check out her room." He smirked a bit. "I'm sure you'll love it."

She couldn't tell if he was being serious or sarcastic, but she nodded to Evie and started following her up the stairs. Bella followed closely behind them as well.

Evie walked into one of the doorways at the top of the stairs and Veronica followed her in. She expected it to be pink and princessy, because if you're 4 and your dad was loaded, why wouldn't it be? She practically gasped as she walked in. There was a fair amount of pink, but one wall was painted like a mural with a beautiful forest background with several gorgeous unicorns hidden among the trees.

"You like unicorns?" Veronica asked a bit amazed as she looked around the room and saw several unicorn figurines as well.

"Of course," Evie replied like there couldn't possibly be any other answer.

There was a stuffed white and pink unicorn on her bed and she picked it up and handed it to Veronica. "He's my favorite."

"It's so fluffy," Veronica said as she took it which drew immediate laughter from the little girl. "What?" Veronica asked not really seeing why that was so funny.

"You said it like the movie," Evie explained when she stopped giggling.

"What movie?" Veronica asked in confusion. Evie's eyes got big and she grabbed another stuffed toy from her bed. It was yellow and shaped sort of like a capsule, but with one giant eye in the middle of its head and strange blue overalls on. Veronica had seen it before, but wasn't sure which kid's movie it was from. Evie shook him in front of her. "The minun movie?" She asked holding him up to Veronica. Veronica shook her head and Evie's eyes got even bigger. She grabbed Veronica's hand and pulled her back to the stairs. "Daddy... Daddy..." She called as she ran down the stairs with Veronica trying to keep up and not trip down the stairs herself.

Logan appeared near the base of the stairs a second later looking expectantly at them.

"Vonica's never seen the minun movie!" Evie exclaimed holding the yellow toy up again to Logan.

"Ver-on-i-ca," Logan corrected her again like the day before.

Evie let out a frustrated sigh. "That's just tooooo long," she whined.

Veronica laughed softly. "You can call me V if you want." Logan gave her a questioning look but she just smiled and shrugged.

"Veee hasn't seen the minun movie Daddy. Can we watch it?"

"It’s minion honey," he said pronouncing it the right way and looking at Veronica with an almost apologetic look. "It's up to Veronica if she wants to watch a movie."

"Sure," Veronica said with a smile, and then realized she was still holding the stuffed unicorn. "Here's your… um..."

"Corny," Evie said reaching out to take the unicorn. "His name is Corny. Daddy named him. Because he's a uni-CORN."

Veronica glanced quickly at Logan with a small smirk on her lips and noticed he had an embarrassed smile on his face. He leaned a bit closer to Veronica and whispered into her ear. "She wanted to name him Horny and I thought the other would be better." Veronica laughed and gave him a sly smile.

"Do you want to watch it up here or down in the TV room," Logan asked Evie after giving Veronica a little wink.

"Downstairs," Evie answered without hesitation. "Come on Vonica," she said as she headed toward the stairs that went to the bottom floor. She stopped at the top and waited for Veronica to follow her. Looks like V didn't really stick.

Logan shook his head and mouthed 'sorry' to Veronica. She gave him a quick smile and shrugged. "I guess it's better than Ronnie," she said quietly with a little wink.

He laughed softly and nodded. "I'm almost done and then I'll be right down."

She gave him a warm smile and nodded and headed downstairs with Evie. At the bottom of the stairs, there was a closed door that she guessed led to the garage based on seeing the location of the garage from the outside. There was another open door that revealed a bathroom.

They continued down a short hall and she peeked into another open door and saw a small home gym. I thought he looked like he’d been keeping in good shape. She couldn’t help a small smile that flitted across her lips at the thought of how good he looked. At the end of the hall was a large open room, similar to the great room upstairs. There was a large TV in it and a very large sectional couch, with several bean bags spread out on the floor in front of the couch. There were also large windows and a French door that opened up to the backyard.

Veronica walked toward the windows and looked out. There was a large concrete paved area right outside the door and she noticed a bike with training wheels was sitting next to a couple of lounge chairs. It was shaded by the large wooden deck that was above it. She noticed a hot tub was located right off the paved area and smiled about the child proof cable that was locked securely in place. A bit off from the patio in the middle of the grass was an elaborate play structure. It sat behind the house so she hadn’t seen it before from the front of the house. She was staring out toward the ocean when she heard Evie moving around the bean bags. She looked over at her and saw that she was stacking two together and then climbed up to the back of the couch and leapt off, flying through the air and landing in the pile of beanbags with a laugh.

“Evie!” Logan yelled from upstairs. “You’d better not be jumping on the beanbags!”

Evie let out a frustrated sigh and rolled off the beanbags onto the floor. She looked up at Veronica. “Does your Daddy always know when you’re doing things you’re not supposed to?”

Veronica couldn’t help but laugh. “Yes, he normally does. It must be like a Daddy super power.”

Evie nodded and gave her a small smile. Veronica saw something move out in the yard and turned again to see what it was. “Is that a bunny?” she asked co*cking her head to the side for a better look.

“The bunny?” Evie squealed hopping up from the ground and running over to the door, practically smashing her face up against the glass. “I don’t see it.”

Veronica looked down at her and realized she was probably too short to see its almost hidden spot. “Here, I can pick you up to see it better.” Evie moved closer so Veronica could pick her up and as she did, Veronica pointed toward where she thought she saw the bunny. A minute later it ran out from a bush to a more open grassy area.

“Daddy!” Evie yelled as she squirmed out of Veronica’s arms and ran back toward the stairs. “Daddy, the bunny’s back! Let’s try to catch it again.” Veronica could hear her quickly running up the stairs back to the kitchen.

She could hear Logan sigh all the way from upstairs. “Evie, it’s a wild bunny. It doesn’t want to be caught. It likes being free.”

“But I want to hold it,” Evie whined. Veronica could picture the pout and head tilt from all the way downstairs.

“Sweetie, we can’t hold wild bunnies. It might bite you. Remember how we talked about wild animals getting scared and trying to protect themselves.”

“But it’s soooo cute.” Evie tried to argue.

“Come on, let’s go start the movie okay?” Logan suggested as Veronica could hear their footsteps getting closer to the stairs.

“Is it still there?” Evie asked as she ran back over to Veronica. “Don’t let Bella eat it Daddy!”

Logan sighed and shook his head. “I promise I won’t let Bella out until it’s gone.”

Veronica pointed out its new location to Evie as Logan slowly walked over to join them.

“Can you see it Daddy?” Evie asked as she stared out the window. Logan’s eyes scanned the yard as he shook his head. Veronica gave him a small smile and then pointed to where it was mostly hidden again under a different bush. “Can I go and get a carrot for him?”

“Sure Evie,” Logan said as she turned to run back up to the kitchen. She was back a minute later with a carrot and looked at Logan and then Bella.

“Sit Bella,” Logan said getting a smile from Evie. “Stay.” Evie nodded and slowly opened the French door to go outside. She moved as slowly as possible in the direction of where the bunny was hiding.

“What if she actually catches it?” Veronica asked with a bit of concern from Logan’s earlier warning.

Logan let out a soft laugh. “Trust me. She won’t get within 5 feet of him before he runs back under the fence again.” He looked down at Veronica with a fond smile. “Did you want to try to catch it too?” he asked in a teasing tone.

“Maybe,” she said in a soft voice and gave him a coy smile. “He is awfully cute.”

Logan gave her a small smirk. “Yeah, little things are always awfully cute.”

She narrowed her eyes at him and her smile got a bit bigger. “Yeah we are aren’t we?” she asked in an almost flirty voice as Logan smiled more and nodded.

“Yeah, you are,” He answered softly. She knew that look on his face. That overwhelmed with emotion look that he used to get when they were younger. She wished he’d just lean down and kiss her again like he used to. But how do you explain to your four year old why you’re kissing a woman who just showed up at your door the day before… who isn’t her Mom. She knew how she felt when she saw her dad with other women, though she wasn’t four either. She wondered if he’d dated other women over the years that Evie had seen him with. He reached up and gently pushed a few strands of hair behind her ear and kept staring at her.

A scream of ‘no’ from Evie outside broke his gaze from her as he turned and looked outside again. Evie was scrambling toward the fence that led up into woods behind the house. The bunny evidently bolting as Logan had predicted. She dropped the carrot on the other side of the fence and turned to head back to the house, a frustrated expression on her face. Veronica looked up at Logan and saw a crooked smile on his face. Father knows best… also another universal rule about dads apparently. Bella barked, probably not thrilled she was still being ignored and stuck in place. “Release Bella,” Logan said and she bolted out the door toward Evie, stopping before she knocked her over and wagging her tail as Evie wrapped her arms around her and nuzzled her face against her neck. When Evie let go of her, Bella ran toward the bushes where the rabbit had been and started sniffing around.

Evie made it back to the door and gave Logan a discouraged look. “Sorry sweetie,” Logan said as he ruffled her hair. “I know you’re super fast, but so are bunnies. I’m sure he’ll come back later and enjoy the carrot.” Evie nodded and walked over and flopped down on the bean bag pile she’d made. “Ready to watch Despicable Me?”

“Yes, let’s watch Depickle Me now.” She said as she let out a defeated sigh.

“Des-pi-kuh-ble,” Logan said as he walked over toward the TV and Blu-Ray player.

Evie repeated it slowly, but still sounded disappointed she couldn’t catch the rabbit. Veronica walked over and took a seat in the middle of the large sectional sofa behind where Evie was on the bean bags. Evie had rolled on to her stomach so she could see the TV. Logan turned and gave them both a warm smile, as he grabbed a few remotes and walked back over to the door that was still opened and whistled for Bella. She ran in and he closed the door, then went over and took a seat close to Veronica. He pressed buttons on one of the remotes and the TV came on, while another one was for electric blinds changing the room from being full of light to quite dark, with the only light coming from the large TV screen. He started the movie and leaned back on the couch and Veronica did the same. Bella walked over and put her head on his knee and looked up at him. He patted the couch next to him and she happily jumped up and rested her front paws across his thigh as he reached down and scratched her behind the ears.

“Hey Bella,” Veronica whispered softly as the movie started. She scooted a little closer to Logan so she could pet Bella’s head too. Logan gave her a warm smile as the movie’s opening credits started to play.

“No comparing me to Gru,” he said with a little smile as she gave him a puzzled look and he just shrugged in response.

A/N – I hope you all enjoyed Veronica and Evie together! I’ve had a lot of fun working on this story. Please let me know what you thought!

Chapter 7

Chapter Text

Chapter 7

Logan was having more fun watching Veronica watching the movie than actually watching it himself. Of course I’ve seen it about 10 times already. He'd shifted slightly against the couch so he could see her face better. She'd glanced over at him a few times and smiled at him before turning back to watch the movie again. He'd wanted to kiss her so badly earlier by the door, but didn't think it would be a good idea with Evie there. He’d gone on dates with a few women in the last couple of years, but none of them had actually spent any time around Evie, so he wasn’t sure how she’d react to seeing that. Not to mention he really didn't want to get his heart totally broken when she left and keeping a bit of distance was probably best. For all he knew, she could even have a boyfriend still at home waiting for her to return. I’m just going to enjoy what ever small amount of time I’ll have with her again as friends. He couldn’t help but think about how comfortable and familiar it felt to just enjoy breakfast and a movie with her. Albeit it was far different than lazy weekend mornings they’d spent having breakfast at the Grand when they were dating. Those of course involved room service and typically not much clothing. And the movies were never G rated animated cartoons. This was in some ways so much better though. No worries over dangerous PI cases or deep dark secrets that he was trying to hide. Just them being together with no drama going on around them.

They had just watched the part where Agnes gets the big fluffy unicorn when Evie started to laugh. “See, just like you said it,” she said as she turned and gave Veronica a big smile. Veronica laughed and nodded. Evie had her unicorn and minion sitting next to her on the beanbags and wrapped her arms back around them as she turned to watch the movie again. Logan couldn’t help but notice how soft Veronica’s expression was as she watched Evie as well as the movie.

“I’ll be back in a minute,” Logan whispered to Veronica a little while later as he stood up and headed up stairs.

Logan pulled out his phone and typed in a text to Sara. ‘Whatchaa doin?’

‘Building an intergalactic transporter’ She texted back a minute later.

He chuckled and sent a reply. ‘Aren’t you a little young for that?’

‘Yes, yes I am’ She texted back, followed a second later by another text. ‘I’m just waiting for Devin to get off work. What’s up? Need a sitter?’

‘Actually I wanted to borrow Bandit for a little while.’ He texted back as he opened the fridge and pulled out some grapes and went to the sink to wash them.

‘Sure. When?”

’30 min?’ Logan texted back after he put the grapes into a big bowl.

‘k c u then’ Sara texted back. He smiled and headed back downstairs with the grapes.

Veronica gave him a small smile as he came back in the room. Bella had totally stolen his spot and had her head in Veronica’s lap. “Theif,” he whispered as he walked over to the other side of Veronica and sat down. He offered her some of the grapes before he let Evie know he’d brought them down. Evie hopped up from the beanbags and crawled on the other side of him to eat some of them too. Evie took one and then gave Logan a sweet smile after eating it. She pulled another one off and turned so she was facing him.

“You too,” she said holding it up so he could eat it. She giggled as he opened his mouth wide and pretended to try to eat her fingers before taking the grape. She ate a few more before she climbed back down to her beanbags where she’d left her unicorn and minion. Logan glanced back over at Veronica who seemed to have been watching him a bit more than she was watching the movie at that point. He quirked an eyebrow at her with a questioning expression and she shrugged and shook her head. He so desperately wondered what was actually going through her head. Of course this wasn’t exactly the place or time to try to get her to open up to him. He thought it was a bit ironic that he really wanted to get her to tell him exactly what she was thinking and feeling, when in the past she was the one who’d tried to push them to be completely open and honest with each other. He vowed if they were able to have that discussion this time, there wasn’t anything he’d try to keep from her. He was proud of himself for being open with her about Katy the night before. Even though she’d said at the time that he didn’t owe her any explanations, he felt like the only chance they had for whatever type of relationship they might be able to build this time had to be based on being open and honest with each other.

Pretty close to 30 minutes later the movie was ending and Logan heard the door upstairs open and close. Veronica gave him a curious look and he whispered that it was just Sara. He stood up and called Bella to go outside.

“Lo?” Sara called out from upstairs.

“We’re downstairs,” Logan called up to her.

“Sara!” Evie squealed out happily, but then she gave Logan a sad look. “Are you leaving again?” It always broke his heart a little when she got upset about him leaving her. He didn’t actually do it very often, but Kathleen had really pushed him to get away and do things without Evie so she’d get used to being away from him before she had to start going to school.

“No, Sara brought you a surprise,” Logan said with a little grin. Sara walked in the room a minute later carrying the surprise in her arms.

“Bandit!” Evie cried out as she hopped off the couch and ran over to Sara.

“Sit down sweetie so you don’t scare him,” Logan called after her as Veronica had turned to see what Sara was carrying.

Veronica’s eyes opened wide and she turned back to look at Logan who had sat down next to her again. “Are you a magician or something?” Her tone was clearly full of amazement.

Logan laughed and shook his head. It had been so long since he’d seen a look of amazement like that on Veronica’s face. Sara came over and sat down next to Veronica with Evie sitting on her other side. Sara was holding a little white rabbit that had what looked like big black eyes. Evie and Veronica both reached out to pet him. Veronica laughed as the bunny licked her hand.

“Oh my, he’s even better than the fluffy unicorn!” Veronica said in an almost giddy tone.

“You can hold him,” Sara said to Veronica as she moved him over to her lap.

“Can I get him a carrot Daddy?” Evie asked looking over at him. He nodded and she ran up to the kitchen again returning with another carrot. She laughed as she held the carrot and the bunny would take bites of it.

“Is he yours?” Veronica asked Sara.

Sara shook her head. “No he belongs to a friend of mine, but she’s out of town for a week, so I’ve been taking care of him for her.”

“He actually has black hairs around his eyes doesn’t he? Almost like eyeliner.” Veronica asked as she studied him more closely.

Sara nodded. “Yeah, he’s a special breed that has that type of marking. It makes his eyes look even bigger than they are.”

“What big eyes you have,” Veronica said playfully to the bunny.

“All the better to see you with, my dear,” Logan couldn’t help but reply. Perhaps I’ve read Little Red Riding Hood one too many times to Evie. Veronica gave him a delighted little smile and then he remembered an x-rated version they’d done one night when she came over to his suite with a red hoodie on. He practically blushed as he saw the look on her face.

Evie giggled. “I love it when Daddy reads me that story.” Both Logan and Veronica chuckled a bit nervously as they quickly turned their attention back to the rabbit rather than the look they had just exchanged.

“Well he’s even more adorable than the wild rabbit that was in the yard earlier.” Veronica said as she continued to pet him and watch Evie feed him the carrot. Logan caught her giving him another quick glance with the same sly little smile on her face. He tried really hard not to think about playing big bad wolf with her, but it wasn’t easy and he felt his face heating up a bit. I’m never going to be able to read that story the same way again now.

When Bandit was done with the carrot, they let him hop around on the floor for a little bit. Sara finally said that she should probably put him away for a while and scooped him up to take him back up to his cage that she’d left in the kitchen.

“What are we going to do now?” Evie asked Logan as Sara disappeared back up the stairs.

Logan shrugged. “What did you want to do?” Come on Logan, you know that’s a dangerous thing to ask her. Having Veronica there seemed to be throwing off his normal behavior though, and he asked the question before he even thought about the repercussions. Damn the big bad wolf and little red riding hood distracting me.

“Can we go to the beach?” Evie asked with a hopeful look.

Logan gave Veronica a quick look. “Do you want to go to the beach again?” He was a bit concerned the change of venue might give her an opening to head back to the B&B. Why couldn’t it have been just coloring or finger painting this time? Veronica seemed to be enjoying her morning with them, but he wasn’t sure how much family time she was going to want to stick around for. Evie was a bundle of energy most days and it was exhausting for even him to keep up with her sometimes and he’d had lots of practice.

“Sure,” Veronica replied with a big smile.

“Okay, let’s see if Sara wants to come too,” Logan said giving Veronica a grateful smile. The three of them walked up the stairs to check with Sara.

“Yeah, I could come along. Devin doesn’t get off work until 5, so I have lots of time to kill. Let me run Bandit home and get some stuff,” Sara said as she went to pick up the cage to take it back to her car.

Logan suggested they pack some food and could have lunch there. Veronica helped him make some sandwiches and pack some other food to take along. Sara returned a short while later with a bag swung over her shoulder and changed into different clothes.

“I’ll get Evie ready to go too,” Sara said and led her up toward her room.

“Don’t forget to put sunscreen on her!” Logan called after them.

He gave Veronica a shy smile after they were gone. “So…” he started a bit hesitantly. “This isn’t too much for you is it? I didn’t mean to turn it into a huge family day… though I guess most days are like this for us… I just don’t want you to feel overwhelmed…” Veronica put her hand on his arm stopping his rambling.

“Hey, it’s fine,” she said with a warm smile on her face. “I’m having fun.” She gave him a tender smile. “It’s not every day that a guy makes a rabbit appear for me.”

He let out a soft laugh and nodded. He put his hand on top of hers and squeezed it lightly. “I’m just really happy to have you here and I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable.”

“I don’t,” she said again with a reassuring smile, but then her expression changed slightly. “Oh I almost forgot again. I brought the picture that Charlie sent for you. Did you want to see it?”

Logan nodded and she walked over to where she’d left her bag on the back of the stool. She pulled a small envelope out and then took out a picture and handed it to Logan. He’d still never met Charlie in person, though when the media had gotten wind of their story, he’d seen photographs of him. He looked pretty much the same as he had then, and Nick looked a lot like Charlie. Charlie’s wife had long brown hair and some light freckles on her face and Nick seemed to have the similar freckles as well. Logan looked at it for a moment and then handed it back toward Veronica.

“You can keep it,” she said with a tender smile. “He wanted you to have it, even if you didn’t want to help them.” She paused for a moment and her expression became a little sadder. “I think he realized how important family really is once he had his own son and seemed to really regret not giving you a chance before.”

Logan nodded and looked down at the photo again. “I did decide I’d get checked to see if I’m a match or not.”

“That’s great Logan. He’ll be so happy to hear it. Did you…” she paused and gave him a concerned look. “Did you want to call and tell him, or do you want me to.”

“Could you?” Logan quickly replied. “I’m not sure I’m ready to talk to him yet.”

She gave him a compassionate smile and nodded. “Of course. Did you want to go in tomorrow? There’s a doctor's office in Florence that is able to do the testing and I can schedule some time with their lab tech if you want.”

“Um… could we wait until Friday?” he asked with a slightly concerned expression. “I’d already promised Evie we’d go to the aquarium tomorrow and hoped the doctor visit could wait until Friday.”

“Sure, that’s fine Logan,” she replied with an understanding smile.

“Hey, if you’re not totally sick of us by the end of today, you should come to the aquarium with us tomorrow. It’s up in Newport and it’s a really cool place.” Logan suggested with a hopeful smile.

“That sounds like fun,” Veronica replied, but then her expression became a little concerned again.

“What’s wrong?” Please don’t let it be that she needs to get back to someone in Neptune already.

“Well I wanted to stick around until you had the test done so I could be sure all of the information gets sent back to Charlie, but if we wait until Friday…”

I figured there was probably someone there waiting for her. “Do you need to get back to Neptune before then?” Logan asked disappointed that she’d be leaving already.

She shook her head and gave him a slightly embarrassed look. “No, it’s just… I’ll need to find somewhere else to stay since Paige only had a room through tomorrow night. I’m sure I can find something else though.”

Logan gave her a shy smile, “I do have a guest room if you want to stay here… but if you’d rather not stay with us, Kathleen has an extra room too.”

“Whatever you’d rather have me do is fine,” she said with a small smile. “I don’t want to make things weird for you and Evie, or inconvenience Kathleen. I’m sure I might be able to find somewhere else to stay.”

Logan gave her a skeptical look. “On a weekend in Yachats in August? I highly doubt it. I really don’t think Evie would mind. She’s used to Sara staying over sometimes, so I don’t think having you stay would seem all that strange.”

“Okay, thanks. If you’re sure it won’t be a problem.”

Logan gave her a reassuring smile and nodded. Yep this isn’t going to be weird at all. Just don’t stand in her doorway watching her sleep like you do to Evie. That would be worse than checking newspaper articles about her.

Evie and Sara were back downstairs a few minutes later. Evie's hair was French braided and she had different clothes on. After confirming that Sara did put sunscreen on her, they all headed to the garage to pack things into the Range Rover. The girls led the way, followed a bit by Logan and then Veronica. Part way down the stairs Logan turned back and smiled up at Veronica. "I do have extra sunscreen if you need to borrow any."

She gave him a playful smile. "Does application come with that offer?"

"Mm hmm," he replied quickly without even thinking as he gave her a salacious grin. She laughed and poked him in the side softly. Keeping my distance is so totally not going to work if she keeps making comments like that. He gave her a little wink and then turned and continued down the stairs.

Once he was in the garage, Logan opened a side door so Bella could come back in and she immediately ran over and jumped in the back of the SUV. Veronica stood there watching as Logan loaded some folding beach chairs, a bag of sand toys and a few other items into the back with Bella. He was mentally going throw a checklist of what they usually would take along and when he turned back toward Veronica he saw a very bemused look on her face.

“What?” he asked sheepishly.

She laughed softly and shook her head. “Who are you?” she asked with an amused smile on her face.

He shook his head as he closed up the back of the SUV. “Just Logan,” he said tipping his head down and giving her a shy smile.

She gave him a tender smile in return and held out her hand. “It’s really nice to meet you, Just Logan.”

He chuckled softly and reached out his hand to squeeze hers. “Likewise,” he said playfully before they parted and went to climb into the SUV.

A/N – If anyone thought Logan’s texts to Sara seemed odd, it’s actually a reference to Disney’s Phineas and Ferb. I’m guessing some of you might have figured that out, but thought I’d mention it for others so it didn’t seem so strange.

And Bandit is actually based on my family’s own pet rabbit Bandit. I put a picture of him on tumblr.

http://lisawolfe80.tumblr.com/post/114761070037/bandit

Next chapter will be back to Veronica’s POV and cover the first half of their time on the beach. Be sure to let me know how you liked this chapter!

Chapter 8

Chapter Text

Chapter 8

“So which beach shall we go to?” Logan asked as he started to pull the SUV out of his garage.

“Cave beach!” Evie yelled from the backseat. Well she’s certainly not indifferent.

“She always wants to go there,” Sara added with a laugh. “I don’t know why you even bother to ask.”

Logan just smiled and shrugged. Less than five minutes later they were pulling into the parking lot at NeptuneState Park again. Veronica looked at him curiously. “I thought she said CaveBeach?”

He laughed and nodded his head. “She did, but that’s what she calls this beach. There’s a small cave here, so that’s why she calls it that instead of Neptune.”

"You just can't escape Neptune can you?" Veronica asked with a sly grin. He smiled back and shook his head. I wonder if that’s one of the reasons you stayed here too? A small reminder of home without actually coming back, or if that made it harder?

After he parked, they all piled out of the SUV and started getting things from the back. Logan was carrying the bulk of the items, but Veronica and Sara leant a hand too. Even Evie carried a small bag with her sand toys in it. They carefully made their way down the stairs and Logan gestured toward an area on the south end of the beach near some tide pools to claim as their spot. There were more families there than the evening before, but it still wasn’t as crowded as the southern California beaches that Veronica was used to. A beach surrounded by large evergreen trees was also much different than she was used to. Logan had instructed Bella to heel as they started down and she dutifully walked by his side the entire time. Evie on the other hand kept trying to run off ahead and he had to keep telling her to stop and wait for them. Too bad 'heel' doesn't work on a 4 year old.

After they’d dropped off the things they were carrying, Sara and Evie ran over to look at the tidepools. “Be careful and watch for waves,” Logan yelled out after them. Sara was holding Evie’s hand and Veronica could easily tell she was extremely watchful and protective of her.

Logan had instructed Bella to sit while he was laying out the blanket and setting up the chairs. Occasionally Veronica caught him looking up to check on Sara and Evie while he was organizing everything. She was slightly amused by how meticulous he seemed to be at getting it a certain way. Once he had it all set up he gave her a warm smile. “Did you want to sit, or go look at the tide pools too? They aren’t very full of much stuff, but sometimes they find a little fish or something.”

“Sitting sounds good,” Veronica responded and took a spot in one of the low beach chairs he’d set up. He sat down too and patted his leg and Bella walked over to him so he could scratch her head.

“She’s amazingly well behaved,” Veronica commented as she reached over and scratched Bella too.

He chucked slightly. "If only Evie was that well behaved too."

Veronica snickered thinking about Evie diving into the bean bags earlier in the day and trying to bolt on the beach. "I'm sure she's not that bad. She just seems very... spirited. And no pot- kettle comments!"

He smirked and nodded in agreement.

"Was Bella already trained when you got her?" Veronica asked as she continued to scratch her behind the ears.

Logan gave her a faux hurt expression and placed his hand on his chest. "Are you doubting my ability to have trained her myself?"

Veronica smirked and shrugged. "I suppose you did have a way with Backup."

Logan gave her a playful smile. "Well I may have had some superb tutelage. Kathleen knows a retired dog obedience trainer and hooked me up with him. It gave me something else to do besides just hanging out with Evie." Logan chucked softly. "I think Kathleen was worried that I needed something else to occupy my time so I didn't get too restless. And of course Evie loves Bella too."

Sara and Evie made their way back to them a moment later. "Did you two see anything cool?" Logan asked as the two girls flopped down on the blanket.

"I saw three fishies," Evie said with a big smile. "Can I throw Bella's ball?"

Logan reached into one of the bags and pulled out a tennis ball. Bella got excited as soon as she saw it, so Logan told her to sit. Evie grabbed the ball and threw it as hard as she could, which wasn't very far, but there was a bit of a slope so it rolled on its own a little ways.

"Release, Daddy," she said as she turned to look at him and Bella. Logan gave the command and Bella ran for the ball and picked it up and brought it back, dropping it at Logan's feet.

Evie looked down at it and scrunched up her face. "Too slimy. You throw it, Daddy." He used his foot to roll the ball around on the blanket.

"There, it's clean. You can throw it again."

Evie looked more closely at it and then shook her head. She glanced over at Veronica. "Vonica can throw it," she said with a smile and nudged it with her foot toward Veronica. Bella had her eyes glued to the ball eagerly waiting for someone to throw it. She let out a small bark, evidently to get someone to pick it up and throw it for her.

Veronica smiled and picked it up. She threw it as hard as she could across the beach. Bella ran to get it and then dutifully brought it back and dropped it at Logan's feet again.

"But I threw it," Veronica said a bit disgruntled with Bella's loyalty.

"It doesn't matter," Sara replied with a laugh. "She only listens to him too. Although if you have treats you can get her to do things sometimes or when he’s not around."

Logan shrugged and picked up the ball and threw it much farther than Veronica had. "What can I say, I'm just extremely loveable."

“Puhleez…” Sara said sarcastically. “More like curmudgeonly.”

“I see someone’s paying attention in AP English,” Logan snarked back at Sara and she stuck her tongue out at him.

“Will you help me build a sand castle?” Evie asked Logan as she picked up her bag of sand toys.

“Sure sweetie,” Logan said as he stood up from his chair, reaching down to pick up the returned ball and throwing it for Bella again. Veronica couldn't help but notice how his muscles looked under his light T-shirt as he'd thrown the ball. He’s definitely been making good use of that workout room at his house. “Wanna help?” he asked Veronica with a hopeful look.

“Sure,” she replied as she climbed out of her chair and followed them to a spot a little ways from the blanket that had damp sand from the earlier high tide. Evie had several different bucket shapes and little shovels and picked some out for Veronica to use.

“So…” Logan asked a little hesitantly as he helped Evie pack sand into a bucket and turn it over. “What else are you doing now that you’ve graduated... besides tracking down missing people?”

She gave him a small smile. I see he knows I did graduate without asking, although maybe he’s just guessing. “Actually I got a scholarship to go to LawSchool at Stanford.”

“Wow,” Logan said apparently a bit surprised by that. “You want to be a lawyer?”

She nodded, “Yeah, I’m thinking I’d like to try to work for a District Attorney’s office. You know, help lock up bad guys without actually being the one to have to chase them down.”

“I guess I could see that,” Logan said with a fond smile. “I guess I imagined you going to work for the FBI or something like that, especially since you had your internship with them.”

Veronica shrugged. “I guess doing the internship with them made me decide that really wasn’t the path I wanted to take. I sort of changed my focus a bit after that summer.”

Logan nodded in understanding. “I bet your dad is really going to miss you though.”

Veronica never thought she’d see the day when Logan could relate so closely to her dad, but now that he had Evie, she realized they may have more in common than they ever used to. Of course they had always had their desire to keep her safe in common. She nodded and returned his expression with a tender one of her own. “Yeah, he’s not thrilled about me being so far away, but excited about the opportunity I’ve been given. He never really liked me investigating, so he’s much happier that I’m making a safer career choice.”

Logan gave her a questioning look. “What did he think about you coming up here to track me down?”

Veronica shrugged. “He was glad that I found you.” Logan raised his eyebrow skeptically. “Well he wasn’t not glad that I found you.” She added and shrugged again.

“Okay…” Logan replied, seemingly not quite sure how to reply to that.

“Well he did tell me there was no rush for me to get back and to enjoy the change of scenery,” she added, hoping that would make him feel a little more at ease. He gave her a quick nod and smiled a little bit.

“Let’s show Vonica the cave,” Evie said, apparently tired of building her sand castle now.

“You should try to say Veronica,” Logan responded as he started tossing their sand toys back into the bag.

Evie let out a long sigh. “You don’t call me Evelyn all the time. Just when I’m in trouble. So is she always in trouble?”

Logan and Veronica couldn’t help but laugh at that. “Of course not!” Veronica tried to argue after her initial reaction. Logan gave her a skeptical look and shook his head. She reached over and poked him in the stomach. “You’ve been in as much trouble as I have mister!”

“Daddy’s been in trouble?” Evie asked with huge wide eyes.

“No sweetie,” Logan quickly answered. “Daddy’s always been a perfectly well-behaved boy.” He gave Veronica a not so subtle expression that she’d better not disagree. She just smirked at him and nodded her head slowly, though not convincingly at all.

Evie looked at him a little skeptically, obviously not quite buying it.

“So let’s show her the cave,” Logan suggested again, apparently hoping to distract Evie from the topic of him getting into trouble. Logan whistled for Bella who’d wandered over toward the tide pools sniffing around there when Logan had stopped throwing the ball and stuck it in his pocket. “You want to walk to the cave with us?” he asked Sara as he set the bag of sand toys on the blanket by where she’d started reading a book.

“Sure,” she said as she hopped up. “Race you munchkin,” she called out to Evie as she started to jog slowly by her. Evie laughed and started running too. Bella looked at Logan, and then ran up with the girls.

“Trying to get me in trouble are you?” Logan said playfully as they walked in the same direction that the girls had run off toward.

“You started it,” she replied and gave him a mischievous grin. “Oh the stories I could tell…” she winked at him. “But of course I won’t… not until she’s older at least...”

She saw an expression cross his face that wasn’t quite what she was expecting. It was almost surprise or hopefulness, versus concern that she might actually tell some story about one of his misdeeds. Did he think I'd just vanish on him after this visit? Her heart hurt a little bit wondering if that’s what he’d thought she was going to do. She really didn’t know at this point what would happen when she left, but now that she’d found him again, she really didn’t want to just lose him completely from her life again. She would have thought he didn’t want them to just go their separate ways forever either, given he did ask her to stick around for a few days after she told him why she was here. She also couldn’t imagine him asking her to come and spend time with him and Evie if he wanted her to just disappear after this. So then the look must have been more about what he thought I’d decide to do versus what he wants.

Whatever the look was about, it was quickly gone, replaced with a smile as he pointed out the cave that the other two had already made it to. “It’s not really much of a cave, but she always likes to go inside. Comes in handy too if we get an unexpected shower when we’re here. Like I said yesterday, the weather isn’t always this nice, and there’s no way we can just hide in the house during the non-summer months.”

She took a deep breath as she had a flashback to a specific day at the beach with him. He’d really wanted to go surfing, even though the forecast was calling for rain and she’d still gone along to watch. The light rain turned into a downpour and they ended up finding cover under a lifeguard tower. Given the weather, there weren’t really other people at the beach and one side of the tower was partly enclosed and of course they ended up doing more than just sitting there waiting for the rain to stop. She felt her breath catch for a moment thinking back to that time. Her clothes had gotten soaked before they’d made it under the tower, and he was of course soaked from being out in the water, but he had a waterproof bag with a towel in it, so he’d insisted on getting her out of her wet clothes and did an excellent job of warming her up with his towel wrapped around them.

She glanced at him and realized he had a similar expression on his face that matched what she was feeling, and wondered if he also suddenly thought of that day they’d been caught in the rain at the beach. She nervously smiled and nodded, realizing she hadn’t really responded to what he’d said since she’d gotten so caught up in the memory. He smiled a little nervously in return and then looked off in the direction of the cave again as they continued to walk across the sand.

They had to climb up a bit of an incline to reach it and by the time they did the two girls were already ready to move on since they’d ran ahead and had already been inside for a little while before Logan and Veronica caught up to them.

“We’re gonna climb the other rocks,” Evie said as she tugged on Sara’s hand and headed back down toward some really large rock formations that were on the northern half of the beach.

“Okay, just be careful,” Logan called out as the girls rushed past them.

Veronica had walked into the small cave and was looking around at the various color patterns of rock on the walls. Her mind momentarily flashed back to that day with him on the beach again and she tried to push those thoughts out of her mind. However it wasn’t hard to imagine what she’d like to do if they were caught in a downpour here. The cave really wasn’t very big and Logan had to duck down a bit so he didn’t hit his head on some of the lower parts. Since it wasn’t very deep either, it was only slightly shadowed inside. “It’s pretty cool,” Veronica said as she touched the formation of rocks on the walls, trying to focus on something other than the thought of what the two of them had done all those years ago on the beach. “I can see why she likes to come here.”

Logan smiled and nodded. He was definitely just watching her and not paying any attention to the rock walls. She wondered if he was thinking something similar by the way his eyes seemed so much darker than just the change in light from the cave would have caused. She could see out toward the beach and saw the girls were going behind a large rock formation down on the sand with Bella still following right behind them. She suddenly realized she just couldn’t help herself, or maybe she just didn’t want to anymore. She almost felt like she did that day at the Camelot all over again for some reason. Maybe it was seeing him in an entirely new way, this well-adjusted confident version of himself, just like the day he unexpectedly came to her rescue and she’d suddenly saw him as more than just the boy that had been tormenting her for months. Something inside her just really wanted to feel his lips against hers again, just like that day they’d first kissed all those years ago. She wasn’t sure she’d actually get another chance when they’d be alone like this, so she just let the impulse she’d been trying to contain ever since she saw him again take over. Since he was leaning down to keep from hitting his head on the rocks, it closed some of their height distance and she easily leaned up and pressed her lips against his. She could tell he was totally shocked by it, much as he had been that day at the Camelot. She pulled away and saw him blink his eyes in surprise. “I’m sorry,” she said and shook her head. She was about to say she didn’t know what came over her but the words didn’t escape her lips because he quickly pulled her back toward him and pressed his lips to hers. The second kiss didn’t last very long, but it was definitely deeper than the first quick one she’d just given him, and they both seemed a bit breathless when they separated again with slightly giddy smiles on both their faces.

“We’d better…” he gestured toward the beach again and she gave him a sly smile and nodded.

“Yeah, we’d better…” she replied. Because if we stay in here, I’m sure we could easily end up in a compromising position that would definitely be a little hard to explain.

A/N – I hope you all liked this chapter! There actually is a small cave at NeptuneState Park that we checked out when I was there. Please let me know what you thought of the chapter with a quick review!

Chapter 9

Chapter Text

Chapter 9

Logan gestured for Veronica to lead the way out of the cave after their unexpected kiss. He ran his hand through his hair as her back was to him. That was so not keeping your distance. Don’t forget that she’s only here for a few days, and then back to her life in California. Off to law school at Stanford. He tried to rationalize it as just a momentary impulse and didn’t expect it to happen again. He certainly wouldn’t be the one to initiate it again and he doubted she’d try to do it again either. He couldn’t bear to have his heart crushed and reminded himself he was trying to just be friends again. She was already starting to apologize when he’d interrupted her with another kiss anyway. He was worried that she thought it was a mistake, but it felt too good and he just had to do it again before she completely came to her senses. Now though he was certain it probably wouldn’t be happening again. Just a momentary thing…

They quickly caught up to the girls who had climbed up on top of one of the large rock formations on the sand.

"Catch me Daddy," Evie said as she stood near the edge of the rock and held her hands out.

"Careful Evie," Logan said as he held his hands up to catch her. She had a huge smile on her face as she jumped off the rock and he caught her. He was always amazed at how much trust Evie put in him. He'd never had that with his parents and it really was one of the best feelings in the world to see the way she loved and trusted him. He sadly realized he never really had that with Veronica either. He couldn’t really blame her after everything they’d been through. Maybe though there had been a point, back before Lilly’s death that she’d trusted him unconditionally, but he ruined all that with the way he’d acted after Lilly died, and then several stupid mistakes later on. No matter how hard he’d tried, he could never seem to undo all the damage he’d done and make her completely trust him again.

"Catch me," Sara said playfully and held her hands out like Evie had.

"You're in your own," Logan replied with a smirk. Sara laughed and went over to the part of the rock she could climb back down.

"You never catch me," Sara pouted playfully as she walked around to them.

"Catch Sara next time Daddy," Evie said with a slightly demanding tone.

Logan laughed and shook his head. "Do you want Sara to squish me? She's a bit too big for me to catch. Veronica though..." He eyed Veronica up and down and then gave her wink.

"Climb the rock and Daddy will catch you Vonica." Evie said with an excited smile on her face.

Veronica was only a couple inches shorter than Sara and gave him a disbelieving look. "I'd hate to squish your poor Daddy." Veronica replied as she gave Evie a smile. She pretended to whisper, but said it loud enough for every one to hear. "I don't think he's as strong as he thinks he is."

Evie gave her a very surprised look. "Daddy's super strong!" She protested. "Pick Vonica up Daddy and show her."

Logan laughed and shook his head. "Should I go throw her in the ocean Evie?"

"Yes! Throw her in the water!" Evie said with delight and a little squeal.

Logan had been holding onto Evie and set her down, quickly lunging for Veronica before she could react. He tossed her over his shoulder and ran down toward the shoreline with her over his shoulder. Evie was cheering and laughing while Veronica was protesting and trying to squirm out of his hold. But she'd started laughing too so her squirming wasn't very effective at all. Not to mention she was still very light and easy to hold on to. Bella was chasing them and barking too. He briefly thought back to when he used to do this to her when they’d go to the beach with Duncan and Lilly and he’d usually really end up throwing her into the water. He wasn’t really planning on going that far today but was still enjoying her reaction.

He set her down a few feet from the edge of the water with a mischievous grin on his face and winked at her. Hopefully she’s not going to kill me for that. At least I didn’t really throw her in. Evie and Sara had caught up to them and Evie was not happy that he hadn't tossed her into the water. "Sorry, she was just too squirmy," Logan said as he reached down and scooped up Evie. "Maybe I should toss you in instead."

"Nooooo!" Evie squealed while she laughed too. He pretended to throw her but just threw her up in the air and caught her again.

She wrapped her arms tightly around his neck in a death grip and gave him a scolding look. "Bad Daddy!" she said as she held on tightly.

"Ah you know I was just playing," he said as he planted a kiss on her cheek. "I wouldn't want to lose my Evie." I’ve lost way too many people in my life and there’s no way I’m ever going to lose you.

“Me too,” Evie said back and kissed his cheek too.

“Want down?” Logan asked as they turned to walk back toward where their stuff was. He knew Veronica and Sara were trailing a little behind them, but he hadn’t looked at Veronica again after pretending to throw her in the water. He wasn’t sure why all of a sudden he was a little apprehensive about what she might be thinking. Evie nodded and he set her down on the sand and then he slowly turned to see what the other two were doing. Sara had picked up a stick and thrown it for Bella while Veronica was watching him with Evie and gave him a tender smile as he looked over at her.

“I’m hungry,” Evie announced. “Can we eat now?”

“Sure,” Logan replied and then looked at Veronica and Sara again. “Are you two hungry too?”

They both nodded and the four of them continued walking back to their stuff. Once they reached their spot, Sara and Evie sat on the blanket, while Logan and Veronica took the chairs again. He reached into one of the bags and pulled out some hand wipes and gave one to Evie. Sara reached out and grabbed one too, and he held the container out toward Veronica. She gave him quite a curious look but said thanks and grabbed one. He took one as well and shook his head at the look of amazement that was on her face. Yeah, Logan the dad, certainly not the guy she used to know. He’d noticed that same look several times since she’d arrived that morning.

After lunch, Evie asked to build another sand castle, which turned into a row of quick bucket dumps that she then played Godzilla and smashed. That was normally what they ended up doing rather than actually building any really elaborate sand castles. Veronica got into the action too and they ended up making a race of it, seeing which one of them could smash a row of bucket dumps the fastest. Sara joined in and she paired up with Evie, doing the line of bucket dumps for her, while Logan did the row for Veronica, and then Veronica and Evie would race to see who could smash them first. He could tell Veronica was totally letting Evie win, which of course made Evie very happy.

They also tried to play a little bit of Frisbee, which Evie was starting to get better at, but it was still a little hard for her to throw the Frisbee very far and in exactly the right direction. After they did that for a while, Logan could tell Evie’s interest in the beach was starting to fade and he knew Sara would want to get home to get ready to go see her boyfriend later, so asked if they were all ready to go. It took a little while to pack everything up and head back up to the parking lot again.

On the drive back to the house, he was worried that as soon as they got back that Veronica might decide to take off for the rest of the day. She hadn’t acted too strangely after the kiss, but even if she had felt weird about it, there wasn’t much she could have done being there at the beach without her own car. At least she didn’t just try to hitch a ride on the highway to get away. He was trying to brace himself for her announcing that she was going to leave as he drove back so he wouldn’t seem too disappointed when it actually did happen. He hoped she wouldn’t decide to bail on his offer to go to the aquarium with them the following day, but he was already bracing himself for that too. He’d had three years to get used to being a dad and being around Evie 24-7, while this was all completely new to her. And if it weren’t for Kathleen and Sara, he wasn’t sure how he would have ever managed to get to where he was. He didn’t recall Veronica ever even being very fond of kids in the first place, so couldn’t imagine what was going through her mind now. He was still thankful for whatever small amount of time he got to see her again though and hoped that she wouldn’t completely vanish from his life when this was all over. Her comment about waiting until Evie was older to share stories of them growing up together gave him some hope that she'd stay in touch at least.

When they parked in the garage, Evie asked if she could go watch TV while they put stuff away. Sara offered to help her find something she could watch before she left. Logan nodded and the two of them went into the house, followed by Bella, leaving him alone with Veronica in the garage. She gave him an almost shy smile and met him at the back of the SUV where he was about to start unloading things.

“I can do this, if you’d rather…” Logan wasn’t sure how to complete that, because he didn’t want to make her think he wanted her to go, but he also didn’t want her to feel obligated to help him.

“I don’t mind,” she quickly replied and gave him a bigger smile. She took the chairs and replaced them in the spot she'd watched him take them from earlier, while he grabbed some of the bags he’d brought along and pulled them out.

He was about to grab the blanket to swap it out for a clean one, when she put her hand on top of his. He turned to look at her, bracing himself for something bad because that seemed to be how things always went for him… for them. “I’m sorry if I freaked you out earlier…” she said with a tentative look on her face. “I just…” She paused and shook her head slowly with the slightest smile. “I just really missed you Logan,” she said as her expression became softer. “I know this is sort of complicated now… and I didn’t mean to make it uncomfortable.”

“I’m not uncomfortable,” he replied as he reached up and cupped the side of her face with his hand, gently grazing her cheek with his thumb. It felt so natural to touch her in that old familiar way. He felt her lean slightly into his touch and her eyes fluttered shut for a second too as a tender smile formed in her lips. He'd always loved staring into her sparkling blue eyes and at that moment it almost felt like they'd gone back in time to when things were still perfect with them. He was about to lean in to kiss her when the door into the house swung open and Sara popped her head out. Logan swallowed and dropped his hand, turning to look at the door.

“Hey, I’m going to take off. I found Evie something to watch. Text me if you need me to baby-sit at all.” She said quickly with an apologetic look on her face, apparently realizing she interrupted something.

“Thanks,” Logan cleared his throat nervously before he continued. “I may need you on Friday for a doctor’s appointment, but I don’t think we know the time yet.” He turned back to Veronica and she shook her head.

“Yeah, mom mentioned something about that. Just let me know when you find out. It was nice seeing you again Veronica.”

“Yeah, it was nice seeing you again too,” Veronica replied with a warm smile.

“Okay, see you two later then,” she said as she started to pull the door closed again. Before it closed though, Evie’s head popped through it.

“Are you done yet?” she asked a bit impatiently. She walked into the garage apparently to see what they were doing without her.

“I thought you were going to watch TV?” Logan asked as he grabbed the blanket and tossed it toward a hamper and pulled a clean one off the shelf and put it back in the SUV.

“I did,” she replied as she walked toward the food bag.

“For only like 5 minutes,” Logan answered watching her closely trying to figure out what she was up to. He could tell she had an objective in mind and it wasn’t just her casually coming out to see them.

“I’m hungry again,” she said with a small smile. “Can we go get ice cream?”

He should have known that was coming since they usually did go to the ice cream shop in town after they were done at the beach. He took a deep breath and started to turn to look at Veronica. He hoped her love of ice cream would out weigh any flight tendencies Evie might be stirring up for her.

“Would you like to go get some ice cream?” he asked hesitantly as he was turning to look at her, bracing himself for a speedy retreat. She could certainly just get her own ice cream if she wanted to and avoid spending more over bearing family time with them. He let out a relieved sigh as he saw the look on her face though.

“Of course,” she replied with a big smile on her face. “Who could pass up ice cream?”

Evie smiled and nodded and looked back at Logan. “So can we?” She tilted her head just the slightest amount as she asked.

“Yes, can we?” Veronica mimicked Evie and gave him the same head tilt look Evie was giving him.

He laughed and shook his head. I'm in so much trouble with two little blondes ganging up in me. “How can I say no to both of you,” he replied with a grin.

Logan put Bella out in the yard, and then the three of them climbed back into the Range Rover to drive into town. “Do you mind if we stop in and see if Kathleen wants some too?” Logan asked a little hesitantly as they drove. They usually did stop and see her when they went to get ice cream and he didn’t want it to seem odd to Evie if they didn’t, but he also didn’t want to spring it on Veronica. I’m sure she’s had plenty of surprises in the last 24 hours.

“Sure,” Veronica replied with an understanding smile. “Of course that’s fine.”

They parked by the gallery which was just a short walk from Topper’s Ice Cream and Candy shop. Logan climbed out and opened the door behind him to help Evie out. She took off at top speed into the gallery, with a loud “Nana!” ringing out as she made it through the door. Logan gave Veronica a shy smile as they met in front of the car. He reached the door of the gallery first and opened it for her, gesturing for her to go in a head of him.

Kathleen was luckily the only person in the gallery given Evie’s exuberant greeting, although Logan knew she never minded even if there were customers there. She loved Evie as much as he did, and was always happy to see her. It definitely took some getting used to for him considering his own upbringing and even the way many of the other wealthy families he had been around expected their children to act. Or at least the way the nannies were expected to make them act.

“I heard you went to the beach today?” Kathleen was asking Evie as she stood back up from leaning down and hugging her. Evie nodded and smiled.

“We were headed to Topper’s,” Logan chimed in. “Did you want your usual?”

“Of course,” Kathleen answered with a grin. She looked thoughtful for a moment then spoke again. “You’re coming to dinner tonight right? I made my special beef stew.” Logan took a quick breath. He’d completely forgotten about their normal Wednesday night dinner at Kathleen’s. “Veronica’s welcome to join us too of course if she’d like,” she added with a warm smile in her direction.

“Um…” Logan looked uncertainly at Kathleen then to Veronica. He could tell Veronica was a bit caught off guard by the invitation and he didn’t want her to feel pressured. He wished he’d remembered so he could have mentioned it before hand, but having her there was still keeping him completely off balance. Kathleen was a master at orchestrating things, and he really should have thought ahead for this. He was going to ask if they could let her know later when Veronica answered instead.

“That would be great,” she said giving him a reassuring look and then nodding at Kathleen.

“Wonderful,” Kathleen said with a satisfied smile. “Sara of course will be out with Devin, so I’m really glad I won’t have to be eating all alone.”

“I love the turtles, Nana,” Evie commented standing in front of the new sculpture that Logan had just put out the day before. Evie and Kathleen had many things in common and their love of turtles was certainly one of them.

“I know sweet pea, isn’t it beautiful,” Kathleen replied as she went over and gently ran her hand over one of the turtles. “Remember to be gentle if you want to touch it,” she said with a warm smile as Evie reached up and gently ran her finger over one of the lower turtles.

“Let’s go get ice cream,” Evie said as she quickly spun around and bolted back to the door.

“Whoa there missy,” Logan quickly called out. “Wait for us please.” Evie stopped and let out a little sigh but dropped her hand from the door. “You know the rules for walking to Topper’s," Logan continued. Evie gave him a small eye roll and put her hands on her hips.

“Does Vonica have to hold your hand?” Evie asked as she narrowed her eyes at Logan.

“Um…” Logan was not quite expecting that reaction. Evie had been pushing the rules quite a bit lately, and not always wanting to hold his hand when they were walking places was becoming a big one, but he didn’t quite expect that question.

Veronica smiled at Evie. “Would it make you feel better if I did?” Evie thought about the question for a moment and then nodded. Veronica smiled at Logan and held her hand up, just like she had before she’d led him into have their first dinner with her dad right after they started at Hearst.

Logan shook his head and gave her an amused smile. He reached out and took her hand and then turned back to look at Evie, who seemed extremely happy with the outcome of her little act of defiance. Evie pushed the door open and stood out front waiting for them to walk through and then reached up to take Logan’s other hand. Veronica quickly changed the way she was holding his hand to intertwine their fingers. He felt a little flutter in his stomach as she gently caressed between his thumb and forefinger with her own thumb, exactly the way she used to back when they were younger.

“So…” Veronica said with a mischievous lilt to her voice as they were walking along the sidewalk. “Any other rules I should be prepared for?” He glanced over at her and she gave him a slightly lascivious grin and then winked.

Flirting with her feels as natural as breathing. “Well…” he replied with a smirk. “I do insist on getting a kiss goodnight every night before bed.”

“Mm… something to look forward to.” She quirked an eyebrow and gave him a coy smile. He felt the small flutters that he was already feeling grow exponentially as she squeezed his hand a little tighter and looked a bit more intensely into his eyes. Oh yeah, that keeping my distance thing… totally shot to hell now.

Chapter 10

Chapter Text

Chapter 10

Topper’s wasn’t as busy as it would be on a weekend, so there were a few empty tables and only one other couple at the counter ordering as they walked in the door. Logan had let go of Veronica’s hand when they got there so he could open the door for them, and Evie of course let go of his as soon as possible too. Part of him wanted to grab Veronica's hand again after walking through the door, but didn't think that was probably a good idea since Evie would probably find that a bit strange.

The middle-aged woman behind the counter gave them a pleasant smile as she finished up with the couple in front of them. “Hi Evie… Logan…” She paused and looked at Veronica with a bit of surprised. “… and friend.”

“Hi Anita.” Logan replied in a warm tone. “This is Veronica. A friend of mine from California.”

“Hi Veronica,” she said with a friendly smile. “Nice to meet you.”

Logan gave Veronica a quick glance and saw her nod as she returned the greeting.

“The usual for you two?” Anita asked as Evie and Logan nodded. “And what would you like?” she asked Veronica as she grabbed a sugar cone and started scooping chocolate chip ice cream into it. Veronica started looking over the flavors as Anita handed Logan the cone so he could give it to Evie. Evie took it and bounded over to one of the open booths.

Anita had already grabbed a waffle cone and started on Logan’s. “White Chocolate Raspberry Yum?” Veronica asked him with a curious smile.

He nodded. “Yep,” he replied with a sly grin. “It’s the best. Did you want a taste?” He reflexively waggled his eyebrows at her. It’s like I can’t help myself around her. She gave him a coy smile and nodded.

Anita handed him his finished cone and he held it out for her to try. She of course wasn’t shy about the way she used her tongue to take a long slow lick of it, while gently holding on to his hand to keep the cone near her mouth. Is she actually trying to kill me? “Mmmm…” she quietly moaned as she finished. Yeah, she’s definitely trying to kill me.

“Did you want the same?” Anita asked with an amused expression.

“Actually I think I’ll take a waffle cone with the Fireside S’mores,” Veronica replied. “I’m sure I can con him out of a few more licks of his too.”

Anita chuckled and nodded in reply. “Are you taking one back for Kathleen too?” Anita asked as she finished up Veronica’s and handed it to her. Logan nodded as he pulled out his wallet and paid Anita for their ice cream. He grabbed a handful of napkins before the two of them walked over and joined Evie at the table she’d claimed. Veronica raised her eyebrow as he was grabbing all the napkins.

“What?” he asked questioningly. “I’ve seen you eat!” Veronica laughed and shook her head at him.

It didn’t take them too long to finish their cones. He’d shared a few more licks of his with Veronica, and she wasn’t quite as sensual with those as she had been at the counter now that they were at the table with Evie. Logan had sat next to Evie and Veronica was sitting on the other side of the booth across from them. He tried not to notice how low cut her tank top was when she would lean toward him for another bite of his ice cream, but after the first time, she must have realized and gave him a coy smile and shook her head playfully at him. He tried to feign innocence but couldn’t help the little smirk that crept across his face.

He also couldn’t help but think back to all the other times they’d had ice cream in the past. So many trips to Amy’s as well as having some in his suite at the Grand too. Of course most of the time when they’d picked up a couple pints to have at the Grand or ordered it from room service, they ended up doing more with the ice cream than just eating it. Focus on the trips to Amy’s not the things we did in my suite. He realized he really needed to stop thinking about all the intimate things they had done together, or it was going to be harder to keep from wanting to go there again, and he just didn’t think that was practical at all with whatever limited time they were going to have. Not to mention he really did want to rebuild a friendship with her and usually sex made things way too complicated in any relationship. Nope, this time I’m not going to screw this up with her.

When they were finished, Logan stopped at the counter to pick up a cone for Kathleen. After he’d taken the cone from Anita, he saw a certain look on Evie’s face and knew exactly what was coming next. As he expected, ‘can we go to the toy store’ came tumbling out of her mouth. There was a small toy store located a few doors down from the ice cream parlor and usually they went there first before they had ice cream, but yet again he’d been completely thrown off his game with Veronica being there.

Logan let out a small sigh. Even though she’d been a little strong-willed around Veronica, having a complete meltdown was something he hoped they could avoid at least for a while longer, if not just altogether during her visit. “Sorry Evie, but we need to take Nana’s ice cream back or it’s going to melt.” He was hoping reasoning with her might work, but past experience told him it was unlikely.

“But we always go to the toy store when we get ice cream,” she said as her expression started to become more agitated.

“Yeah, but we usually go before, and I forgot today,” Logan started to explain. “Maybe next time.”

He saw a look cross her face that clearly showed she wasn’t done protesting yet and he wondered how quickly this might escalate, when Veronica put her hand on Evie’s shoulder. “I could take her to the toy store while you take the ice cream back.”

“Oh,” Logan said a bit surprised. “If you’re sure?” Veronica nodded. “Is that okay with you Evie?”

“Yes,” Evie said with a chirpy tone and took Veronica’s hand. “They have lots of pretty unicorns,” she said as she started pulling Veronica toward the door.

‘Thanks,’ Logan mouthed silently as Veronica gave him a quick glance over her shoulder and disappeared out the door with Evie and a sly smile on her lips.

He walked quickly back towards the gallery. He didn’t want to leave them on their own for too long, not quite sure how much trouble Evie might try to get into while he was gone. Of course it hadn’t taken long for him to realize how much Evie was just like Veronica, although unfortunately it was more the feisty post-Lilly version of her and not the more reserved version from when they'd first met as twelve year olds, and mixing that with someone who wasn’t even five yet meant lots of challenges for him.

He was hoping that Kathleen might have customers in the gallery because he wasn’t sure what sort of questions she might throw at him if they were alone. As the door opened, he saw that particular wish wasn’t being granted, finding Kathleen alone sitting at the front counter looking through an art catalog as he walked in.

She gave him a curious look. “What happened to the girls?” she asked as she took the cone from him.

“They went to the toy store.”

She gave him a sly smile. “Smooth move earlier with the hand holding,” she teased.

“Hey, that was entirely your granddaughter’s doing,” Logan replied with a shy smile.

She chuckled and nodded slightly, “Yeah, but you certainly didn’t protest.” Logan’s smile grew a little bit more and he shrugged.

He changed his expression to look more critically at her. “And don’t think I’m not on to you about ‘dinner’ tonight,” he replied with a raised eyebrow.

“What?” she asked innocently. “It’s Wednesday. You always come for dinner on Wednesdays.”

He laughed and shook his head. “Right… I seem to recall someone telling me just yesterday that I shouldn’t worry about my normal routine.”

She gave him a guilty smile. “Okay, I just wanted to get to know her too.” She watched him carefully. “I’d love to know more about a woman who turns you into a shy schoolboy. Face it Logan, you typically exude confidence and charm, and around her, you’re like a tongue-tied love sick puppy.”

Logan let out a deep breath and shook his head. “Yeah… somewhere along the way she started doing that to me.” Probably the moment I realized I was hopelessly in love with her. He paused a moment and his smile faltered. “It doesn’t matter much though because she’s only here for a few more days and then she’ll be gone. She’s starting law school at Stanford in a couple weeks.”

Kathleen gave him a tender smile and reached across the counter to squeeze his hand. “Well then you need to make the most of the time you do have with her.” She took a sharp breath. “No one knows how much time they’ll have with anyone, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take advantage of whatever opportunities you’re given.”

His expression became a bit softer and he squeezed her hand a little tighter. “I just don’t want it to be difficult for Evie either.”

Kathleen gave him a slightly more skeptical look. “Evie will be happier if you’re happy Logan. And please don’t try convincing me that you’re totally happy again. I know you love Evie and you do an amazing job with her, but that doesn’t mean you need to sacrifice your own chances at happiness either.”

Logan sighed again. “I just don’t want Evie to get the wrong impression, especially since Veronica can’t stay.” He thought about saying that things never seemed to work out before for them either but kept that to himself instead.

Kathleen bit on her lip for a moment before she replied. “Why don’t you let Sara and I take Evie a bit more while she’s here so you have more time alone with her. Sara already mentioned interrupting you two in the garage.”

Logan gave her a slightly embarrassed look before he regained his composure and continued again. “Evie and I already had plans for the aquarium tomorrow, and Veronica said she'd come along.” As long as today doesn’t scare her away completely. “Then Friday we have to go for the testing in Florence, and then I’m guessing she’ll be done here and head back to Neptune after that.”

“Well then Friday sounds like a perfect time for the two of you to spend the day together.” She gave him a sly smile. “…and night if you want.”

Logan chuckled nervously and shook his head at her. “I’ll think about it.”

“Good,” Kathleen replied with a satisfied grin. “Now you’d better go rescue her from your unruly daughter.”

Logan laughed and shook his head again. “She gets that entirely from you I’ve been told.”

Kathleen chuckled back and nodded. “Yeah, that might be true.”

“See you at dinner,” he called out as he headed out the door.

He walked quickly back to the toy store, hoping that Evie had behaved herself while he was gone. She was usually good at the toy store, at least until it was time to go. He really did try not to spoil her, but it was sometimes extremely hard for him to show as much restraint as he probably should. He spotted them in the book section of the store. He gave a small wave and smiled at the older gentleman who ran the store as he walked toward the back corner.

“Daddy look!” Evie chimed as soon as she saw he was there. She ran over toward him with a book in her hand. “They have a new unicorn book.” She held it up so he could see it better. “It’s called Little Lost Unicorn. Can we buy it pleeeease?” He couldn’t help but wonder if the whole head tilt thing was just genetically encoded for all small blondes because he certainly never taught it to her and she didn't get it from watching him, as she stood their in front of him doing it again.

Veronica stood behind her with an amused expression on her face. She tilted her head the same way and mouthed ‘pleeeease’ at him too.

He chuckled slightly and let out a defeated sigh. At least it wasn’t a toy, he always felt better when it was a book she wanted because he didn’t feel as guilty about giving in to those requests.

They walked to the front of the store, where Mr. James rang up the book for him and told them to have a nice afternoon. Logan couldn’t help but notice the curious look he had on his face as well. Logan wondered what his expression had been when Veronica had come into the store with Evie. Living here in such a small town for 3 years, meant most of the proprietors in town knew them, especially since Kathleen ran a gallery here and several of them had kids that had grown up with either Katy or Sara.

When they walked out of the store Logan had to remind Evie again to hold his hand. Part of the way between the gallery and the shops was on a sidewalk, but part of it was close to the road too and his rule was that they always held hands when they were walking near any cars. She raised her eyebrows and looked between him and Veronica. Veronica laughed and raised her hand for him to take again. A satisfied grin crossed Evie’s face and she turned her attention back to the direction they were headed. Veronica gave him a slight shoulder check and smirked up at him and he couldn’t help but give her a tender smile in return. He started to feel those same feelings that he’d had on the way there come back as she gently caressed her fingers against his. He wondered what she was thinking as well, but it wasn’t something he could just come out and ask. Maybe she was just absentmindedly doing it, and it didn’t make her feel the same way it did him. Even before they were a couple, back when Lilly was still alive, Veronica would sometimes grab him by the hand to drag him somewhere, but that of course seemed completely different then.

When they finally arrived home, Evie hopped out and scrambled into the house to look at her new book. “Hey, I was thinking,” Veronica said as she climbed out of the SUV and started to follow Logan inside. Logan stopped and turned back toward her. He braced himself for her to gracefully bow out of dinner with Kathleen. She must have noticed his slightly worried look because her expression softened immediately. “I was just thinking I might head back to the B&B and get cleaned up and changed before dinner.” She was close enough to reach out and squeeze his hand. “and... I forgot to thank you for the ice cream,” she continued with a sly smile as she leaned up on her tiptoes and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

He let out the breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding when she first started to speak. “You’re welcome,” he replied back with a warm smile. “I can pick you up on our way to Kathleen’s.”

She nodded. “That sounds great.”

He turned and they walked back into the house. He’d been thinking more about dinner on the drive back and decided he’d actually better talk a little more with her before they went. He could see Evie was stretched out on the sectional downstairs looking through the new book. He knew she’d want him to read it to her, but was hoping he could buy a little time to talk with Veronica before she left. “I’m going to walk Veronica out to her car, and then I’ll come back and read the new story with you, okay?” he called in her direction.

“Okay,” she replied back distractedly, already looking at all the illustrations in the book.

Logan gave Veronica a small smile and headed back up the stairs to the main floor. He stopped on the porch after he’d closed the door behind her. “Hey, um…” he wasn’t quite sure how to start and hesitated a moment. “Can we talk for a few minutes before you go?”

She gave him a curious look and nodded. He waved to a bench that was on the edge of the front porch and she walked toward it and took a seat. He followed her and sat next to her, though there was a bit of distance as they turned to look at each other.

“I thought I should give you a little head’s up before we go to Kathleen’s,” he started as she watched him carefully. “I um…” he took a deep breath before he continued. “I didn’t have any idea when I was first with Katy… and didn’t find out until I came out here… and I... I didn’t want you to think it was me being strangely obsessed or something.” She gave him a puzzled look and co*cked her head at him. “Yeah, I guess the universe just likes messing with me.” Her eyes opened a bit wider, obviously wondering what he was going to say next. He let out a deep breath. “Katy’s dad worked for the sheriff’s department here in LincolnCounty.” He saw a small surprised look cross her face. “He um…” Logan looked down at his hands for a moment before he looked back at her and continued a bit more somberly. “He was killed in the line of duty when she was about to start her junior year of high school.”

“Oh…” Veronica said with a troubled look on her face. “I wondered… you know… where her dad might be since you’ve never mentioned him at all.”

Logan nodded in reply. “I just didn’t want you to see pictures of them around Kathleen’s house and wonder what the story was and have to ask after we got there. And seeing him in his sheriff’s uniform in some of the pictures would definitely have gotten your attention. It’s been over 7 years now, but it’s still sort of tough for Kathleen sometimes.” Veronica nodded in understanding. “Katy and I never talked about it though, but I guess that was when she started having issues dealing with things according to Kathleen. They tried therapy for her right after he died, and that seemed to help a little, but she wouldn’t keep going. And then…” he sighed again before he continued. “Toward the end of her senior year, her best friend was killed in a car accident.” Veronica’s expression became even more somber as Logan shook his head sadly. “That’s actually who she named Evie after. They were supposed to go to college in Seattle together. Katy still went, trying to claim she was fine, but I guess she fell apart there and tried not to let Kathleen know. Of course when she showed up 3 months pregnant at home again with fading bruises on her face, Kathleen knew not everything was as great as Katy had tried to tell her.”

Veronica took a sharp breath and cringed. “Did Evie’s biological dad do that to her?”

Logan shrugged. “I think so, but she never told me who the guy was that had beaten her up there, or who the biological father was. There wasn’t a father listed on Evie’s birth certificate, and as far as I know, she never told Kathleen either. Of course I’m guessing it was the same asshole.” He sighed again. “That’s also why I went to Cliff for the adoption. If the guy happened to ever try to track Katy and Evie down, I didn’t want the paperwork too easily tied back to Yachats. I don’t know if he even knew she was pregnant when she left there though. Katy would never talk about it. I of course didn’t know at first either to even ask her, but after the first time she took off, Kathleen and I started talking more about her past.”

Veronica nodded in understanding before she gave him a soft look and spoke again. “How’d Kathleen feel about you adopting Evie?”

Logan let out a nervous laugh and ran his hand through his hair. “Actually… Kathleen was the one who suggested I do it. She was um… she was worried that Katy would come back and try to take Evie away from me at some point. We’d been here with Kathleen over 2 years, and she said it would break her heart if Evie were to ever lose me like that. She has several retired lawyer friends in town and talked with them before she suggested it to me.” Veronica looked at him with a clearly surprised expression on her face. He shrugged. “Yeah, not exactly the scenario you’d probably imagined.”

She shrugged in reply and her voice got a bit softer. “Do you think she would have? Come back and tried to take her away from you?”

Logan shrugged again. “I don’t know. She never alluded to it the times she had been here. But the more Kathleen and I talked about it, the more I started to think that it was a good idea.”

“What happens now? If she comes back?” Veronica asked quietly.

Logan let out a deep breath. “I don’t really know. I never really wanted to take Evie completely away from her. I just didn’t want to risk losing her myself. I think… I think I’d probably ask her to go to therapy again before she spent any time with her. Now that Evie’s older, I’m sure it will be harder for her if Katy came back and left again. At least this way I feel like I have some control over protecting Evie.” He paused and shook his head. “I’m sure this probably seems completely crazy to you, but I never really knew what it was like to have someone need and love me like Evie does. You know…” he took a deep breath feeling slightly more emotional then he’d intended to. “I never had something like you and your dad did… I was always so in awe of that… Kathleen and I don’t have exactly the same thing, but it’s so much more than I ever had with my parents.”

Veronica reached over and squeezed his hand. He gave her a tender smile and stared into her compassionate blue eyes. He couldn’t help but notice that something just felt different with her this time. He wasn’t sure if it was him who had changed or her, or maybe both, but for the first time he felt like he could really just be completely honest with her and not afraid of how she was going to react. He was a bit overwhelmed with how amazing it actually felt and he couldn’t help leaning toward her to kiss her again. As his mouth was just inches from hers, the front door opened freezing them both in place.

“I thought you were going to read to me?” Evie asked as she looked out at them.

Logan chuckled softly and shook his head. “Yeah sweetie, I’ll be right there.”

Veronica smirked at him and laughed softly too. “And the role of my over protective father will be played by your four year old daughter this time around…” she said in a secretive whisper.

This time... What are we doing… this time? For a split second Logan thought back to when Veronica had asked him almost that same question standing in front of his parents' house over 5 years ago. Is she actually wanting something more than just a few days of reconnecting as friends? Well okay... friends that have kissed and flirted a bit more than just being casual friends would do. He didn't feel ready yet to get into that deep of a conversation with her though. If that's not what she meant I don't want to look like an idiot or have my heart smashed to pieces so soon either. How could she really expect more if she's leaving in a few days though? Evie turned to go back in the house, leaving the door open, and Logan quickly gave Veronica a chaste kiss on the cheek. “Pick you up at about 6:45?”

She smiled back and nodded. He stood up and offered her his hand to pull her up. He could tell from the sound of Evie’s footsteps that she was almost back to the kitchen. He pulled Veronica in thinking he might try for another real kiss because regardless of what he should rationally do, he still just really wanted to kiss her, before he heard “Daddy!” come from inside the house.

“You’re being beckoned,” Veronica said with a playful grin as she patted him gently on the chest.

He kissed her quickly on the forehead before he dropped his arms from around her waist. “See you in a little while,” he said with an amused smile as he watched her turn and bounce down the stairs toward her car.

Chapter 11

Chapter Text

Chapter 11

Veronica headed back toward the B&B with her mind swirling with all sorts of thoughts. What exactly are you doing Veronica? She couldn't deny that a part of her was still so irrefutably attracted to Logan, but the rational side of her brain kept reminding herself that she had to go back to California and his life was clearly here now. But that kiss in the cave felt so right and the way he looked at me on the porch...

I don't want to lose you from my life... Those words from over four years ago rang through her head. Of course what happened after she said them still hurt a bit if she was being honest, but they'd eventually gotten past that and ended up together again. She'd also never forgotten what he said that made her go there to see him that day after alterna-prom in the first place. That they were epic. But was what they had before enough to make a long distance relationship work now while she was at school and then what would happen after that? If they even made it that long. What are you thinking that might even look like Veronica? Three years of phone calls and occasional visits during long breaks? She let out a deep frustrated sigh as she parked in front of the B&B. They don't write songs about the ones that come easy... How true that had been for them. Nothing had ever really been easy, had it?

She climbed out of her rental car and headed inside to go to her room. Her mind was still racing as she flopped down on her bed. And then there's Evie. She was actually a little surprised at how well they had gotten along. She was thankful that Evie wasn't anything like some of the kids she'd briefly babysat for in high school. She actually reminded her a lot of herself when she was that age, back before she’d become friends with Lilly. She hadn’t really thought about it before, but she’d been different before Lilly. Lilly was the one who shone the brightest and had been the center of attention, and Veronica had felt intimidated by that and playing the more subdued best friend was just easier. She smiled thinking about getting dragged into the toy store by Evie and given a personal tour of where all her favorite unicorn things were. There was a case with beautiful figurines and Evie had explained that those were only for really special occasions, like her birthday, but she still liked to look at them. She also smiled to herself thinking about the man behind the counter's reaction when they walked in. At first he'd just greeted them like regular customers until Evie had said hello to him. As soon as he realized Evie was there with someone he didn't know, he asked Evie where her daddy was, giving Veronica a slightly suspicious look. He seemed to relax when Evie told him her daddy was taking ice cream to grandma, but he still kept a close eye on them until Logan had arrived. She wondered what would have happened if she'd tried to leave before he'd gotten there. Logan definitely had a much larger group of people here that cared about him than she could have ever imagined. Definitely nothing like Neptune here. She could see why he’d want to stay here and not go back, especially with Evie, Kathleen and Sara in his life.

Then there was the whole other issue of Katy. Logan was right, the universe sure did seem to have a strange way of messing with him. She knew how devastated she was when she thought her dad had been killed in the plane explosion, so she could easily imagine what Katy had gone through. And dead best friend? Yeah, both her, and to some degree Logan, knew how that felt too. She’d seen Logan after several types of breakups, including their own, and at the moment she was getting the impression that he cared enough to protect Katy, but she still couldn’t quite sense what he would do to try to repair things if she ever did come back into his life again. Logan was always good at hiding his feelings when he really wanted to and she wondered if he was hiding his real feelings for Katy or not. Of course his feelings for Evie were easy for anyone to see.

So Veronica, you still haven't answered your own question. What are you doing here? She let out another deep sigh. I really don’t want to lose him from my life again. I’m absolutely sure of that. I’ll just keep it casual. A little flirting and kissing, that’s casual, right? Because face it, now that you’ve kissed him once, there’s no way you’re going to resist if the opportunity arises again. She finally pulled herself up off the bed and decided she should make some calls before she started getting ready. She called Charlie first and let him know that Logan had agreed to go in and get tested. He was so thankful to hear that and told her that he hoped Logan would eventually call so he could thank him personally too. She said she’d pass that on and maybe with a little time, Logan would. After she spoke with Charlie she called the lab in Florence and set up an appointment for mid-morning on Friday. She also sent her dad a quick text message just letting him know that everything was good and that Logan was going to go in for the testing. She decided avoiding talking to him at the moment was better than him suspecting how emotionally conflicted she was feeling.

After she was finished with her calls, she headed in to take a shower so she could get ready for Logan to pick her up for dinner. She’d packed several outfits since she wasn’t sure how long it was going to take to find him and where else her search may have taken her. She pulled out a blue sundress that she’d brought along and paired it with some casual sandals and a light jacket. Since she had plenty of time before Logan was going to come to get her, she decided to do her hair in curls.

She still had some time to wait once she was all ready, so headed out to sit on the front porch which looked out to the ocean. Several couples also staying at the B&B had passed her on their way out for dinner and gave her a friendly greeting as they went by. She tried not to be nervous about going to dinner at Kathleen’s, but for some reason she still was. Kathleen had seemed very nice at the gallery, so she wasn’t really sure why she was so nervous about it now. Of course she hadn’t known all of her family history at that point either, and she had started to wonder how much Kathleen might actually know about hers and if the similarities to their lives would cause any awkwardness once she was there.

She was staring out watching some waves crash on the rocks, when she heard someone clear their throat. She turned to see Logan standing there with a nervous smile.

“Hey there… you um… you look absolutely beautiful,” he said almost shyly as she stood up from the chair she was sitting in and walked over to him.

He’d also changed from the shorts and t-shirt he’d had on earlier, into casual slacks and a light weight button down long-sleeve shirt. “You look pretty great yourself,” she said with a coy smile as she reached him. He extended his arm for her to wrap her own into, and leaned in to give her a quick kiss on the side of her head as she put her arm into his.

“Ready?” he asked with an eyebrow quirked as they reached the Range Rover. She bit on her lower lip for a minute and nodded. Although I’d rather just take you back to my room and have my way with you. She internally chastised herself. Casual Veronica… remember casual.

“Hi Evie,” Veronica said as she climbed in and reached for her seat belt. Logan had already made it around to his side of the car after closing her door for her and was starting to climb in as well.

“Hi Vronica,” Evie called out from the backseat.

“Hey, that’s almost perfect Evie,” Veronica replied with a smile.

Evie nodded and looked at Logan with a bit of an irritated expression. “Daddy made me practice while we drove here.”

Veronica tried to stifle a laugh, as she saw Logan cringe and shake his head. Veronica reached over and squeezed his hand that was resting on his leg. “Well I appreciate it,” she said as she gave him a tender smile.

“I like your curly hair,” Evie said next as she turned her attention back to Veronica. “Do you think you could make my hair curly like that too?”

“Sure Evie. That would be fun.” She noticed Logan glance in her direction with a slightly surprised expression. “What?” she asked a bit indignantly. “I can do girly when I want to.”

He held both hands up in defense. “I never said you couldn’t. In fact… I seem to remember you could be very girly sometimes.” The way he said it, while innocent enough still sent a shiver down her spine and she could feel herself blush as she shook her head at him. He must have noticed her reaction and a small smirk crossed his face before he started the car and pulled away from the curb.

A few minutes later they were pulling into the driveway of a house that was on the mountain side of town. Even though it was a ways from the ocean, you could still see the water off in the distance with the location of the house being at a higher elevation than the town below them. Veronica had noticed that Bella was in the back as well, and as they parked, Logan hit a button on his remote to open the back for her to jump out. He helped Evie out and closed the back as Veronica walked around the car to join them. As soon as Evie was out of the car, she took off at a run to the front door, pushing it open without knocking or waiting for it to be opened. Bella ran behind her and disappeared into the house as well.

“You really do look amazing,” Logan said as he reached up and played with one of her curls.

She reached out and placed a hand on his chest. And what a nicely toned chest it has become. She took a deep breath and nodded. “Thank you.”

“Well… shall we?” he asked as he gestured toward the house with his head although not making any effort to actually move from the spot they were in.

She gave him a playful smile. “Any warnings you want to give me?” He gave her a puzzled look. “You know…” she lowered her voice to more of a whisper and leaned a little closer to him. “Like no talk of milky white thighs…”

He laughed and shook his head. “Oh no, if you’d like to brag about how hot I used to look naked, be my guest.”

She laughed as well. I'm sure you look even hotter now, but no reason to inflate that ego or for my mind to spend too much time on that topic. “You wish…” she replied with a smirk. “Although my eyes always did adore you.”

He took a deep breath and moved his hand so he could cup the side of her head and gently stroked her cheek with his thumb. “I think that was my line,” he said as he looked at her more intently and moved his head even closer to hers.

“How ‘bout I let you borrow it whenever you want,” she said a bit breathlessly trying to keep her composure with his mouth so close to hers now and feeling the warmth from his hand on her face.

“That sounds fair,” he replied softly. He leaned a little closer and gave her a small kiss on the tip of her nose. “My eyes really did always adore you,” he whispered after the kiss.

“We’d um… we should probably go in,” she said a bit nervously, realizing she’d gotten herself into a position that she probably shouldn’t have. Well at least not standing in the middle of Kathleen’s driveway, not knowing who might be watching them from inside the house.

He nodded slowly and dropped his hand from her cheek. She immediately missed it being there though, but kept a neutral smile on her face. He gestured with his arm for her to lead the way. She took a quick breath and then headed in the direction of where Evie and Bella had disappeared.

As soon as she walked into the living room it was easy to see why Logan felt the need to warn her. There were lots of family photographs spread around, either framed on the walls or in frames sitting on various shelves. Several of them included a handsome blonde man in his Sheriff Deputy uniform. She tried not to just stop and stare at the pictures, but it was certainly hard not to let her eyes travel slowly across them. She instantly recognized Sara and Kathleen in several, and another young blonde woman who she assumed was Katy. It looked as if Katy must have been around 7 or 8 when Sara was born, based on pictures of her holding her little sister as a baby. In pictures where they were older, Katy looked to be maybe an inch or two taller than Sara, so she'd be several inches taller than herself. It was easy to see that in older pictures when her dad was still in them, she looked so much happier than later ones clearly taken after he’d been killed. As a younger girl, she’d had so much spark and happiness in her eyes, especially photos that were of her and her dad. There was one with Kathleen, Sara, Katy, Logan and Evie, clearly taken at Christmas one of the times that Katy must have blown back into their lives for a short time. Logan was holding Evie and Katy had her arm wrapped around his shoulder, leaning into him as they posed for the photo. Veronica thought her expression seemed a bit less troubled than some of the other photos, but clearly her smile lacked that enthusiasm she had when she was younger, before her life had been ripped apart. Veronica had worried she’d feel jealous seeing pictures of Katy, but instead an immense sense of sadness had overtaken her at how very obvious it was that her well being had been utterly destroyed by losing her dad and her best friend.

“I think they’re in the kitchen,” Logan’s said softly, his voice ripping through her inner thoughts. She turned to look at him and he must have caught something in her expression. “You okay?” he asked as he placed his hand on her shoulder and squeezed gently. She nodded and gave him a reassuring smile. “Okay,” he replied softly and started to walk toward the kitchen with her following right behind him.

“There you two are,” Kathleen said cheerily as they walked into the kitchen. “I was about to send out a search party for you.”

Logan laughed a bit nervously and Veronica caught him fidgeting with his shirt sleeves. She actually hadn’t noticed him doing that particular nervous behavior since she’d arrived, although it was one which she’d seen him do countless times when they were younger.

“Dinner smells delicious,” Veronica interjected, hoping to diffuse any anxiety Logan was suddenly feeling. She couldn’t help but recall how anxious she always felt when Logan and her dad were together and wondered if he was feeling a bit of that now.

“Thanks Veronica,” Kathleen said with a warm smile. “Do you like to cook?”

“Mmm… I guess if the mood strikes,” Veronica answered as she watched Kathleen pulling some rolls out of the oven. “I do like baking cookies from time to time though.”

“I love cookies!” Evie chimed in enthusiastically. She was perched on a stool at the kitchen counter watching Kathleen as well. “Daddy makes yummy ‘nickerdoodles.”

Veronica shot a quick look at Logan. She never expected this time with him to be filled with so many reminders of times they’d spent together so many years ago. First there was Red Riding Hood, then there was the downpour on the beach, and now there was an afternoon that they had planned on baking snicker-doodles together when her dad was in New Mexico chasing down a bail jumper. That afternoon he’d really laid on all sorts of innuendos about baking cookies and they’d ended up sweaty and naked on the couch before she’d even had a chance to make any dough. Wallace had stopped by a little later asking where his cookies were that she’d promised him and she had to make up some excuse about being out of ingredients. Of course Logan had been no help at that point and made some colorful comments that nearly gave away what they’d actually been doing.

He must have caught her glance and smiled a little mischievously. “Veronica actually makes delicious snicker doodles too. I’ve never forgotten those.” Now it was her turn to blush slightly.

“So Logan mentioned you’re going to LawSchool at Stanford this year?” Kathleen asked as she closed the oven door. Veronica nodded in reply. “I actually grew up in the Bay Area and went to UC Santa Cruz,” Kathleen added.

“That’s a wonderful school too. What did you study there?”

“I was an art major,” Kathleen replied with a fond smile on her face. “I met Brad there during my freshman year. He was a senior in legal studies. We had a bit of an unexpected surprise at the end of that year, decided to get married and then I moved up here with him.”

Veronica gave her an understanding smile, as she caught Logan fidgeting with his sleeves again out of the corner of her eye. “So you’ve been in Yachats since then?”

Kathleen shook her head. “No we lived up in Newport first for several years, before we bought this house and moved here. The Sheriff’s department is actually located there, so that was easier for Brad at the beginning. When Sara was about 6 I decided to open my gallery here, it was a couple years after we’d moved down here and I really wanted to get back into the art scene somehow. I of course still love art, even though I didn’t get to finish a degree.”

Veronica nodded again. “I actually love photography. I took some classes at Hearst and entertained the idea of going into that field instead, but I thought I could make more of an impact in the world going into the legal field.”

“Hmmm…” Kathleen replied, perhaps not completely convinced. “What type of law are you thinking about?”

“Well right now, I think I’d like to go into the DA field.”

Kathleen smiled a bit brighter. “We should introduce her to Michelle,” Kathleen commented to Logan before turning back to explain to Veronica. “Michelle Branam is the Chief Deputy in LincolnCounty. She comes down to Yachats for some community meetings and regularly comes into the gallery too. I’m sure she’d love to talk with you about what it’s like starting out as a DDA, at least up here.”

Veronica was a bit caught off guard by the offer. “Yeah, that would be nice. Of course I’m sure she’s a very busy woman.”

Kathleen shrugged. “I’ll see if she has any free time. Do you know how long you’re staying yet?”

She could see Logan fidgeting even more with his sleeves now out of the corner of her eye. “No, I’m not sure yet. I suppose it depends on what happens with Logan’s test and if he goes down to California for the procedure if he’s a match.” She gave him a warm smile, wanting desperately to reach over and hold his hands to get him to feel less anxious and to stop fidgeting with his sleeves. “We haven’t really discussed that yet though.” Logan gave her a slightly hesitant look and nodded.

“I thought we’d eat out on the patio,” Kathleen commented as she took the lid off the slow cooker that the stew must have been in as the delicious aroma became even stronger. “Can you go turn the fence off before Evie and Bella go out?” she asked as she looked at Logan.

He nodded and headed toward the back door. “I want to feed the fish,” Evie said as she hopped off her stool and followed Logan to the door.

“Have your daddy help you,” Kathleen called out. “Maybe Veronica could help me carry the food and plates out?”

Veronica nodded and gave Kathleen a small smile. Logan gave Veronica a questioning look before he opened the door, likely to be sure that she was okay with that and she nodded again to him. He told Bella to heel and the three of them headed out the door to the patio. “We have an electric fence around my pond to keep the raccoons from eating all the fish,” Kathleen explained as the door closed behind Logan. “I forgot to turn it off when I got back from the gallery and of course wouldn’t want Bella or Evie to get shocked.” She took out some plates and bowls and set them on the counter. “I’m really glad you came and found Logan,” she said a bit tentatively. “It’s nice to see a little spark in his eyes again.”

Veronica blushed a bit and nodded. She felt that same feeling of sadness that had hit her on the beach when she wondered if he thought she was just going to vanish on him after all of this though. Is this the part where she tells me not to break his heart?

“Hopefully the two of you can stay in touch when you head back to California.” She started pulling silverware out of a drawer. “When he first showed up with Evie, I had wondered what sort of family he’d left behind somewhere.” Kathleen gave her a grim look before she continued. “He didn’t tell me who he actually was at first, but after a few months he did.” She let out a sad sigh. “I actually read your father’s book.” Veronica was a bit surprised by that and it probably showed in her expression. “When I started looking up information about Logan, of course the murder case came up and I ended up reading your father’s book about it. I could understand Logan’s reluctance to go back after everything that happened when he was growing up there.”

Veronica nodded in agreement. Although maybe there had been some good parts he could have come back for, like me?

“He really is a great dad to Evie,” Kathleen continued to explain as she pulled a pitcher of lemonade from the fridge. “I’m sure it may seem a bit odd that I’m so close to him now without Katy around.” She let out another sad sigh. “I do love Katy with all my heart, but well… I don’t know how much Logan told you.”

Veronica gave her a grim expression. “He told me about Katy’s best friend and your husband. I’m so sorry you lost him. As you know from my dad’s book, I can relate pretty well with what that sort of life can be like. Even now that he’s just a private detective, I still worry about it.”

Kathleen nodded back in understanding. “Katy loved her dad as much as you must love yours. It was so hard on her. Of course it was hard on all of us, but it seemed to hit her much worse than the rest of us. Sara was so much younger, and I think she just bounced back better. Katy had always been closer to her dad than Sara was as well. In some ways, Logan and Evie remind me exactly of them.”

The back door opened and Logan poked his head in. “Can I help at all?” He glanced between the two women, likely checking to see how things were going, more than actually wanting to help.

“Sure sweetheart, can you grab the glasses?”

Logan nodded and walked past Veronica, clearly trying to check that she was doing okay without actually asking. Veronica picked up the stack of plates and bowls and followed him back out to the table on the patio. She glanced out into the yard and saw Evie sitting near a beautiful pond throwing what must have been small pieces of fish food into the water.

“Everything going okay?” Logan asked with a nervous look on his face as he placed the glasses on the table.

“Yeah,” she said softly with a smile and a nod. She started putting out the plates and bowls as well. She saw him start to fidget with his sleeves again. She reached over and put her hands on his. “Hey, you don’t need to worry. Everything’s fine Logan.”

He looked down at their hands and she could see him swallow and then nod. He looked back up into her eyes and let out a sigh. “Sorry… not sure why all of a sudden I’m so anxious.”

She laughed and gave him a sly grin. “Now you know exactly how I felt all those years ago when you had dinner with my dad. I get the feeling Kathleen can be just as critical.”

“I just didn’t expect her to immediately jump to Stanford and then grill you about how long you were staying.” He looked down at their hands again. It struck her that was probably what had hit him the hardest, the reality that she couldn’t stay.

“Hey,” she said softly, causing him to look back up at her. “Even when I go, I promise I’ll keep in touch if you want me to.”

“Of course I want you to,” he said hopefully as his eyes stared intently into hers.

“Good,” she said in reply with a relieved smile as she heard the house door open again and Kathleen came out carrying a pot with the beef stew.

“I have a salad in the fridge too, if you want to grab that and some dressing Logan,” Kathleen said as she set the stew on the table.

“Sure,” Logan replied and squeezed Veronica’s hands for a moment before dropping them and walking back inside. Kathleen turned to go back into the house as well and stopped for a moment before she went through the door.

“You should go see the fish with Evie too and then maybe you could get her to come in and wash up for dinner?” Kathleen asked as she looked at Veronica. Veronica nodded and headed over to where Evie was.

“Hey Evie,” Veronica said as she walked over and took a seat on a big rock next to one that Evie was sitting on.

“Do you want to feed them too?” Evie reached out her hand to give her some of the small pellets that were in her hand. Veronica was actually surprised at her patience and that she hadn’t just tossed the entire handful into the water. The koi in the pond were absolutely beautiful with all sorts of orange, black and white markings. She nodded and took some of the food and tossed a few pellets in.

“We have to do it slow, or it sinks to the bottom and makes a mess.” Evie instructed as she threw a few more of the pellets herself.

“Which one’s your favorite?” Veronica asked as she tossed a few more pellets in. The fish were very enthusiastic about the food and would sometimes cause the water to splash up with their tails.

Evie pointed to one that was mostly orange with just a few white and black spots. “He’s my favorite.” Evie replied.

“He’s very pretty,” Veronica replied as she tossed the rest of her pellets in. “Your grandma said we should go wash our hands for dinner if you’re done feeding the fish.”

Evie only had a few pellets left and tossed those in and stood up. She reached out and took Veronica’s hand and started to lead her back to the house. Logan gave them a warm smile as they walked back up to the patio.

“Vonica and I are gonna wash our hands now,” Evie announced as they got close enough.

“Veronica…” Logan said again with a small sigh.

“Vronica,” Evie repeated getting a bigger smile from Logan.

“Better munchkin,” he said as he gave Veronica a quick look.

“I’m sorry I have such a hard to say name,” she said as Evie looked up at her. Evie smiled back and nodded.

“Daddy says it so much better than I do,” Evie said with a smile as she continued to lead her to the bathroom. Yes I do love it when he says it, and some ways more than others.

After using the bathroom that was right off the kitchen, they both returned to join Logan and Kathleen at the table. The food was absolutely delicious and after complimenting Kathleen on it the conversation turned back to Veronica and photography.

“What sort of photography did you like the most?”

“I had a lot of fun with a time lapse project that I did at Hearst. I also loved some of the HDR assignments that I did too.”

“Oh I’ve seen some spectacular HDR images. I’ve had a few prints that I’ve sold at the gallery too. I don’t think we have any right now though.” She looked thoughtful for a minute and glanced at Logan. He shrugged and swallowed the bite of salad he’d just taken.

“Come on Kath, you know I mostly just put things where you tell me too and don’t really know the difference between any of them.”

Kathleen rolled her eyes at him. “Well for just putting things in places, you certainly have a lot of opinions about some of them.”

Logan smirked and shrugged again. “I guess some of them make a bigger impact on me than others.”

“Well I’d love to see some of your HDR images Veronica,” Kathleen added turning her attention back to Veronica. “And time lapse photos are really interesting too.”

“I did bring my laptop along with me. It’s back at the B&B though, but maybe I can show you the ones I have on it before I leave.”

“I’d love that. I have a friend with a print shop in Newport, and we could even send some to her to print up so I could frame them if you’d be interested in letting me display them at the gallery.”

Veronica wasn’t expecting that at all, and she was sure the expression on her face probably reflected it. “Oh… that would be wonderful. Of course only if you really like any of them.”

Kathleen gave her a warm smile. “Something tells me that I’m going to love them.”

Chapter 12

Chapter Text

Chapter 12

As dinner went on, the anxiety that had hit Logan when they first walked into the kitchen had started to subside. He kept thinking back to Veronica saying that she’d keep in touch even after she left. There wasn’t much he actually missed about Neptune in the years since he moved here, besides her. Occasionally he’d miss Dick, but knew he’d have a really hard time understanding why Logan had made the choices he had, and so he hadn’t reached out to him in a long time. There were so many times during the last three years that he would see something that would remind him of her. There were also several times at the gallery that he'd see a picture that would make him think of her. He was really enjoying listening to Kathleen and Veronica talk about photography. He remembered seeing some pictures Veronica had taken that weren’t related to PI work, and thought she really did have an amazing eye for it.

“Can I show Vonica the tree house?” Evie asked after they were done eating.

“If she wants to see it,” Logan replied as he stood up to help Kathleen carry the dishes back into the house.

“Please come see it?” Evie asked Veronica with a pleading expression.

“I should probably help your Grandma and Daddy with the dishes,” Veronica said looking between the other two adults.

“It’s fine,” Kathleen replied. “Logan and I can get this. She’s not actually allowed to climb up into it without someone there to keep an eye on her.”

“Okay, let’s go see the tree house,” Veronica said enthusiastically as she stood up and took Evie’s extended hand.

Logan followed Kathleen into the kitchen where she gave him an apologetic smile. “I didn’t mean to make you so nervous earlier.” Logan shrugged, trying to play it off as if it didn’t matter. “Well I did notice, and that wasn’t my intention for having you bring Veronica over for dinner. I really did just want to get to know her better. Sorry for that.”

“It’s fine Kath,” he said as he continued rinsing dishes and placing them in the dishwasher.

“Do you think she’ll make a good lawyer?” Kathleen asked curiously as she transferred the leftovers to smaller containers.

Logan shrugged. “Probably. She’s always been good at whatever she does.” He let out a deep sigh. “And she’s always wanted to go to Stanford. She actually got accepted there right out of high school, but then things didn’t work out and she ended up at Hearst.” He didn’t feel like sharing about the numerous times he’d heard Veronica and Duncan discussing how things would be when they both went to Stanford together. He knew that it was mostly Jake who’d insisted that Duncan go there, but as soon as he found out that Veronica had always wanted to go there too, well he had quickly latched on to what a great idea it was. Of course all of that changed after Lilly died.

“Well I’d really love to see her photographs. It’s always fun to talk to other people interested in art, regardless of the medium. I can finish up in here if you want to go and check on them. I made a Marion-berry crisp for dessert too. I just need to warm it up for a little bit.”

Logan gave her a knowing smile and nodded. He loved all the different desserts that Kathleen would bake, but that was one of his favorites. He couldn’t help but wonder if she’d made it because she knew he was feeling a bit overwhelmed with Veronica being there.

He went out to the large oak tree in the backyard to see what Veronica and Evie were up to. Brad had built the tree house mostly for Sara, since Katy was almost in high school by the time he’d made it. It was really just more of an elevated playhouse that had one side attached to the large tree. There was a long slide with several turns that came down off of it, which Evie loved to slide down, but they had been worried she could fall off the small landing at the top, so that’s why they always made sure one of them was there to watch her. Now that she was getting older though, he wasn’t as worried about it as he used to be. There were also a few swings down below the tree house and a cargo net to climb up to the landing as another option rather than using the ladder. Veronica was sitting on the landing with her legs dangling over the side watching Evie slide down and then climb back up the ladder to go down the slide again.

Logan gave her a warm smile as he climbed up the ladder to take a seat next to her. She leaned toward him and bumped her shoulder into his after he’d take a seat by her. “This tree house really rocks,” she said with a capricious smile on her face.

He nodded in reply and laughed softly. “Did you try the slide?”

“Of course,” she said as she smiled up at him. “Evie insisted I try it.”

“She can be rather insistent about things,” Logan replied as he watched Evie climbing back up the ladder again. As she was about to speed past him on her way back to the slide, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into his lap. She laughed and wiggled in his arms.

“Let go daddy!” Evie said as she giggled.

“I demand a kiss!” he said playfully. She laughed and gave him a loud smack on the cheek.

“That was the loudest kiss I’ve ever heard,” Veronica said with a laugh. Evie laughed and did it again.

“You try,” Evie said to Veronica, causing a nervous chuckle to escape from Logan.

“I’m sure I can’t do it as loud as you can,” Veronica replied back playfully.

“Try,” Evie said again. “Daddy loves kisses.” Logan couldn’t help but laugh nervously again.

“I’m sure he does,” Veronica said with a twinkle in her eye. She leaned closer to him and kissed him on the cheek, slightly louder than normal, but not as loud as Evie had kissed him.

“Louder,” Evie requested as she gave Veronica a big smile. Veronica laughed and did it again, a little louder than before. “Better,” Evie said with a nod as she wiggled out of Logan’s lap and headed for the slide again.

Logan gave her a sly smile and then quirked an eyebrow at her. “Maybe you should practice that so you can be as loud as Evie.”

Veronica’s expression changed to be more lascivious. “Practice does make perfect, doesn’t it?” He nodded and leaned so his cheek was closer to her. She laughed and kissed him loudly on the cheek again, then moved so her mouth was right by his ear. “You know I’d rather practice other types of kisses though.”

Logan took a sharp breath and turned to see her wink playfully at him with a smug look on her face, clearly trying to just mess with him. He shook his head and narrowed his eyes at her. “You don’t play fair, Mars,” he said, trying not to imagine all the ways they’d kissed before. She laughed and leaned in to give him another loud smack on the cheek.

Evie was at the top of the ladder again and clapped her hands. “Good job Vonica!” she said as she ran by them and went down the slide again.

“Maybe I should give you a taste of your own medicine,” Logan said with an evil grin. Veronica’s eyes opened a bit wider as he wrapped his arms around her, pinning her arms down to her side and started placing loud smacks on her cheek as well. Evie was making another pass and laughed at the two of them.

“More kisses!” Evie yelled as she ran by and went down the slide again.

“You heard her,” Logan said with a laugh, but as he started to place another kiss on her cheek, Veronica caught him totally off guard and turned her head at the last second and his lips landed on hers instead of her cheek. He quickly changed his kiss so it was a bit more tender than the loud smacks he’d been placing on her cheek. He made it just slightly more than chaste, but let his lips linger on hers for a few more seconds before pulling away and taking a deep breath. “Those kisses are definitely better,” he said with an affectionate smile on his face.

“Daddy, come push me!” Evie yelled from the bottom of the slide and then he could see her little blonde head run over toward the swing that was under the tree house.

He quickly dropped the grip he had around Veronica, and cupped the side of her head so he could pull her back toward him. I know I probably shouldn’t do this, especially not here and now, but when have I ever done the smart thing. He leaned in and gave her a slightly deeper kiss, though knew he’d only have a few seconds before Evie would call for him again. He heard Veronica let out a contented sigh as he pulled away.

“Daddy!” Right on cue. He smiled at Veronica and gave her a quick wink before he hopped up and climbed down the ladder to push Evie. A minute later he heard Veronica sliding down the slide to join them on the bottom. She took a seat on the empty swing next to Evie and slowly swung back and forth while she watched him push Evie on the other swing.

“I was wondering if you brought your camera with you,” Logan asked as he kept pushing Evie.

Veronica shook her head. “I didn’t think I’d need it for finding you, and really didn’t expect it to be so beautiful here. So regretting that I didn’t now.”

“I actually bought a nice camera about a year ago so I could take pictures of Evie, but never really figured out how to use it. If I bring it tomorrow, do you think you could help me learn how to use it?”

Veronica’s face lit up. “Of course. I’d love to.”

“Desserts ready,” Kathleen called from the patio. Logan laughed as Veronica’s face lit up even more.

“You don’t even know if it’s something you’ll like,” Logan said in a teasing tone.

“Come on, when have I ever not liked dessert?”

Logan laughed and gave Evie one more push. “Last push sweetie,” Logan told her, earning a disappointed groan from Evie. “Grandma made dessert for us.” At least the promise of dessert softened the disappointment some. He scooped her up from the swing when it slowed down enough and then the three of them headed back up to the patio with Logan still carrying Evie and Veronica walking right beside them.

It was starting to get close to sunset and Kathleen suggested they eat their dessert on the front porch so they could watch the sun go down. She’d already prepared the bowls with the warm Marion-berry crisp and put scoops of vanilla ice cream on the top. There were only a few places to sit on the front porch, and Logan noticed that Kathleen had strategically taken the single one, and called Evie over to sit on her lap, so he and Veronica would have to share the wider double one. He gave her a knowing look as she sat down and she just smiled and shrugged.

“Mmmmm,” Veronica moaned out when she took a bite of the dessert. “This is so good Kathleen.” Logan laughed softly at Veronica's reaction as he took a bite of his own.

“Thanks,” Kathleen replied. “Logan really loves this one too.”

Veronica glanced at him and gave him a small smile. “He always did have good taste.” I’m not sure that’s entirely true, but I certainly had good taste when it came to her.

Evie let out a loud yawn. “Did you not take a nap today?” Kathleen asked as she gave her a quick kiss on the top of her head.

Logan laughed and shook his head. Another thing that had been changing lately was getting Evie to lay down and take an afternoon nap. He actually missed it more than he thought he would after getting used to taking them with her sometimes. Some days it was fine, but other days she could get really cranky by the time bedtime finally rolled around. At least she’d stayed so busy and distracted today that she hadn’t reached the cranky stage.

The sunset was a really nice one and after the sun had fallen below the horizon they slowly made their way back in the house to carry their dishes back in to the kitchen.

“Thanks so much for a wonderful meal,” Veronica said as she helped Kathleen rinse the bowls and place them into the dishwasher.

“Oh, it was my pleasure,” Kathleen said as she put the last bowl in and closed the dishwasher door. “I hope you get to come over again for dinner before you head back to California.”

“Yeah, I do too,” Veronica replied with a smile as she glanced at Logan who couldn’t help but smile as well.

He could tell Evie was quickly fading, and she had laid down on the couch petting Bella while they were finishing up in the kitchen. “Ready to go sweetie?” Logan asked as he walked over to scoop her up. She nodded and yawned. They said goodnight to Kathleen and all headed back out to Logan’s car. Logan lifted Evie into the car and buckled her into her car seat after putting Bella in the back, and then he climbed into his seat and leaned toward Veronica. “Wanna take the long way home?”

She gave him a puzzled look, but shrugged and then nodded slowly. He knew Evie would fall asleep before he made it back to his house, and figured he’d take a bit of extra time to get Veronica back to the B&B as well. He headed down the road from Kathleen’s then took a right on King Street which ran parallel to the highway, until it turned west toward the ocean again. After making it back to the highway, he turned off on Ocean View Drive which ran along the ocean. “Wanna listen to the ocean for a little while before I drop you off? There’s a state park ahead before we turn to go to the B&B?”

“Sure,” she said with a warm smile.

He backed into a spot that faced the ocean and glanced back at Evie. As he expected she was completely zonked out. Veronica looked back as well and then smiled at Logan. “I see why you wanted to take the long way now,” she said with a sly smile.

“I did warn you earlier that I expected a kiss goodnight,” he whispered with a mischievous grin. He gestured with his head to climb out. He went to the back and opened the door, telling Bella to lay down. He turned to look at Veronica. “Need a boost?” She smiled and nodded and moved so she was standing with her back to the SUV. He put his hands under her arms, so he could lift her up to sit in the back.

She narrowed her eyes and gave him a nostalgic look as his hand gently ran down her sides, stopping at her hips. “Is this where you take all your conquests?” she asked in a sensuous tone.

He laughed softly and leaned in a little closer. He’d never forgotten those early perfect days before things started falling apart the first time. “Nope, only the short ones.”

She reached up and wrapped her hands behind his head so she could pull him even closer towards her. His knees were now pressing against the back bumper and her legs were lightly touching the outside of his thighs. They stared into each others eyes for almost a minute with their faces only inches apart, but neither of them moved any closer. She finally took a deep breath and pulled his head toward hers and pressed her lips against his. This feels so right. I’ve missed her even more than I ever wanted to admit. He moved his hands up her back and gently tangled one into her hair as they continued to kiss. They finally broke apart as the need for oxygen became a bit too great. He gave her a nervous smile, and then climbed in and sat behind her so she was between his legs and he could wrap his arms around her, placing them at her waist. As much as he wanted her, he knew he needed to slow things down. There were way too many factors to just jump into something with her now. He was trying to remind himself of all the things he’d thought about earlier, but having her here with him like this made it extremely difficult to do that.

She leaned back against him and let her head roll slightly back so it was resting against his shoulder. She ran her hands slowly down his thighs, then back up and moved them to rest on his arms that were wrapped around her waist. They were parked close enough to the water that they could hear the waves crashing onto the rocks below and the moonlight provided just enough illumination to watch the waves roll in.

“This is nice,” she said softly as she turned her head so she could look up at him. He nodded and let out a deep sigh, then kissed her again. She broke the kiss after a minute and nestled against him again, facing back out at the ocean. She kept gently running her fingers along his forearms as they sat there listening to the ocean.

“You have no idea how much restraint it’s taking me not to do more than just kiss you right now,” he finally admitted softly and a bit breathlessly.

“Oh, I’m pretty sure I can imagine,” she replied with a soft laugh. “But this is good... We never really took anything slow before.” She paused a moment and took a deep breath. “I really want this time to be different Logan.”

He let out another deep sigh. “Me too.” He bent his head so he could place a few light kisses on her neck, drawing a small moan from her. He stopped and rested his chin on her shoulder listening to the waves for a few minutes. “I know you can’t stay, but I don’t really want to worry about that yet. I just want to enjoy whatever time we do have together.”

“Me too,” she replied as she nodded slightly.

“And I hope you understand why I need to be careful around Evie,” he added a bit nervously.

“Of course,” she said as she turned to look at him again and gave him a tender smile. “I completely understand that Logan.”

He nodded and then kissed her again. She turned a bit more, and he moved his hands up to rest behind her head and tangle in her hair as they continued to kiss. A car’s headlights lit up the inside of the car as it was driving along the road and they both laughed softly and she turned back to face the ocean again.

“This is almost like sneaking around in high school again,” she said with a little laugh.

“I do feel much better knowing that your gun-toting dad is a state away and not watching us through a telescope mounted to a rifle.” Logan replied before he kissed her shoulder.

She laughed softly and nodded. They sat quietly and just listened to the ocean for a while longer before he heard Veronica yawn. “I’d better let you get home to bed. You’ll need all your rest for chasing Evie around at the aquarium with me tomorrow.”

She let out a slow sigh and when she spoke her voice sounded almost sad. “I don’t really want to go though. I haven’t felt like this in so long Logan.” She turned more so she could bury her face against his chest. He readjusted his arms to hold her a bit tighter and ran them up and down her back.

“Hey, I know you don’t have to leave Paige’s until Friday night, but what if you come stay with us tomorrow night?” He felt her nod her head against him and take a deep breath.

“Yeah, that sounds good.” She paused a moment. “I know with Evie we have to be careful, but I hope there will be another good night kiss tomorrow night too.”

“Of course,” he said softly as he kissed the top of her head. “And we both know cuddling’s the best part anyway.”

She laughed softly and shook her head against his chest. “I don’t even want to think about what the best part really was, or I’ll drive myself crazy.”

He laughed softly himself. “Yeah, you and I both.” He took a deep shaky breath. “But for now, we agree right? Taking it slow?”

She finally sat back up so she could look in his eyes again and nodded. “Yeah.”

He leaned in so he could kiss her again. The kiss went on for at least a minute before they finally broke apart a bit reluctantly. More kisses like that and it’s not going to be so easy to take things slow. “Lets get you home so you can get some sleep. Thanks for spending the day with me… with us.”

“Of course Logan. It really was a lot of fun.”

He laughed. “Well try to remember that tomorrow if Evie decides to throw a fit because I won’t buy her the giant stuffed shark or jellyfish that she wants.”

Veronica laughed and nodded. “Will you buy one for me if I want one?” He laughed and kissed the tip of her nose.

“Right… like that would go over well with Evie.”

She gave him a sly smile and shrugged. “Okay, I’ll try to behave myself too then. But I expect some sort of reward later for it.”

“Hmmm… maybe I could give you a foot massage when we make it back.”

She smiled broader and nodded. “I’m going to remember you said that.”

He scooted around her and hopped back down so he could help her hop out as well. He walked around and opened her door for her, giving her another slow kiss before she climbed in and he closed the door. He drove her the rest of the way to the B&B and stopped out front giving her a slightly conflicted look.

“You don’t need to walk me in. I know you can’t leave Evie out here. Thanks for a great day Logan.”

He nodded and reached over so he could pull her close for one last kiss. “I can pick you up at 8 if that’s okay and take you to breakfast before we head up to Newport.”

“Sounds great,” she said with a smile then leaned in and gave him another quick kiss. “Goodnight Logan.”

“Goodnight Veronica.” He brushed his fingers across her hair and then her cheek one more time before she opened her door and climbed out. He watched her until she was safely inside and then finally pulled away and headed home himself. Even though he knew their time was going to be limited, he was starting to let himself hope that maybe this time they’d figure out a way to make things work. Although he still didn’t have any idea how that could really work long-term unless he was willing to leave Yachats behind. Just the thought of that was almost too much to bear, so he decided not to worry about it since they still had a very long way to go for that to become an issue. Kathleen’s words from earlier in the day played through his head again. No one knows how much time they’ll have with anyone… He was determined to make whatever time he did have with her really count.

Chapter 13

Chapter Text

Chapter 13

Veronica woke up before her alarm had even gone off and laid in bed for a few minutes staring at the ceiling thinking over everything that had happened the previous day. Watching Logan be a dad was such a surreal experience, but he did it with the same effortless grace that she'd seen him have in so many other aspects of his life. She had always thought he seemed the most at ease and comfortable with life when he was surfing and seeing him with Evie, it was like he'd finally found a life that let him be like that all of the time. Even when Evie was on the verge of melting down at the ice cream shop, he seemed to remain so calm and unflustered, that she had been impressed. She couldn't help but wonder what day two of being with them was going to be like.

She wasn’t being completely naïve about the situation either. If she did want something more serious and long-term with Logan, she knew that would include Evie now too. Being thrust into the role of a mother-figure to someone was actually a slightly terrifying thought to her. She’d had such a bad relationship with her own mother after Lilly’s death that she’d occasionally wondered if she’d ever want to be a mother at all. Although she knew that things hadn’t always been like that for them either. She also had an absolutely wonderful role model in her dad and that just because her mother wasn’t an ideal example at all, he still taught her many important things about being a loving and supportive parent. She reminded herself that she was getting a little ahead of herself even worrying about that already though. She’d only been back in his life for less than 48 hours and while things seemed to be going really well, they’d both agreed to take things slow and maybe they’d realize that just being friends was really the best outcome for them in the end. A part of her really wanted more than that though, but she was still glad they had talked about where things currently stood the night before. That was certainly something they were never good at the last time they tried having a relationship with each other.

She showered and put on some capri's and a light scoop neck t-shirt, choosing the most comfortable sandals she'd brought along in case they did a lot of walking. Once she was all done with her hair and make-up, she headed out of her room to wait for them. She could smell coffee coming from the dining room, so stopped and was glad to see Paige had put out to-go cups for her guests to use. She filled one with coffee and added cream and sugar, and then headed out to the front porch to wait for him again. She had grabbed a sweat shirt from her room as well, which she was thankful for as she stepped outside and felt the brisk morning air. She had nearly finished her coffee when Logan's Range Rover pulled up in front of the B&B.

"Getting caffeinated already I see. Wise choice," he said with a large smile as she climbed in. "You'll probably accuse me of doing the same thing to Evie, but I swear that's just all her," he added with a soft laugh.

"Good morning Vronica," Evie called from the back seat.

"Good morning Evie," she replied with a warm smile.

"Hungry?" Logan asked with a mischievous grin.

"Like you even have to ask," she replied coyly.

Logan drove them a few blocks to a small café. He climbed out and helped Evie out of her car seat while Veronica walked around to join them on the other side of the car. He held Evie's hand with one hand and gave Veronica a tentative glance before he stuck his other hand in his pocket. Apparently Evie wasn’t expecting him to hold her hand today too since she didn’t protest and look at Veronica at all. Yeah, the not touching is going to be strange. That was one thing that he'd always done when they were dating before, touching some part of her. How are we going to make it through the day if he has to keep his hands completely to himself? Not that she didn't understand why. Of course it was a very stark contrast to how they were the prior night in the back of his SUV.

When they got to the door he let go of Evie's hand and held the door open for them both, giving Veronica a tender smile as she walked by. Once they were inside there was a ‘Please Wait to be Seated’ sign which Evie obediently stopped and stood right in front of. Veronica stopped to look at some gorgeous paintings that were on the wall right by the door, while Logan walked a little closer to Evie.

"Allie!" Evie called out excitedly and Veronica turned and saw her quickly move to wrap her arms around a woman who looked to be one of the waitresses.

"Hey doodle bug," the woman replied with a happy tone. "Hey you," she directed at Logan as well.

"Hi Allie," Logan responded with a tone that Veronica couldn't quite tell if it was hesitation or surprise. "I didn't expect to see you this morning. I didn't think you were working the morning shifts any more." Perhaps a little of both?

"Yeah, well Gina called in sick, so I said I'd take her shift. I missed seeing you on Tuesday night. I thought you'd stop in when you were done at the gallery."

Veronica hadn't left her spot yet, but was starting to size up the woman from where she was standing. Unlike the other people they'd run into that knew Logan, this woman was much closer to their age, and Veronica also couldn't help but notice her quite ample cleavage that was made even more noticeable by the cut of her blouse. She was also giving Logan a very friendly smile and watching him intently.

“Yeah, I um…” Logan turned and took a step toward Veronica, putting his arm across her shoulder and pulling her forward a half step. “I had a friend from California drop in unexpectedly. Allison, this is Veronica.”

If looks could kill, Veronica was pretty sure she’d be dead. “Nice to meet you,” Veronica said as politely as she could, though she was certainly thrown off by the cold glare from the other woman.

“Yeah... let me grab some menus.”

Well that wasn’t a very friendly hello. Apparently not everyone in Yachats was happy to meet a friend of Logan’s. Veronica watched as Allison went behind a counter and grabbed two adult menus and a coloring sheet and some crayons for Evie. She started walking toward a table and the three of them followed her without another word. Veronica thought it was interesting that she put them at a table instead of a booth and put one adult menu next to the child’s and then put the other adult menu across from the child’s so that it was as far as possible from the other adult menu. Hmm… not trying to send a signal there are you, Allison. At least she didn't put me at a separate table.

“I’ll be back in just a sec with some coffee,” she said with a warm smile to Logan without giving Veronica another glance before walking toward the kitchen area.

Logan and Evie sat down on the side with the kid’s menu and Veronica took the seat across from Logan, moving the menu to be in front of where she sat down instead. ‘Sorry,’ Logan mouthed silently as they sat down and she looked across the table at him. Before he could say another word though, Allison was back with a pot of coffee and a glass of milk for Evie. “Here you go sweetie,” she said to Evie as she sat the milk in front of her.

“Coffee?” she asked finally seeming to acknowledge that Veronica was there since she was already pouring some in a cup for Logan, so it was clear that she wasn’t asking him.

“Yes please,” Veronica replied, still at least trying to be polite.

“I’ll be back after I drop off another order to get yours,” Allison said more or less to Logan before she disappeared into the kitchen again.

Evie was busy coloring on the sheet of paper that Allison had given her and not paying any attention to anything else.

“I’m sorry about that,” Logan said softly as he reached across the table and squeezed Veronica’s hand that she had resting on top of her menu. “I didn’t expect her to be working this morning.”

Before she could reply, Allison was back at their table again. “The order wasn’t quite ready yet, so I can take yours if you know what you’d like. Denver for you Logan?” Logan pulled his hand away and sat back up straighter and nodded. “Pancakes, scrambled eggs and bacon for you doodle bug?” Evie looked up from her drawing and nodded too. “And you?” she said looking at Veronica with a less than pleased expression.

“I’ll take the French toast with a side of bacon.” Veronica answered, not quite as politely as she had been before.

Allison reached down and picked up the menus after writing their orders down. “How’s Ethan?” Logan asked as he looked up at her.

“He’s doing great,” Allison said with a broad smile.

“Three months now right?” Logan asked again.

“Almost four,” she replied with a small nod. “You and Evie really should come by and see him. I’m sure she’d love to play with him. Nate would really enjoy seeing you too. He said you haven’t called him to go out fishing yet.”

Logan smiled politely and nodded. “Yeah, I figured he’d probably still be pretty busy with the new baby. I’ll try to figure out some weekend soon though.”

“You’d better,” she said as she reached out and squeezed Logan’s shoulder. “I’ll get these orders started and be back in a bit.”

Veronica gave Logan a questioning look. She’d initially thought he may have dated Allison, until they started talking about what sounded like her son and perhaps a boyfriend or husband. She didn’t see a ring on her left hand ring finger, but then realized the ample cleavage obviously wasn’t quite what she was thinking and it was possible that maybe her wedding ring didn’t currently fit. It all seemed a bit odd because Allison certainly didn’t like the fact that Logan was there with her.

Logan gave her an apologetic look and leaned in closer again reaching for her hand that was still on top of the table. He glanced quickly at Evie who had gone back to coloring and didn’t seem to be paying attention to them again.

“Allie was really good friends with…” he stopped and glanced at Evie again for a second before looking back at Veronica.

She squeezed his hand and nodded. “I get it,” she said softly and gave him an understanding smile. A very possessive friend apparently.

“I didn’t quite expect that reaction though,” Logan said softly.

“It’s okay. Seems like she just feels a little protective over the two of you.”

He nodded and gave her a grateful look. “Thanks for understanding.”

“Of course,” she said as she rubbed her thumb over the top of his hand.

“Look at my picture Daddy,” Evie said as she held up the paper she was coloring.

“That’s a pretty mermaid Evie,” Veronica said as she looked over at it. “You’re very good at coloring.”

“Thank you,” Evie said as she sat it down and picked up another crayon and started working on some of the fish around the mermaid.

Allison appeared a little while later with their food. She never really warmed up to Veronica during their time there at all. She did at least ask if Veronica wanted a refill of her coffee and when Veronica decided to ask for a glass of milk after her food arrived, she wasn’t too unpleasant about it. She certainly felt a need to hover though and was very chatty with Evie, complimenting her on her coloring as well and telling her all about baby Ethan and how her and her daddy really needed to come by and visit them. At one point, Veronica was caught a bit off guard by Logan’s warm hand landing gently on her knee. She glanced over at him and saw a concerned expression on his face. He must have been able to tell that Allison’s behavior was starting to get to her. She let out deep breath and smiled tenderly at him then placed her hand on top of his, gently running her thumb over the back of his hand. The concern on his face lessened and he gave her a small warm smile in return. Needless to say, she was extremely grateful when they were finally finished eating and ready to leave. Allison of course had to give both Evie and Logan a hug goodbye and told him not to be a stranger and to come by and see them soon.

As they walked out of the restaurant, Logan grabbed her hand and pulled her with him over to the driver side. He gave her a look that clearly indicated he wanted a minute alone with her, and she stood by the driver’s door while he lifted Evie up into her seat and buckled her in. She had brought her new unicorn book along and started looking at it as he closed the door. Veronica was leaning against the driver’s door and he let out a deep breath as he moved in front of her.

“I’m so sorry Veronica. I really didn’t expect Allie to be here and certainly never expected her to react like that.” He reached up and gently brushed the side of her hair as he gave her a concerned look with his warm brown eyes. She could easily see in his expression how troubled he was about what had happened in the café. While she would have gladly avoided that entirely if she could, seeing the compassion and reverence in his eyes was something she’d missed so much in the years apart.

“Hey, I’m fine. We’ve dealt with worse, right?” she replied as she looked up and gave him a reassuring smile. She really didn’t want him to feel bad about how Allison had acted since he really didn’t have any control over it and she could understand why he didn’t want to say anything inside in front of Evie about it either.

“Yeah, but I don’t want us to have to go through that again. Not this time. You deserve better than that. Allie’s just protective of Katy and I don’t know…" He let out a shaky sigh. "I guess maybe she kept holding out hope that she’d come back and we’d work things out or something.”

Veronica bit on her lip for a moment before working up the courage to ask the question that had been bouncing around her mind, probably since they first spoke on the beach. “Is that what you’re hoping for too? That she’ll come back and you’ll be able to work things out and get back together?” She really didn't want her voice to sound as vulnerable as it came out, but she just couldn’t help it. She hadn’t been able to quite tell yet what he was really feeling about that possibility.

He took a deep breath and looked at her sincerely as he shook his head. “No… a part of me will always care about her but when she left the last time I made up my mind that even if she came back I wasn’t going to let her into my life that way again.” He gave her a tender smile and brushed his hand over her hair. “What I am hoping for though…” he paused as he looked more intently at her. “…is to figure out how to keep you in my life in some way for good this time.” He let out a deep breath before he continued. “I don’t know what that would even look like, but I know it’s what I want more than anything Veronica.”

She took a deep breath and nodded. He looked as if he was being absolutely genuine about what he said about Katy. In the past a part of her may have questioned whether he had just said it because it would be what she wanted to hear, but for whatever reason she really did believe that he meant it. She’d noticed ever since arriving that she felt like he was finally willing to be completely honest with her and that there were a lot of things that were different about him. Maybe it started the night on the beach when he’d told her everything that had happened since he’d last seen her, not really holding anything back. Maybe they were both just a little less guarded now than they had been when they were together before. Whatever it was, things just felt different between them now. “I’d like that too Logan.” She paused for a moment and then reached up and gently stroked his cheek. “I don’t know exactly how it’s going to work either, but I really do want that too. But we have time to figure it out, right? And I’m sure we will if it’s something we both want.”

He let out a relieved breath and nodded. “Yeah… we’d better get going…” He gave her a tender lopsided smile, then leaned in and kissed her gently on the forehead. She looked up at him after the kiss and gave him an adoring smile before she shifted away from the door and started to walk back over to the other side of the car. She still wasn’t sure how this was going to work out, but the more time she was with him, the more she realized she really did want to figure out how to keep him in her life this time.

The drive up to Newport took about 40 minutes and she enjoyed the ocean view as they drove up the highway. She also didn’t mind that most of the time that she was looking out toward the ocean, she was also studying him as he drove since they were headed north. Every once in a while he’d glance at her for a moment before turning his attention back to the road in front of him. He’d always have a small smile on his lips which would get a bit larger before he’d turn back to face the road, which in return caused her to smile a bit more too. She wondered if it felt as strange to him as it did to her being together again after all these years. He’d also handed her the camera he’d brought along before they’d left the parking lot at the café, so she spent a little bit of the time studying it and figuring out the features as they drove. She snapped a few of him driving and turned around to get a few of Evie too. Evie looked up from her unicorn book and gave her a big smile the moment she spotted the camera.

When they arrived at the aquarium, Logan helped Evie out of the car and grabbed a small backpack out of the back as well. Veronica quirked an eyebrow at him when she saw it and he gave her a small shrug and a sheepish grin. “Always need to be prepared with a toddler,” he said, obviously understanding what the look was about. She just grinned back and nodded. She couldn’t help but wonder what all he had in the bag though. She’d have no idea what to put in it if was her. Yet another little reminder of how I have no idea how to take care of a little child, but obviously he does.

Logan told Evie she needed to hold his hand in the parking lot, which immediately drew a look from Evie to Veronica. I see her stubbornness has resurfaced after getting some breakfast in her. Not that I’d ever complain about holding his hand. Veronica smiled and took Logan’s other hand which Evie then followed suit and did the same. Once they were past the parking area and walking down a long pathway to the entrance, Evie dropped Logan’s hand and started looking intently at the ground. Veronica thought maybe he’d drop hers as well, but he kept his hand firmly intertwined with hers as they followed Evie along the pathway. Veronica realized what Evie was looking at was bricks in the walkway that had names or messages printed on them. Some had seals, sharks, stingrays or starfish on them in addition to the words.

Evie finally stopped and turned to look at them with a big smile. “I found it!” she said proudly as she stood there waiting for them.

“Good job munchkin,” Logan said as they walked up to her.

“Look Vronica, my brick!” Evie said as she knelt down closer to the ground and pointed to it.

The brick Evie was pointing at was engraved with three lines that said, ‘For my little starfish Evie, Love Daddy’ with an image of a starfish on it too. Veronica looked up and gave Logan a tender smile. “That’s really sweet,” she said in reply to Evie, but Logan seemed to be the one who heard her comment more than Evie.

“You should buy Vronica a brick too Daddy,” Evie said next as she looked up and smiled at them. “Then when she comes with us other times she can find her brick too.”

Veronica looked up at Logan who seemed a bit unsure of how to respond to that and maybe even a bit emotional all of a sudden. She could imagine that he was thinking about the possibility that she might not come back with them again. “Maybe there’s one here already that has a name like mine on it Evie,” Veronica said to try to give Logan a distraction so he didn’t have to actually answer the question. “You know what the V, E and I in your name look like right?” Evie nodded. “Well my name has those letters too, plus quite a few more like an O, C and A. Do you want to look around and see if you can find one that might be the same as mine?”

“Okay,” she replied enthusiastically and started looking at bricks near where they were standing.

“My name starts with the V, so look for a longer name that starts with the V and ends with the A, okay?”

Evie nodded and kept looking around at the bricks in the path. Veronica looked up at Logan and gave him a tender smile. “I will come back with you some time okay?” she said with a determined tone. He smiled back and nodded. She let go of his hand and wrapped her arm around his waist, leaning into him closely as they watched Evie searching around for a brick that might be her name. Logan leaned toward her as well and placed a firm kiss on the top of her head as he put his arm across her shoulders.

“Is this it?” Evie said, finally stopping at a brick and pointing at it. They walked over to join her and looked at the one she’d found.

“So close Evie,” Veronica said as she looked at it. “That one’s Victoria, but it has lots of the same letters too.”

“Daddy will just have to buy you one so we know it’s here,” Evie said confidently as she reached up and took Logan’s free hand. “Come on, let’s go see the fish.” Veronica let out a small laugh as Evie dragged them farther down the path. She loved how simple some solutions were to a 4 year old and wished everything in life could be that easy.

There was a moderate length line when they walked up to the main entrance, but Logan kept them moving in the direction of the membership desk. Evie seemed to be already headed in that direction as well, so it was pretty obvious that this was their normal routine. Logan dropped his arm from her shoulder and she removed hers from his waist so he could get his wallet out of his back pocket. He pulled out his membership card and the woman at the counter handed them the required tickets to present for admittance at the next entrance area. After he returned his wallet, he wrapped his arm around her shoulder again, pulling her back toward him. Evie had dropped his hand and was making her way to the entrance door, only looking back briefly to make sure they were still right behind her. Logan handed the tickets to another employee and they walked through the doors into an open air corridor that led toward the exhibits and past the gift shop.

“No going into the gift shop until we’re ready to go Evie,” Logan said as Evie started looking intently at the doors to the shop. She let out a little huff and continued on past the store to the exhibit areas.

The first section they came across had a sign that said Swampland, with a mural by the entrance of a swamp scene. Evie quickly headed in to see the exhibits, with Logan calling out to her to not go too fast and to wait for them. Luckily, she was quite fascinated by the exhibits and would stop at each one to see what was in it and would ask Logan to tell her what the signs said. As Evie stopped at the first exhibit, Logan gave Veronica a quick kiss on the head before dropping his arm again so he could get closer to Evie to read what was on the sign for her. Veronica was able to get a few photos of the two of them looking at the exhibits together, and a few of just Evie being fascinated by some of the fish and other amphibians that they had as part of the exhibit. At the end of the Swampland section, there was a Gator Hole exhibit that kids could crawl under and Evie tugged on Veronica’s hand to crawl into it too. Veronica handed the camera to Logan and quickly showed him what button to push before she let Evie drag her into the small tunnel with her. She was thankful that she was as short as she was, because she couldn’t imagine someone much larger than she was actually fitting inside of the small space. Logan took a picture of the two of them looking out and smiling at him.

As they left the Swampland exhibit there were two directions to go. Evie was holding Logan’s hand and tugged him in one direction, while Veronica had been headed in the other. “Whoa there Evie,” Logan said as he stopped with her. “Veronica might want to see what’s over there.”

“No Daddy,” Evie said in the most adamant tone that Veronica had heard her use yet. Logan reached down and scooped her up and she immediately buried her face in his chest.

“It’s okay Evie,” he said soothingly as he walked toward Veronica.

Veronica gave him a puzzled look as he pointed toward the tank that she was almost next to. “Evie doesn’t like the Japanese Spider Crabs,” he explained as he continued walking in that direction. Veronica could easily see why, especially when she saw the giant life size mural of one that showed that their leg-span could get over 12 feet.

“I don’t think I like them either,” she whispered up into Evie’s ear. Evie turned her face away from Logan’s chest slightly and gave her a small smile and nodded.

“Vronica doesn’t like them either daddy,” she said softly. “Let’s go see the jelly fish.”

“Okay munchkin,” Logan said as he gave Veronica an affectionate smile. He led the way around another corner where they stopped in front of a large tank that had a very bright blue glow with fancy bright yellow nettle jellyfish floating in it. Evie wiggled out of Logan’s arms once she knew they were safely away from the large scary crabs. There was another large round tank in the middle of the room, and Evie led them over to it to see the other jelly fish and they watched them for a few minutes before moving on to some of the other exhibits in that part of the aquarium. Veronica took the time to show Logan a few features of the camera and he took some more pictures of Veronica and Evie watching the fish in the large tanks against the wall.

They were about ready to walk into another area of the inside exhibits when a female voice stopped them.

“Logan?” the woman asked, causing both Logan and Veronica to stop and look at her. Veronica quickly apprised the young woman. She was maybe a year or two younger than they were, very pretty with strawberry blonde hair pulled up in a loose twisted bun and definitely had a flirty smile on her face. Veronica took a quick breath. She realized the run in with Allison that morning probably made her even more sensitive to it now, and the way this woman was practically salivating over him was not helping. He’s lived here three years Veronica and it is a remote location, of course at some point you’re going to run into women he’s dated.

“Cara?” Logan asked almost uncertainly.

“Mara,” the girl corrected. Okay, maybe one night stands that he can’t remember the names of. She cringed slightly at that thought.

“Right, sorry,” Logan quickly apologized.

“No,” Mara replied. “I’m here with my brother and nephews who drove down from Portland to visit me for a few days. Olivia went to a friend’s wedding up in Seattle.”

“Oh,” Logan replied and then must have suddenly realized he hadn’t introduced Veronica and looked a little ashamed about it. “This is my friend Veronica,” he said as he put his arm across her shoulder again.

“Nice to meet you,” Mara replied, still with a friendly expression on her face, although she could tell a bit of the flirtatiousness had vanished. At least she's not reacting like Allison did. “Are you taking classes at OCCC too?”

Veronica gave her a confused look and shook her head.

“Olivia said she’s really hoping she doesn’t get Watts again for fall. I guess he was a nightmare?” Mara said giving Logan a commiserate look.

Logan chuckled slightly and nodded. “Yeah, he and Olivia definitely didn’t see eye to eye. I didn’t think he was so bad though. I guess I had much worse at Hearst though.”

Mara nodded in understanding. “Well I’d better go chase down my family. It was really nice seeing you again. Maybe we’ll bump into each other in a few weeks. It was nice meeting you Veronica.”

Logan and Veronica both nodded at her and watched as she exited out a set of double doors that went outside. Veronica turned to Logan and gave him a questioning look. “What’s OCCC?” she asked.

He looked slightly embarrassed and she wasn’t quite sure why or what to expect his answer to be. “OregonCoastCommunity College,” he answered. “Kathleen talked me into taking some classes. Another one of her ‘make sure Logan stays out of trouble and interacts with other adults’ ideas.”

“Oh,” Veronica replied with a slight nod and a little grin. Kathleen certainly likes to play the mother role and it’s so nice to see that he lets her. “And Olivia?”

“She was in my Renaissance Literature class. We studied together a few times, and once Mara stopped by to drop off a book she’d forgotten to bring. They’re roommates."

“Come on daddy,” Evie interrupted pulling on his hand. “I want to touch the starfish.”

She led them into the next room where there was a large open tank set up with starfish, sea cucumbers, urchins and anemones that people could reach in and touch. Evie stood up on the little ledge they had for kids and leaned over the side looking over everything before she finally reached in to touch some things. Veronica snapped a few pictures of her, deciding to drop the college topic with Logan for the moment, but planned to ask him more about it later. She realized she hadn’t actually asked him what else he did now, other than being a dad to Evie and helping at the Gallery, and she felt a little guilty about that.

“You should touch them too Vronica,” Evie said with a smile as she was carefully touching a starfish. “Daddy can’t though. The green stringy ones feel funny,” she added.

“Those are anemones,” Logan said as he watched her carefully. Veronica wasn’t surprised that he didn’t reach in and touch anything given his shellfish allergy. Veronica took the spot next to Evie and enjoyed listening to the Aquarium Volunteer explaining what all the creatures were and making sure everyone was touching them in a way that wouldn’t hurt the animals. She’d passed off the camera to Logan before taking the spot by Evie, and caught him taking several pictures of them while they were playing in the tank. When they were finally done, Veronica helped Evie wash her hands in a little sink by the exhibit.

They finished up looking at all the tanks inside and headed out through a set of double doors to the center courtyard area. “Can we have ice cream?” Evie asked as they walked out into the sunshine.

“It’s not even lunch time Evie, so no,” Logan answered.

Evie gave him a pout and looked at Veronica. “I bet Vronica wants ice cream too.”

Veronica tried not to laugh, but couldn’t help the small smile that crept across her face. Sure try to get me in trouble too. “I think we should listen to your daddy, Evie,” Veronica replied, not admitting that she really did want ice cream too.

Evie narrowed her eyes slightly at Veronica, and then turned back to Logan. “But I’m hungry.” I guess she didn’t appreciate me not jumping in to help her get her way.

“How about a cheese stick while we walk around and look at the otters, seals and sea lions?” Logan asked as he shifted the backpack off his shoulder to open it.

“Fine,” she said with a slightly defeated sigh and stood their waiting for him to hand it to her. He grabbed a hand wipe and held it out to her, which she quickly used and handed it back to him so she could take the cheese stick he’d opened for her.

“Do you want one too?” he asked Veronica with a questioning smile.

She shook her head as Evie walked a little in front of them to the Otter exhibit. Veronica leaned up so she could whisper to him, “Nope, I’m holding out for i-c-e c-r-e-a-m,” she said with a devious smile.

He laughed at her and shook his head. “We really don’t usually have that every day,” he said with a sheepish grin. She gave him a little pout and a head tilt. “But maybe if you’re a good girl, I’ll get you some later.”

She gave him a sly smile and nodded. “I knew you’d cave,” she said playfully as she walked closer to Evie, hearing him let out a soft chuckle behind her.

They watched the otters, seals and sea lions while Evie finished her cheese stick. There were underwater as well as above water viewing areas for each of the animals, and Evie had the most fun watching the underwater areas when the animals were actively swimming by. Logan had handed the camera back off to Veronica when they went outside, and she got several fun pictures of Evie touching the glass when the seals were swimming by her.

“Can we go see the sharks now?” Evie asked after she seemed to have had enough of watching the other animals.

“Don’t you want to go see the birds or the octopus while we’re right here by them?” Logan asked as he watched Evie carefully. Veronica was already starting to notice when he could tell Evie was up to something. There was a slight change to his demeanor and his expression changed to be just slightly suspicious. A look she’d seen on him quite a few times herself. She wondered what it was going to be this time.

“No, I want to go see the sharks next,” she said decisively.

“We’re still not getting ice cream, Evie,” Logan replied, drawing a curious look from Veronica. Sharks equal ice cream? Yeah, I certainly don’t get 4 year old logic. “She knows there’s usually an ice cream stand at the end of the shark tank,” he explained when he saw her expression.

Veronica chuckled softly. “She’s certainly persistent.”

“You have no idea,” Logan said with a smile as he shook his head.

They followed Evie down the path to the entrance to the Passages of the Deep area of the aquarium. The first section was called Orford Reef and it had a large kelp forest and several types of fish and eels. Veronica started taking some pictures and then glanced over at Logan and Evie. Evie was tugging on Logan’s hand and obviously didn’t want to stop there. “Sharks Daddy,” she said as she pulled on him.

“Slow down Evie, Veronica might want to look at the fish in the other sections too.”

“She can look,” Evie said as she kept tugging on his hand. “I want to see the sharks.”

“You’re not being very polite Evie,” Logan said as he bent down and scooped her up.

“I just want to see the sharks, not the other fish Daddy,” she said a bit louder while she struggled a little in his arms to try to get him to set her back down.

“Evie…” Logan said in a slightly more warning tone. “We’re waiting for Veronica and then we’ll go see the sharks.”

“No! Sharks!” Evie said in an angry voice as she kept struggling to get down.

“Okay, we need a little time out, Evelyn” Logan said to Evie. “We’ll meet you at the end of this tunnel Veronica. Take your time though,” Logan said quickly to her before he walked a little farther through the tunnel.

Veronica decided it was probably best to give them a little time alone, so she stayed in the tunnel taking a few more pictures. The tank actually went completely around the tunnel with windows in the floor as well to watch the fish swim underneath the tunnel. There were a few kids laying on their stomach’s watching the fish as she was taking pictures. After a few minutes, she decided to go catch up with Logan and Evie. She found them sitting on a bench between the first and second part of the tunnel. There was a sign above the next section that said ‘Halibut Flats’ so she guessed that probably was not where the sharks where going to be.

“Evie…” Logan said with a serious look on his face.

“Sorry Ver-on-i-ca,” Evie said slowly and softly as she looked down at the ground with a sad look on her face.

“Thank you Evie,” Veronica said as she knelt down in front of her and gave her a warm smile. “I know sometimes it’s hard to wait. And you said my name perfectly. I’m really proud of you for that.”

Evie looked up at her and smiled softly. “Thank you Evie,” Logan said as he placed a kiss on top of her head. “That was really nice of you to tell Veronica you were sorry.”

He stood up and picked her up again. Evie rested her head against his chest in a bit of a defeated manner. “Ready?” he said as he looked tenderly at Veronica. She nodded and turned toward the next part of the exhibit. They strolled fairly quickly through the ‘Halibut Flats’ section. Evie just let Logan hold her this time and didn’t try to get down, but watched some of the fish swimming by. Veronica took a few pictures of the fish, but also snapped a couple of candid shots of the two of them when they weren’t looking at her. The sign at the entrance to the next part said it was the ‘OpenOcean’. Logan put Evie down again and she ran over to the side of the tunnel so she could watch the sharks and bat rays swim by. Her mood seemed to be back to how it had been when they first arrived.

“I guess this is your favorite part of the tunnel, isn’t it?” Veronica asked Evie as she knelt down beside her to watch the sharks and rays too.

Evie nodded. “We’ve slept here too,” she said as she continued to watch the animals swim by.

“Really?” Veronica asked a little surprised and glanced up at Logan. He smiled and nodded in agreement.

“They have special overnight events that they offer to the public and we did it one night earlier this summer,” Logan explained seeing her puzzled expression.

“Wow, that sounds really cool.” Veronica said as she looked up and watched the sharks and rays swim above the tunnel. She could imagine how relaxing it would be to snuggle up in a warm sleeping bag and watch the fish gracefully soar above you. Of course snuggling up next to Logan would make it even more perfect.

Evie was entranced watching the fish and Veronica snapped a couple pictures of her, with a few showing Evie and her reflection in the glass. She stopped taking pictures after a few minutes and started just watching the sharks again. She felt Logan move closer behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. She let out a deep sigh and leaned back against him, tipping her head back so she could see his face as well as the sharks above her head. He looked down at her with an affectionate smile and then nuzzled his cheek against her hair. He placed a tender kiss on the top of her head as he squeezed her a little tighter. “Sorry about before,” he said softly.

She slowly shook her head. “You don’t need to apologize at all Logan. She’s just a little kid. I know stubborn streaks just come as part of the package and I’ve been known to be a bit obstinate myself.”

He chuckled softly and then kissed her head again. “I guess I just can’t get enough of obstinate little blondes.”

And obstinate little blondes certainly can’t get enough of you either. She let out another deep sigh and snuggled a little closer against his chest. The tranquility of the tunnel with the dark shapes soaring through the clear blue water was absolutely mesmerizing and having Logan pressed up against her, it was quickly becoming her favorite part of the aquarium too.

A/N – I’m sure I don’t need to apologize for this being a longer than usual chapter, but wanted certain parts to be from her POV and wanted to get through some of the aquarium time, so made it longer than I usually do on this story. The next chapter I’ll flip back to his POV and I’ll probably go back to the shorter 3-4K word chapters.

I thought it would be fun to put a few links to pictures of the aquarium for anyone who was interested in looking at them. I’ve been there numerous times with my kids, which is why I thought it would be fun to put it in the story. The FanFiction site is terrible about URLs though, so instead of battling with it, I’ll put the links here and then if you’re reading it on FF, you can go over to Archive of Our Own if you want to click on the links to see pictures. The story number is 3478727 over there, or you can just search for Rocky Shores .

T hey really do sell bricks at the aquarium and they are installed in the pathway to the entrance. This story takes place in 2010 (3 years after the show ended) and Swampland was the temporary exhibit they had that year. They change their temporary exhibit every so often, but I do remember going through it in 2010 when it was set up like that. We were there a little over a month ago and they are in the middle of switching over to a new Secrets of Shipwrecks exhibit, so I’m excited to go back this summer and see that.

I did discover in researching for the story that to do the overnight with the sharks, kids have to be 6 or older, so in reality they wouldn’t have been able to do that, but since it’s fiction I decided to leave that in. We haven’t actually done that yet, though I think it would be a lot of fun.

I’m just picking a few of the pictures from a site I found that had a lot of cool pictures of the aquarium, but you can click on “Oregon Coast Aquarium” a little ways above the pictures and it will take you to even more.

http://www.zoochat.com/1255/swampland-entrance-mural-206493/

http://www.zoochat.com/1255/sea-nettle-exhibit-206500/

http://www.zoochat.com/1255/japanese-spider-crabs-138188/

http://www.zoochat.com/1255/passages-deep-orford-reef-138691/

Chapter 14

Chapter Text

Chapter 14

Logan enjoyed the feel of having Veronica leaning back against his chest while they stood in the shark tunnel watching the graceful creatures soar above their heads. He knew Evie’s interest would probably only last a little while longer before she’d be ready to move on again. Even though the sharks were one of her favorite parts of the aquarium, a four year old could only stay focused on one thing for so long. He leaned down and pressed a warm open mouthed kiss on Veronica’s neck. He’d been trying to keep the PDA to a minimum, but it was so hard to be with her and not touch her, especially after the night before in the back of his SUV. He heard her let out a soft moan and lean a bit toward him as he kissed her. He lifted his head so he could nuzzle his nose against her cheek and placed a tender kiss there as well. He realized how torturous this taking it slow thing may prove to actually be, especially considering he’d invited her to stay at the house with them. Other than Katy, he’d never had any women stay the night there. He’d been on a handful of dates, and none of those had ended up with overnight arrangements, at either his house or theirs. He took a deep breath and placed another tender kiss right below her ear as he kept his eyes locked on Evie. He saw her head turn from watching the sharks toward the other end of the tunnel where the exit was and knew that was the sign that she was about done. He stood up straighter and then shifted so his arm was around Veronica’s shoulder and he was standing next to her, a second before Evie turned to look up at them.

“Can we go?” she asked with a slightly mischievous expression. He knew there were two major land mines at the end of the tunnel. He swore whoever had designed this part of the aquarium had taken a lesson from Disney because they strategically added a second gift shop right at the exit, as well as a food cart which had ice cream during the summer months. If they made it past both of those without a melt-down or temper tantrum, it would be a miracle given how she was right before they reached the shark area.

“Sure. Do you want to go show Veronica the puffins next? I bet she’d love to see those,” Logan suggested, hoping that Evie’s love for those might buy him a reprieve from arguing about stuffed animals or ice cream.

“Puffins?” Veronica asked with an excited tone. “Do they really have puffins here? I don’t believe it!”

“Yes,” Evie answered getting excited as well. “Do you like puffins?”

“I love puffins,” Veronica replied with a joyful smile. “Can we go see them next?”

“Come on. I can show you,” Evie said as she reached up and took Veronica’s hand.

Veronica looked up at Logan as he gave her a grateful smile. She must have remembered his comment beforehand about the ice cream at the end of the sharks. Of course leave it to Veronica to remember where the ice cream would be located. ‘Thank you,’ he mouthed silently to her and she gave him a little wink.

“Let’s try to beat your daddy there,” Veronica said in a conspiratorial whisper, loud enough for Logan to hear. Evie giggled and pulled on her hand harder as they started weaving among the other patrons who were watching the sharks.

Logan laughed and watched as the two blond heads started to disappear through the crowd. He followed, but let them have a little bit of a lead, of course never letting them out of his sight. By some miracle, they made it out past the gift shop as well as the food cart without Evie stopping and then they headed back around to where the aviary was. Evie took Veronica to a little cave area outside of the aviary where they could watch the puffins diving and swimming underwater. Evie had put her little hands on the glass and was watching the birds as they swam by the water. Veronica gave him an affectionate smile as he rejoined them a minute after they’d walked into the covered viewing area.

“We won,” Evie said as she gave him a playful smile too.

“Yes you did munchkin,” he replied as he placed his hand on her head for a second and smiled at Veronica. “Are some of the puffin’s swimming today?”

She nodded and turned back toward the window again with a smile on her face. They stood there for several minutes watching the birds dive before Evie said she was ready to go into the other part. They let her lead the way around the corner to one of the sets of doors that lead into the aviary. One of the caretakers was out feeding fish to the birds and talking about the different species that they had in the aviary, so they stayed for a little while to watch them eat. On their way out of the aviary, they stopped by the octopus exhibit that was nestled into a little cave right by the birds. The octopus was sometimes hiding back among the rocks, but at least today it was out near the glass where they could see it. After they watched it for a little bit, Evie announced that she wanted to go play on the animals. Veronica gave him a confused look at her request.

“They have large rock and brass animal sculptures at the end of the trail for kids to climb on,” Logan explained in answer to her expression. They let Evie lead the way again and soon they were at the play area. There were quite a few other kids playing too, and Evie soon had made a friend and they were having fun hopping from one sculpture to the other. Logan and Veronica took a seat on a bench and she pulled out the camera again. Instead of taking pictures though, she held it out for him. They spent the next twenty minutes or so with Evie playing on the animals and Veronica giving him a lesson on the various features of the camera. He took quite a few pictures of Evie as she taught him how to use it and make adjustments as they went.

Evie had finally had enough play time and ran over to them. “Ice cream now?” she asked hopefully.

“Sorry sweetie,” Logan said with a tender smile. “Lunch first.”

Evie let out a deep sigh. “Okay… can we go eat lunch now?”

“That sounds like an excellent idea,” Logan replied with a smile. “Wanna go to the stinky place?”

Veronica laughed and gave him an odd look, while Evie shook her head.

“Please,” Logan said in a slightly whiny voice at Evie. “You know it’s my favorite.”

Evie laughed at him. “But it’s STINKY!” she said loudly. Logan laughed at her and shook his head.

“You know it’s not smelly where we eat though and you like to watch the boats,” Logan argued as he stood up from the bench and reached out for Veronica’s hand.

Evie let out a sigh, “Fine daddy. Because I love you,” she said with a sly smile.

Logan laughed. He knew that meant she would try to get something out of him later. She may not quite be even five yet, but the little girl knew how to work things when she wanted to. “Thank you Evie,” he said bending down and scooping her up to give her a kiss. She settled against his hip and didn’t try to wiggle to get down, wrapping her arms around his neck and resting her head against the shoulder closest to her. He could tell she was starting to get tired from all the walking around the aquarium and wondered if maybe she’d actually take a nap later when they made it home. Although the more likely scenario was that she’d fall asleep on the drive back from Newport and he wouldn’t get to take advantage of a nap himself. He’d actually still taken advantage of it a few times though and pulled into a beach area where he could leave the doors locked and take a nap in the car with her. He didn’t think that was going to happen today with Veronica there though. He’d much rather drag her to the back of the SUV again and continue where they left off the night before if Evie fell asleep, although during the middle of they day, they’d have to find a pretty isolated place to get away with that.

They headed back out to the SUV, strategically taking the exit doors that did not lead back by the gift shop. He ended up carrying Evie all the way back to the car since she never asked to be put down and seemed completely content to just be carried. With her getting older, she definitely wanted to be more independent, and the opportunities to carry her around were certainly getting fewer and farther between. It was amazing at how fast she was growing up and how much he’d missed some of the things she used to do when she was smaller. He couldn’t even imagine what it would be like to see her get even older, and a part of him had so much empathy now for how hard it had probably been for Keith to watch as Veronica changed from his little girl to the woman she was now.

He'd reached down and took Veronica's hand shortly after they stood up from the bench and they stayed that way all the way back to the car. After they were all buckled in, he drove them a short way over toward the bay. Their destination was Rogue Nation Brewery. There was a large warehouse there where they made their beer and tucked away in one corner upstairs was a restaurant. Since you had to walk through some of the brewery part to get up to the restaurant, Evie would always complain about the smell. But once you were in the dining area, you only smelled the food that was being prepared and served upstairs and not the brewery below. They were lucky enough to get a table near the window so Evie could look out at all the boats in the marina right below them while they waited for their meals. Once they were seated, a waitress left them menus and went to get them some drinks. Logan settled on the Smokehouse Stack, which was a burger with bacon, house smoked pulled pork, Rogue Creamery White Cheddar, Dead Guy Whiskey BBQ Sauce and chipotle mayo, all served on a ciabatta roll. He saw Veronica’s eyes get big when she asked what he liked and he read off the description of it to her. She decided on just getting a BBQ Chicken Sandwich, but warned him that she would probably steal a few bites of his burger too. “I wouldn’t expect anything less,” he said with a sly smile as she shook her head lightly back at him.

They had an enjoyable lunch with Veronica asking Evie questions about the aquarium and all the different animals they’d looked at. When they were finally finished and headed back out of the restaurant, a poster caught Evie’s eye.

“Can we go see the butterflies?” she asked with big eyes and a very hopeful expression. “Pleeeeease Daddyyyyy!”

He’d forgotten that the last time they’d come up to the aquarium, they’d gone over to see them too. It was a special exhibit that was set up over on the other side of the bay along the bay front, and she had absolutely loved going there and having butterflies land on her. He shot Veronica a quick look. “What do you say Veronica? Up for playing with some butterflies?”

Veronica laughed and nodded. “Sure, why not,” she replied gleefully too. “What sort of magical place is this that you live in? Are there unicorns hidden around here someplace too?”

Evie laughed and shook her head. “No there aren’t unicorns, Vronica.”

Veronica laughed in return. “I don’t know Evie. You two keep surprising me, so I’m not going to rule out finding a real unicorn somewhere around here.”

“There’s ponies,” Evie replied with a smile. “Kinda like unicorns… but no horns.”

“Yeah they are!” Veronica answered with a big smile. “Where are the ponies?”

Logan laughed and shook his head. “That was at the fair a couple weeks ago,” he explained. “They don’t have them all the time Evie.”

Veronica gave him a sad pout. “I missed the ponies?”

“Take Vronica to see some ponies, Daddy,” Evie said in a slightly demanding voice.

“Evie,” Logan said in a slightly scolding tone before he looked at Veronica apologetically. “Sorry. You’ll have to come back next summer when they have it and we’ll all go see the ponies together.”

“Yay!” Veronica said with a playful tone. “I’m going to hold you to that.”

He laughed and shook his head at her again. He really did hope that she would hold him to it. He would love it if she'd come spend the entire summer with them next year if she wasn't taking classes. He'd been thinking more about Kathleen mentioning their chief deputy DA the night before and wondered if maybe Veronica could get an internship there next summer if she needed to do one for law school. He could certainly imagine Kathleen arranging one for her if she was interested. Kathleen had a lot of connections from not only the people that she knew from the gallery, but also from when Brad was with the Sheriff's department.

After getting settled in the SUV again, Logan drove them across the large arch bridge that spanned over the Yaquina Bay and then took a right off the highway to head down to the bay front. The bay front in Newport ran along the north side of the bay, and was lined with a variety of shops, restaurants and even fish processing plants. Since it was summer, there were lots of tourists visiting and the sidewalks were full of people browsing the stores and attractions. They found a place to park near Mariner Square, which was home to the Wax Museum and Ripley’s Believe It or Not. On the roof of Mariner Square they’d set up a large green house area, filled it with lots of flowers and brought in butterflies to live there for the summer. If you stood still the butterflies would land on you as they flew around. Even though Evie was extremely excited and loved the butterflies, she still remembered to be really careful and watched for them on the ground so she wouldn’t step on any. She’d found a beautiful plant with quite a few butterflies on it and sat down next to it watching them. Veronica was as fascinated by all the butterflies as Evie was and after taking a few pictures handed the camera off to Logan and sat down next to her to watch them with her. Logan couldn’t help but snap several pictures while they weren’t looking of the two of them enjoying the butterflies together. Evie had even ended up moving so she could sit on Veronica’s lap while they were watching them. Evie would giggle every time one would land on her face and Logan was lucky enough to snap a shot of her laughing while one was sitting on the tip of her nose.

After a while, Evie had had enough of the butterflies and they decided to go. Of course the first question out of her mouth after they walked out was whether they could get ice cream. Veronica gave Logan a mischievous smirk as he let out a defeated sigh.

“I’m sure I’d have a riot on my hands on the way home if I don’t get you both ice cream, won’t I?” Logan asked with a knowing smile.

Evie gave him a slightly confused look, not quite sure what he meant, but then when Veronica smiled at her and nodded her head, she smiled back and nodded too. Logan laughed as he took both their hands and headed down the sidewalk toward Doodle Bugs. Veronica convinced him they should also get some fudge to take home, in addition to the ice cream, which drew an enthusiastic nod from Evie as well. They walked around the bay front for a little while as they ate their ice cream, mostly just glancing at the store windows as they went. Logan ended up carrying Evie after they got their cones because he knew she wouldn’t do very well walking and eating. Once they were finished, they headed back toward where he’d parked the Range Rover and then started the drive back to Yachats.

As they were about halfway back to Yachats, Logan caught Veronica looking up at a large billboard on the side of the road. “I saw that,” he said with a slightly teasing tone.

“What?” she asked innocently.

“You were checking out the horseback riding on the beach billboard,” he said with a soft chuckle.

“Well I did miss the ponies,” she replied in an exaggerated tone with a slight pout.

He glanced up in the rearview mirror and as expected, Evie had already fallen asleep. “Maybe we could go tomorrow,” he suggested in a quiet voice as he continued to drive.

“But we have the doctor’s appointment tomorrow,” she replied, with just a hint of disappointment in her tone.

He reached over and squeezed her hand that was resting on her lap and lightly rubbed his thumb over the top of it. “But that’s just in the morning and we’ll have all day. Kathleen and Sara are going to keep Evie for me tomorrow.” He glanced at her again and saw an excited smile on her face.

“Okay… well only if you want to do that,” she replied, apparently trying not to sound too eager, but her tone completely gave her away.

“I’m sure it’ll be a lot of fun,” he said with a smirk. He saw a sign ahead for one of the smaller state parks along this part of 101 and decided to take advantage of Evie being asleep. She quirked an eyebrow at him as he pulled into a spot at the far end of the parking area. He gave her a lascivious smirk before he placed both hands on either side of her face and leaned toward her, pressing his lips to hers for a deep passionate kiss.

“Sorry,” he mumbled softly against her lips as the kiss ended but their heads still remained as close as they had been for the kiss. “I’ve just wanted to do that all day, and once Evie wakes up, it’s going to be several hours before she’s ready for bed and I just couldn’t wait that long.”

“Mmmm…” she moaned softly against his lips. “No apologies necessary… well maybe for stopping,” she teased before pressing her mouth to his again. When they finally pulled apart a few minutes later they were both breathing hard. “How long do we have?” she asked as she traced her fingers along his jaw line.

“It’s tough to say… maybe thirty minutes… an hour tops… by the time we were home though, she’d probably wake up when she hears the car doors,” he answered a bit breathlessly as he moved one of his hands back toward the nape of her neck, and tangled his fingers into her hair.

“What if she wakes up while we’re… you know… like this?” she asked as she stared intently at him, glancing from his eyes to his lips as she licked her own lips slowly.

“I guess you could tell her you were just practicing your loud kisses,” Logan said with a playful smirk as she laughed loudly and quickly covered her mouth with her hand, glancing back at Evie. He chuckled softly and looked back too, but Evie was really exhausted from the aquarium and definitely fast asleep.

“I think we’ve got some time if that loud laugh didn’t wake her up,” Logan teased as he brushed his lips across hers.

He looked a bit more seriously at her and leaned back slightly. “You’re still coming to stay tonight or did you decide to wait until tomorrow?”

She gave him a sly smile in return. “I’ve already packed up all my things and let Paige know last night that I’d be leaving when we got back from the aquarium.”

“Good,” he said with a pleased expression and then leaned back in to kiss her again. He wanted so badly to pull her over into his lap. They’d made out plenty of times when they were younger in the Range Rover, and he knew he could push his seat back and with her petite size, there’d be plenty of room for her on top of him. Slow Logan… remember you’re suppose to be taking it slow. He heard her seat belt release and she shifted so she could lean more comfortably toward him. He moved on from kissing her lips to kissing her right below her ear in a spot that used to drive her crazy. It certainly did elicit the reaction he was expecting with a deep longing sigh and her hands moving up to his head to pull him even closer to her.

Fortunately perhaps, although at the moment he wasn’t sure, a car had pulled in right next to them and the loud slam of their door made them both jump slightly. He let out a nervous chuckle as he saw the slightly embarrassed look on her face. There were several kids getting out of the car and they were being quite loud and definitely not easy to just ignore. Luckily neither sound woke up Evie, but it did remind them that they weren’t exactly in a very private place.

She gave him a knowing smile and shifted a bit back in to her own seat, although moving a hand so it was still holding his and gently running her thumb along the edge of it. “So… college? What sort of classes are you taking?”

He let out a deep breath, trying to focus on the question rather than the thought of wanting to pull her into his lap which he still hadn’t been able to completely get out of his head. “Yeah… um…” he shook his head slightly. God kissing her is so intoxicating. “Mostly literature classes… They have quite a variety of different ones they offer, so I decided to give some of those a try. I always did enjoy writing you know.”

She gave him a little smirk. “Yeah… Freedom, that's what it's all about...”

He laughed and shook his head. “You’re never going to let me forget that are you? If you’d read the entire paper, you would have seen that I only took my inspiration from the movie, but I really did write a lot of it myself.”

She gave him a little wink. “How do you know I didn’t actually read the entire paper?”

He co*cked his head to the side and studied her for a minute. “You did, didn’t you?” She smiled and nodded. He gave her an inquisitive look. “When?”

She bit on her lower lip for a moment before she answered. “I stumbled across it one day at the Grand when I was waiting for you to get back from class and so I read it.” She reached up and gently stroked his cheek. “It was really good Logan.”

He gave her a genuine smile and nodded. “Thanks.” He’d actually thought a lot about his mom when he wrote it.

“So do you think you want to become a writer, like professionally?”

Logan shrugged. He really wasn’t sure exactly what he wanted to do with it, but he knew it was something he enjoyed doing. He never expected to want to find something to do that he could be proud of for someone else, but he really did want to do that for Evie. He realized though now that he’d tried to do that for Veronica too, when he’d enrolled at Hearst. He’d done that partly to just be around her, but another part wanted to do something she’d be proud of. He certainly wasn’t as focused then as he should have been, and of course that year didn’t really go as well as it could have at all.

“Well I think you’d be really good at it Logan,” she said with an affirmative smile. “Did you take other classes too?”

He gave her a slightly awkward smile and nodded. She quirked an eyebrow at him, definitely expecting him to elaborate. He let out a little sigh before he answered. “I took a Psych class… Family & Intimate Relationships… It was more the family part I was interested in of course…”

She gave him an understanding smile. “Of course.”

“It covered traditional and nontraditional relationships and families… and with me and Evie… I thought it might be good to try not to screw her up too badly… save myself some money later on for therapy for her you know.” He gave her a playful smile and winked, but she looked at him seriously and squeezed his hand a little tighter.

“I think that’s a great idea, Logan. And you’re doing such an amazing job with her… I can’t imagine you doing something to screw her up. She’s really lucky to have you.” The expression on her face was so open and loving. He swallowed a small lump he felt in his throat and nodded. He couldn’t really remember another time when she’d looked at him like that… with absolute confidence and belief in him.

“Thanks Veronica,” he said as he dipped his head down a bit shyly and then looked back up at her.

She smiled softly and leaned toward him placing a gentle kiss on his lips. “I’m really proud of everything you’ve done here Logan…” she whispered softly after the kiss as she stared into his eyes. “I’m sorry I never told you before… things I was proud that you’d done… I never stopped to really appreciate everything…” She took a quick breath. “Until you were gone… and then it was too late.” Her eyes took on a regretful, sad look.

“It’s never too late,” Logan whispered as he kissed her again. He felt her take a deep breath as they kissed and she nodded her head slightly against him. When he pulled his lips away she gave him a softer smile. He reached up and brushed some of her hair back. “We should probably head back to Yachats so we can stop at Paige’s for your things.” He knew if they stayed much longer there he’d lose his self control and end up pulling her into his lap for sure.

She took a deep breath and nodded, likely understanding why staying could be a risky idea. They were back in Yachats a short while later and he dropped her off at Paige’s to get her luggage and her car. He’d offered to come in and actually help her take the stuff out to her car but she just gave him an amused smile and shook her head. “I managed getting them inside by myself just fine, so I’m sure I can manage to get them back out.” He’d also offered to wait for her to follow him to the house, and again she gave him an amused smile and shook her head and reminded him that she’d already found her way there several times on her own. She leaned in and gave him a lingering kiss before telling him she’d see him in just a little while. He was slightly surprised that Evie stayed asleep even with Veronica opening and closing her door, but knew the aquarium frequently did tire her out.

When he pulled into the garage, he opened the back door and unbuckled Evie. She slowly opened her eyes and gave him a glazed stare. “Hey sweetie. We’re home,” he told her as he started to help her out. She looked around the car and the garage before giving him a concerned look.

“Where’s Vronica?”

“She’ll be here in a little while. She had to go get her stuff and her car. Remember I told you this morning before we went to get her that she was going to stay a couple nights in Sara’s room.”

Evie nodded and smiled. “She could stay in my room with me.”

He gave her a tender smile in return. “Well you could ask her, but she might want to sleep in the bigger bed.” Evie let out a yawn and nodded. “Did you have fun today?” he asked her as they headed into the house to check on Bella. She had a nice dog house out on the lower patio and didn’t really mind being outside for extended periods of time when the weather was nice.

Evie nodded again. “I like Vronica,” she said with a smile. He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.

“I like Veronica too,” he replied with a warm smile. He thought it was probably best to at least prepare Evie for Veronica’s inevitable departure though. “But you know she’s only visiting for a little while. She has to go back to California soon because she lives there and is going to College there.”

“Why can’t she go to college with you?” Evie asked as he sat her down on the sectional downstairs. They’d talked several times when he’d started taking classes about how he was going to college and would be gone for some of the day and had homework that he had to do too.

“Because what she’s learning about, they don’t teach at the college I go to,” Logan explained as he walked over to the back door to let Bella in. Bella was very excited to see them of course and wagged her small tail excitedly as Logan bent down to pet her and then she ran over to greet Evie too.

Evie seemed to be thinking about his answer as she pet Bella. “Can we go visit her… in Cafornia?”

“Cal-i-forn-ia” Logan said slowly to help Evie learn how to say it. “Maybe, but she’ll be even busier with her classes than I’ve been with mine. She’s going to LawSchool.” Evie gave him a puzzled look. He thought for a moment before he replied. “LawSchool is where they teach you all the rules and how to help make sure people follow the rules.”

Evie smiled and nodded. “Well I hope we can still go and see here there.”

Logan nodded as he knelt down in front of her and placed his hands on her knees. “Me too sweet pea,” he said with a tender smile before leaning in and giving her a kiss on the top of her head.

A/N – The butterfly exhibit really did exist, but only one summer, and it turned out to actually be the summer this story would take place so I thought that was really cool. We only had a chance to visit it once, but my kids loved it. I put a few picture on my tumblr page if anyone wants to see them. I’m lisawolfe80 over there. Unfortunately, like most cool things, they ran into issues and decided to only do it that one summer.

The next chapter will likely stay in Logan’s POV, but this chapter was getting pretty long and I wanted to get something posted, so decided to stop it here. I’m sure everyone’s looking forward to their first night staying out the house together too!

As always, thank you to everyone who’s been reading and leaving comments. I appreciate it so much. I’m glad you all are enjoying having a fluffy LoVe story to offset a lot of the other angsty ones out there. Please be sure to let me know what you thought of this one too!

Chapter 15

Chapter Text

Chapter 15

Evie had gotten a second wind after her nap in the car and wanted Logan to play with her and her bubble gun. Both Evie and Bella loved trying to run around and pop the bubbles that would fly out of it when Logan would squeeze the trigger. Logan reminded her that Veronica would be there soon and that he’d need to go up and open the door for her, but they could play until they heard her car on the road. She must not have been far behind them, because shortly after they finally got started, he heard the sound of a car driving down the gravel road that led to their house from the highway.

“You can make the bubbles for Bella, while I go open the door for Veronica, okay?” Logan asked as he stopped squeezing the trigger himself.

“Okay, but come back soon,” she said as she took it from him. She liked watching Bella try to catch them, but she wanted to be able to try to pop them too. Usually when she ended up doing it on her own, she’d hold the trigger for a minute, and then stop and try to pop some of the bubbles herself, but she didn’t have as much fun doing it that way.

Logan walked around the yard to a side gate so he could meet Veronica at her car and help carry her luggage inside. She gave him a broad smile as he appeared from the side of the house and walked over to greet her. “We were playing in the backyard. We can just carry your bags in through the garage and take them upstairs later if that’s okay with you.” She gave him an understanding smile and nodded.

Their garage had an entry pad on the outside and he keyed in the code, giving her a small smile. “The number’s 1-7-2-1 in case you need to use it,” he said with a sheepish grin.

She gave him a surprised look. “Really?”

He nodded. “I know I should have used some random number, but wanted to be sure I wouldn’t forget it and well… I happen to have seen that number several times, dropping a certain blonde off at her father’s office, so I figured I wouldn’t likely forget that one.”

“Well that’s certainly more random than using a birthday… I bet my dad might even be a little flattered that you chose it.”

He smirked at her in reply, “Well you know… flattering him was certainly what my ultimate goal was with using it.”

She laughed and shook her head at him as the door opened and they walked inside the garage. He led the way to the door that went inside and pushed the button to close the garage door. He turned toward her and gave her an affectionate smile. "Evie missed you when she woke up and you were gone," he told her as he reached out and brushed some hair out of her face.

"Really?" she asked sounding a little surprised.

He smiled and nodded. "I think she really likes you. She also said you could stay the night in her room," he added with a sly grin.

"Hmmm..." she replied with a playful smile as she leaned in a little closer to him and ran her hand down his chest. "Sleeping with a room full of unicorns does sound tempting, but I think I'll have to check out my other options before I decide."

He leaned in and whispered huskily into her ear, "It might be safer sleeping in her room. I'm not sure I can promise to completely behave when I'm around you alone." He playfully bit at her earlobe after he said it.

She took a deep steadying breath and then turned her head slightly so she could look him in the eyes again. "I'm pretty sure I can make you do whatever I want... of course I still need to decide exactly what that is," she replied with a mischievous grin.

He could feel himself heating up by the second and knew it would be too easy to get into trouble right there in the garage. Slow Logan... He shook his head slightly and then kissed her on the tip of her nose. "And I'm sure you're planning on torturing me while you decide aren't you?"

She gave him a playful grin and shrugged. "I can be nice... sometimes."

He nodded and bit his lip for a second. "And you can be extremely naughty sometimes too."

Her smile got a bit larger as she laughed softly and nodded. He took a deep breath and gave her a quick kiss on the lips, but pulled back before it got to intense. Show some restraint Logan. "We'd better go check on Evie," he replied a bit reluctantly after the kiss. She smiled and nodded in agreement.

He set down her suitcase and carry-on bag by the stairs, and then gestured down the hall toward the backyard, holding out his arm for her to lead the way. Evie had set the bubble blower down on one of the tables and was busy playing on the play structure. When she saw them come outside she ran over to them.

“More bubbles now daddy?” she asked with a hopeful smile.

“Sure munchkin,” Logan said and then turned to Veronica. “Would you like to do it for her?” Veronica gave him a puzzled look, clearly having no idea exactly what was expected of her. He picked up the bubble gun and squeezed the trigger, causing a stream of bubbles to float through the air, which Bella barked at and started trying to bite again, while Evie also tried to pop them.

“Oh… fun…” Veronica said with a big grin, reaching her hand out for it. Logan chuckled and relinquished the toy to her and watched her squeeze it herself.

“Want some raspberry lemonade?” he asked Veronica as she laughed at Evie and Bella.

“I want some berry lemonade,” Evie replied as she was trying to pop the bubbles. Veronica smiled and nodded as well.

When he made it back down to the patio with the glasses of lemonade, Evie was riding her bike around the patio while Veronica watched her. They’d been talking about taking the training wheels off, but hadn’t gotten around to it yet. Evie was still fairly resistant to the idea because she was afraid she’d fall. “Done with bubbles?” he asked as he sat the three glasses on a table next to the chair Veronica was sitting in. Bella had climbed up onto the lounge chair in front of Veronica and she was rubbing her behind the ears.

“We sort of ran out,” Veronica explained with a sheepish grin. Logan laughed. She must have pretty much squeezed the trigger non-stop after he left for the bubble solution to be completely gone, although he realized it wasn’t full when they started either.

"Did you want more bubbles Evie?" he asked as she was riding around the big concrete patio. She shook her head and kept riding.

Logan took a seat in the chair next to Veronica and handed her one of the glasses. "Any requests for dinner tonight?" he asked Veronica after taking a drink of his lemonade.

"S'ghetti," Evie yelled from her bike.

Logan laughed softly and shook his head. "I was asking Veronica, Evie. She's our guest, so she should get to choose."

"Do you like s'ghetti?" Evie asked as she rode her bike closer to Veronica.

"Even if she likes it, she may want something else," Logan explained as he gave Veronica a small smile.

"Pick s'ghetti, Vronica," Evie said as she stopped in front of her chair. "Daddy makes yummy s'ghetti."

"How can I argue with that," Veronica replied with an amused smile.

Logan laughed and nodded. "She does make the most convincing arguments doesn't she?"

Evie asked if she could play with her chalk, and then hopped off her bike to get the chalk out of a small storage cabinet that was on the patio.

"Do you want to draw with me, Vronica?" Evie asked as she put the box of chalk on the patio and sat down next to it.

"Sure," Veronica answered and stood up from her chair. Bella hopped down as well and went over to lay down on her outside dog bed, looking a bit put out that she'd lost her neck scratcher.

"Let me grab some cushions," Logan said, climbing out of his chair as well and walking back inside. He kept a stack of floor cushions that they could use inside or outside by the door.

"The concrete gets awfully uncomfortable," he explained as he set a couple cushions down.

"Can you draw a frog?" Evie asked Veronica as they sat down on the cushions.

"Um... I'm not sure... How about a flower instead?" Veronica asked a bit uncertainly.

"Okay. Daddy can draw the frog," she replied as she started taking chalk out of the box.

Logan chuckled and sat down on the cushion next to Evie and grabbed the green chalk out of the box. Evie worked on a big colorful butterfly while Veronica drew several flowers and Logan drew a big green frog.

“Make it a prince frog, like the story, Daddy,” Evie said as he was about done. Logan grabbed some orange chalk and drew a crown on top of the frog for her. He heard Veronica chuckle slightly as she kept working on her flowers.

When Logan was done, he went back in and grabbed his camera. Veronica and Evie were still working on their drawings, so he took a few pictures of them, as well as the drawings.

"That's an impressive frog and a very beautiful butterfly, just like the ones we saw today," Veronica said as she looked over at the other drawings.

"Daddy showed me how to make butterflies," Evie said with a smile. "I can't make frogs yet though."

"I'm sure you'll learn Evie,"Veronica said encouragingly.

Evie finished her butterfly and decided to go play on the play structure again.

"Do you actually do this every day?" Veronica asked as she flopped back down on a lounge chair and stretched.

Logan chuckled and shrugged. "Some days are a little less action packed," he said trying to sound reassuring.

She inhaled a deep breath and slowly let it out. "I guess I didn't realize how exhausting it could be."

He walked over and pulled her up slightly so he could climb in behind her and started massaging her back and shoulders. She let out a soft moan and relaxed against him slightly. "Mmmm... Thank you..."

After massaging her for a little while he said he could go and start on dinner if she wanted to watch Evie for him. She nodded and scooted up slightly so he could climb out. He placed a quick kiss on the top of her head before he stood up and went inside.

He had frozen sauce from a large batch he'd made the week before and garlic bread sticks that he pulled out of the freezer to heat up along with some noodles. He also had some romaine and a few other vegetables to chop up for a salad. His culinary skills weren't all that amazing, but Kathleen had taught him enough to make several few dishes on his own. He was almost done with everything when he heard the girls come inside and close the door. Bella made it up to the kitchen first and he had her lay down in her spot.

"Is s'ghetti ready, Daddy?" Evie asked as she ran in the kitchen and wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him.

"Almost sweetie. Why don't you go with Veronica and wash your hands," Logan suggested, giving Veronica a quick glance. She smiled and nodded and Evie ran over and took her hand and led her to the bathroom on the main floor. When they came back out Veronica helped him set the table and then they sat down to eat.

"Mmm... This is really good sauce," Veronica said after taking her first bite.

"Thanks... I made a big batch of sauce last week and froze part of it."

She gave him a surprised look. "I'm impressed," she said with a grin. “Here I expected basic sauce from a can.”

“Nope, I actually mixed together multiple ingredients… okay parts of it may have come from a can, but I added seasoning and the crumbled sausage too,” he replied with a smile.

“I told you daddy makes yummy s’ghetti,” Evie said with a big smile before taking another bite of her noodles. Veronica laughed and nodded in agreement.

After dinner was all cleaned up, Logan announced that it was bath time for Evie. Evie at least loved taking baths and immediately bolted upstairs. Veronica laughed as she watched the little blonde disappear.

Logan had brought Veronica's bags up to the main floor when he came up to fix dinner and they were sitting by the stairs. "I can show you the guest room now if you want to come up too," he offered with a small smile. She nodded and let him lead the way. Evie's room and the guest room were basically next to each other with Evie's closer to the master bedroom door. Logan carried her luggage in and set them down near the bed. The guest room was slightly smaller than Evie's room and decorated with a bit of a beachy feel to it. Sara and Kathleen had been the ones to actually decorate it for him.

"My room's... um... across the hall..." he said a bit nervously. He'd been starting to feel fairly confident around her the more time they spent together, and wasn't quite sure why now he felt a bit off kilter again. Maybe it was because he hadn't actually had a woman there other than Katy, and that had been so long ago.

She gave him a concerned look and walked closer to him and took his hands. "What's wrong?" she asked softly as she looked up at him.

He shrugged and shook his head. "Nothing... I just... I'd better catch up to Evie." She nodded and released his hands.

"I should probably check in with my dad... I'll just wait for you both downstairs?"

Logan nodded and gave her a quick kiss on the forehead before heading out of the room. Evie was waiting for him in his bathroom. The master bathroom had a giant tub and she loved using that one, so that had just been their routine. He started the water for her and absent mindedly went through the motions of getting her basket of tub toys out while his mind thought more about how things might go with him and Veronica. In the past it seemed everything had just happened based on their raw emotions, and now that he was trying to be more deliberate he felt extremely nervous about it. Evie at least didn't notice he was distracted and enjoyed her bath like she normally did. He carried her wrapped up in a large towel across to her room to help her put her pajamas on.

"Can we watch Phineas and Ferb before bed?" She asked with a hopeful smile.

"Sure sweetie. Just one though. You've had a busy day and need to get to sleep."

They headed back downstairs and found Veronica sitting on the couch in the main floor waiting for them.

"Everything good with your dad?" Logan asked as they walked over toward her. She nodded and gave him a tender smile. "Evie wanted to watch a cartoon before bedtime. Wanna join us?"

She nodded again and stood up. Evie had already headed for the stairs to go down to the media room. Veronica reached out and took his hand when she was next to him. "Are you sure you're okay?" she asked with the concerned look back on her face. He nodded and pulled her in for a hug.

"Yeah... I'm good," he said after taking a deep breath. He gave her another kiss on the forehead then leaned back slightly so he could look into her eyes. She smiled up at him and then leaned up on her tip-toes so she could press a quick kiss to his lips. He smiled affectionately at her after the kiss and then led her down the stairs still holding her hand.

It didn't take him long to start the cartoon once they were downstairs. Evie had flopped down on a beanbag chair again, while Logan and Veronica took the couch. Unlike the morning before though, he sat close to her and wrapped his arm across her shoulders. She leaned into him and rested her hand on his thigh as they all watched the cartoon together. He was glad she seemed to enjoy it since he heard her chuckle at several parts. As the first one ended, Evie begged for one more, which was not unexpected at all, since generally one turned into 2 or 3 for them. As usual he relented and agreed to one more, but said as soon as it was over it was bedtime. They were about 5 minutes into the second episode when his cell phone rang. He expected it to be Kathleen, but instead it was an unrecognized number. He cringed slightly and felt a tight feeling in his chest. He had a pretty good idea of who it likely was.

"I'm just going to step outside to take this," he said as he stood up from the couch. He really didn't want either of them to over hear the call if he was right and it wasn’t a random wrong number. Veronica nodded as he gave her a small smile and went out the door. He pressed answer once he pulled the site closed behind him. "Hello?" he said, waiting for his suspicion to be confirmed.

"Logan?" He let out a deep sigh as he heard her voice. Katy frequently switched phones so he had of course correctly guessed it was her. "How's everything there?"

"I'm guessing your call isn't a coincidence is it? You've been taking to Allie haven't you?" He couldn’t help jumping right into the accusation, although logically he knew that probably wasn’t the smartest move he could have made. Deep down he knew she had her issues and he’d tried hard in the past not to push her into confrontational situations, but he just couldn’t help it this time. He was more than just a little annoyed that the only reason she finally had called to check on them was because Allie had seen him that morning with Veronica.

There was a moment of silence before she finally answered. "Yes... but I did want to make sure everything's okay with you and Evie."

"We're fine,” he said a bit more tersely than he intended. He took a deep breath, trying to keep his annoyance under control. “Where are you?"

"Umm... Texas… Corpus Christi," she answered a bit hesitantly.

‘Following fly boys around again’, he thought to himself. He’d found out she’d dated several pilots, both Navy and Air Force over the years, both before he came into her life and after. He bit back remarking on it though. "Are you taking care of yourself?"

"Yeah... I'm okay... Pretty good..." she answered, just as hesitantly as before.

He sighed. He wasn't sure if he actually believed her, but he wasn't going to push her either. Hopefully she really was and they wouldn’t end up getting a call that she had OD’d or ended up dead from driving while she was intoxicated. He’d had that fear every time she’d taken off. When she was with them, she wouldn’t take any drugs, although sometimes she’d drink a little more than she probably should have. But he knew when she was gone and feeling depressed, she would sometimes lapse into those bad habits if she was around the wrong people.

"Can I talk to Evie?"

"I don't think that's a good idea. It's almost her bedtime and I don't think a random call from you out of the blue is what she needs right now.” He paused a moment before he spoke again. “Especially not if you only called because Allie told you I was with another woman today."

She didn't say anything in response but he could tell she was still there.

"Look Katy, I need to go. Please take care of yourself and let your mom know you're okay too. I don't know when you last talked to her, but you should call her if you haven't lately." He had figured out that Kathleen had been talking to Katy off and on, but he hadn't pushed Kathleen about it. He had hoped that the two of them would be able to keep some sort of mother-daughter bond even if she never called to talk to him.

"Are you serious about her?" Katy asked abruptly.

Logan took a deep breath. "I've known her since I was twelve Katy... I've probably loved her in some way ever since then... I don't know where things will go with us now, but she's someone I always want to have in my life, so if that means I'm serious about her, then yes."

There was silence on the line again after that. Logan glanced through the window and could tell the cartoon was getting close to the end. "I really do need to go Katy." He took a deep breath. "Look if you want to be a part of her life again... I need to know you won't just disappear on her again... You're the only one who can make that commitment though... But until I'm convinced, I don't want you hurting her."

Katy took a deep breath. "I know... I just... I can't promise that... Not right now... "

"Okay... Bye Katy. Please take care of yourself."

"Bye Logan."

He hung up the phone and took a deep breath. He really shouldn't have been surprised that she was still in touch with Allie and that she would call and tell Katy about this morning. But he still hadn't expected it and on top of everything else, he definitely felt a bit rattled. He’d certainly gotten better at handling it over the years though. At the beginning he’d always end up begging her to come back because he and Evie needed her. Eventually after about the first year, he’d come to realize that he and Evie were actually doing fine without her and while he’d sometimes ask her to come back, he gradually became less desperate about it, and even prior to the last time she’d been back, he’d stopped asking all together. He took one more deep breath and walked back inside. Veronica gave him a concerned look again and he tried to put on a convincing smile, but if anyone could see right through it, he knew she could. As he’d expected, the cartoon was just ending.

“One more? Pleeeeease Daddy?” Evie whined as she turned to look at him. He actually thought another 20 minutes would give him time to compose himself after the call before he'd need to try to get her to go to bed.

“Sure, but only one more, okay?” he said as he picked up the remote and started the next one for her. Evie smiled and nodded and turned back toward the TV.

He sat down next to Veronica again and she gave him a sympathetic look and reached up and gently stroked his cheek. He leaned in toward her so he could whisper in her ear. “Am I that transparent?” he asked before moving so he could look at her face again.

She gave him a sad look and nodded. Of course she’d had years of experience being a PI, and had always been pretty good at reading people. He took a deep breath and rested his forehead against hers, while she kept her hand on his cheek. After a moment, he sat up a little straighter and took her hand with his and kissed the back of it, before he placed it on his leg and wrapped his arm around her shoulders again. He placed his other hand on top of hers, and then she adjusted hers so that they were intertwined. She squeezed his hand firmly before she pulled it up to her lips and placed a soft kiss on the back of his as well, setting it back down when she was done. He took a deep breath and rested his head against hers, placing a few soft kisses there as they sat quietly and watched the next cartoon. While the call from Katy had bothered him, having Veronica here with him made him feel so much better than he may have otherwise.

When it was over, Evie turned and looked at them, but didn’t ask for another one. “Story?” she asked instead.

“Sure sweetie,” Logan said with a warm smile. “Go pick a story for me to read and I’ll be right up.”

“Vronica too,” Evie said as she looked at Veronica with a sleepy smile.

Veronica nodded in reply. “Of course, I want to hear your daddy read a story too,” she said affectionately.

Evie stood up and started up to her room ahead of them. Bella had curled up on the couch next to Veronica, and jumped down to follow Evie as she headed down the hallway to the stairs.

“You okay?” Veronica asked as she looked at Logan with a worried expression. “I’m guessing her protective friend gave her a call?”

Logan let out a sigh and nodded. I’d forgotten how good she really was at figuring things out and reading me. “Yeah…”

“Did you know she was in contact with her?” Veronica asked as she reached up and stroked his cheek again.

He shook his head. “No, but I’m not really that surprised.”

Veronica’s expression became a bit more distressed. “Is she… is she coming back now?”

Logan gave her a warm smile and reached up with both hands to hold her face between them. “No… and even if she was Veronica… I meant it earlier… You’re the one I want in my life…” It’s always been you… Her expression became more relaxed and she nodded in reply. He leaned in and pressed his lips to hers. I so want to tell her I still love her… but it feels way too soon for that, even if it is true. He took a deep breath as the kiss ended. “We’d better get upstairs before Evie gets a gigantic stack of books out and demands I read them all,” he said with a soft smile. She nodded as she took a deep breath herself. He stood up and reached his hand out to pull her up from the couch. He led her toward the stairs, turning off the lights as they went and locked the garage door. He also turned off most of the lights on the main floor before they headed all the way up to Evie’s room.

Evie was sitting in her bed waiting for them with a book on her lap. It was of course one of her unicorn books. “I want to sit in the middle,” she said as they walked into her room.

Veronica gave Logan a quick smile before walking over to the far side of the bed and taking a seat next to Evie.

“You can sleep in here,” Evie said with a smile as Veronica sat down.

“Thank you Evie,” Veronica said with a warm smile in return. “But all my stuff is in the guest room, so I’ll probably just sleep over there, okay?”

Evie nodded and leaned up against her as Logan took a seat on Evie’s other side. He knew Evie could get really cuddly when she was sleepy and always loved it when Kathleen or Sara were there too at bedtime because she loved having more than just him to cuddle with. Logan picked up the book that she’d pulled out to read and opened it, resting it back on her lap so both Evie and Veronica could see the pictures. It was one of her favorites for bedtime called Unicorn Dreams.

He wasn’t terribly surprised that Evie had fallen asleep before he’d reached the last page, but when he glanced over and saw that Veronica’s eyes were closed too, he couldn’t help the smile that spread across his face. He carefully removed the book and stared at the two of them deciding what he should do. Evie was leaning against her slightly and Veronica was resting up against the headboard. He was certain Veronica wouldn’t want to sleep like that all night, but part of him felt guilty waking her up. He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and snapped a quick picture of them, before he gently pulled Evie away from her enough that he could put her head on her pillow and fix her covers. After leaning in and giving her a gentle kiss on the head, he walked around to the other side of the bed and gently scooped Veronica up. He thought he’d just carry her into the guest room and put her to bed there, but as he picked her up, she opened her eyes and gave him a sleepy smile.

“Sorry,” she said with a yawn.

He gave her a warm smile and kissed her cheek. “Nothing to apologize for,” he whispered as he continued to carry her out of Evie’s room. He turned off the light as he was heading out the door and then closed the door carefully behind them once Bella came out too.

Chapter 16

Chapter Text

Chapter 16

Logan carried Veronica to the guest room and carefully set her down on the edge of the bed once they walked in. She wasn’t quite sure what to expect, and when he straightened up after setting her down, she immediately missed the closeness that had been there as he’d carried her down the hall. She reached out and took one of his hands and pulled him toward her as she scooted a bit farther up the bed. “Stay for a while?” She really wasn't ready to say goodnight and have him go to his own room, leaving her all alone. She still wasn't sure what his behavior right before Evie's bath was about, but she definitely picked up on some anxiety at that point. She was also a little worried about what impact Katy's call might have had on him.

He nodded and crawled up next to her, so that they were sitting side by side, turned slightly toward each other. She reached up to his face and gently stroked his cheek before leaning toward him and pressing her lips to his. She let out a deep sigh as she felt his hand run along her back and then tangle into her hair, pulling her even closer to him as they continued to kiss. 'Not close enough,' she thought as she moved so she could sit on his lap. A part of her tried to tell herself that this wasn't what taking it slow was supposed to be like, but that logical voice was blocked out by her body's natural reaction to him. It was almost as if the last several years had never happened and it felt just like it always had when they were together. It was like their bodies were made for each other and there were certain positions they were just drawn toward. She could easily remember many times when she’d ended up on his lap and what that almost always led to which fueled her desire even more. The next thing she realized, she'd deepened the kiss considerably and was running her fingers up his chest and into his hair pulling their bodies even closer together. His other hand that wasn’t tangled in her hair, had started between her shoulder blades but then slowly moved down to where his arm was wrapped around her back and his hand was on her opposite hip pulling her even closer against him. He finally broke the kiss and took a deep breath, apparently trying to get some composure back as he leaned a little bit back from her and moved both of his hands down to rest gently on her hips pushing her just slightly away from his body. She was sort of enjoying the fact that she'd made him look a bit wrecked, undoubtedly due to how badly he must have wanted to do more than just kiss, although she immediately realized that was a bit of an evil thing to enjoy.

“We said slow…” he panted as he looked intensely into her eyes. “This… I’m going to have a really hard time if we keep going like this.”

She bit on her lip and gave him a small smirk. She shouldn't have, but she couldn't help herself. Being around him just made her feel so flirtatious again and she just wanted to be a little snarky, so of course out came the quip before she could fully restrain herself. “Sorry…” she said, though her apology completely lacked any sincerity. “I wouldn’t want to make it hard for you.”

He narrowed his eyes at her and gave her a devious grin, before he flipped her over, resting on his elbows above her. “You think you’re funny don’t you?” He asked with a playful glare on his face.

“A little… yeah,” she said with a sly smile. “Come on… you walked right into that one.”

He nodded and laughed slightly. He took a deep breath and then kissed her again, but not as passionately as when she had been straddling him. “You really are a devious woman aren’t you?” he asked after their lips parted again.

She gave him an affectionate smile and shook her head. “No, I just got carried away… I really didn’t mean to torture you.” She reached up and ran her fingers across his cheek. “I’ll try to behave better. Just kissing and cuddling… we can do that right?”

He took a deep breath and looked at her a bit skeptically. “Yeah… I’m sure I can just erase that image of you on my lap from my mind…”

“At least I wasn’t naked,” she replied with a barely restrained laugh.

“f*ck Veronica,” he said as he rolled away from her on to his back, running one of his hands through his hair and tugging on it slightly. “You really are trying to kill me aren’t you? Now that image is going to be stuck in my head.”

She chuckled softly and moved so she was on her elbow next to him, just barely keeping from laughing even harder. “I’m sorry… I just couldn’t help it… and I must say I’m a bit surprised…”

He turned his head back to her and gave her a questioning look. She leaned toward him a bit so she could speak in a conspiratorial whisper. “I didn’t think you actually swore anymore.”

He co*cked an eyebrow at her and gave her a mischievous smile, “Don’t tell Kathleen, or I’ll be in big trouble. Actually,” he reached out and tapped her on the end of her nose. “You’ll be in big trouble for making me swear. She’s going to think you’re a terrible influence on me. It took her months of scolding me to get me to stop swearing and you’re here less than 4 days and I’m already dropping F-bombs again.”

Veronica chuckled softly and shook her head. “I promise I won’t tell if you don’t.” Then she laughed a bit harder. “Seriously though… who would ever have expected me to be the one to corrupt you.”

“Mmm…” he said with a lascivious smile. “I always knew you were the truly depraved one of us.”

She waggled her eyebrows at him. “Right… and I tarnished your virtue.”

He nodded and licked his lips as his eyes started getting a bit hazy again. He reached up and wrapped his hand around the back of her head as he pulled her in to kiss again. This time she decided lying next to him would probably be safer, so scooted closer to him, but resisted the urge to climb on top of him. They kissed for a while longer, and then stopped a bit breathless again.

“So, it’s still fairly early… well of course if you’re not 4… did you want to watch a grown up movie or something?” Logan asked with a look she remembered from the very first time they dated. It was the look he got when he was trying to distract himself from wanting to completely ravage her and not get into trouble. The other times they’d gotten back together, they hadn’t been quite so restrained.

She couldn’t help but give him an amused smile and a slow nod. “Yeah… we could do that.” She reached out and intertwined his right hand with her left and then pulled it toward hers so she could kiss the back of it. “But if we’re going all the way down to the bottom floor again, I just might make you carry me. I’m starting to realize why you’re in such great shape, running up and down 3 stories multiple times a day.”

She noticed a light blush cross his cheeks and he laughed softly. “I never thought you paid much attention to that sort of thing,” he said in an almost modest tone. This Logan was so different from the arrogant teenager she used to know, which wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, but she was definitely caught by surprise several times over the past few days. Being a dad had certainly tampered that extra-large size ego he used to have.

“Of course I noticed,” she replied with a broad smile. “I mean, look at these arms…” she released the hold she had on his hand and ran her fingers along his bicep. “And I’ve been trying really hard not to image what your abs must look like under there…” she ran her fingers from his chest down toward his stomach.

He took a sharp breath and quickly grabbed her hand again. “Okay… I think we’d better figure out the movie plan before I lose my ability to focus again.”

She laughed and leaned forward to kiss him quickly on the lips. “Sorry… I just can’t seem to help myself can I?”

He shook his head as he took another deep breath. “So our options are a movie on the main floor, because carrying you up and down one flight of stairs is my limit, or… I do have a TV in my bedroom too.”

She bit on her lip for a moment gazing into his eyes. “It’s up to you… I don’t want to make you feel uncomfortable at all… I wasn’t sure earlier… you seemed a bit anxious just having me up here.”

He reached up and ran his fingers gently across her cheek. “I guess I just get a bit overwhelmed with you being here… in my life again… in a good way though… and I just… well I don’t want to mess this up, Veronica.”

“You won’t,” she said softly. “I’d love to see your room if you’re comfortable with that… but it’s fine if you’re not. I completely understand me being here is a bit of an unexpected surprise.”

He nodded. “But it’s one of the best surprises I’ve ever had.” He paused a moment before continuing. “We can watch something in my room.”

“Okay… can I change into some pajamas before we do?” She gave him a sly smile. “I promise I brought completely modest sleepwear along.”

He chuckled and nodded his head. “Did you want popcorn or something to munch on? I know we had dinner a while ago, but if you wanted something else… I seem to remember you having a fairly healthy appetite.”

She laughed slightly and then nodded. “Yeah… popcorn would be good.”

He leaned in and kissed her one more time tenderly on the lips before sitting up on the bed. “Okay, I’ll run down and get the popcorn. Just head over to my room when you’re ready. You’ve got your own bathroom right through that door there too.”

She looked in the direction he had pointed and nodded in agreement. She watched him climb off the bed and then head toward the door. He gave her a quick smile over his shoulder before he left and closed the door behind himself. She let out a deep breath as soon as he was gone. He’s not the only one that’s having a hard time with this taking it slow plan. She opened her suitcase and pulled out the plaid flannel pajama bottoms she’d brought along and a dark purple tank top and then headed into the bathroom to change.

When she was done, she walked across the hall and tapped lightly on his open bedroom door. She didn’t hear anything, so poked her head in. She saw a large bowl of popcorn sitting on a cushion top bench that was at the foot of the bed, as well as two bottles of water next to it. The room was done more in darker wood and gray tones, compared to the guest room that was more light blues and aquamarine colors. She noticed what was likely the door to the master bathroom was closed and assumed he may have been in there. She glanced around the room and saw a few framed pictures of Logan and Evie, and a few with Kathleen and Sara in them too. She noticed there weren’t any with Katy like she’d seen at Kathleen’s house, which actually made her feel a bit more confident that he really did mean it when he said he wasn’t planning to give her another chance of them being together. If he was, she thought he’d likely have a few pictures with her in them too. As she took a seat on the bench to wait for him to come back out, Bella wandered over to her and she started scratching her behind the ears while she waited for Logan. It was only a minute or two later when the door to his bathroom opened and he came out, also wearing plaid flannel pajama bottoms and a blue t-shirt.

She couldn’t help but laugh. “Well at least we coordinate well.”

He nodded and laughed as well. “So… welcome to my room,” he said as he gave her a nervous smile. “What movie do you want to watch?”

She shrugged and shook her head. “What do you suggest?”

“Well are you in the mood for comedy, action, romance… of course we could go with all three…” She quirked her eyebrow at him, definitely intrigued by what movie he thought would fit the ‘all three’ criteria. She was honestly surprised that he hadn’t just jumped straight to Easy Rider, though secretly she was a little relieved. “Well we could go with Killers, or Knight and Day. I’d say they have a bit of all three.” She made her ‘not quite sure what those are’ face and he smiled in understanding before he continued. “Kutcher or Cruise?”

She laughed and nodded. “Let’s go with Cruise.”

He nodded back and walked over toward the head of the bed, picking up the popcorn and water as he walked by. He also told Bella to lie down on her dog bed that was in the corner of the room, which of course she obediently did. “You’re not going to sit down there all alone are you?” he asked Veronica as he started to climb onto the bed. She shook her head and turned and started crawling up the mattress toward him, which caused him to immediately close his eyes. “Why don’t you just let me know when you’re comfortable?” She laughed and kept moving. She honestly didn’t think just crawling up the bed toward him would seem that seductive but apparently it was.

She snuggled up against the wall of pillows that were at the head of the bed, sitting right next to him, but not quite touching. “Okay, it’s safe to open your eyes now,” she said with a slight laugh in her voice. “Maybe you should make me a list of things I’m not allowed to do,” she added playfully.

He laughed as well before he replied. “Unfortunately practically everything you do turns me on, so that would be an extremely long list.” She gave him a skeptical look but he just smiled and shrugged as he reached for a couple of remotes and got the movie started on the large flat screen TV on the wall opposite the bed. He pulled the bowl of popcorn off the side table and set it on his lap before stretching his arm across her shoulders. She laughed softly and leaned a bit more toward him. At least he didn’t do a fake yawn before he moved his arm there.

She nibbled at the popcorn for the first twenty minutes or so of the movie, and then said she was done if he wanted to put it back on the table. After he moved it, she scooted a bit closer to him and wrapped her arm around his waist and rested her head against his chest. “You’ve got a really comfy bed,” she said as she cuddled even closer to him. She heard him answer with a soft thanks, as he kissed the top of her head and then he moved the arm that wasn’t across her shoulders around her waist as well. Her tank-top must have slipped up somewhat and his fingers grazed across her warm bare skin. She heard him suck in a deep breath as he gently stroked her side, keeping his fingers against her skin and slowly moving them in light patterns across her warm flesh. He gradually expanded the area from her side to her lower back as well. She let out a soft moan as she enjoyed the sensation his fingers were sending through her body. “If you get to touch me, it’s only fair that I get to touch you,” she practically purred at him. His response was a breathless ‘Mm Hmm’. She gently pulled up the edge of his t-shirt so she could run her fingers across his bare stomach. As she expected, his abs felt very toned and she enjoyed slowly running her fingertips along them, feeling the firmness of his muscles under her hand. She could easily feel that his breathing was getting faster and ragged and as she turned her head to look up at him, his mouth crashed into hers with an intensely hungry kiss.

As they kissed, his hand slid farther up her back under her tank top and her fingers started roaming up his chest under his shirt as well. He turned them so she was leaning back against the pillows and he was arched over her slightly. The new position allowed his other hand to move up to slowly caress her arm and then her neck before tangling into her hair. She moved her other hand under his shirt too and enjoyed the feeling of his obviously very toned chest.

When his lips finally broke apart from hers, he was panting heavily. He tipped back slightly so that there was a bit of space between them. “Okay… talking about touching me is definitely going at the top of the 'things you shouldn’t do' list, unless you really do intend to torture me.”

She let out a soft breathless laugh and tried to get her own breathing under control. “You know this is so much worse than when we were in high school…” she said as she shook her head slightly and looked down toward the TV again, although she absolutely had no idea what was actually happening on it.

He tipped her head back up toward him and looked into her eyes with more intensity than she’d ever remembered seeing before. “That’s because we now know how f*cking amazing it is when we’re together,” he said without any hesitation.

She swallowed hard and nodded. And I can only imagine it would be even better now that we seem to finally have grown up more and gotten past some of our trust issues. She reached up and traced the edge of his jaw with her fingers, before running her index finger across his bottom lip. “I know… but…”

He nodded in return. “We said we needed to take it slow, and I still agree… I was just pointing out why this is absolute torture though… not that I think we should go faster… but thinking something and wanting something, sometimes can be two very different things.”

She let out a deep sigh and nodded again. “Maybe I should go… back to the other room…”

He shook his head and moved his hand to cup the side of her face. “Please stay… I may want more right now, but I’m able to deal with that… I’d just really like it if you’d sleep in here with me tonight though.”

She gave him a concerned look. “What about Evie… and the morning… if she wakes up first?”

“She falls asleep in here sometimes watching movies too… honestly she won’t think anything of it if we say that’s what happened,” he replied as he started to stroke the side of her cheek with his thumb. “Let’s just watch the rest of the movie… no more kissing though… since that seems to get us into trouble…”

“Okay… I’d like that… well not so much the no more kissing… but staying in here with you…”

He smirked at her and nodded. “Well if we could keep it to chaste kisses, maybe that would be okay.”

She laughed and shook her head. “I didn’t think you even knew the meaning of that word,” she replied playfully.

He narrowed his eyes slightly and then leaned forward and placed a kiss on the tip of her nose. “Totally innocent,” he replied with a coy smile.

“Definitely two words I’m not sure entirely describe you,” she replied back with a smug smile. “But I wouldn’t want you any other way.”

“Good,” he responded as he gave her a tender smile. “Okay… back to watching the movie… do you need me to rewind it to before we got distracted?”

She laughed and nodded. He picked up the remote and put the movie back to the spot she last remembered seeing. After setting the remote back on the side table, he scooted down a bit more and pulled her against his chest again, but this time took her hand that had been across his waist and intertwined their fingers, resting it comfortably across his chest with his arm bent at the elbow. “Hopefully this will keep you away from temptation, Miss Mars,” he said sweetly as he leaned down to place a kiss to the back of her hand.

She let out a deep sigh and pulled their joined hands closer to her head so she could kiss his too. “Thanks for looking out for my virtue,” she said in a slightly teasing tone.

“Always,” he replied as he placed a tender kiss to the top of her head.

She stayed awake for about another 30 minutes of the movie, but then her exhaustion from the long day and how comfortable she felt snuggled up against him finally won out and she dozed off to sleep feeling happier than she could remember being in a very long time.

She was sleeping fairly soundly lying on her stomach when she felt something moving next to her. She opened her eyes and saw two little blue eyes staring back at her.

“Hi…” Evie whispered when she saw Veronica open her eyes and then Evie pressed her fingers to Veronica’s mouth. “Shhhh… Daddy’s still sleeping,” she whispered next. Veronica could hear the rhythmic sound of Logan’s breathing on the other side of her. It was almost loud enough to be a snore, but was really more just deep loud breathing instead. There was some light coming in from under the curtains, but it didn’t seem very bright, so Veronica assumed it was still pretty early in the morning. Although his bedroom was on the west side of the house, so it wouldn’t get the early morning sunlight either. “Can I sleep with you?” Evie whispered next. Veronica gave her a sleepy smile and nodded, before she felt the covers moving around and Evie scooted next to her. Evie laid down facing Veronica and then reached out and patted her cheek. “You can go to sleep now,” Evie whispered, causing Veronica to chuckle softly and nod again. Evie left her hand there on her cheek while Veronica closed her eyes. She waited a few seconds and then opened one eye slightly and saw that Evie had closed her eyes too, with her hand still resting on her cheek. She closed her eyes again and within a few minutes she’d fallen back to sleep.

When she woke up again a while later, she opened her eyes, but didn’t see Evie next to her. She could still hear Logan’s rhythmic breathing though, so slowly turned over to face him. She smiled tenderly as she realized where the missing mini-blond had gone. Logan was lying on his back and Evie was stretched out across the top of him with her arms wrapped around his chest. They were both still asleep, and he had one hand resting on her little blond head. At first she thought about how peaceful and content they looked, and then the next thought she had took her a bit by surprise. She couldn’t understand how Katy could ever just leave them and it actually made her a little angry. She’d only been there a few days and she already didn’t want to leave, although she knew she would have to. She also knew of course that if Katy hadn’t left, she wouldn’t be here, but that didn’t stop her from still feeling a bit angry at what Katy had done to Evie and Logan. Part of her wanted to reach out and wrap her arm around both of them and nuzzle her head against his chest and Evie's head too, but another part of her was afraid to. Even though she had this strange desire to do it, she’d never been affectionate like that with little kids and she was also worried about whether that would make it harder on Evie when she had to go. It was going to be hard enough to leave Logan to go to Stanford, but if she let herself get to attached to Evie too, that was going to make it even harder. Pretending they were some happy little family didn’t seem like a wise thing to do at all given she was going to have to go back to California soon.

Her rolling over must have been enough to wake Logan up, and his eyes opened slowly as he gave her a sleepy smile. She reached up and caressed his cheek, feeling the light morning stubble on his face, and gave him a tender smile in return. He turned his head so he could place a light kiss to her palm and then he slowly moved his arm that was closest to her so he could reach up to tangle his fingers in her hair. He closed his eyes and let out a deep sigh as he nuzzled his cheek against her forehead.

“Good morning,” he whispered softly into her hair. She let out a deep sigh as well and whispered good morning back to him, before placing a light kiss on his shoulder. They stayed like that for a few minutes before she heard Bella whine. “Duty calls,” he whispered again, and pulled his hand away, gently trying to move Evie off his chest without waking her up. Unfortunately, she must have gotten plenty of sleep and started to stir as soon as he tried to move her. “I need to let Bella out,” he told her softly as he laid her down next to Veronica so he could climb out of bed. Evie stretched and started rubbing her eyes as Logan stood up and gave them both a warm smile. “I’ll be right back,” he said before he disappeared out the door with Bella.

Evie turned to look at Veronica and when she saw that she was awake, a big smile spread across her face. “Wanna watch cartoons?’ she asked eagerly.

“Do we need to ask your Daddy?” Veronica asked, not quite sure what their morning routine might be.

Evie thought about it for a minute before she replied. “If you want to watch cartoons, I’m sure he’d let us.”

Veronica gave her a skeptical look. “Maybe we should wait for him to come back and ask.” She couldn’t help but feel like she was being played by the mini blond mastermind.

A little pout immediately appeared on Evie's face. Veronica couldn’t imagine how Logan was ever able to actually say no to her. Luckily Logan reappeared a moment later and came back over to sit on the bed by them. “Vronica wants to watch cartoons, Daddy,” Evie said as soon as he’d sat down.

Logan looked across at Veronica and quirked an eyebrow at her. “She does, does she?” Evie nodded her head enthusiastically while Veronica gave him a sly smile. “I think you want to watch cartoons and you’re trying to use Veronica as an excuse,” he said next, giving Evie a critical look.

“No, you do don’t you?” she asked as she turned toward Veronica working the full head tilt and lip pout together. Veronica tried really hard not to laugh, but was barely able to contain a smile spreading across on her lips. Evie reached out and put her hands on both sides of Veronica’s head and gently moved them so her head would nod slightly. “See, she said yes,” Evie said triumphantly looking back at Logan with a big smile. “So can we?”

Logan laughed and shook his head at Evie. “Okay, but only a couple. You’re not staying in bed all morning watching TV.” Evie nodded and scooted so she could sit up against the headboard to see the TV better. Logan grabbed a remote to turn on the TV and started up a cartoon for her. “And remember, you’re going to spend the day with Sara and Nana today because Veronica and I have some things we have to go do.” Evie’s expression became sad as she nodded. “You’ll have lots of fun with them pumpkin,” Logan said as he leaned down and kissed her on the top of the head. He shot a quick look at Veronica, and she tried to give him a comforting smile in return.

“Why don’t I go make us some breakfast,” Logan said as he stood up from the bed. Veronica nodded and stood up too.

“I think I’ll go and take a shower and get dressed, if that’s okay?”

He nodded and she glanced at Evie, who seemed to be totally absorbed in her cartoon and not concerned that they were both planning to leave her there. She followed him as he led the way out the door. He stopped at her door, rather than continuing on to the kitchen, and gave her a lascivious grin. She quirked an eyebrow at him, and he pulled her into the guest room and then spun her against the wall next to the door and pressed his lips to hers.

She laughed as he pulled away slightly. “Logan… morning breath…” she said with a playful laugh.

“I don’t care…” he said as he kissed her deeply again, letting his tongue slip past her lips to caress her own. He pulled away a bit breathless. “Talking about showers needs to go on that list too,” he said in a husky voice as he looked at her with lust filled eyes.

She wanted nothing more than to just drag him into the shower with her at that point, but knew that wasn’t going to happen. Even if they weren’t trying to take things slow, having a little 4 year old wondering where they’d both vanished too probably wouldn’t be a good idea. She gave him a coy smile and nodded, but she still couldn’t really help teasing him a bit because it felt so good to have him want her like that. “So… no straddling your lap… especially if I’m naked… or talking about being naked…” She’d lifted up her hand and was counting off things as she said them. “No crawling seductively toward you up your luxurious bed… whether clothed or naked… no talking about touching you… and no talking about showers… which are generally done naked… have I got them all?”

He clenched his jaw and shook his head at her. “And no listing off things that are on the list!” he said back with an exasperated tone.

She laughed softly. “So this list is like fight club huh? The first rule of the list is you don’t talk about the list?”

“Exactly,” he replied and then a dangerous expression crossed his face. He’d clearly decided two could play at this game and reached down and grabbed her thighs, which completely caught her by surprise and lifted her up with her back pressed up against the wall and kissed her much more passionately than he had just a minute before. He pressed his body firmly against hers and she could easily tell just how much he really did want her. Then without warning, he let her slide back down, and took a step back with an evil grin. “Enjoy your shower,” he said deviously and then quickly left the room.

She took a deep breath, still leaning up against the wall as she steadied herself. Yeah, this taking it slow thing… not likely to last very long is it?

A/N – Okay, I’m sure you’re all probably as frustrated as Logan is! They had to at least make it through one night sticking to their resolve.

I debated over what movie to have them watch. Was considering When in Rome, since Kristen was in that, or Letters to Juliet, since Amanda Seyfried was in that and they were both out in 2010, but in the end went with the other two.

Next chapter will be back to Logan’s POV… after his very long cold shower. Ha!

Chapter 17

Chapter Text

Chapter 17

Logan stepped out of his shower and grabbed a towel to dry himself off. He couldn't remember the last time he needed to take one of those types of showers that desperately, but he felt much better now. Not only was he feeling totally on edge from what had happened in the guest room, but then once he made it to his shower he had to try to block the image of her wet and naked on the other side of the wall since her bathroom was right next to his. Of course ignoring those thoughts proved impossible, but at least he had some alone time to regain his composure.

He got dressed quickly hoping to make it down to the kitchen to start breakfast so maybe Veronica wouldn't piece together what had transpired after he left her room. Although as he glanced in the mirror at his wet hair he realized, especially given it was Veronica, there was no way she wouldn't figure it out. Considering she was the main contributing factor he hoped she'd go easy on him at least, although after his little stunt in the guest room she may be looking for a little pay back. He couldn't help the little smirk that formed on his face thinking about what she might do in retaliation and as he caught his reflection in the mirror again, he wondered when the last time was that he'd had that exuberant of a smile on his face. He couldn't really remember the last time he felt such all encompassing happiness. Of course he was always happy when he was with Evie, but this was so much different. The few times that Katy had come back, he was always waiting for the next time she'd bolt and because he was watching for those warning signs, he realized he never just let himself enjoy the time they were together. It had only gotten worse every time she'd come back. Even though he knew Veronica would have to go, he was still enjoying this time with her immensely. He realized he was actually letting himself believe that they'd be able to figure things out this time. He never expected it to feel so exhilarating to let himself hope for a real future with her.

Evie was still engrossed in a cartoon when he emerged from the bathroom. She was snuggled under the blankets again, lying almost sideways across the bed so she could see the TV with her head propped up on the pillows.

"Hey kiddo, I think I'm going to make omelets for breakfast okay?"

"Bacon?" She asked without looking away from the TV. He chuckled and mumbled a quick 'sure' as he made his way out the door.

Of course as luck would have it, Veronica was coming out of her room at the same time. A devious smirk formed on her face as she saw him and she made a very deliberate show of glancing up at his wet hair. "I don't smell any coffee yet?"

“Hmm… yeah… someone distracted me and I ended up in my shower instead of the kitchen. Any idea who that could have been?” he asked as he playfully narrowed his eyes at her. She looked at him with an angelic smile and shook her head. His expression became more lascivious as he co*cked a brow at her. “I guess it was a different bobcat that tortured me earlier in the guest room then.”

He saw the exact moment that her playful facade changed into a sentimental expression. “I didn’t think you’d remember that,” she said as a little spark of what he thought was excitement appeared in her eyes.

He was standing close enough to be able to reach up and stroke her cheek with his thumb. “I could never forget that. I’ve never known anyone like you Veronica. You have to know that, and your fiery tenacity was one of the things I loved the most.”

She took a deep breath and gave him a longing look. “Maybe later you can tell me what some of the other things were?”

He nodded and pulled her closer so he could kiss her. He didn’t let it get too intense, but he really wanted to be sure she didn’t have any doubts about how much she still meant to him. “Covering some of them might break the rules of the list,” he said in a low voice after their lips separated slightly.

“Oh, well. Neither one of us has ever been all that good at following the rules anyway,” she said with a sly smile. He nodded and gave her a quick kiss on the lips again before taking her hand and leading her down to the kitchen. We really need to get away from the empty guest room before I get into more trouble again.

They worked together to get breakfast ready and then he went back upstairs to get Evie. They were almost done eating when the doorbell rang. He was a bit surprised since he really didn’t get too many unexpected visitors. He told the girls he’d be right back as he stood up from the table. Bella had come back in as well and he told her to stay as he walked by her on his way to the door.

He was even more surprised when he opened the door to find Sara and Kathleen on the other side. He gave them a questioning look as they started to walk inside. “Since when do the two of you use the doorbell?” he asked, as Kathleen just smiled and shrugged. He studied her for a moment longer before he continued. “And why are you here? I thought we were dropping Evie off at your house before we drove to Florence.”

“We’re here to kidnap her,” Kathleen said with a mischievous grin.

“I’ll go up and get a bag ready for her,” Sara said as she disappeared up the stairs.

Kathleen’s smile fell slightly as she looked more intently at him. “Are you doing okay? I heard you had an unexpected call last night?”

Logan shrugged and nodded. “Did she call you too?”

Kathleen nodded as she gave him a sympathetic look. “Yeah, she said you’d told her to, so thank you.”

Logan nodded again but he really didn’t want to talk about Katy so directed her back to the question she still hadn’t answered. “So what are you two really here for?” he asked as he closed the door, still wondering what she had planned. He could tell as soon as he’d opened the door that something was up.

She gave him a knowing smile. “We decided last night that it’s been way too long since we’ve been to the zoo, so thought we’d take Evie and make a little overnight trip out of it.”

“Kathleen…” Logan started to protest, which was interrupted by her shaking her head and reaching out to squeeze his arm.

“I thought it would be good for the two of you to have some time alone, and if Evie was just at our house, I know you’d end up coming to get her at some point. Remember what I said about making the most out of whatever time you had?” She paused for a moment and gave him her ‘I know what I’m talking about look’. “Just enjoy it Logan. Don’t feel guilty or worry about anything. Evie will have a blast. I talked with Serena and she’s going to take care of the gallery for me today and tomorrow. So there’s nothing for you to worry about.”

Nothing besides how much trouble I'll get into being all alone with Veronica. He knew there wasn't any sense in arguing with Kathleen. He gave her an appreciative smile before saying a quick thank you.

"Nana has a surprise for you," Logan announced as they walked into the dining room together. Evie looked up from her plate with a big smile and a curious look in her eyes. "She's taking you to the zoo."

"Yay!" Evie squealed with delight. "Monkeys!"

Logan glanced over at Veronica and saw her eyes light up too.

"There's a zoo here too?" she asked with a wondrous expression on her face.

Logan immediately gave her an apologetic look. "It's actually in Portland, so about 3 hours away. They’re going up for the day and staying the night since it's a bit of a drive."

"Oh..." Veronica replied with a slow nod. He noticed that her expression changed slightly and knew that the implications of Evie leaving for the night must have sunk in. A coy smile spread across her lips. He felt his heart beat speed up slightly, recognizing the look on her face and tried to keep a similar smirk off his own face.

"Hopefully the two of you can figure out something to occupy your time," Kathleen said with a smug expression. Logan shot Kathleen a quick warning glance as she tried unsuccessfully to bite back a smile. He felt his face heat up slightly as he shook his head at her.

“Well we do have an appointment with the doctor’s office this morning, so that will keep us busy for a while,” Logan said, trying to keep his tone completely neutral.

“Mm hmmm,” Kathleen responded with an amused smile. Sara came back down at that moment with one of Evie’s backpacks and Corny.

“Ready to go sweetheart?” Kathleen asked as she gave Evie a warm smile.

Evie nodded and hopped off her chair, running over to Logan. “But I want Daddy to come too,” she said with a pout.

“Sorry kiddo,” Logan said as he reached down and scooped her up. “I have to go to an appointment today with Veronica, but you’ll have lots of fun with Nana and Sara.” He gave her a tender kiss on the cheek and smiled lovingly at her.

“Okay,” she said with a slightly sad look on her face. She leaned in and kissed him on the cheek and hugged him around the neck. “I love you,” she said as she squeezed him tightly.

“I love you too Evie,” he said in return as he gave her another kiss on the cheek. “Be good for Nana and Sara and no running off okay? You need to hold their hand even in the zoo. There can be a lot of people there and I don’t want you to get lost, okay?” She looked up at him with a small smile and nodded. He took a deep breath and gave her another kiss before he put her down on the ground again. He couldn’t believe how hard it was to be apart from her sometimes. There had only been a handful of times since she first came into his life three years ago that they’d spent the night apart. Of course she was always with Kathleen when she wasn’t with him, so that always made him worry less.

“Give me an update later on how the day’s going,” Logan asked as he looked in Kathleen’s direction. She nodded and gave him an understanding smile as she walked over and took Evie’s hand.

“I’ll even text you some pictures,” she said with a loving smile as she reached out and squeezed his arm. “Say bye to Veronica too,” Kathleen added as she glanced back in Veronica’s direction.

Evie dropped Kathleen’s hand and ran back over to where Veronica was sitting and wrapped her arms around her waist, seemingly catching her a bit by surprise. “Bye Vronica,” she said as she hugged her for a few seconds.

“Bye Evie,” Veronica said with a tender smile as she placed her hand on top of her head and rubbed it softly. “Have fun seeing all the animals.”

Evie stepped back and nodded before she ran back over to take Kathleen’s hand again. “Bye Daddy,” she called out as they turned and headed for the front door, with Kathleen and Sara calling out goodbyes as well.

After also saying a quick goodbye, Logan stood staring in the direction they’d gone, listening as the front door opened and then closed again. He hadn’t heard Veronica get up from the table, but before he’d even turned back around he felt her arms wrap around his waist and he could feel her press a kiss to his back.

“You okay?” she asked softly as her cheek was resting against his back. He spun around carefully so he could see her, still encircled by her arms. He nodded and smiled tenderly down at her. “You don’t spend much time apart from her do you?” she asked as she looked up at him with a compassionate expression.

He shook his head as he reached up and gently stroked her hair. “Is it that obvious?” he asked as he stared into her radiant blue eyes.

“Well I do have experience as a private eye, you know,” she replied with a slightly teasing smile. “But yeah… it’s pretty obvious.” He nodded and let out a small sigh. “So I get to have you all to myself the rest of the day?” she asked with a slightly mischievous smile.

“Yep… they probably won’t be back until late tomorrow afternoon,” he said as he took a deep breath, trying not to imagine all the possible ways he’d like to spend the next 30 or so hours with her. “You still up for horseback riding on the beach?” At least if he had things planned, maybe that would help him stay out of trouble.

“Of course,” she replied as she stared up at him with a playful look in her eyes. He tried to remember the last time he’d seen her look as relaxed and happy as she did in that moment. It seemed like back in Neptune, occasions like that were so rare. There was always something either coming between them or her having to deal with some traumatic case, that she always seemed so on edge or angry.

“So I was thinking we’d go to the doctor’s appointment, then maybe grab some lunch in Florence and then to the stable for an afternoon beach ride,” he suggested as he moved his arms down around her waist as well. She smiled and nodded up at him. “Did you bring a swim suit along?”

She narrowed her eyes slightly and shook her head. “I was working on a case, not going on vacation.”

He chuckled slightly. “Well I was thinking I do have a hot tub and thought you might enjoy a relaxing dip later,” he explained with a slightly sly grin. “Although you could just go in the buff…” She narrowed her eyes even more and gave him a firm glare. “I was just kidding of course,” he quickly added, even though he could tell her glare was all for show and that she really wasn’t mad. “We could stop at a shop in Florence and pick up a suit for you if you’d be interested in that.”

She nodded and smiled again. “I thought maybe you were going to try to make me surf again,” she said before giving him a curious look. “You do still surf don’t you?”

He shrugged in reply. “Not often, but I do have a board. Like I said before, it’s not exactly SoCal weather here all the time. There are some decent surf spots though, so I’ve gone several times, but nothing like when I was in Neptune.” He noticed her expression became a bit sad almost. “What?” he asked as he reached up to stroke her head again.

“I don’t know… you used to love it so much… I guess I just feel bad for you that you don’t get to do it much now.”

He gave her a tender smile. “Believe it or not, I’ve discovered there are things more worthwhile than surfing.”

She nodded in understanding and a soft smile returned to her lips. “Well I’ll admit I used to really enjoy watching you surf,” she said with an almost a bashful look on her face.

“Really?” he couldn’t help but waggle his eyebrows slightly at her. “Was there anything else you used to enjoy watching me do?”

“Hmmm…” she gave him a thoughtful look as if she was having a hard time thinking of something else. “I did enjoy watching you sleep because then you were actually quiet,” she responded with a playful smile on her lips.

He chuckled softly and shook his head. “Yeah, I could say the same about you, but it would be a lie since you snore so loudly.”

Her eyes popped open in mock indignation. “Do not!”

He laughed louder and nodded. “You totally do Veronica! Why do you think Evie ended up sleeping on top of me and not by you were she started?”

Veronica’s expression changed to look genuinely surprised rather than just the playful look that had been there before. “No? Wait… you were asleep when she came in. You’re just messing with me now.” She narrowed her eyes and studied him carefully, obviously trying to figure out if he was lying.

“I’ll record you tonight,” he whispered in her ear as he leaned down and kissed her cheek.

“Well that will be difficult if I’m sleeping in the other room and lock the door,” she replied back with a look of annoyance on her face, although he could tell she was just teasing him.

“Okay… okay… you don’t snore… I’m sure it’s just the purr a bobcat makes.”

She narrowed her eyes and glared slightly at him again. He gave her a devious smile and then leaned down and kissed her below the ear, sucking gently on her neck, causing her to moan slightly. He moved his lips so they were by her ear again. “I wish we didn’t have to go so I could see if I could find other ways to make you purr like a bobcat,” he said seductively before running his lips lightly along the edge of her ear.

She took a deep breath and turned so she could look him in the eyes. “How the hell are we going to keep up this ‘taking it slow’ thing now that we’ve lost our pint-sized buffer?”

He laughed softly and shook his head. “I have no idea.” He took a deep breath as he stared intensely at her. “Just to be honest though, I’m still struggling between what I want to do and what I know I should probably do… I understand why logically taking it slow is the responsible choice… It’s just… well you know… If it was entirely up to me and I was allowed to just be completely free to choose… well I’m sure you can guess what I’d choose… whether or not it was the smart thing… because well… I rarely end up doing the smart thing… especially when it comes to acting rationally around you.”

Veronica laughed. “I think that’s the most long winded speech you’ve ever made that basically could be summed up with ‘I want to have sex with you.’” Logan’s eyes popped open in total surprise. “Well that is what you were implying… come on… I’m not dumb Logan… I’m also not saying that I think that’s a good idea… but that’s totally what you were thinking and you know it.”

Logan laughed and shook his head. “Well thanks for making me at least sound civilized in your summation… I’m sure you could have come up with something much more inappropriate that you'd expect me to say.”

She laughed and nodded. “Anytime… that’s what I’m here for… to make you sound civilized.”

He narrowed his eyes at her again. He just couldn’t help himself and asked his question without giving it much thought. “And how about you… how much are you struggling with being responsible versus being impulsive?”

She bit on her lip and looked a bit caught off guard. She always seemed to be the voice of reason between them. He’d of course do whatever she decided, but he couldn't help but wonder how much she was also being impacted by this growing sexual tension between them. He really didn’t think it was just him having a hard time with it though, especially considering the way she straddled him the night before on the bed in the guest room. But he knew if either of them would be able to stick to their resolution, it would be her. She still hadn’t answered him and was just giving him a cautious look. He leaned in so he could whisper in her ear again. “Because if you’re thinking you’re going to crumble on your resolve, I may need to pick up some... provisions.”

“Logan…” she protested slightly, though it didn’t come out very convincingly. “You’re not making this any easier you know?”

He laughed and shook his head before he gave her a salacious grin. “That’s the point. You shouldn’t actually be surprised.” He paused a moment before he decide to go out on a bit of a limb. “You can’t expect that I’ve changed that much, especially when it comes to you. I told you last night, this is torture because we know how amazing it is when we’re together and it’s not like we can just pretend that never happened.” He watched her carefully and was waiting for her to stop him, but when she didn’t, he continued on. “I promise, whatever you decide I’ll stick to it 100%… I can’t say there won’t be some whining at some point, but I’ll try to keep it to a minimum… And I can think of reasons why I think keeping this as platonic as we have so far may be for the best… but like I said… I’ve never been known to do the smart thing… and well… around you, I seem to eventually lose the ability to even remember what the smart thing was.”

The playful look that was on her face disappeared, replaced by a troubled one. “I can’t stay you know… and if… I just don’t want either one of us to get hurt… I don’t want to give you the wrong idea… I’m going to have to go back… so I can go to Stanford… at some point...”

“Hey,” he said as he moved both his hands so he could cup her face. “I know that,” he nodded firmly as he spoke. “I know you do… but that doesn’t mean that whatever this is that we are finding again between has to completely end… not if we don’t want it to. I don’t think we should hold back now because we may have to be apart for a while later…" He paused for a second trying to think of the best way to express what he wanted to say. "A thousand miles seems pretty far… But they've got planes and trains and cars.” He couldn’t help a little smirk forming on his lips after he said it.

She laughed and shook her head. “Did you just steal lyrics from the Plain White T’s?”

His lips turned up into a larger smile and he nodded. “And I don’t think technically its a thousand miles to Palo Alto… but close enough.”

“You’d come visit me?” she asked in a hopeful tone.

“Of course,” he said with a warm smile and a nod of his head. “God Veronica… I’d be there in an instant if you asked me to come see you… of course with Evie…” he paused and looked at her a bit nervously. Was that going to freak her out? He couldn’t really imagine just taking off and leaving Evie behind whenever Veronica wanted him to come and visit her, but maybe that’s not what she wanted, or expected.

“Of course I’d expect you to bring Evie too,” she said with a tender expression. “I get it Logan… she’s your daughter and an important part of your life. I’d never expect you to just leave her behind to come spend time with me.”

He swallowed a lump that he hadn’t expected to find in his throat and nodded slowly at her. For a moment he thought about how he might actually love her more now than he ever had all those years ago. He leaned in and pressed his lips to hers. The kiss wasn’t frantic and desperate like some of the ones from the night before, but it was deep and heartfelt. He hoped she could tell how much he did still love her from it, even though he was still afraid to say it out loud. His fear wasn’t in her knowing that he did, but rather in what her reaction might be. That’s why he hoped she could tell from the kiss, but not be as overwhelmed as she might be from the actual words. He finally pulled his lips away and took a deep breath. He heard her take in a deep breath as well and almost thought he felt her shudder a bit.

“We should probably be going soon, so we aren’t late for my appointment,” he said quietly as he stared deeply into her sparkling blue eyes.

She nodded and let out a long slow breath. “Yeah… I need to run up and grab a few things from my room.”

He leaned in and kissed her gently on the forehead before dropping his arms from her so she could go upstairs. While he waited for her, he quickly cleaned up all the remaining breakfast dishes while thinking over everything that had just happened. He wondered how long her resolve really would hold up, as well as how long she could actually stay. If he was a match for Nick, he imagined they’d want to set up the procedure as soon as possible, and he really hoped she’d be able to be there with him for that. They hadn’t talked through all of those specifics, and he decided the drive to Florence would probably be as good a time as any to discuss some of those things.

Twenty minutes later they were heading south on the highway toward Florence, after putting Bella out for the day and packing up his camera gear for their horseback riding trip. "Did they say how long before they will know if I'm a viable match?" He asked as they drove, deciding to start with an easier topic.

"I think by Monday," she answered as he saw her turn toward him out of the corner of his eye. He glanced at her for a second before focusing on the road again. “I think it’s really wonderful that you agreed to see if you’re a match for him. I know Charlie really appreciates it too. He’d really like to thank you himself if you feel ready to talk to him soon.”

He shot a quick glance at her again and saw the expectant expression on her face and gave her a small smile before turning forward. “Yeah… maybe over the weekend.” He took a deep breath, knowing this was probably as good a segue as he was going to get. “So… when do you need to head back to California?” He glanced quickly at her to see what her expression was. She’d turned away from him though and was looking forward, making it hard to tell.

“Well… I have to be in Palo Alto in about two weeks… two weeks from Monday actually.”

“And Neptune?” he asked as he looked quickly in her direction again. He saw a small smirk on her a face.

“Tired of me already?” she asked in a teasing tone.

“Of course not… I was already plotting on how to hold you hostage here without your dad coming up to find you,” he replied with a broad smile. “Figured I would just borrow your phone and then pretend to be you in a text.”

“I’m not sure if I’m flattered or disturbed that you may have actually thought about it…” she replied back playfully.

“If um… if I’m a match and they do the procedure before you have to be at Stanford… would you go with me?”

Veronica reached across and placed her hand on his that was resting on his right leg. “Of course I would, Logan.”

“Thanks… Kathleen said she’d come along to help with Evie, but I’d really appreciate it if you could be there too. I figure if I’m going to meet my brother finally, I’d really like him to meet Evie too... and I’d feel better if you were with us too.”

She paused for a moment before she replied, perhaps letting that completely sink in first. “I’m sure he’ll be excited to meet Evie. He said they’d do the procedure in San Diego since that’s where the specialist is they’ve been seeing. Do you think you’ll want to drive up to Neptune? I’m sure my dad would love to meet Kathleen and Evie.”

Logan hadn’t been in Neptune in three years, and he really wasn’t sure he wanted to go back now. He shrugged and gently stroked the back of her hand with his thumb. “I don’t know…” He realized his hesitation might be misconstrued and she might think it was about Keith. “I’m just not sure I really want to go back to Neptune. Maybe your dad could come and see us in San Diego though. If we had some time before the procedure, maybe we could all go to the zoo, since you seemed pretty excited when we mentioned it this morning.”

She squeezed his hand a little tighter. “Yeah… maybe we can do that. I know you may take a few days after the procedure to feel up to doing much activity.”

He nodded in agreement. He’d looked up a few things about what to expect if he did do it, and soreness from the procedure was quite common, as well as several other side-effects from that sort of surgery. He’d been given anesthesia so often when he was younger, that he wasn’t expecting any harsh reactions from that at all. Maybe he’d actually built up an immunity to it thanks to some of the more significant injuries from Aaron over the years.

He realized she still hadn’t answered his question about how long she was going to stay, but decided to let it drop for now. He’d love it if she could stay until either they had to go to San Diego for the procedure, or she had to leave for Stanford. They pulled into the parking lot for the medical center a few minutes later and he lifted her hand up to kiss the back of it before releasing it so they could climb out of the SUV. She waited for him to walk over to her, before lacing their fingers together to walk into the building.

The appointment, which was a combination of getting his blood drawn and a consultation with the local expert on those types of procedures, didn’t take very long and it was still a bit too early for lunch when they were finished so Logan suggested they could either go and check out the shops down on the bay front, or they could drive over to Honeyman State Park and check out the gigantic sand dunes. Veronica opted for the park, so they drove farther south on the highway until they reached the turn-off for the park. After driving down to where they could see the huge sand dunes, he circled back up and parked in one of the lots that was on the edge of Cleawox lake. He gave her a jovial smile before they both climbed out and he locked up the SUV. She walked around and met him at the back of the SUV and started pulling him in the direction of the large lake they could see from the parking lot, but he pulled slightly on her and gestured his head in the opposite direction. She gave him a sly smile as she saw the sign for a trail saying it led to LillyLake.

“Everyone goes to the larger lake, but not as many people walk to the smaller one,” he said with a lighthearted grin.

“I don’t think Lilly would like knowing that the smaller lake shared her name,” Veronica commented as she looked affectionately at him. He chuckled and nodded his head as they walked slowly along the trail that weaved its way through the trees along the small lake. He found a secluded spot right off the trail, where they could sit and watch the water for a while. There was a large fallen log to sit on and he took a seat first and then scooted back so she could sit between his legs. He wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her softly on the juncture of her neck and shoulder. There were a few ducks swimming in the water, and they sat quietly watching them for a few minutes before she shifted so she could turn to face him.

She reached up and gently stroked his cheek with her hand as he closed his eyes briefly and took in a deep breath. “I know I didn’t answer you earlier…” she said as she looked intently into his eyes. “I guess I really don’t know… how long I will stay.”

He nodded and leaned in to kiss her a few times on her lips before sitting up straighter again so he could see her better. “Well I vote for staying as long as you possibly can. But I understand if there are things you have to go back to take care of.” He was absent mindedly rubbing one of his hands up and down her leg that she’d lifted up closer to her chest when she’d turned to look at him.

“Let’s see how the test results come back and then I’ll decide. If you want me to stay longer, and you’re not going to San Diego, then I will, but if you are going to San Diego, then maybe I’ll just stay and go back when you fly down if it’s before school starts. But only if you want me to stay…”

He leaned down to kiss her again, pulling back slightly after the kiss to whisper ‘I very much want’ to her. She captured his lips again and shifted slightly so their upper bodies were better aligned. She finally pulled back and gave him a rapturous smile.

“It’s really peaceful here,” she said softly as her eyes slowly made their way from his eyes, up to his hair and then back down to his lips, before they settled back on his eyes again.

“Yeah…” he agreed quietly. “Kathleen actually dragged us down here a few times to camp.” Veronica gave him a slightly disbelieving look. He laughed softly and nodded before he spoke again. “The whole sleeping in a tent and having a camp-fire sort of camping.”

Veronica shook her head and laughed softly too. “I would have loved to see that... Mr. penthouse and room service, sleeping in a tent?”

Logan gave her a sheepish look. “Well I might have ordered a deluxe air mattress and a few other frivolous luxuries to make it bearable. Evie of course loved it. She loved making s’mores and cooking hotdogs over the fire. I at least have pretty wicked fire building skills from all the beach bonfires I started when we were younger.” She nodded in agreement. “We’ve been saying we need to do it again before the rainy weather comes back, but haven’t gotten around to it yet. Maybe I should add that to the list of things we could do before you head back to California.” He watched an excited smile form on her face, before she replaced it with a more serious look.

“Logan, I really didn’t plan for this to turn out the way it has… and I… well I didn’t really bring clothes for camping or swimming… or… well not much of anything besides trying to find you.”

Logan laughed softly and ran his hand across her hair. “Veronica, I can buy you some clothes. It’s not a problem you know, and please don’t say you don’t want me to buy you things, because I’m the one putting you in this position.” He waggled his eyebrows at her. “And speaking of positions…”

She let out an amused scoff and poked him in the stomach. “You’re impossible. You really do still have a one track mind don’t you?”

He gave her a salacious grin and leaned in closer so his mouth was right by her ear. “Only when it comes to you,” he said in a husky tone. He heard her let out a deep sigh and moved her head so it was resting against his. He pressed his lips to the side of her head and kissed her gently.

They repositioned themselves so they could sit and watch the water a little while longer until Veronica’s stomach rumbled. “And there’s our cue that it’s time to go to lunch,” Logan said playfully as he rubbed his hand in slow circles across her stomach. She caught his hand in her own and held it against her body for a moment before turning to look at him with an expression he couldn’t quite read. She looked a bit hesitant or troubled for a moment before she spoke.

“When you and Katy were happy… did you ever… you know… talk about having another baby, since you already had Evie…”

He was definitely caught off guard by that question and not quite sure where it came from. He slowly shook his head and moved his hand so he could gently touch her head. “No… we never talked about anything like that,” he replied as he watched her carefully. “Evie was enough of a handful sometimes. I couldn’t imagine having another baby to deal with too.”

“You’re so good with her though,” she said as her expression became a little less troubled than it had been. “I just wondered… you know… if maybe the two of you had talked about what it would be like for her to have a sibling.”

He gave her a tender look and ran his hand slowly down the side of her head along her neck, gently rubbing her shoulder. “We were never really happy long enough for something that significant to come up.” He still wasn’t sure exactly where this had come from, and it certainly felt like it was out of the blue to him. “I meant what I said about Katy, Veronica. Even if she were to come back, I’m not getting involved with her again. Whether you’re here or at Stanford, I’m not going down that road with her again. Our happy moments are so far in the past now and every time she left us, it hurt me a little more, because I had to watch what that did to Evie too.” She nodded and gave him a tentative smile, but he could see there was something wrong still by the look in her eyes.

“What’s wrong?” he said softly as he moved his hand back up to hold her head gently.

She shook her head and looked away for a moment. “I’m just being ridiculous that’s all,”

she said softly as she bit on her bottom lip.

“You’re never ridiculous Veronica,” he said reassuringly as his thumb gently stroked her cheek. “Please tell me.”

She looked at him with an almost heartbroken expression. “I never really thought about it mattering before… but now… with you and Evie…” She paused and looked at him with the troubled expression on her face again. She took a deep breath and he could tell she was trying to force herself to continue but he just watched her patiently. “There’s a strong possibility I can’t have any kids… so you and I… we couldn’t… for Evie…”

“Oh Veronica,” he said as wrapped his arms around her and pulled her as close to him as he could. He placed a long slow kiss on the top of her head as he held her tightly. They’d never talked about it before, but he’d pieced a few things together from his dad’s trial and what happened with Cassidy. “I never thought I’d want kids, and Evie was a completely unexpected surprise, but she’s more than enough for me. Please don’t worry about that.” She nodded against his chest as he ran his arms up and down her back.

“I’m sorry,” she said suddenly and sat up a bit straighter. “I really have no idea why I even said that now.”

He gently caressed her head again and gave her a reassuring look as he nodded. “It’s okay. You don’t need to apologize.” She nodded and tried to give him a smile. “But Veronica… if you ever want to talk about it… know that I’m here for you okay? Always.”

She smiled a bit more and nodded. He leaned in and pressed his lips to hers, giving her a slow heartfelt kiss. When he finished he left his forehead resting against hers and rubbed a hand up and down her arm again. She leaned in and gave him a quick peck on the lips before pulling away and sitting up straighter.

“Lunch?” she asked with a small smile on her face again. He could tell she was still a bit upset and that the smile didn’t seem completely genuine, but he also knew pushing her if it was something she didn’t want to talk about never worked out well so he nodded and smiled back.

They made their way back up the trail to his SUV with his arm wrapped around her shoulders and her arm around his waist. He walked with her to the passenger side of the car and pulled the door open for her, giving her a kiss before she climbed in. They were both silent for the drive to the restaurant, but it was only a few minutes from the beach park. He took her to La Pomodori, a quaint little Italian food restaurant that Kathleen had raved about after she’d gone to eat there with a few of her friends. Veronica’s mood seemed to improve as soon as they were seated and she started looking over the menu. By the time the food arrived, he’d entertained her with some of the mishaps that had occurred on his first few camping trips with Kathleen and Sara. The uneasiness that had been on her face by the lake seemed to be completely gone by the time they were finished with their lunch. Kathleen had also texted a few pictures of Evie at the zoo, which made him feel a bit better knowing everything was going okay with them too. As they headed back to the car to drive to the stable for their beach ride, he was relieved to see the lighthearted, happy look back on her face that he’d seen earlier that morning before they’d left the house. He’d give anything to always be able to be the one to make her look like that and really hoped he’d continue to get the chance to do it.

Chapter 18

Chapter Text

Chapter 18

Logan drove north out of Florence and turned off the highway at C&M Stables. After they had parked they were greeted by a young woman named Heidi. She led them around to where the horses were kept, asking them about their riding experience along the way. Given neither of them had really ridden before, she said they had some really gentle horses that she’d pair them up with. She also said they could pet the horses while they waited for a few other riders to arrive, after they were all signed in. Veronica’s was a brown and white horse named Starburst and Logan’s was a white and black horse named Jersey. Heidi assured them that both boys were very gentle. Logan couldn’t help but notice how absolutely excited Veronica was as she went over to pet Starburst. There was a twinkle in her eye that he wasn’t sure he’d actually ever seen there before. Veronica gleefully ran her hands up and down the horses face, laughing as she felt the velvety soft nose and the horse softly nickered against her hand. There were a few other workers at the ranch who brought out saddles and got the horses ready for their ride. Logan caught a slight look of nervousness as Veronica first climbed on to her horse, but it quickly vanished as she felt more secure in the saddle.

They followed the guide along the trail out to the beach. Once they were on the beach the group was allowed to spread out a bit more as long as they didn’t get too far away from the rest of the riders. Logan and Veronica ended up in the back of the group, enjoying the view as they made their way leisurely down the beach. Veronica had brought Logan’s camera along and took some photos of him riding, and then passed the camera off to him so he could take a few of her as well. At one point, Heidi offered to take a picture of the two of them together and they leaned toward each other in their saddles with Logan’s arm draped around Veronica’s shoulders and huge smiles on their faces.

By the time they made it back to the stables, Logan was glad they were only on a 2 hour ride because his legs and butt were already sore from the ride. He was really looking forward to enjoying the hot tub later when they got back to his house. He suggested they go to Fred Meyers, which was a large store in Florence that basically had anything you could possibly need. It had clothing, shoes, grocery, electronics, and even a garden center. While Veronica was looking through the swim suit options, Logan’s phone rang and he saw it was Kathleen calling.

“I’m just going to run outside so the reception is better to talk to them. I’ll be back in just a little bit,” he said to Veronica. She gave him an understanding smile and went back to looking at the suits again.

When he answered the phone, Kathleen let him know that Evie was really missing him and wanted to talk to him. They were still at the zoo, but had just taken a little break for some ice cream.

“Hey sweetie,” Logan said as Evie got on the phone. “Are you having fun with Nana and Sara?”

“Yes… but I miss you,” she said softly.

“Did you see the monkeys already?”

“Yes.”

“What else have you seen?”

“I fed the birds. One landed on Sara’s head. She didn’t like that at all, but it made me and Nana laugh.”

“Poor Sara. Didn’t that happen last time we went too?”

“I think so… we saw the lions and the elephants too.”

“Did you ride the train yet?”

“No…”

“Maybe Nana can take you on that next. Do you want me to ask her?”

“Okay.”

He could tell she wasn’t as enthusiastic as she normally was as they were talking. “I love you and you can call me later when you get to the hotel to tell me all about it,” he told her before she gave the phone back to Kathleen.

“I love you too.”

Kathleen came on the line again and Logan suggested the train to her. “Maybe you can get off at the park and let her play there for a while. I’m sure playing with other kids there will get her mind off missing me.”

“She was actually doing pretty good until we stopped for ice cream. Something about ice cream always reminds her of you… wonder why that is?” Kathleen said in a teasing tone.

Logan chuckled. “I’ll have you know I’m super strict when it comes to ice cream.”

“Yeah right… and I’m Peter Pan. We’ll call you later when we get to the hotel. There’s a pool there too, so I’m sure once she gets in the water with Sara, she’ll have even more fun.”

They said good bye and he headed back in to where he left Veronica. She was still looking at the rack of swim suits, and he was a little surprised that she hadn’t found something yet, but a few minutes after he returned, she picked a couple that she liked and went into the dressing room to try them on. He’d offered to buy her a few other outfits if she wanted, and she found a couple shirts that she liked and a few pairs of shorts. She passed on his offer to get her some better shoes for if they did end up camping, since they weren’t sure they were going to be able to do that, not knowing if he'd be going to California for the procedure. He picked up some groceries so he’d have something to cook them for dinner and then they headed back to his house. While they’d been affectionate throughout the afternoon, mostly just holding hands or quick little kisses, he figured that the real test of their resolve would come once they were alone at his house again.

“Did you want to use the hot tub before dinner or after?” Logan asked as he parked the car in the garage. He caught her yawning before she had even unbuckled her seat belt. “Or… perhaps a nap first?”

She chuckled and gave him a small smile. “I’d actually love a nap. Hanging out with you, even without Evie to keep up with, is exhausting.”

He nodded and leaned over to place a light kiss on her lips. “I’d love to take a nap with you too.”

She grabbed her purse and the bag with her clothes from the store, while he grabbed the grocery bags. “I think I might go and take a quick shower before our nap though, if that’s okay. I sort of smell like a barn.”

Logan laughed and nodded and told her he’d be upstairs after he put the groceries away and he’d probably take a shower too. As he walked by her room on the way to his, he heard that the water was still going and took a deep breath to resist the urge to just go in and join her. He grabbed some clean clothes as he headed through his room and started his own shower. After he was done showering he climbed out, dried off, got dressed, and then headed back out to his room. He chuckled when he saw that Veronica had already come in to his room and was asleep on the bed. He carefully crawled in next to her and kissed her lightly on the shoulder as he nestled in to lay behind her. He heard her let out a soft moan, but it wasn’t enough to wake her up, and he wrapped his arms gently around her and pulled her a little closer against his chest before he closed his eyes and quickly fell asleep too.

When he woke up about two hours later, he noticed it was already starting to get a little bit dim outside. Veronica was still snuggled up against him, with her back pressed to his chest. He laid there as still as possible relishing the moment. He knew he probably wouldn't get another day like today, where it was just the two of them and no other pressures from the rest of the world. Of course the main thing preventing more time with her was that she'd need to go back to California sometime soon. He was still thankful that she was back in his life again though, even if it was only for a limited time right now. He listened to her rhythmic breathing, enjoying the perfect peaceful moment. He finally placed a few kisses on her shoulder and neck and she started to wake up. She turned over so she could face him and gave him a sleepy smile.

“I guess I fell asleep waiting for you, didn’t I?”

He nodded and kissed her tenderly on the forehead. “Yeah, but I’ll forgive you,” he replied tenderly as he brushed hair out of her face.

“Thanks,” she said with a small chuckle.

He shifted slightly and pressed his lips to hers, moving his hand so he could cup the side of her head. The kiss started out slowly, but quickly started to get more intense.

“I thought kissing in bed was on the not to do list,” she said breathlessly when they finally parted for a moment.

“Right… you know I’m not good with rules though,” he replied before going back to kiss her again. He moved his hand from her head and ran it down her side, enjoying the feel of her body under his fingers. He hesitated for a moment at her hip, fighting the urge to move it around to grab her ass and pull her on top of him.

He pulled back from kissing her and took a deep breath. “Okay… we’d better get downstairs so I can make you something for dinner. The sun will be setting soon, and it’s really gorgeous to watch from the deck, so we can whip up something quick and sit out there and watch it.”

She looked a bit surprised as he quickly rolled out of bed and away from her, but didn't say anything about it. He gave her a playful smile and held out his hand for her to take. She helped him get the food ready and thirty minutes later they were sitting out on the deck, as close as possible while still being in two different chairs, eating their dinner. They finished up eating right before the sun started setting into the Pacific. The sunset was a beautiful one, and Veronica showed him his to use the self timer on his camera to take a few pictures of the two of them with the pinkish orange sky behind them.

As they were carrying their dishes back into the house, his phone rang and he saw it was Kathleen again. Kathleen let Evie talk to him and this time she seemed much more at ease than before and told him all about the train ride and playing at the playground at WashingtonPark when they got off the train there. They had ordered room service for dinner, and she was very excited to be able to eat in their room. She told him that after dinner they went swimming in the pool and that she was getting better at swimming underwater. They had a membership at a fitness center and aquatic center in Florence and Evie had started taking swimming lessons there recently. When Kathleen got back on the phone, she told him that she expected Evie to fall asleep soon because she could tell she was quickly running out of steam. He was glad to know they were safe and sound, tucked away in their hotel room for the night.

"Does the offer for a soak in your hot tub still stand?" Veronica asked with a hopeful look after he’d gotten off the phone.

"Of course," he replied, although he really wasn't sure how he was going to behave himself with her wet and mostly naked. They headed up stairs to change and he said he'd meet her downstairs in the hot tub since he needed to unlock it and set it up. He anxiously waited for her and decided that waiting in the water might be safer than being out of it when she got down there. He'd cringed to himself at the store when she ended up getting a red swim suit that, while it wasn't a small string bikini, it wasn't going to cover all that much more skin.

The hot tub was situated so they could look out at the ocean and there was a full moon, so even though it was dark, there was still a lot of light from that. He'd left the lights on in the house and he was a little surprised that they were going off as she made her way down to the hot tub.

"I hope you don't mind, but I thought we'd be able to see the stars better," she said as she flicked off the one by the door and came outside.

He shook his head, assuming she could still see him in the bright moonlight. Actually not being able to see her very well, may work to my advantage. She came over and climbed into the hot tub, slowly inching in to get used to the hot water. He tried to keep his attention out on the ocean and not the deep slow moan she made as she slid in next to him.

“This feels wonderful,” she said in an almost sultry voice. She’s so not playing fair at all. “Wow, look at all the stars. I can’t believe how bright they are. It’s stunning here.”

“Yeah…” he said, not sounding very confident at all. He had his hands resting on his legs, thinking if he just kept them there, he might be able to resist touching her.

“Thanks for taking me riding today,” she said as she wrapped her arm around his that was closest to her, and then laced their fingers together, resting them on his thigh.

“You’re welcome,” he said trying to focus on anything but the way her fingers felt ghosting across his leg when she had put it on top of his hand and intertwined her fingers with his.

“Dinner and the sunset were really nice too,” she added as she leaned more into him and rested her head on his shoulder.

“Yeah…” he answered again. Apparently one or two word answers are really the best I’m going to be able to manage.

She turned her head and kissed him on the shoulder. “You’re not very talkative tonight are you?” she commented after she’d kissed him.

“Sorry… just… um…” Trying not to focus on you being practically naked and wet next to me.

“Are you worried about Evie?” she asked as she rested her head against his shoulder again.

“No…” he replied, still not really sure what to say that wouldn’t come out a jumbled mess of nonsense.

She laughed at him and reached up with her other hand so she could turn his head toward her. He’d been trying to just look out at the water and not at her, knowing that the suit she had on was going to be a little on the revealing side. “Is talking to me in the hot tub breaking one of the rules on your list?” she said with a playful smirk on her face.

He shook his head. “No, talking would be fine… I’m worried about what else I might try to do though… what I’d really like to do is definitely on the list of things I shouldn’t do.”

Her smile became more seductive as she stared into his eyes. “Maybe breaking a few rules wouldn’t be such a bad thing.” She looked at him a bit more mischievously. “I think it was Katharine Hepburn that said ‘if you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun’.”

He swallowed hard and nodded his head, trying really hard to just focus on her face and not let his eyes roam lower. “I really don’t want to miss all the fun,” he said in a husky tone.

She bit on her lip for a few seconds. “I was thinking… we may not get another chance like this… like tonight… to break some rules being all alone here.”

He could feel his heartbeat speeding up and he was still just sitting there staring at her, too afraid to actually move. She let go of his hand that she’d been holding and stood up in the hot tub in front of him. Keeping his focus on her eyes now seemed impossible as her chest was directly in his line of sight. He stared at her breasts for a few seconds before looking up higher so he was staring into her eyes again. Unfortunately, the thought of how voluptuous her breasts looked in the suit was stuck in his mind now. She gave him a coy smile as she started moving slowly toward him. She gracefully climbed on to his lap, so that she was resting her knees on the seat below him, balanced about half way up his thighs.

“Veronica…” he struggled to say in an unsteady tone. “I’m not sure I’m going to be able to control myself with you like this.”

She gave him a slightly devious smile. “So you’re saying I shouldn’t tempt you… if I want to stick to taking things slow?”

He nodded and looked at her a bit helplessly. He’d moved his hands so they were resting out to the side of him on the seat underneath him when she’d come toward him, so they were far enough away from her that he wasn’t touching her with them.

“Don’t you think we deserve a little reward for being so good for as long as we have?” she asked as she leaned in a little closer to him, though she was still seated about halfway up his thighs. He was thankful that she hadn’t shifted her body all the way against his, because at this point there wasn’t any chance that she wouldn’t be able to tell how aroused he was already. All he could do was nod in reply, causing her to smile even more. “While I’ve really enjoyed well-behaved Logan… I’m sort of missing the rule breaking Logan who liked to be bad sometimes,” she said and then licked her lower lip and took a deep breath. “Do you think he might still be around?” she asked almost breathlessly.

And that was totally the end of his restraint. Wet, half-way naked, seductive Veronica on his lap was really more than he could handle. He nodded and moved his hands so they were running intently up her thighs. Before they even reached her hips, he’d leaned toward her and kissed her passionately on the lips. Once his hands reached her hips, he finally let them slip around her back, starting first at her lower back, but quickly moving down lower to firmly clutch her ass. He felt her moan into his mouth as her hands came up to grab his shoulders almost hard enough to leave bruises. She shifted herself so she was pressed up against him, and realizing the state he was already in, she inhaled sharply and rocked slightly against him. His hands had gone back to roaming across her body again, finally moving up to lightly brush along the sides of her breasts. He felt her tremble slightly and let out a breathy sigh.

“I’ve missed you touching me so much,” she breathed against his ear. She sat up on her knees a bit more, so her chest was closer to his face and as his lips sucked lightly on her collarbone, she shifted up even more, effectively moving so that his mouth was right above her left breast. He sucked the skin right above where the swimsuit was located, while he moved his other hand to cup her other breast ardently. She moaned loudly and arched up against him.

Her hands were exploring his body at that point as well, and when he felt her fingers slide into the band of his shorts he sucked in a loud gasping breath. There wasn’t any doubt in his mind where they were likely headed which posed a huge problem for him since as he’d warned her that morning, he didn’t have any protection for them to use.

“Wait…” he said as his chest heaved heavily. “I didn’t… remember… I didn’t get any provisions…”

She laughed and nodded. “I remembered…” Her expression became much more salacious. “I may have picked some up when you were on the phone at the store. You know… just in case.”

God, could I love her anymore than I do at this moment? He smiled wolfishly at her and then captured her lips with his again, savoring the feel of her hot skin pressed up against his. They stayed in the hot tub for a while, enjoying each other just enough, but not crossing the line of needing to go in for the condoms she’d bought yet. Eventually though, they were getting too close to the point of needing them, and he brusquely whispered into her ear that they should go inside. He didn’t even bother to worry about covering up the hot tub, figuring he could come back out later and do it since Evie was gone, or if he didn’t even get to it until the morning it really wouldn’t be the end of the world. Since they were wet from the hot tub, he suggested they should probably get out of their wet suits so they didn’t have a soggy bed to deal with. Veronica gave him a sly smile and shimmied out of her suit as soon as they walked inside, tossing it into the bathroom room that was in the hall on the way to the stairs that lead up to the main floor. He gave her a predatory grin, and did the same, then picked her up and kissed her passionately against the wall in the hallway. By the time they finally made it up to her room to get to the condoms, there was no way that he was going to make it all the way across the hall to his own bed, so they ended up on the smaller guest room bed. It was a good thing they were the only ones at the house since neither of them were very quiet as they thoroughly enjoyed being intimate with each other again. He wondered if it was the fact that they were older now and more trusting of each other, or if it was just the built up sexual tension from the past few days, but he swore it was the best sex they’d ever had together.

“Sorry, I’m such a bad influence on your life and made you break some rules,” she whispered playfully as they were blissfully wrapped up together, completely exhausted from what they had just done.

He chuckled softly and kissed her cheek. “I think my life needed a little bit of rule-breaking. And there’s no one I’d rather be bad with than you.”

She gently caressed his cheek and gave him a look of pure adoration. “There’s no one I want to be bad with other than you either,” she replied in almost a whisper. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes and nuzzled her head against his neck and shoulder, placing a tender kiss there.

He had no idea now how he was going to be able to let her go, but knew he still had to. Even if they only had this one perfect night for now, he was more determined than ever to figure out how to make a long-distance relationship work with her while she was at Stanford. It’s only three years… what’s another three years to us when we’re epic.

Chapter 19

Chapter Text

Chapter 19

Veronica woke up when she felt something bump against her. She laid still in her half awake state for a moment trying to figure out what it was, then realized Logan must have been dreaming and jolted suddenly in his sleep. A lazy smile crept across her lips as she remembered this feeling, being wrapped up in his arms, him spooning her from behind, making her feel completely safe and warm all over. They were both still naked, so she could feel his warm face pressed against her shoulder blade and his strong forearms wrapped around her waist. One of his legs was also tangled between hers and she gently stroked her foot against his calf. His breathing was deep and steady and he didn't stir at all from the movement. She had one of her arms slightly behind her with her hand resting in his hip. She let out a deep contented sigh as she felt the heat from his entire body radiate into her skin.

They were in his room now, having taken a shower together after blissfully enjoying the afterglow of the first time they'd been together in over three years for a while first. This was certainly not where she expected to be with just barely two weeks to go before she needed to be in Palo Alto for law school. Why couldn't Charlie have asked me to find him at the beginning of the summer so we would have had more time together? She'd often thought of the two of them as magnets, and when lined up properly, they were unable to do anything but be unavoidably attracted to each other. Of course at other times in their lives, they'd certainly been misaligned and those times were absolutely horrible. She really hoped that they were long past dealing with those horrendous times though. She was still amazed at how him being here with Evie and Kathleen, people who loved him unconditionally, had clearly had such a significant impact on him. She’d seen glimmers of that man thru the years, but there always seemed to be some thing that would happen to push those positive qualities farther from the surface. Here, away from Neptune, he finally seemed to have found a sanctuary that allowed him to escape all the horrible things that nearly destroyed him in Neptune and brought out all the best parts of him.

Does it really matter if he’s here or in Neptune when I’m not going to be in Neptune for much of the next three years either? While she couldn’t deny a small part of her was sad that they had spent so many years apart already, she wasn’t sure that without what had happened to him in those years in between that they would have ended up here either. Things had certainly reached an extreme level of dysfunction for them by the end of their freshman year at Hearst. Who knows if he had been there when she got back from Virginia if they would have been able to repair things, or if they would have kept spiraling apart until they did irreparable damage to each other. She was still elated over him saying that he’d come and visit her at Stanford. She knew it was going to be tough enough living that far away from her dad for the first time in her life, and if Logan could come and visit her a few times, that would certainly make those three years more bearable. Even with that, the more she thought about leaving for Stanford, the more anxious she felt and the fact that they had very limited time together bothered her even more.

Being lost in her own thoughts, she wasn’t really paying close attention to what she was doing and must have started nervously fidgeting her foot against his calf, and she felt Logan let out a soft moan and then kiss her on the shoulder. “You okay?” he whispered softly against her skin before his warm lips made contact again.

“I am now,” she whispered back softly and turned over, pressing her lips to his. ‘Mmm… time for round two,’ she thought as he pulled her tightly against his body. Well maybe round three if I count what he did to me in the shower.

He strategically rolled her on to her back as they continued to kiss, repositioning himself between her thighs while keeping from crushing her with his forearms. “You are absolutely amazing,” he whispered against her skin as his mouth moved from her lips, down her neck, stopping again at one of her breasts. She moaned and arched up against him. It was still dark outside, but there was enough light coming in from the moon that she could still see him well enough to watch the expressions on his face as he blissfully enjoyed her body.

“You’re pretty amazing yourself,” she replied back breathlessly. She felt him laugh softly against her sensitive skin before he shifted his attention to her other breast.

“I never imagined that I’d get to touch you like this again,” he said as he moved his head back up by hers and looked into her eyes with a scorching gaze. He slid his hand down the side of her body, reaching under her to pull her even tighter against him as he kissed her passionately. “I missed it so much though,” he said as he nuzzled his nose against her cheek and then brushed his lips lightly against hers. “I know you may not believe me, but no one ever makes me feel the way you do.”

She obviously didn’t want to know how many others there may have been, and certainly wasn’t going to judge him for that. And not surprisingly, no one else had ever made her feel the same way either. Now, just as last night, the way he looked at her and took his time touching her body it felt as if he was trying to memorize every inch of her again. The feel of his mouth and fingers against her skin was so exhilarating that she couldn't help but want even more. “I believe you,” she said softy as she nipped at his lips gently. “You’re the only guy who’s ever made me feel the way I do when you’re making love to me,” she added with a tender smile. “It’s like we’re made to be together… it just took some time for us to find our way back to each other again.” She took a deep breath and felt a slight rush of adrenaline course through her realizing just how much he did mean to her. Is this what really being in love feels like? I was always afraid to let myself fall completely in love with him before, but knowing how much it hurt when he was gone and what it’s like having him back now, I can’t imagine letting him go again. “I don’t want to lose you again,” she said almost desperately.

“You won’t have to,” he said a little emotionally, still staring intensely into her eyes.

“Promise?” she asked before she could second guess herself. Maybe it was the anxiety she was feeling about leaving for Stanford, or just the result of being so intimate with him, but whatever it was, she couldn’t remember ever feeling this way before. Knowing what it was like to live the last three years without him was another reason for her desperation. As frightening as it was too feel this way, if there was anyone in the world she could be vulnerable with, she knew it would be Logan. After everything they’d been through together, they had a stronger bond than she could ever imagine having with any other person, and the thought of letting him go again terrified her more than being vulnerable.

“Of course I promise,” he said as he reached up and stroked her hair gently. He took a deep shaky breath before he continued. “I love you Veronica. I always have and I always will.”

She took a deep breath and felt her heart pounding erratically in her chest. All the times he’d confessed his love for her before, she’d always held back, never able to say the words to him, answering him with a simple yes if he asked her if she loved him too. Why is this always so difficult for me even after all this time? Even knowing how much he means to me now?

There must have been something in her expression that caused him to misread her reaction to his declaration. “I’m sorry,” he said with a worried look on his face. “I shouldn’t have said that, I didn’t mean to freak you out.” He started to pull slightly away from her.

“No… it’s not… don’t apologize… I just…” she muttered and took another deep breath. She reached up and pulled his head back to hers, pressing her mouth against his. “I love you too,” she whispered after their lips parted.

A tender smile formed on his lips before he kissed her deeply. He put his arms behind her back and pulled her up as he rocked back so he was resting on his knees, tightening his hold on her as he continued kissing her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and shifted up slightly so she could get even closer to him, her legs sliding down on the outside of his. They’d had the obligatory safe sex and health status conversation a bit awkwardly when they were in the hot tub. She was glad they’d gotten that out of the way, as well as the equally awkward pre-activity apology if it didn’t last very long since he said it had been a while for him. To her relief, though not really a surprise, that turned out not to be much of a concern. She moved again so she could slide down on to him, wanting to enjoy the feel of just him for a little while. His surprised groan was even more intoxicating than she expected. There were only a few times in college that they had been that intimate, and those were the moments she remembered with the most intensity. Those rare times when she felt so utterly connected to him it was almost frightening. He seemed to be letting them enjoy the sensation for as long as he could before he finally warned her they’d better stop and carefully laid her down on the bed. The reverent way he looked at her made her heart pound a little faster. He kissed her before reaching for a condom out of the box that they’d wisely relocated to his bedroom on their way to the shower. He gave her a predatory look as he crawled back on top of her to continue where they had left off.

When they were finished a while later and wrapped up together again under his sheets, she realized again how much she really didn’t want to lose this. Why does our timing have to be so off? She could feel the anxiety from earlier starting to creep back into her thoughts. She kissed his chest and then squeezed him tightly.

“I promise I’m not going to sneak off,” he said with a soft laugh as he kissed the top of her head and ran his hands slowly up and down her back. “It would be easier to sleep if I could breathe though.”

“Sorry,” she whispered as she relaxed her hold slightly.

“It’s okay, but what was the death grip for?” he replied tenderly as he kissed her forehead and then shifted around so he could see her face. He started to play with her hair, twirling strands of it around her fingers and he watched her carefully, waiting for her answer.

“Just thinking how we have pretty bad timing,” she mumbled softly.

“Hey,” he said with a half grin and then gently stroked her head. “There’s nothing bad about you being back in my life, even if you have to run off to Stanford soon. I meant it when I said I’d come visit you.”

“I know,” she replied with what she hoped looked like a convincing smile.

“And if you have any long breaks and want to come visit us here, I’ll pay for you to fly up,” he said. He quickly gave her a stern look before she could even reply. “And don’t say I don’t have to do that, because I want to do it so no argument.” He looked at her a little more seriously. “Kathleen probably could get you an internship with the DA here if you’d be interested in that. She’s pretty persuasive at getting things she wants, and she does have several connections in Newport from when Brad worked at the Sheriff’s Department. I know it may not be as exciting as an internship in a big city, but there are a lot of interesting cases that come through anyway. Not to mention there would be benefits to working in a smaller office with getting more exposure to a wider variety of things.”

Veronica smiled and nodded in reply. “Yeah… I think I’d like that. Dad might not be thrilled, but I doubt I would have ended up in Neptune for an internship either.”

“Well he’s welcome to come and visit for a while too… if he wants to,” he added a bit nervously.

“You know a great B&B to put him up in?” she asked as she bit coyly on her lower lip.

Logan chuckled and nodded. “Exactly… wouldn’t want to have to behave myself if he was staying here, now would I?” He nipped lightly at her lip when she started to smile.

“How about Evie?” she asked, wondering how things might shift once she was home again.

“I don’t think I can just send her to the B&B,” he replied with a little wink causing Veronica to laugh softly. “At least she’s a sound sleeper and I have a lock on my bedroom door.” He said with a sly smile before he kissed her chastely on the lips. “And speaking of Evie… we should probably get some sleep because my little force of nature will be home tomorrow… today? I have no idea what time it is… but she’ll be back and full of energy from a long car ride I’m sure.” She nodded as they repositioned themselves slightly to be more comfortable.

He kissed her again tenderly on the top of the head before he whispered, “I love you, Veronica” against her hair.

A tender smile formed on Veronica’s face. “I love you too,” she whispered back against his chest and this time it didn’t feel quite as overwhelming as the first.

When Veronica woke up again it was already starting to get light out. She was still wrapped up in Logan’s arms, although at some point they’d shifted back to him spooning her from behind. She saw Bella poke her head up and look at them, starting to wag her tail when she saw Veronica was looking at her. She let out a little bark, which drew a slight groan from Logan. “I think someone wants out,” Veronica said softly with a grin on her face. Bella barked again when she heard the word out.

“Mmm… I think someone wants in,” Logan said huskily as he thrust his hips against her. She laughed and shook her head as Bella barked again when she heard his voice. “Alright, Bella,” he said before placing a warm kiss on Veronica’s shoulder. “I’m coming… though not the kind I’d rather be doing.” Veronica rolled on to her back and gave him an incredulous look as he waggled his eyebrows at her. “What? I can be a little bad, can’t I? I won’t be able to get away with blatant innuendoes for long, so I’ve got to enjoy them now.” He leaned toward her and kissed her for a few seconds before rolling out of bed and heading for one of his dressers.

She took a deep breath as she enjoyed the sight of his toned body moving across the room. This is what I’ll also miss when I go back to California. The little things like watching him walk naked around his bedroom and the ridiculous little jokes he makes. He gave her a little wink before he headed out the door with Bella leading the way and barking again. Veronica stretched and pulled the sheet back up over her as she leaned up against the headboard. Logan returned a couple minutes later, bounding on to the bed with a big grin on his face. He crawled up the bed toward her with a predatory look in his eye. She couldn’t help but laugh at him.

“So…” he said as he wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his head in her lap, turning slightly so he could look up at her. “Do you want me to make you some breakfast, or do you want to go out?” She gave him a concerned look, not wanting to deal with Allison again. He must have realized what the expression was for and quickly clarified the suggestion. “Not the same restaurant we went to with Evie. There’s a restaurant at the Adobe Resort that serves breakfast and has a great location right on the ocean, plus really delicious food.”

She could tell by the look on his face that he really wanted to go out for breakfast. “Sure, that sounds good.” She brushed her hand through his hair as she looked down at him. He still had the same blissful look on his face as he had when she’d told him that she loved him the night before. She couldn’t help but match his smile with one of her own. She knew it was a bit sappy, but being here with him seemed almost magical somehow. He shifted up on to his arms so he could kiss her.

“Maybe we could spend a little more time in bed before we go…” he suggested as he waggled his eyebrows and gave her a lascivious grin.

“Still sleepy?” she asked with a laugh in her tone.

“Yeah… sleepy…” he said as he started kissing her under the ear and pulling the sheet down. “So very sleepy.”

She was actually impressed with his endurance, although they had been asleep for a few hours since the last time. She of course wasn’t going to complain, knowing there was a limit to how much longer they may have to be together like this. Not only would she need to be leaving for Stanford, but she was also sure that once Evie was back, things would be different as well. They finally made it out of bed and into the shower. She’d been a bit too preoccupied with him the night before to realize how luxurious the shower actually was. She hadn’t even noticed that it had several wall mounted heads, in addition to the large waterfall one above, although it was still a little difficult to focus on anything besides him. She definitely enjoyed the hot water, as well as getting to spend more time with his wonderful naked body. He wrapped her in a big fluffy towel after they were done and lifted her on to the bathroom counter so he could more easily reach her mouth. They kissed for a while before he finally backed off a bit so they could catch their breath.

“I’m not sure once Evie’s back we’ll get the chance to have many morning showers together… that might be a little too difficult to explain,” he said with a disappointed tone as he gazed into her eyes and brushed some wet strands of hair back from her face.

“I know… but I understand too.” She let out a deep breath. “We’ll just have to take a few night ones after she’s asleep, before I have to go back.”

He smiled and nodded in reply. “Yeah… that would work.” His expression became a bit troubled before he spoke again. “I’m really going to miss you when you go.”

She gave him a sad smile and nodded. “Yeah… I’m going to really miss you too.” She let out a soft laugh. “I still can’t quite believe we’re really here again. Not that I’m not happy about it. I just never expected it.” He nodded in understanding.

“You know I would still dream about you sometimes,” he said quietly as he tipped his head down and looked up at her through his lashes giving her a shy smile.

“Really?” she asked with a bit of disbelief in her tone.

“Of course… I meant it when I said that I never stopped loving you Veronica. How could I ever forget you? I never thought you’d be in my life again since I wasn’t planning on ever going back to Neptune and I never expected you to show up here, but I am so thankful that you did.”

“Me too,” she answered with a tender smile as she ran her hand across his cheek. “And I never forgot you either Logan. School kept me busy of course, but in the back of my mind I kept wondering where you may have ended up and what your life was like. I of course never expected it to include a little blonde ball of energy.”

“Yeah, I don’t think anyone would ever have expected that. Not even me, before it happened. I’m sorry I never tried to reach out to you to let you know where I was. I guess I thought it was better that way. I’d made my decision and couldn’t really force you to be part of the life I’d chosen. So of course I’m so thankful that you’ve been so understanding and how great you’ve been with Evie too.”

She smiled and nodded. She never expected that either. She certainly had never had a burning desire to be a mother, but something about being with Evie was just different. It was comfortable and special. Something she never would have expected to find with a young child. Maybe it was the fact that she could sort of connect with her, knowing what it was like not to have a mother around. Not to mention their personalities seemed to be so similar.

He leaned in and kissed her again for a few minutes. “Okay, we’d better get ready to go before they stop serving breakfast,” he said a bit reluctantly as he took a small step away from her. She nodded and pulled him back toward her and kissed him again.

“I’ll get ready quickly if we get five more minutes of kissing,” she said playfully as she ghosted her lips across his.

“Mmm… okay. You drive a hard bargain, Miss Mars,” he said with a soft laugh before going back to kissing her again.

Thirty minutes later they were being seated at a table that looked out toward the ocean at the Adobe Resort’s restaurant. They snuggled together on the same side of the table, with Logan placing occasional soft kisses against her head and caressing her back as they looked out at the ocean and waited for their breakfast to be delivered. As Logan had told her, the food really was delicious and the view was definitely to die for. They were almost done eating when Veronica’s phone rang. A nervous look crossed her face when she saw the name on the display.

“It’s Charlie,” she said barely above a whisper as she looked down at her phone.

Logan nodded and gave her an understanding look as he waited for her to answer it.

Charlie let her know that their doctor had asked the lab to put a rush on Logan’s test since he was anxious to try to find a donor for Nick. He’d actually called Charlie that morning to give him the good news that if Logan was willing to do the procedure, that he was a very good match for Nick.

“That’s great Charlie. I’m with Logan now and can let him know,” she said after Charlie gave her the news. “Why don’t I talk with him and we’ll call you back soon.”

Charlie agreed and thanked her again. She could tell there was a bit of anxiety in his voice as he had to wait to hear back on Logan’s final decision of whether to go through with the procedure or not. But Veronica felt like she owed it to Logan to give him a little more time to process it, rather than being put on the spot while she was on the phone with Charlie.

“I’m a match?’ Logan asked as she disconnected the call. Veronica nodded in reply. She waited a moment to give him time to think about it instead of pressuring him for an immediate response. “Did he say when they’d be able to do the procedure?”

Veronica shook her head. “I wanted to give you time to be sure you really wanted to go through with it, before jumping into that,” she explained.

“Of course I want to help them,” Logan said, without any hesitation. “I would hope someone would do the same if Evie were ever in a similar situation and they were able to help her.”

Veronica nodded in understanding. “Do you feel like you’re ready to talk to him yet? Maybe you should be the one to call back and make the arrangements for the actual procedure.”

Logan took a deep breath, looking slightly worried for a moment before he nodded. “Yeah, I suppose I should.”

“Do you want to drive home and call him back?” She asked next as she gently caressed his hand with her own.

“Yeah… that’s probably better too.” He replied a little tentatively.

“I’ll just send him a quick text letting him know we’ll call him in about 15-20 minutes?” she asked as she watched him carefully. Logan took another deep breath and nodded.

They finished up with breakfast and then about 20 minutes later they arrived back at Logan’s house. They took a seat on the couch on the main floor and she pulled out her phone to call him back. They'd agreed on the drive to his house that they'd call him back on speaker so they could both hear him.

"Hi Charlie," Veronica said after he'd answered the call. "Logan and I are here on speaker phone." Veronica looked at Logan with a supportive smile waiting to see if he was going to say something.

"You have no idea how grateful I am that you even considered doing this Logan. I know this came completely out of no where." Charlie's voice sounded very apprehensive. She couldn't imagine being in his position and being so close to having a donor, but not yet knowing what Logan's decision was and the worry that he might say no.

"Of course... I have a daughter now too, so I can understand how you feel. If something were ever to happen to her, I'd hope there'd be someone willing to help her too if they could." Veronica gave Logan a tender smile and squeezed his hand gently as he spoke.

"Does that mean you'll go through with the procedure?" Charlie asked still sounding very nervous about whether Logan had decided to help them.

"Yeah," Logan replied as he gave Veronica a tender smile in return.

“You have no idea how much this means to us Logan. I… I’m so sorry about how I handled things all those years ago…”

Logan cut Charlie off before he could continue on. “It’s okay Charlie… that was a long time ago… I didn’t exactly handle things very well either… Let’s just let that be bygones now and start fresh.”

“Thanks Logan… really, I have no idea how we can ever thank you for this.”

They spent the next twenty minutes working out details for the trip. Charlie had told them that his doctor would really like to do it Tuesday or Wednesday of that week if at all possible, but if not, they could push it out a little while. Charlie said that he realized that was pretty sudden and understood if Logan needed more time before he could fly down. Logan looked questioningly at Veronica, who nodded in agreement before he said that they could make that work. Charlie told him that he'd get back to him as soon as he heard more from their doctor and reiterated again how sincerely grateful they were that he was willing to do this for Nick.

Veronica couldn't help feeling a bit disappointed after the call and it must have shown in her expression. “What’s wrong?” Logan asked as he gently brushed his hand across her head.

She shrugged before she answered him. “I just thought we’d have a little more time here… before we had to go back to California.” She really was enjoying spending time here with him, where everything just seemed a little bit easier.

He tipped his head and kissed her on the forehead before pulling her onto his lap. “Yeah… but I’m glad you’ll be able to be there for me when I go for the procedure though and not back at Stanford already.”

She nodded and ran her fingers through his hair. “Yeah… do you think you’ll head back up here as soon as you’re feeling better… or stick around down there a while?”

He gave her an affectionate smile and placed a lingering kiss on her lips. “I’m sure sticking around longer could be arranged. Kathleen will probably just stay until I’m feeling better, but Evie and I could stay longer if you want.”

“Of course I want,” she said with a grateful smile. “I’ll need to spend some time in Neptune getting everything packed up though, but San Diego isn’t that far.”

He nodded and took a deep breath. “Maybe we could come and stay in Neptune after the surgery is over so we’d be closer. I know I said before I didn’t really want to go back, but I’d be willing to so we could spend more time together.”

“Thank you,” she said softly before she pressed her lips against his again. He pulled her closer as they continued to kiss.

“Mmm… I could come up with some other ways for you to thank me,” he said playfully as he leaned her back on to the couch and laid down next to her, running his fingers lightly under her shirt along her back.

“I’m sure you could,” she replied with a salacious grin as she reached up to start unbuttoning his shirt.

He moved his mouth to her neck and sucked lightly right below her ear making her moan loudly and hesitate on undoing his shirt. He was starting to push her shirt up as he scraped his teeth lightly along her neck when they heard the front door open and close loudly. Both their eyes opened wide as they bolted up and tried to quickly adjust their clothes.

“Daddy!” Evie yelled from the front door before they heard her feet running through the entry way toward them.

Chapter 20

Chapter Text

Chapter 20

"Daddy!" Evie yelled with a huge smile on her face as she barreled into Logan who was still sitting on the couch. Veronica had scooted over slightly but was close enough to feel Evie's hair brush against her shoulder.

"Hey sweetheart," Logan replied as he gave her a tight hug and then kissed her on the top of the head. "I didn't expect you back so early."

Kathleen and Sara had walked into the room at that point and Kathleen had a confused expression on her face. "Sara sent you a text this morning when we left Portland."

Logan shook his head and gave Sara a questioning look. Sara pulled her phone out and pressed on the screen a few times then gave Logan a guilty look. "Oops... I guess I sent that to Devin by mistake." Logan glared slightly at her. "Sorry," Sara replied with a sheepish look.

Logan turned his attention back to Evie. "Did you have fun?" he asked as she repositioned herself on his lap.

She nodded and rested her head against his chest. "Yes, but I missed you."

"I missed you too," Logan replied as he kissed her on the top of the head again. "Hey, I need to talk to Nana for a few minutes in the kitchen. Can you stay here with Veronica and Sara?"

Evie gave him a stubborn look and shook her head. "I want to stay with you."

"I'll just be in the kitchen Evie," he explained with a soft expression on his face. "It won't take that long."

"We could show Veronica the pictures from the zoo that are on my phone," Sara suggested as she went over and sat on the other side of Veronica.

"That's a great idea," Logan said encouragingly as he stood up to pass Evie off to Sara. Evie clung around his neck though and didn't let go as he tried to set her down. "Come on Evie," Logan said as he pulled on her a bit more.

"No," Evie protested again and shook her head.

Sara handed her phone off to Veronica and stood up so she could wrap her arms around Evie's middle. "I bet you're thirsty," Sara coaxed as she pulled slightly in Evie. "Daddy could bring you a juice box after he talks to Nana."

"Please let go Evie," Logan asked again, clearly starting to get a little exasperated with her. "Show Veronica the pictures and I'll be right back. Are you hungry too? I could grab some crackers or cheese."

"Cookies?" Evie asked, her expression changing from determined to slightly interested.

Logan let out a loud sigh. "Okay, but only two."

Evie looked as though she was considering it for a moment and then nodded and released Logan's neck. Sara sat down, pulling Evie onto her lap in the process.

"Be right back," Logan said as he glanced first at Evie and then Veronica before heading into the kitchen with Kathleen.

Sara took her phone back and gave Veronica a small smile before pressing the screen a few times. "Let's show Veronica the birds," Sara said as she positioned the phone a bit closer to Veronica.

The first picture was of Evie holding a small white cup up to a lorikeet that was drinking from it. "That looks fun," Veronica commented, realizing that was the first thing she'd actually said since they'd arrived. As comfortable as she'd felt at times around all of them, she still felt a bit out of place at times.

Evie nodded and gave Veronica a small smile. "I didn't like it when they flew by my face."

"I don't think I'd like that either," Veronica replied with a grimaced expression. "What was your favorite animal?"

Evie shrugged and glanced toward the kitchen.

"Did you like the penguins?" Sara suggested as she flicked through the pictures and stopped on a penguin one.

Evie shook her head quickly. "It was too smelly in there." Veronica laughed slightly, thinking back to Evie's comment about the brewery. Obviously Evie didn't have much tolerance for things that smelled bad.

Sara nodded in agreement. "But they were still fun to watch."

"I want my juice now," Evie said as she started to slide off Sara's lap.

"Whoa there kiddo," Sara said trying to grab a hold of her without dropping her phone. She wasn't quick enough and Evie took off at a run toward the kitchen before Sara could stop her.

"Evie wait!" Sara yelled out, but of course it didn't stop the determined little girl. Sara let out a frustrated sigh and shook her head. "Well, we tried."

"Should we go after her?" Veronica asked, not really sure what they should do, and by 'we' she sort of meant 'you'.

Sara shrugged and then shook her head. "Any idea what the private chat was about?"

"I'm guessing his brother and plans for going to California. Charlie called earlier this morning," Veronica explained.

Sara nodded. "I'm sort of bummed I'll be staying behind... But sort of not," she replied with a wink.

"You'd better not get into any trouble," Veronica warned, surprising herself with her sudden worry about what Sara might be planning. She recalled pretty well what it was like to be a seventeen year old girl with no parent around.

"Don't worry. Mom will give Devin a lecture and tell his parents she'll be gone, so they'll keep an extra close eye on both of us."

Veronica gave her a knowing smile and nodded. "You know they all mean well."

"I know... I can understand given what Katie went through..." Sara replied with a forlorn expression.

Veronica nodded in agreement, as Logan and Kathleen came back out. Logan was carrying Evie while she was eating a cookie. Veronica noticed Kathleen was carrying a juice box with her.

"Your distraction technique needs some work," Logan said teasingly at Sara.

Sara shrugged and gave him an indifferent smile. "Your daughter is too obstinate for that, you know."

"Oh I know," he said with a sigh as he looked down at Evie. He looked over at Veronica and gave her a soft smile as well. "I'll work on getting reservations taken care of and call you later," he said to Kathleen.

Kathleen nodded and set the juice box down on the coffee table on a coaster. She leaned up and kissed Evie on the cheek. "You be good for your daddy and Veronica."

"Bye Nana," Evie said as she finished the cookie.

"Thank Nana and Sara for taking you to the zoo too," Logan as he looked down at Evie.

"Thank you," Evie said looking at both Kathleen and Sara. Logan went over and sat down on the couch in the spot he'd occupied before, letting Evie slip down a bit but she wasn't budging from his lap.

"Thanks again for taking her," Logan said with a fond smile.

"Of course," Kathleen said as Sara stood up from the couch. "Her bag's by the front door."

They said a few quick goodbyes and then Kathleen and Sara headed back toward the front door.

"I know you just got back today, but we're going in another trip maybe tomorrow," Logan said as he looked down at Evie.

"With you too?" Evie asked with a concerned look on her face.

"Yes, me too, and Nana and Veronica," Logan said as he gave Veronica a soft smile. "And we're going in an airplane. Like when we went to visit Great Grandma and Grandpa Hansen. Do you remember that?"

Evie smiled and nodded apparently remembering their trip. Veronica wondered if the great grandparents he just mentioned were Kathleen's parents and where they may live. She remembered her saying she grew up in the Bay Area and wondered if they were still there. That could be convenient with her going to Stanford if they had other family to visit in the area too. She hadn't thought to ask that when Kathleen mentioned growing up there if she still had relatives there.

"We'll be in the airplane a little longer because where we are going is farther away. We're going to go and meet my brother..."

Evie gave Logan a confused look and interrupted him "You have a brother?"

Logan nodded and gave her a small smile. "Yeah, but I've never met him in person, but he has a little boy, who would be your cousin, and he needs my help because he's sick."

Evie studied Logan for a moment then nodded. "Okay. You always take good care of me when I'm sick."

"Yeah I do, but luckily you're not sick very often."

Evie smiled and nodded. "What's his name?"

"My brother? His name's Charlie."

"No his son. Is he four like me?"

Logan shook his head. "No he's only two and his name is Nick."

"Can I play with him?" Evie asked curiously.

"Maybe when he's better, but probably not while he's still sick. But maybe we could read some stories together."

"Okay. Maybe I can bring some of my books for you to read to us."

"That sounds like a great idea. I'm sure he'd like that," Logan gave her a loving smile as he replied. "I need to do some work on making our travel plans now. Do you want to go play in your room or watch TV?"

Evie shook her head and a pout formed on her lips. "I want to play with you," she replied with an obstinate tone to her voice.

"We can play later, but I've got to get everything figured out for our trip."

Evie didn't look happy with his answer at all and the pout turned into a big frown.

"Maybe Veronica could play with you?" Logan asked as he gave Veronica a hopeful look.

Veronica shrugged and then nodded. "Sure, what do you want to do?" she asked, trying not to sound too hesitant.

"I want to play with daddy," Evie answered. So do I kid, but that ain't happening.

Veronica gave her a small smile. "I'm sure there's something we could do instead, right?" Veronica asked, giving it another shot.

"No," Evie replied with a frustrated sigh.

"Evie, you're not being very nice to Veronica," Logan said in a warning tone. "I'm sure there's something you could do with Veronica while I work on making the plans for our trip.

“I don’t want to play with her. I want to play with you. She can make the plans and you play with me,” Evie said with a very determined expression still on her face.

“Your choices are you can play with Veronica, or you can read a book or watch TV by yourself, but you need to stop being rude to Veronica and you’ll have to wait to play with me until later once everything is taken care of,” Logan said in a very stern tone. “And I want you to tell Veronica you’re sorry for not being nice right now.”

Evie shook her head and crossed her arms over her chest.

“Fine,” Logan replied with the same stern tone. “You can sit there until you’re ready to say you’re sorry then. Veronica and I are going to go and sit at the kitchen table so we can work on the plans for our trip.”

Logan stood up and then looked at Veronica. She wasn’t exactly sure what to do, other than to stand up as well and then when he started to walk toward the kitchen, she started to follow him as well.

“Okay… I’m sorry,” Evie said in a reluctant voice before Logan and Veronica had gotten very far.

“Thank you,” Logan said as he turned back toward her with a warm smile. “Now do you want to do something with Veronica, or read a book or watch TV.”

“Can Veronica read me a story?” Evie asked as she looked over at Veronica.

“Sure,” Veronica replied with a small smile.

“Why don’t you run up to your room and bring a couple books down while Veronica and I get started and then she can read to you while I do more of the planning.”

“Okay,” Evie said as she turned and headed toward the stairs.

“Sorry,” Logan said softly after Evie had left the room. “I should have known she’d be a little difficult since she was away for a while.”

“Has she spent many nights without you?” Veronica asked as they continued on to the table.

Logan shook his head. “She’s stayed the night at Kathleen’s a few times, but those were pretty rare. That was one reason that Kathleen was pushing me to take some college classes, so she’d have a little more time without me.

“Have you thought much about the day of the procedure?” Veronica asked. She’d read a bit about the procedure from the information that Charlie had sent along for Logan, and expected that they’d spend quite a bit of time at the hospital even though it should not require an overnight stay.

“Kathleen should be able to keep her pretty well occupied for the day. I was of course hoping you’d be able to be at the hospital with me,” he stated with a hopeful expression.

“Of course… maybe my dad could help out that day too… there’s a lot of fun stuff to see and do at Balboa Park, so maybe he could take Kathleen and Evie there that day. Were you still hoping to do the zoo before hand?”

“Yeah, if we fly out tomorrow and the procedure isn’t until Tuesday or Wednesday, that will give us a day or two. I was sort of thinking if there’s time, I’d really love to get a chance to surf… It’s been a long time since I’ve done that in warmer water.”

“I’m sure Evie would have fun at the beach there too,” Veronica answered encouragingly.

“I’ll probably just make a hotel reservation in San Diego through Friday, and then we can figure out what to do from there. I know you said you’d need to go back to Neptune to pack. I suppose the Grand is probably still the best option there… though it will certainly be strange to go back after all this time.”

Veronica gave him a knowing look and nodded. “Yeah, I imagine that will be. If you’d rather just stay in San Diego, it’s not that far of drive…” she started to suggest before he cut her off.

“No… I’d rather be able to spend as much time with you as possible before you have to go up to Palo Alto… since we won’t get much time once you’ve started school.”

“Speaking of the Bay Area… where do Evie’s great grandparents live that you mentioned. I remember Kathleen said she grew up in the Bay Area and went to college in Santa Cruz.”

“Yeah… she actually grew up in Santa Cruz and they still live in the same area. Her dad was a professor at UC Santa Cruz… he’s retired now though.”

“Do you visit them often?” Veronica asked, wondering if it was a recurring thing.

Logan shook his head. “No… we all flew down about 6 months ago I guess. It was Kathleen’s mom’s 70^th birthday and her dad had a big party for her. It was the first and only time I’ve met them. I don’t think they were thrilled with how things had gone with Katy.”

Veronica gave him an understanding smile. She could imagine that would be a bit of an awkward situation if they weren’t as supportive about it as Kathleen had been. Before they could continue Evie came bounding back into the room. Instead of an armful of books, like Veronica had expected, Evie was carrying a medium sized plastic bin.

“Changed your mind about reading stories?” Logan asked with a suspicious look on his face.

Evie nodded and continued on to the kitchen table. She set the box she was carrying down and unlatched the lid. “I want to build the train set,” Evie announced as she set the lid down on the table and then reached in and pulled out a glossy looking manual. She gave Veronica an expectant smile and handed it to her. I’ve of course had heard of Toy Story, even though I’ve never seen it... and of course I know what Lego’s are… but Toy Story Legos?

“I thought we were going to wait until you were older to build that one?” Logan asked as he gave Evie a worried look.

“I want to build it today,” Evie said with a determined look on her face.

Veronica looked down at the manual Evie had handed her. Western Train Chase… 584 pieces… that seems like a lot. “I’m not sure I’ll know how to do this Evie. Maybe we could just read some books instead,” Veronica commented with a worried look on her face.

“That’s what the directions are for,” Evie said as she took the manual back from Veronica and opened the pages. “We start here,” Evie added as she pointed to a big number one in the book.

Veronica shot Logan a quick worried look and he gave her an apologetic expression in return. “Evie, I don’t think Veronica really wants to build a big Lego set right now. Is there something else you want to do?”

Evie shook her head with the same determined look on her face. “No, I want to build the train set.”

“How about you find something else to do, and when I’m done with everything I need to do for the trip, I can build it with you this afternoon?” Logan suggested.

“I could try… I guess…” Veronica said a bit uncertainly as she looked at the manual again.

Evie nodded her head and pulled out a smaller plastic bag, dumping the pieces all over the table. “Number one,” Evie said as she pointed to the first step in the book.

Veronica nodded and took a deep breath. This could end up being a very long afternoon.

Logan had started up his laptop computer on the kitchen table and was keeping asfs close an eye on Veronica and Evie as he was on the screen. Veronica thought it was adorable though how he seemed completely incapable of just letting them build the set on their own. He kept correcting Veronica if she started to put a piece in the wrong place. She wondered how many of these he’d put together, and after seeing the 8-14 year old age recommendation, figured if there were other sets around the house, he was likely the one who had put them all together. Especially given how easily he could tell when she was doing something wrong. He’d just helped her find a piece that she couldn’t identify and had finally gone back to looking at his computer screen again.

“Do you think we should get a place close to the hospital, or could we get a place at the beach?”

“Whatever you’d feel more comfortable with,” Veronica answered with a quick smile before she went back to studying the next step in the manual. When he didn’t reply, she looked up from the manual and glanced at him. She couldn’t help but notice a trouble look was on his face as he stared at the computer screen and clicked around a bit with his mouse.

“Everything okay?” Veronica asked without trying to sound too concerned in front of Evie.

Logan glanced up and must have realized that she noticed his demeanor. “Yeah… it’s just…” He let out a soft sigh before he continued. “Of course the nicest place at the ocean would be the Del Coronado.”

Veronica gave him a compassionate smile. “There are other places not around Coronado though I’m sure.”

“Well nothing else is really jumping out at me… not that would be reasonably close to the hospital and the beach.”

“We don’t have to stay at the beach Logan… it’s not like you don’t live at the ocean here,” Veronica replied, trying to be encouraging. She wasn’t surprised he was a bit reluctant to go stay so close to the bridge that held so many terrible memories for him.

“Maybe it’s time to make some better memories there,” Logan said after a brief moment of looking back at his screen. Veronica gave him a tender smile and nodded in agreement when he glanced up at her again for a moment.

Charlie had called back again as Logan was about to work on airline reservations and let him know that they were able to schedule the surgery for Wednesday. Logan seemed to be fidgeting with his mouse again several minutes after he’d gotten off the phone with him. Veronica could sense something else was wrong now as she glanced up from her very slow going, Lego building project. “How’s it going?” she asked softly.

Logan gave her a grim smile and shrugged. “Evie… do you want to sit by me on the airplane, or Nana?”

“You,” Evie answered with out looking up from the Jessie, Woody and Bullseye Lego mini-figures she was playing with.

Clearly that was what he’d expected and what caused the second round of fidgeting.

“That’s fine,” Veronica said with a tender smile. “I don’t mind sitting with Kathleen.” Logan said ‘thanks’ softly with a small smile.

Logan finally finished all of the reservations he was going to make and suggested that they take a break from building the Lego set to have some lunch. He put together some burritos, letting Veronica and Evie choose from different filling options. After finishing their lunch, Evie insisted they finish building her train set. It certainly went much faster having Logan focused on it with just Veronica and Evie helping him when he couldn’t find a specific piece that he needed. Evie was thrilled when it was finally finished.

“Thank you Daddy,” Evie said as she gave Logan a big hug.

“Veronica helped with it too,” Logan reminded Evie with a warm smile in Veronica’s direction.

“Thank you Vronica,” Evie said as she reached up to hug Veronica too.

Veronica was a little caught off guard, but tentatively hugged her back. “You’re welcome. That was actually more fun than I expected.”

Evie smiled and nodded as she turned from Veronica to go back to playing with the pieces. Logan played with Evie for a little while before he told her that he needed to start getting things packed for their trip the following day. Apparently with a new toy to play with, she didn’t seem as determined to have Logan play with her, and didn’t object to him standing up to leave the room.

Veronica gave him a small smile before she stood up as well. “I should go and get my stuff organized too,” Veronica announced as she started to follow Logan toward the stairs. Evie was too engrossed in her new play set to object to either of them leaving her for a little while.

As they reached the stairs, Logan reached out and took Veronica’s hand. They continued up the stairs like that and then he stopped outside of the guest room. “Need any help with that organization?” he asked as he waggled his eyebrows at her.

A coy smile formed on her lips and she nodded in reply. He led her into the room and carefully closed the door behind them. Then he wrapped his arms around her and fell back on the bed, pulling her down on top of him.

“I don’t know how many times I’ve thought about what I wanted to do to you before we were unexpectedly interrupted,” he said in a low husky voice as he started kissing and sucking on her neck.

“Mmmm…” she moaned softly. “And what did you want to do to me?” she purred into his ear.

“I’m afraid you’ll have to wait until Evie’s asleep to find out now,” he teased back as he moved his mouth to the sensitive skin under her ear.

“You’re such a tease,” she laughed against his cheek. “Isn’t it bedtime yet?”

He chuckled and shook his head. “I’m afraid not. You’ll just have to impatiently wait.”

Veronica gave him a sly smile before she started rocking on top of him, causing him to moan and close his eyes. She saw him tense his jaw for a moment before he let out a shaky breath.

“Yeah… who’s going to have to impatiently wait?” she asked with a devious look on her face.

“Has anyone ever told you, that you don’t play fair?” he asked as he took a deep breath.

“You started it,” she replied in a sexy low voice as she ground against him a bit more and sucked right below his ear.

She felt him exhale quickly before a small whine came out of his throat. “Okay… I surrender… you win…” he said between large gasps of air.

She laughed softly and rolled off of him, resting on the bed beside him. “I suppose I was a bit cruel,” she said with an amused tone.

“A bit?” he asked as he took another deep gasping breath. “How am I supposed to focus on packing clothes now… If I end up with only shirts when I get to San Diego, I’m going to blame you.”

“Hm…” she said thoughtfully. “Only shirts… that could be interesting.”

He laughed and shook his head staring up at the ceiling for another moment. Then he turned on his side so he could look at her. She turned toward him as well and gave him a contented smile. He ran his fingers gently along her cheek for a moment and then moved them into her hair and pulled her closer for a deep kiss.

“I can’t wait for bed time,” he said in a low husky voice. She smiled and nodded in agreement. “But I’d better actually go and do some packing.” She nodded again.

He leaned toward her again and captured her lips one more time before he reluctantly stood up from the bed. He gave her a quick little wave before he walked out of her room toward his own.

Evie went back to being rather clingy before Logan had even finished packing his clothes for the trip. It hadn’t taken long for Veronica to organize her things since she had only been there at his house a few days. She wandered into his room when she was finished rather than going back downstairs to see what Evie was doing. Veronica was sitting on his bed watching him pack his suitcase when Evie came in carrying an armful of books. Veronica volunteered to read them to her, which at first was met with a little reluctance because she’d really wanted daddy to read to her, but she eventually caved and let Veronica read to her.

When Logan was finished packing, he suggested a walk before dinner. There was a trail that led from their backyard, between the tree-line and rocky shore. Bella of course happily led the way as they all started off walking. After about five minutes, Evie had asked if Logan would carry her and so he ended up giving her a piggy back ride. After another five minutes or so, they came to a small cove that wasn’t as rocky as the area around Logan’s house. It had a little bit of sand, but was still mostly just rock, although not as rough as the shoreline back at his house. Evie squirmed down once they arrived and carefully looked around the rocks while Logan kept a very watchful eye on her. Bella was also sticking close to Evie, as she walked around the cove looking in small pools of water.

“Starfish,” Evie said excitedly as she pointed to one of the pools. Veronica walked over next to her and leaned down and looked where she had pointed.

“Oh, that’s really pretty Evie,” Veronica remarked as she spotted the pink starfish that Evie had found.

Logan was standing by Evie as well and knelt down with her between his knees so he could look over her shoulder at it. “Good job sweetie. You’re always so good at spotting those.”

Evie’s attention seemed to shift away from looking for sea life after finding the starfish and moved on to finding different rocks to throw into the water. Logan and Veronica had found a large smooth rock to sit on and were sitting side by side watching her. Evie had just picked up one and Veronica expected to hear another splash, but instead Evie turned and ran over to them. “Look, an agate, Daddy,” she said excitedly as she handed the smooth amber colored rock over to him.

“We’ll have to add it to our jar,” Logan said as he took the rock and held it up to look more closely at it.

Veronica had noticed a large jar of different colored agates in their living room, and had never imagined that they’d actually collected them all. There had to be at least 50 rocks in it already. “You collected all the agates in the jar in your living room?” Veronica asked in surprise.

Logan gave her a warm smile and nodded. “Yep, Evie found almost all of them, although I guess I’ve found a few too.”

“Do you want to take it home with you so you can start a jar?” Evie asked Veronica with big expectant eyes. Logan held the rock out toward Veronica, who was completely taken aback by the suggestion. “Then you can remember when you came to visit us,” Evie continued with a fond smile.

Suddenly the realization that this was just a visit to Evie, and realistically that’s all it could be now, hit Veronica. She was reminded yet again that she couldn’t stay. That this was only temporary and that, in basically two weeks, she needed to be at Stanford. Not to mention that today was her last day here since they’d be flying to California the next day. She really wished she could have had more time there with them. Even though the feeling of sadness was all encompassing, she still tried to keep a smile on her face. At least the smile seemed to fool Evie, but she wasn’t so sure it had worked on Logan when she noticed a slightly troubled scowl cross his face briefly.

“I’d love to take it with me. Thank you, Evie,” Veronica said as she took the rock out of Logan’s hand. She ran her thumb over the smooth amber surface, noticing that there were darker and lighter stripes of color swirled around within it.

“Do we have a jar Vronica can use?” Evie asked next as she looked over at Logan with a questioning expression on her face.

“Um… maybe… or maybe we can find one in California during our trip. That might be easier for Veronica. She has to go live in a new city in a couple of weeks to go to college there, so she may want to wait until after she gets everything moved to find a jar.”

Evie gave him a small smile and nodded before she ran back over to where she was picking up rocks and started tossing them into the water again. This time Bella had taken an interest in her game and would bark as the rocks made a splash into one of the deeper pools of water.

Logan put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her a little closer so he could whisper in her ear. “You okay?” he asked softly.

She nodded slowly and leaned against him a bit more. He kissed her forehead and left his arm across her shoulders as they continued to watch Evie. Veronica wondered how often they walked down to this deserted little cove. It was certainly beautiful there and imaging them there without her didn’t help her feel any better about having to leave.

“We should probably get back home so I can make us some dinner,” Logan announced a short while later.

Evie seemed to have more energy on the way back and actually ran a little bit in front of them, with Bella right behind her. Logan put his arm across Veronica’s shoulders again as they started to walk. She’d finally stuck the agate into her pocket and was fidgeting with it as they walked along. One side was very smooth, while the other side had some small bumps. She’d turned it over in her pocket a few times, and finally settled on just running her thumb across the smooth sections. She could actually feel some of the grooves that existed between the dark and light strips of amber.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Logan asked as they continued to walk back up the trail.

“Yeah,” she answered softly, though she wasn’t even sure that she believed it. She was still trying to deal with the awareness of how unfair it was that they came back together now. Of course it would be right as she had to leave to follow her dream of going to Stanford. She’d been so excited earlier in the summer about going there and getting a degree in something that would hopefully allow her to really make a difference in people’s lives. But now that enthusiasm was starting to be completely overshadowed by her feelings about having to leave Logan behind after finally being together again.

He looked at her briefly before he turned back to watch Evie bouncing along the trail in front of them. “You can leave the agate here in our jar if you want,” he suggested. “She’ll likely forget about it when we get to California.”

Veronica shook her head adamantly and held the small stone a little tighter. “No, I’d really like to take it with me,” she replied as she gave him an affirmative look. Logan gave her a tender smile and then nodded. She could tell that he was still wondering what was bothering her, but there really wasn’t time to talk about it then.

Once they made it back to the house, Veronica helped Logan in the kitchen preparing dinner while Evie pulled out some sheets of paper and a big box of crayons from the built in desk in the kitchen where Logan had first searched for a pen to give her the number to the B&B. Evie sat at the counter and colored while Logan and Veronica were working on the food. At least having something to focus on, Veronica was able to put the thoughts about her limited time with Logan to the back of her mind for a little while. Veronica glanced over at Evie’s drawing after she’d been working on it for a while and could tell she was drawing an elephant.

“That’s a great elephant Evie. Is it like the one you saw at the zoo?” Veronica asked as she leaned against the counter so she could see the picture better. Evie nodded as she kept working on it. “At the San Diego zoo they have both Asian and African elephants. Do you know what kind you saw, or do they have both?”

Evie shook her head and stopped coloring to look at Logan. “What kind are they Daddy?”

Logan thought about it for a second before he answered that they were Asian elephants at the Portland Zoo. “We may get to go and see the San Diego Zoo while we are on our trip, Evie. Then you can see what African elephants look like too.”

“What other animals do they have that our zoo doesn’t?” Evie asked curiously.

A thoughtful looked formed on Logan’s face. “Wow, it’s been quite a while since I’ve been there and Veronica’s never been to the Portland zoo, so it’s hard to say. Plus we also got all those new animals with the Predators of the Serengeti expansion last year.” He paused and thought about it for a few more minutes. “Oh, of course… they have Panda’s.”

Evie’s eyes got really big. “Panda Bears?” she asked with an excited squeal as Logan nodded. “Can I pet one?” she asked next, drawing a laugh from Logan.

“No, sorry sweetie. While they may look cute and cuddly, they are still big wild bears and would likely gobble you up in one bite,” Logan said with a playful smile.

“Are they bigger than the polar bears?” Evie asked next watching Logan with keen interest.

Logan shook his head before he answered. “No they aren’t that big, but they are still dangerous.”

Evie nodded in understanding. “What else do they have?” she asked eagerly.

“I could pull up their website on my laptop and we could look through them while we wait for dinner to finish cooking,” Veronica suggested.

“Yes,” Evie replied as she hopped down from her spot at the kitchen counter and ran around to grab Veronica’s hand. “I want to see all their animals.”

“If that’s okay?” Veronica asked looking questioningly at Logan. She all of a sudden felt a bit out of place in suggesting that before she knew what else he might need help with or what their normal pre-dinner routine might be.

“Of course,” he said with a slightly puzzled look.

“I’ll just go get my laptop if you want to wait here,” Veronica told Evie, who nodded and went back to her spot at the counter. Veronica returned from the guest room a few minutes later with her laptop and pulled up the San Diego Zoo website and started going through the animal listing. There were several animals that Evie thought looked different, such as some of the smaller cats and monkeys, but a lot of the larger animals were the same. Logan occasionally wandered over to look over Veronica’s shoulder too when Evie would ask him if they had certain things at their zoo.

They continued talking about different types of animals as they ate their dinner. When they had finished and the dishes were all rinsed and loaded into the dishwasher, Logan announced that it was time for Evie to go and take a bath before bed. Veronica said she’d wait for them downstairs and took her laptop over to sit on the couch. It was starting to get close to sunset, so she abandoned the laptop after a couple of minutes and walked out on the deck. She took a seat on one of the lounge chairs and enjoyed watching the waves crash against the rocks as the sky started to change the lower the sun was getting.

Of course her mind was still stuck on the fact that she’d be leaving the next day, and she found herself pulling the agate out of her pocket and rubbing it with her fingers again. She wasn’t really sure how long she sat their watching the ocean and holding the rock, but after a while she heard the door to the house open and glanced over her shoulder at Logan.

“Hey… I wondered where you’d gotten off to,” he said with a warm smile as he walked toward her. He gently scooted her forward so he could slide onto the chair behind her.

“Where’s Evie?” Veronica asked, wondering if the little girl would be bounding out the door behind him.

“She’s watching Phineas and Ferb again,” he said in a low voice as he placed a kiss at the base of her neck by her shoulder and wrapped his arms around her waist. “She wanted us all to watch Toy Story together since you helped her build the train set and you said you’d never seen it.”

Veronica chuckled. “I don’t think there will be any movies she’s seen that I have… well not kid movies anyway… I’m not sure what else you might let her watch.”

Logan laughed softly in reply. “Yeah, she pretty much only gets to watch things that are rated G.” He laughed a bit louder. “So not what I watched growing up, given I was on set for some of what my parents were filming. And definitely not what I was used to watching before she came into my life.”

Veronica took a deep breath and sunk back against his chest more, staring back out at the ocean. “Penny for your thoughts,” Logan teased gently as he placed another kiss on her shoulder.

She let out a soft sigh. “I just wish that I could have stayed longer… but I know it’s important to go back to help out Nick.” She paused a moment before she spoke again. “I guess I was thinking about our horrible timing again.”

“I thought we already talked about this last night,” Logan said gently as he nuzzled his cheek against her neck.

“I know… it’s just… now we’re one day closer to when I’m going to have to leave,” she replied with a disappointed tone as she wrapped her arms on top of his.

“At least we’ll get to spend time together down there before you have to leave for Stanford,” Logan said softly into her ear before placing a few kisses on her neck.

“Yeah… Neptune…” she replied. Her tone must have reflected her thoughts about making him go back there for her. She couldn’t really blame him for not wanting to go there, and the fact that he was willing to do it to spend more time with her showed how much he really did love her.

“Speaking of Neptune… what are you going to tell your dad… about us?” Logan asked, his voice lower and sounding a bit anxious.

She took a deep breath. That was one conversation she hadn’t quite figured out how to have yet. She knew her dad had never really seemed all that thrilled about the two of them dating before. She of course had done everything she could to try to keep them apart during that time too, so it’s not like she could completely blame either of them.

“What are you going to tell Kathleen?” she volleyed back trying to buy some time.

Logan laughed and she felt him shake his head against her shoulder. “I’m pretty sure Kathleen had already figured out that I was still in love with you even before you showed up at the studio, so I’m not sure how much more there is to say.” Logan paused for a moment before he continued in a more serious tone. “Does he know we’re flying down there tomorrow?”

She shook her head and let out another sigh. “No… I haven’t called him and told him that yet.”

She felt Logan take a deep slightly shaky breath. “Do you not want him to know we’re back together? …we are right? Together?”

Veronica turned on the chair slightly so she could look up at him. She ran her hand tenderly along his cheek. “Yes,” she answered with a warm smile. “Together… you and me,” She paused and looked intently into his eyes for a moment, before her lips lifted into a slight smile. “Although I suppose you never officially asked me,” she added coyly.

Logan’s expression changed to a broad smile. “Veronica Mars, would you please be my girlfriend,” he asked in a slightly mocking tone, though she couldn’t help but smile back.

“Yes,” she said softly before he pressed his lips to hers and kissed her deeply.

When their lips broke apart, he rested his forehead on hers. “We’d better go back in before Evie’s cartoon is over and she starts looking for us… or starts getting into things she shouldn’t. But I haven’t forgotten that you didn’t answer my question, even though you tried to expertly deflect the question with one of your own.”

She gave him a defeated look before she nodded. “I’ll call him before we leave tomorrow.” I want one more night of this bliss before I have to deal with the reality of life again. “I’m sure he’ll be exited to go to the zoo with us on Monday though. He always loves going to the zoo.”

“Does he know about Evie?” Logan asked with a slightly concerned look on his face.

Veronica shrugged. “Sort of… I haven’t told him much about her yet though. But he does know you adopted a little girl.” She could see the concerned look on his face was still there. “I just haven’t really talked much to him since I arrived, other than a few quick updates. And things have moved so quickly for us too.”

He took a deep breath and nodded. His expression became slightly less concerned, though she could still sense some trepidation there. “Okay… movie time,” he said as he unwrapped his arms from her waist so she could get up. She obliged and stood up and then reached out to pull him up as well. He tipped his head down so he could give her one last kiss before they headed back into the house.

Evie had insisted that they watch the movie in Logan’s bed, which he reluctantly agreed to. She’d gotten a little upset that they couldn’t watch Toy Story 3 since that was the one with the train scene, but it hadn’t come out on DVD yet since it was just released in theaters in June. She settled for the second one since Logan pointed out that it at least had Jessie and Bullseye in it. He teased Veronica that he’d fill her in later on what happened in the first one if she was too lost. He had to run down to the bottom floor to find the DVD though, leaving Veronica and Evie alone. Since Evie knew that Veronica had never seen any of them, she gave her an overview of what happened in the first movie as Logan went to get the second one.

“So there’s this little boy named Andy, who has a cowboy doll and lots of cowboy stuff, but then he gets a Buzz Lightyear spaceman doll for his birthday and likes it more. The toys come to life when no one is around too…” Evie paused for a moment trying to remember what else happened. Veronica thought a movie with toys coming to life could actually be a bit freaky, but didn’t mention that to Evie. “Oh… and they are moving and the toys get lost, but then they find a rocket ship and fly into Andy’s car.”

Veronica wasn’t quite sure about the last part, but nodded in agreement.

“I have a Jessie doll!” Evie announced as she hopped off Logan’s bed and ran out of the room. She appeared a moment later with a red headed doll who was wearing black and white chaps and a big red cowboy hat. She climbed back on the bed and handed the doll to Veronica. “She doesn’t like dark places, like being locked in boxes. You’ll see.” I’m not so fond of that myself kid. There’d better not be fire involved either or I’m sure to have some wicked nightmares tonight.

Logan wandered back in the room and gave them both a tender smile as he headed toward the DVD player. Veronica realized she was still holding the doll and handed it back to Evie.

“I could sit in the middle,” Logan suggested as he started heading back toward the bed with the remotes in his hand.

“No, I want to be in the middle,” Evie protested with a pout on her lips. Veronica shrugged at Logan in response and he let out a small defeated sigh and headed to the opposite side from where Veronica was sitting. Totally blocking your daddy’s moves there kid. Veronica tried not to chuckle as she saw Logan’s little pout as he settled himself on the bed.

Evie added plenty of commentary throughout most of the first half of the movie, but started getting sleepy about half way through, and then fell asleep shortly before it ended. Logan carefully picked her up to carry her to her room, whispering to Veronica that he’d be right back.

Logan returned a few minutes later, closing and locking the door behind him. “Mmmm, alone at last,” he said with a wolfish look in his eye as he approached the bed. She felt a rush of adrenaline seeing the look in is eye and knowing exactly what was coming.

“Maybe I should get myself a pair of those chaps and a cowboy hat,” Veronica suggested with a lascivious look in her eyes.

Logan chuckled and shook his head, looking down at the floor before he looked back up at her. “There are already so many things I have to work hard not to think of something salacious from our past… you really don’t need to add to the extensive collection of r-rated memories I have of the two of us doing things that really should be innocent… it’s hard enough being as good as I have been.”

She laughed at his reaction and nodded. “Okay… I’ll just let you wear the chaps and the cowboy hat then.”

He got a mischievous glint in his eye before he pounced on top of her. “I do have some rope down in the garage I could go get if you’d like the cowboy experience with a lasso,” he said with a lecherous smile on his lips.

She reached her hands up under his shirt as she bit softly on her lip. Her fingers traced along his stomach muscles and then up toward his chest. “Garage is too far… we’ll just have to save that for some other night. I want you now,” she replied in a low sultry voice. If this is going to be our last night in his bed for quite a while, I definitely want to savor every second of it… and every spectacular inch of him.

Chapter 21

Chapter Text

Chapter 21

After spending as much time as possible enjoying being alone with Veronica the prior night, morning came much too early for Logan. He was even dreaming about Veronica when he was woken up by the mattress moving as Evie crawled onto the bed and sat behind him. He felt her little knees dig into his back slightly as her small hands landed on his shoulder. He also realized at that moment that he was still pressed up against Veronica who had her back to him. So much for enjoying any private morning time today.

“Is it time to go?” Evie asked in an excited voice. They’d talked more about getting to fly in an airplane while they were eating their dinner, and her level of excitement had grown the more they discussed it.

Logan felt Veronica start to stir as Evie spoke. When Evie was done asking her question, Veronica rolled slightly so she could look up toward both Logan and Evie. She opened her eyes for a moment with a sleepy expression on her face. Logan gave her a soft smile before she closed her eyes again and he turned to answer Evie. “Not yet sweetie. We’ll be leaving shortly after breakfast though.”

Evie gave him a disappointed look. “But I want to go now.”

“Well even if we go now, the pilot won’t be ready to fly the airplane yet and we’d just have to sit at the airport and wait. Plus, Nana isn’t going to be here for another two hours,” Logan explained patiently as he glanced at the clock on the nightstand. He noticed Evie’s expression changed slightly as she looked more carefully at Veronica. Logan shot a quick glance at Veronica as well to be sure that there wasn’t anything amiss. He knew they’d both put on sleepwear before they’d finally fallen asleep together specifically for this moment. There had been no doubt that Evie would pop in before they were awake. Veronica’s eyes were closed again, but everything that should have been covered was, and most of her was still under the blankets, including her waist where his hand was gently resting.

“Why did Vronica get to sleep in here instead of her room, but I didn’t?” Evie asked, her face scrunched up in upset.

“Oh, well…” Logan tried to quickly come up with an answer that wouldn’t upset Evie and wouldn’t get him into trouble either. He shot another quick glance at Veronica and saw the corner of her lip quirk up ever so slightly, but her eyes were still closed. Sure, pretend you’re still asleep so you won’t get the third degree, too. “We were going to talk after the movie and we didn’t want to wake you up, so I carried you to your room. Then we watched another movie after we talked for a little while and we both fell asleep when it was over.”

“I want to sleep with you tonight,” Evie said with a determined look on her face. “At the new hotel.”

Logan tried not to let out a disappointed sigh, since he’d anticipated Evie’s reaction. “Why don’t we wait to see what it’s like when we get there and which bed you want to sleep in then? Did you sleep by Nana or Sara when you went to the zoo?”

“Sara,” Evie replied with a fond smile.

“Well maybe you’ll want to sleep by Nana tonight,” Logan suggested. He’d ended up making reservations at a two-bedroom villa at the BeachVillage at the Del, rather than getting a room in the main hotel. He’d wanted to have a bit more privacy and space. He knew there was a master suite with a king bed and then two queens in the other very large bedroom. He’d hoped, of course, that he could arrange for Veronica to share the king with him, but he wasn’t entirely sure that would work out. He knew he could always move Evie after she was asleep, but eventually she’d get mad about it, like she almost was a few minutes ago. That was something he’d never done with her before because there wasn’t really a reason to not just let her share his giant king bed with him. Veronica had already told him that if she had to take one of the queen beds with Kathleen that she was okay with that, but he was still hoping they could work something else out.

“No, I want to sleep by you, not Nana. Vronica can sleep by Nana,” Evie replied with a determined look on her face again.

“Well there are three big beds, so there will be plenty of room for all of us,” Logan continued, trying not to make a specific commitment so he wouldn’t be in trouble later.

“We only had two at the zoo,” Evie explained as she looked over him at Veronica again. “Is Vronica going to wake up now too?”

“I’m awake,” Veronica mumbled softly and opened her eyes partway again as she smiled at Evie. “Good morning Evie.”

“I get to sleep with Daddy tonight,” Evie told her with a firm tone, absolutely leaving no room for it to be a question.

“Well I suppose that’s only fair. Thank you for letting me sleep with him last night. Maybe we can take turns,” Veronica replied with a sly smile forming on her lips.

“Maybe,” Evie replied, although Logan knew that wasn’t her ‘maybe’ voice, but more her, ‘absolutely not’ one. Logan knew that both he and Kathleen were always talking to Evie about how she had to ‘take turns’ with things, so she probably didn’t totally object since Veronica had worded it that way.

Logan decided it was probably best to get off the topic of sleeping arrangements. “Hey Evie, you should play with Bella for a while this morning before we go. I’m sure she’s really going to miss you while we’re away. Maybe we can blow bubbles for her to chase in the yard after I get up and get dressed.”

“I want to catch the bubbles too,” Evie said with a slightly more excited expression on her face.

“Sounds like a good plan. Why don’t you watch cartoons for a few minutes while I go and take a quick shower and get dressed?” Logan glanced back toward Veronica again checking her reaction to be sure it was okay with her. She must have been able to read his mind and gave him a small nod.

“What should we watch, Evie,” Veronica asked sleepily.

“Dora,” Evie said excitedly as she climbed over the top of Logan to sit on the other side of Veronica.

“Sorry,” Logan whispered in Veronica’s ear as he gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. She gave him a questioning look and he shrugged. Dora the Explorer was not one of the cartoons he was terribly fond of, but he supposed there were worse options she could have chosen. He quickly started one of the cartoons for Evie and then hurried off to the shower to try to save Veronica from having to watch more than one episode.

Logan quickly showered and dressed so he could go downstairs with Evie and Bella. When he walked out of the bathroom, he told Evie to go to her room and he’d be there in a minute to help her get dressed. Veronica’s eyes had been closed again when he first walked into the room, and she’d opened them slightly when he spoke to Evie. “Did you want to sleep a little longer?” he said softly as he leaned close to Veronica and placed a kiss on her forehead. He’d kept her awake most of the night, savoring every minute they had together before they’d be staying with both Kathleen and Evie in San Diego. She gave him a grateful look and nodded slowly. He kissed her one more time. “I’ll wake you up when I come back in to make breakfast.”

“Thank you,” she mumbled as she buried her head back into the pillow and pulled the comforter up higher on her shoulder.

He kissed the top of her head again before he stood up and headed out the door. It was sort of ironic that all those years spent surfing actually helped him in some ways to be a better dad for Evie. Evie had always been a very early riser, and being a surfer, he’d become quite accustom to getting up early. He knew, however, that Veronica had never been much of an early riser, not if she could help it anyway. Many times when they were dating, he’d get up early and head to the beach on his own to surf and she’d join him there later after she woke up. He could imagine it would be a little challenging for her to adjust to Evie’s habit of waking up so early every morning.

He sat on the lower patio and used the bubble gun to blow bubbles for both Evie and Bella. He kept a close eye on the time though, because he wanted to be sure they would have time for a decent breakfast before they had to drive to the airport. It was almost a two--hour drive from Yachats all the way back to the airport in Eugene. While Evie may have been excited about flying to California, Logan was not really looking forward to it. They’d have the two hour drive to the airport, and then the process of getting all checked in at the airport before they’d even board the flight. Then the first leg of the flight from Eugene to San Francisco would be about an hour and a half. Once they arrived in San Francisco they’d have to wait a similar length of time for a brief lay over before boarding a second flight to go the rest of the way to San Diego, which was another hour and a half flight. In some ways, breaking each section up into less than 2 hour blocks may be better with Evie so she would have some little breaks throughout the day, but it was still going to likely be almost 10 hours in total from the time they left his house until they finally made it to Coronado.

“Sweetheart, I need to go in and start breakfast so we have time to eat before Sara and Nana come,” Logan said as he went to put the bubble gun away. They’d decided the day before that Sara would drive Kathleen over to Logan’s house, and then Veronica, Logan, Evie and Kathleen would all ride to the airport in Veronica’s rental car. He’d already transferred Evie’s booster seat over to Veronica’s car the night before and would check it when they boarded the airplane so he could use it in San Diego as well. Sara would pick up Kathleen when she flew back and then one of them would come back to meet Logan and Evie when they finally returned as well.

Logan decided to wake Veronica up before he started cooking their breakfast. Evie took a spot at the kitchen counter with a coloring book and some crayons while Logan ran up to wake Veronica. Evie had picked French toast earlier when he’d asked her what she wanted him to make. He thought that was a great way to use up their remaining eggs and bread before leaving for a while. He still wasn’t sure how long they would actually be gone since Veronica only had about two weeks until she had to start school. Most of the first week would be consumed with the time in San Diego and the procedure, but he still really wanted to spend as much time with Veronica as possible. He even suggested to her that he could drive up to San Francisco with her and help her get settled there. When he mentioned it, Veronica had told him that her dad had offered to ride up with her and then fly home so she wouldn’t have to make the drive alone, but she liked the idea of going with Logan and Evie. Logan wasn’t sure how thrilled Keith would be when he found out that Veronica was considering a change to their original plan.

Logan was also bothered by the fact that Veronica still hadn’t even told Keith that they were all flying back to San Diego today. When Logan had asked her about it the night before, she’d told him she’d call her dad in the morning. He had tried not to overreact to her reluctance to tell Keith that they were together again, but it did bother him that she hadn’t. Logan wasn’t even sure that she’d told her dad that she left the B&B and had spent the last few nights at his house instead. He was trying to be understanding though. He knew that Keith’s approval was important to Veronica and he had hoped that this time around things would go better between him and Keith. Her reluctance was not making him feel confident about it though.

Logan heard her steady breathing as soon as he walked into the bedroom. He carefully closed the bedroom door and then crawled onto the bed so that he was right next to her. He reached out and brushed her hair away from her face so he could kiss her forehead.

“Mm…” Veronica moaned softly as he started kissing her neck next.

“Good morning, beautiful,” Logan said tenderly as he continued to slowly wake her up.

“Good morning,” she replied sleepily. “Are you here for more talking?” she said with a soft chortle.

Logan laughed as he let his head drop to her shoulder. “Don’t think I didn’t notice that you didn’t chime in to help me out there.”

She chuckled softly again and reached up so she could tangle her fingers in his hair, tipping his head back up so she could pull him in for a deep kiss. “Well, I do love talking with you,” she whispered against his lips after the kiss.

“And I love talking with you too,” he replied softly before capturing her lips for another kiss. He let out a low growl as he pulled away slightly from her. “I’m afraid talking is off the agenda for this morning though. Although I would love to continue the conversation we had last night.”

She laughed softly and took a deep breath as she nodded.

“I was about to start making breakfast and thought I’d better make sure you had enough time to get ready too.”

“Thanks,” she said with a warm smile as she leaned up and gave him a quick kiss. “I really hope I don’t have to wait until tomorrow night to get my turn to be alone with you again. You know I’ve never really been great at sharing my toys,” she added playfully.

Logan laughed in response. “Unfortunately that’s something Evie isn’t very good at either, so I guess the two of you will both have to work on that.” He shook his head before he gave her a tender look. “I never expected to have you competing for my attention with a miniature version of you.” She gently brushed her hand along his cheek and nodded in reply. “And while this scenario is probably not exactly like either of us could have ever imagined, I really wouldn’t change it for the world.”

Her expression became a little more emotional before she spoke again in a soft tender tone. “Me either. I love you.”

“I love you too, Veronica,” he replied as he pressed his lips to hers again for a slow gentle kiss. After the kiss he leaned slightly away from her. “Okay, I’d better get to making you and Evie breakfast. I’ll see you downstairs after you shower?” he asked and she nodded in reply. “Okay… and don’t forget you still need to call your dad.”

It definitely hurt to see the sudden tinge of panic that appeared in her eyes at the mention of her dad, but he was trying to be as patient as he could be with her on this subject. Instead of saying anything about it, he gave her a quick kiss and said he’d meet her downstairs when she was ready. On his way back down to the kitchen, he thought about how he really hoped that once Keith saw him again and saw how different Logan was with Evie, that maybe Veronica would also feel more comfortable about it too.

They’d had just enough time to finish eating when Sara and Kathleen arrived. Logan was a little surprised that they were there earlier than he had expected, but he didn’t say anything about it. Kathleen said she’d take care of cleaning up the kitchen if they wanted to finish up any of the packing they still needed to do and bring things down to the car. Sara volunteered to help Evie finish packing the backpack that she would take on the plane with books and things she could play with during the trip.

Logan helped carry Veronica’s bags down, in addition to his own and Evie’s. He had tried to pack as light as possible, but given the uncertainty of the length of their visit made that a challenge. Luckily, Veronica’s rental car had a roomy trunk, so they were easily able to fit all of the luggage into it. Veronica had walked outside with him and leaned against the car while she watched him adjust the bags to maximize the space.

“I called my dad before I came down to eat,” Veronica said a bit hesitantly. Logan stopped arranging the bags and swallowed hard as he looked up at her. There was definitely something in her tone that made him worry that their conversation hadn’t gone well. Her smile appeared to be reassuring, though he still wasn’t convinced everything was fine based on her tone. Before he had a chance to say anything though, Veronica continued. “He’s checking his schedule for tomorrow and Wednesday to see if he can drive down for the zoo and the park.”

“I’d be happy to get him a room at the hotel too if that would make it easier for him,” Logan suggested. He definitely wasn’t going to suggest having him stay at the villa with them, because that seemed way too awkward.

“Oh,” Veronica replied, looking a little surprised by the suggestion. It was only about a forty-five minute drive from Neptune down to San Diego, but Logan still hoped that maybe Keith would take him up on his offer. “I’ll send him a quick text. Maybe he can clear up all three days and do that.” She paused and gave him an affectionate smile. “It would actually be kind of nice to have a little mini-vacation with him, too before I go off to school.”

Logan nodded and breathed a little easier after seeing her reaction. “Let him know that he can book it if he wants and I’ll take care of the payment when we get there.”

Veronica gave him a devious smile in return. “I’ll be sure he books the penthouse then.”

Logan laughed and nodded. “I’m sure I at least owe him that for all the trouble I caused over the years.”

The devious smile that had been on Veronica’s face vanished and she gave him a more compassionate look as she took a step toward him. “You’re not that guy anymore Logan. I’m sure he’ll realize that too as soon as he sees the man you’ve become now.”

“I hope so,” Logan said softly as he took a deep breath. He still wasn’t convinced though that Veronica believed that one hundred percent. All he could do now was wait and see what happened. “We’d better get everyone loaded up. It’s a fairly long drive and can be even worse if there’s much traffic headed back to the city.”

Veronica nodded and reached out to take his hand in hers as they walked back into the house. When they reached the front door, Logan stopped and pulled her toward him for a brief kiss. “I apologize in advance if this becomes the travel day from hell for you. Traveling with a little kid is quite a bit different than you’re probably used to.”

She laughed softly and shook her head. “I’m sure it won’t be that bad. Besides… we’ll just pretend we don’t know you on the plane and complain to the flight attendants if it’s too bad.”

Logan laughed and shook his head at her. “Thanks, I knew I could count on you.”

She lifted up on her toes again so she could place a quick kiss on his lips. “Any time, baby,” she replied in a playful tone.

Traffic on the drive to Eugene was fairly light so they were going to have time to stop for a bite to eat before they went to the airport. Logan had offered to drive the rental car since he was familiar with the route and thought that would be easier for Veronica. Logan was relieved that Evie has behaving pretty well on the drive and didn't complain too much. There were several 'are we there yet' questions, but Kathleen had been able to keep Evie fairly entertained in the back seat most of the time.

Logan had noticed that Veronica sent a few texts as they were driving and wondered if they were to her dad. He didn't pry even though he wondered if Keith was going to take him up on the offer to pay for a room at the hotel for him.

When they were almost to the restaurant, he saw Veronica read another text and then she turned toward him. He glanced at her for a second and saw that at least she had a smile on her face. "I think I've convinced dad to stay," she said with a bit of uncertainty to her tone. Logan wasn't sure if the uncertainty was due to Keith not being certain he'd stay, or the worry about what may happen if he did.

"That's great," Logan replied optimistically. Maybe if I seem excited and okay with it, she might feel better about it too. "Was he going to make the reservation or should I call when we get to the restaurant?"

"I told him we'd take care of it for him. I hope that's okay," Veronica said a little hesitantly.

"Yeah, of course. I'll just have them add it to my account," Logan assured her as he reached over and squeezed her hand. "I'm excited for him to meet Evie and Kathleen," he said softly with a genuine smile. Veronica nodded and smiled back at him. He could tell she still seemed a bit apprehensive, though and couldn’t help but wonder how much she’d even told Keith yet.

There was a small café right outside of Eugene that Logan had stopped at a few times with great Philly cheese steak sandwiches. Veronica said she’d take one as well, so Kathleen went into the restaurant with Evie to get a table and place their order while Logan called the hotel again.

“So he’s okay with everything?” Logan asked, hoping Veronica might share a bit more about what was going on.

“Yeah…” she replied a little hesitantly. “He’s excited to go to the zoo. I um… I still need to talk more with him about… about us… but I didn’t want to do that over the phone,” she told him with a small amount of apprehension in her tone.

Logan gave her an understanding smile. “Did you want to ask him to join us for breakfast before we go to the zoo? That might give you a chance to talk with him a little bit before we go,” Logan suggested.

Veronica looked almost surprised by the suggestion. “Yeah, that actually sounds like a great plan.” She grimaced slightly before she let out a small sigh and continued. “He um… he actually suggested getting a room with two queens so I could stay with him.”

“Then I’ll be sure to book a king room,” Logan replied with a guileful expression.

Veronica laughed and nodded as Logan pulled out his phone.

Logan gave her a quick kiss before he dialed the hotel and made the reservation for Keith in one of their single king rooms. Veronica chuckled softly and shook her head as Logan made sure the request for the size of room was very clear to the reservation clerk. He couldn’t help smirking and winking at her as he did it either.

Evie was still behaving fairly well by the time they made it to the airport, but Logan wasn’t sure, after the very busy last few days that she’d had, that it would continue. Everything was going smoothly as they turned in the rental car and headed to the counter to check in, but once they reached the check in line, things started to go down hill a bit. Logan could tell that Evie was getting impatient and fussy as soon as they reached the short line in front of the ticket counter. There were rope dividers for the check-in line and Evie had started swinging on one before Logan noticed it. Of course asking her to stop wasn’t working, so Logan finally had to just pick her up, which was met with unhappy resistance. Kathleen tried to distract her as well, but Evie was not happy that she couldn’t play with the ropes anymore and tried her best to get Logan to set her down again. He was relieved when it was finally their turn to move to the counter. The woman behind the counter must have noticed the commotion Evie was causing, because she did her best to try to distract Evie as well. Logan wasn’t really sure how well Veronica was dealing with it, but she at least seemed to be trying to not show that it bothered her at all.

Logan was glad that Evie seemed to settle down a bit when they reached their gate. They sat by a window and Evie became engrossed in watching the planes that she could see and all the various workers out on the tarmac. Logan let out a small sigh as Veronica reached over and gave his hand a tender squeeze. He turned to look at her and saw that she was giving him a very understanding smile. He realized that his stress about Evie must have been obvious to her. “It’s going to be fine,” she whispered softly in his ear as she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. He turned and gave her a gentle kiss on the temple and nodded slowly against her head.

Unfortunately Evie’s fascination with watching the planes and people on the tarmac didn’t last very long. Logan could tell she was about ready to melt down about having to wait to get on one of the planes when Kathleen pulled something out of her bag.

“Hey, sweetie, Mr. James sent a game along that he thought you might like to play while we were waiting,” Kathleen said as she showed Evie a small round yellow and orange tin. Evie’s eyes sparked with interest as she went over to see what her grandmother was holding. Logan took a deep breath, very thankful for the kind toy store owner who had dealt with his own kids and grandkids over the years. He’d saved Logan on several occasions with helpful suggestions and fatherly advice.

Kathleen explained how to play the game and had Evie sit on Logan’s lap so he could help her with the first round. They used the small table between their two seats to hold the pile of round cards. It was a simple matching game that Evie quickly caught on to. She was actually faster at finding the matches than Logan was, and after he helped her with the first two plays, she was doing it on her own. Logan glanced over at Veronica, who was watching very closely too, and he could easily tell that she was finding the matches almost as quickly as Evie was by the way her lips would quirk into a quick smile when Evie would call out her match.

“Can we play this on the airplane,” Evie asked excitedly after she won the first round. Logan was certain that Kathleen had gone a bit slower with her matches so Evie could win.

“Of course we can,” Kathleen answered. “Do you want to sit by me so we can play, or do you want to play with your daddy?”

Logan was hoping she’d pick Kathleen so he could sit by Veronica and looked expectedly at Evie while she decided. “Daddy,” Evie answered with a determined nod.

“Maybe on the next flight you’ll want to sit with Nana,” Logan suggested. “We’ll have a short wait at another airport and then we’ll have to get on a second airplane for the rest of the trip.”

“Do you want to play too?” Evie asked as she looked questioningly at Veronica.

Veronica smiled and nodded in reply. They rearranged slightly so they could all play the next round. The adults went a little slower so Evie could win, but then after she played all her cards and it was just the three of them left, Logan and Veronica both got a bit competitive to be the second one out. Veronica got a mischievous glint in her eye as she played her last card before Logan had used up all of his. Evie was excited that Veronica came in second and insisted they play again. Kathleen told her that there were other ways to play the game too, and so they tried a different version the next time. Before too long it was time to board the plane and they carefully grabbed all their things and put the cards back in the tin to carry on board with them.

Logan was relieved that the game seemed to keep Evie entertained for most of the flight. He was definitely going to have to figure out something nice to do for Mr. James for recommending it to Kathleen. Logan and Evie were sitting behind Kathleen and Veronica and Logan could see, through the crack in the seats, that Veronica had pulled out her laptop to show Kathleen some of the pictures she had taken. He could also hear some of Kathleen’s comments when she spoke a little louder and she was definitely impressed. The laptop was positioned between the two women and it looked like Veronica was copying some of the ones Kathleen was interested in displaying at the gallery into a separate folder. From what he could see, most of them looked absolutely stunning, and he could imagine that they would be very popular with Kathleen’s customers.

During their layover in San Francisco, Logan suggested that they get ice cream while they waited. He knew neither Evie nor Veronica would ever object to ice cream. He could tell that Evie was starting to get tired since she hadn’t taken a nap. It had been such a busy day for her. Evie curled up next to Kathleen as they sat at their next gate and asked if Kathleen could read her a story. “Why don’t we wait until we’re on the airplane again, sweetie,” Kathleen said as she gently stroked her hand over Evie’s hair. She must have been able to tell that Evie was starting to get sleepy too and knew that if she read to her, she’d likely fall asleep. Evie nodded and rested her head in Kathleen’s lap. Logan caught a small yawn escaping from Evie and gave Kathleen a knowing look. He knew if she fell asleep there, they’d likely have to wake her up to get her in the plane seat, and then she probably wouldn’t fall asleep again.

“Hey, sweetie,” Logan said as he walked over and leaned over to pick Evie up. “Let’s look at the airplanes and see if we can spot the one we’ll be getting on.” Evie gave him a sleepy smile and nodded as he picked her up. He walked over to the window and pointed to some of the airplanes. He felt Veronica walk over and wrap her arm around his waist and lean against him. He shifted Evie to his hip, so he could place an arm around Veronica as well.

“Did you like riding in the airplane, Evie?” Veronica asked as she smiled up at her. Evie nodded in reply. “I flew all the way to New York City once. That was a really long flight.” Veronica gave Logan a sly smile. “And I had to fly out there all alone.”

Logan smirked as he thought about Veronica’s trip to New York right after high school graduation. When she had landed and found out that Keith wasn’t going to be able to join her for three days, Logan had taken the next flight out and kept her company until her dad was able to make it. Of course they hadn’t told Keith that. Logan shook his head slightly and leaned toward her so he could place a quick kiss on the top of her head. “Well I’m glad you were only alone for the flight.”

Veronica beamed up at him and nodded in reply. “Me too,” she said with a nostalgic expression on her face.

A few minutes later the airline staff announced that their flight would start boarding. Kathleen pulled out one of the storybooks that Sara had packed for Evie and asked Evie if she wanted to sit by her on the plane and she’d read to her. Logan was still holding Evie, but she nodded and said that she did. Logan carried Evie to her seat, then moved to sit behind her with Veronica as Kathleen took the seat next to Evie.

“Hi,” Logan said with a tender smile as he sat down next to Veronica.

“Hi,” Veronica replied affectionately as she gazed up into his eyes.

Logan reached out and took her hand in his, intertwining their fingers. He brought their joined hands up to his lips and kissed the back of her hand. He gave her a heated stare before he spoke. “So… New York, hmm…” Logan said in a low voice. He was a little surprised that she had mentioned that trip. Not that it hadn’t been extremely memorable, but those memories weren’t exactly the best to be reliving while stuck on an airplane with your daughter and her grandmother. They had gotten fairly intimate when they had been together the summer before senior year, but given what had happened to her, they’d both been hesitant to go too fast. They’d broken up before they’d actually had sex together. That changed when they were in New York, though.

The nostalgic expression returned to Veronica’s face before she replied in a soft sultry voice. “New York was nice, wasn’t it?”

Logan let out a deep breath and nodded. “Yeah… it really was.” How could he ever forget their first time together? Even then, the chemistry the two of them shared paled in comparison to any other woman that he’d ever been with. He still couldn’t believe that he was actually getting another chance with her and thanked whatever force in the universe had given him this precious gift. “I love you,” he whispered softly before he leaned closer so he could give her a chaste kiss.

As he pulled away she nodded slowly and whispered, “I love you too,” back to him.

He wished at that moment that they were actually somewhere private, but unfortunately they weren’t. He really hoped that they’d get a little time alone when they made it to the villa in San Diego, but he wasn’t overly optimistic about that. At least being a dad had taught him a bit about patience. He kissed her temple again, before she shifted in her seat so she could rest her head on his shoulder and for the next hour and a half, they at least got to enjoy a little bit of being able to be close to each other without any other interruptions.

When the plane finally landed in San Diego, Veronica gave him an encouraging smile and squeezed his hand a little tighter. “Ready for this?” she asked with a compassionate tone.

Logan shook his head slowly for a second, and then let out a deep breath. “Not really, but I know it will be okay if you’re here with me.”

Veronica nodded and gave him a resolute expression. “I promise I’m here for you, and it’s going to be fine.”

As expected, Evie had fallen asleep shortly after take off and was still asleep when the plane landed. They waited for the other passengers to disembark first before Logan stood up and carefully lifted Evie out of her seat. She’d definitely had a much busier week than normal with her trip to the zoo and flying to San Diego. She barely stirred as he scooped her up. Logan carefully carried her off the plane with Kathleen and Veronica taking care of all the carry on bags.

Evie was starting to wake up a bit more by the time they got the rest of their luggage from baggage claim and the rental car. As Logan put her in the booster seat he’d brought along, she yawned and looked around sleepily. “Are we home?” she asked in a quiet little voice.

“No sweetie. Remember, we’re in San Diego to help Nick,” Logan said softly as he gently stroked her head. Evie nodded and let out a loud yawn. “We’re going to drive to the place we’ll be staying at now, okay?” Evie nodded again and started to survey her surroundings a bit more. Kathleen was sitting in the back with her and reached over to squeeze her hand. Logan gave Evie a quick kiss on the forehead and then closed her door so he could climb into the driver’s seat.

After leaving the airport, Logan headed toward the Del beach villas. He took a deep shaky breath as he saw the CoronadoBridge come into sight. Veronica must have heard him and reached over to gently squeeze right above his knee. He removed his hand from the steering wheel so he could reach down and hold on to her hand. He felt himself holding his breath as they started to drive over the two-mile span of steel and concrete. He forced himself to slowly breathe out and back in again. It had been easier the night he’d come there alone, planning to jump, since he’d already had a considerable amount to drink before he’d even made it there. He tried not to think about his mom, but it was impossible. He felt Veronica reach up and wipe at the corner of his eye, not even realizing a tear had formed there. He took another deep shaky breath and slowly exhaled again, trying hard to keep his composure. He was relieved when they were finally across it and there was land on either side of them again instead of water. He turned off on Pomona Avenue and headed toward the Del, finally feeling like his breathing was returning back to normal.

It took them a little while to get checked in and then a little while longer to get everything unpacked from the rental car. Evie had spotted one of the pools on their way to their villa and was extremely excited to go swimming. Kathleen said she’d take her if Logan and Veronica wanted a little time to take care of anything that needed taking care of. Logan practically choked with the way she said it and what she might have been implying. He swore that he caught Veronica blushing a bit too.

“Yeah, I um… think we have a few calls we should make… and then we’ll meet you two out there,” Logan said a bit uncertainly. Kathleen chuckled softly as she dug around in Evie’s suitcase for her swimming suit. Less than 5 minutes later, the two of them said a quick goodbye and headed for the pool.

“Well that wasn’t embarrassing,” Veronica said with a laugh as the door closed behind them.

Logan laughed as well before he lunged for her and scooped her up. He could tell she was completely caught off guard as she let out a loud squeal.

“Thanks to you, all I’ve been able to think about for the last couple of hours is our first night in New York. Do you have any idea how excruciating that has been?” he growled as he carried her into the master suite and kicked the door shut behind him.

She let out a breathy moan as his lips pressed against the column of her throat. “God yes,” she moaned as she arched against his mouth.

He carefully sat her down on the bed and then crawled on top of her, kissing every inch of skin that wasn’t covered with clothing. He groaned loudly as he felt her hand run up the inside of his thigh, continuing even higher ever so slowly.

“We’ve been so good all day… don’t you think we deserve a little reward?” Veronica purred as he felt her fingers starting to undo his belt.

“God yes,” he replied, mimicking what she’d said a moment before.

“We’ve got to get naked to get changed into swimming clothes anyway,” she said breathlessly as he moved one of his hands to help her out of her pants too.

While their first time in New York had been slow and tender, they didn’t have hours to spare at the moment. It didn’t take long to strip their clothes off, as they weren’t really concerned about where each article of clothing may have ended up. He quickly flipped positions after they were naked so that he was lying in his back. He loved when she was on top of him, because he could tell that she felt most confident and in control that way too. Having her gaze down at him with raw hunger in her eyes was always so intoxicating. He loved the way she looked at him as she moved her hips in different motions causing him to moan uncontrollably at times. He of course could never stand the distance for long and pushed himself up so he could kiss her and feel her body pressed against his. He fervently caressed her back, enjoying the feel of her smooth skin beneath his fingers as they moved rhythmically together. He eventually moved his hands to her hips so he could help speed up the pace, knowing it would soon cause her to lose control. He felt her start to clench around him and flipped them quickly so he could keep the pace going and then quickly followed right behind her.

Veronica was panting below him and tilted her head so she could kiss him. “I think we took care of what needed taking care of, don’t you?” she asked with a laugh.

Logan still couldn’t quite talk yet, but let out a huff of a laugh and nodded as his forehead rested against her collar bone. He placed a few kisses there before he rolled them over again so he wouldn’t have to worry about crushing her. She melted against his chest, and he lazily caressed her back.

“Any chance we could just stay like this for the rest of the night?” she asked with a doubtful tone.

Logan laughed again and shook his head. He’d finally caught his breath enough to talk, although he was still panting quite a bit. “Sorry… I don’t think that’s going to happen. Kathleen won’t be that good of a distraction for very long with my determined little girl.”

Veronica laughed and nodded as she placed a kiss on his chest. “I know… I haven’t forgotten that she told me she gets you tonight.”

“Maybe I should reserve another king suite in the hotel for the two of us to sneak off and use when Kathleen has Evie distracted or they are both asleep,” Logan teased, although he was seriously considering if that would even be remotely possible.

Veronica leaned up so she could look him in the eyes again. “I’m sure we can find enough stolen moments to enjoy ourselves. But that can be plan B.”

Logan nodded and gently pulled her toward him so he could kiss her deeply. “Never underestimate the value of plan B,” he replied with a hint of mischief in his eye.

Chapter 22

Chapter Text

Chapter 22

When Logan and Veronica joined Kathleen and Evie at the pool, they all decided to just take advantage of the poolside cafe and ordered dinner there. Kathleen let Logan take over Evie-duty in the pool and moved over to enjoy the adjacent hot tub. Veronica swam around with Logan and Evie for a little while before joining Kathleen as well.

"Do you think he's doing okay? Being back that is," Kathleen asked after Veronica sat down by her.

Veronica nodded. She knew it wasn't easy for him based on his reaction when they drove over the bridge. "I know it's still tough for him though."

"I know he was extremely adamant before about not wanting to ever live here with Evie," Kathleen replied with a grim expression.

"Well after spending a little time in Yachats, I can understand why he wanted to stay there."

Kathleen nodded but had a contemplative look on her face. "I worry though about how closed off he gets there sometimes, which is why I pester him about things like going back to school. At least he's forced to interact with other people a bit that way. I know when Katy was there she'd introduced him to a few of her friends, but he can be such a hermit sometimes."

Veronica chuckled softly. She remembered teasing him before about not liking people, and him telling her that they all adored him.

"It's different if you grow up there," Kathleen continued. "Sara has a good group of friends, but I know she's eager to go off to college and live somewhere bigger. I know Logan loves Evie and being there now, but I can't help but wonder if he'll eventually wish he wasn't so isolated. I do hope you're able to come and visit him when you get some breaks from school."

"I hope so too," Veronica replied with a wistful smile.

Kathleen gave her an affectionate smile in return. "And obviously I'd love to have you come and intern over the summer with our DA's office. My offer to talk with Michelle still stands. With the sudden trip down here, I didn't get a chance to talk to her yet, but I'm positive I could find you something if you're interested."

Veronica wasn't quite sure what to say, but she was touched that Kathleen would go to such an effort for her even though she hadn't known her very long. Of course it was just another example of exactly how much Kathleen cared about Logan as well. His happiness seemed as important to her as it would be if he were her own son. Veronica was reminded once again about how lucky Logan was to have found his way into their lives. "I'd love to hear more about the possibilities," Veronica replied gratefully.

They swam for a little while longer after their dinner arrived and then headed back to their suite. Evie seemed tired to Veronica even though she'd had a nap earlier, but that was understandable with how busy of a day they'd had. Evie asked if they could watch a movie when they walked into the villa. When Logan showed Evie the options they had to choose from, Evie immediately chose Bolt. Veronica had never watched it before, so snuggled up on the large couch in the opposite side of Logan to watch it too. Kathleen settled into one of the oversized chairs and watched along with them as well.

Evie had fallen asleep at some point before the end of the movie, but Veronica wasn't sure when. She'd been focused on watching the movie and the gentle way Logan's fingers were playing with the hair at the nape of her neck.

Logan carefully carried Evie into the room Kathleen was staying in while Veronica waited for him on the couch. Kathleen said a quick goodnight to Veronica and followed behind Logan.

"Is she going to be mad in the morning?" Veronica asked when Logan came back out of the second bedroom.

"Are you kidding? She gets to go see pandas, so I doubt she'll give which bed she slept in a second thought," Logan said as he reached out for Veronica's hand. "No need for a plan B tonight," he added with a wink as he pulled her up and placed a passionate kiss on her lips.

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Veronica woke up in the morning before Logan did and, given there wasn't another blonde head lurking in their immediate vicinity, before Evie had as well. The suite seemed so still and quiet, and she was mesmerized just watching Logan sleep. They'd fallen asleep wrapped up in each others arms, but at some point she'd felt him roll onto his back again. She carefully moved around so she could see him better without waking him up.

It still seemed a bit surreal to be with Logan again. Those same fears about having to be apart from him soon came rushing back to her, though. She'd been so excited about Stanford when she'd gotten accepted into their law program, but she couldn't seem to conjure up enough of that now to offset the sadness that she felt knowing this time with him would soon be coming to an end. Of course Kathleen's comments from the night before were in her thoughts as well.

She finally reached out to gently touch him, running her fingers through his hair, and lightly tracing his facial features with her fingers. It was several minutes before he took a deeper breath and she could see he was trying to wake up. She leaned down and started placing light kisses on his lips. After a few minutes, Logan must have finally woken up enough to realize what was going on and he wrapped his arms around her as he opened his mouth to deepen the kisses.

"Good morning," she softly laughed against his lips.

"Mm hmm," he mumbled back as he kissed her again. His hands that had originally been wrapped innocently around her back started roaming down to her hips in a not so innocent way.

She pulled her head back and gave him a questioning look. They'd stealthily enjoyed their time together the night before after Evie had been put to bed. Veronica had been a little reluctant at first, knowing Kathleen might still be awake, but Logan had assured her that they could be quiet enough. Somehow that comment had become a challenge to try to push the other person to be the one to break the silence first. Of course Logan worked very hard and came up with some creative ways to try to make her lose, which she couldn't complain about at all. She'd been the one that had to muffle his moans with her hand when she ultimately won. The door had been locked at that point, but once they were finished and properly clothed again, he'd unlocked the door in case Evie woke up and came to find him. And now Veronica was expecting her to pounce in at them at any second. Logan must have interpreted the look correctly and chuckled as he moved his hands back to a more appropriate position.

“How’d you sleep?” Logan asked with a flirtatious grin. “All rested for our big day at the zoo?”

Veronica gave him a sly smile. “Well someone did keep me up for quite a while last night, but I’m not going to complain about that.”

“Someone kept me up too,” Logan added with a lascivious smirk.

Veronica rolled her eyes and laughed softly. She was about to retort with something inappropriate when the door flung open. Logan laughed and gave her a quick kiss on the lips before shifting his head toward the now open door. A moment later, Evie leapt onto the bed with them.

“Is it time to go the zoo?” Evie asked as she sat down next to them on the bed.

“Not yet, pumpkin,” Logan answered as Veronica shifted off of him to the side opposite where Evie was sitting. “Veronica’s dad is going to come and join us for breakfast first, and then we’ll all go to the zoo together.”

Evie gave Veronica a big smile. “I get to spend the day at the zoo with my daddy just like you and your daddy.”

Veronica smiled and nodded in reply. She hadn’t thought of it quite like that, but leave it to Evie to point out the obvious. “Yep, I’m sure we’ll both have a lot of fun,” Veronica replied, hoping that it really would be true. She still wasn’t sure how her dad was going to react to all of this. He hadn’t sounded terribly thrilled about what was going on when she’d last talked with him, but he hadn’t refused to help them either. She’d been fairly brief with him on the phone, not wanting to get into an in-depth discussion about where things currently were with herself and Logan. Veronica had mostly stuck to logistical issues and her idea for him to help them on the day that Logan would be going in for the procedure. Keith also seemed almost as hesitant to pressure her for information on where things stood with her and Logan when they had last spoken. She could imagine that he really didn’t want to have that discussion over the phone either. She had been fairly aloof with him every time they’d talked once she had found Logan in Oregon, and Veronica knew that her father was more than capable of reading between the lines.

Veronica glanced at Logan and saw a slightly troubled look on his face. She’d seen almost the same expression each time her dad had been the topic of conversation. She kept trying to tell herself that everything would be fine, but a small amount of doubt kept lingering inside of her. She gave Logan a reassuring smile and reached down to squeeze his hand under the blankets. He squeezed her hand in response as his expression became less worried. Veronica really did hope everything would go okay with her dad, but until they’d had a face-to-face discussion, she couldn’t know that with certainty.

Logan had suggested that they eat at Sheerwater at the main hotel. He’d mentioned that they had a breakfast buffet, so they could eat at their own pace if she needed some time with her dad first and Evie wasn’t being patient. Keith was expected to arrive at nine and was going to just meet them at the entrance to the restaurant. The villa they were staying in was fairly close to the main grounds, so it wasn’t a very long walk to the restaurant.

Veronica told Logan that they should all go ahead and go in, and she’d wait on a bench near the entrance for her dad. Keith had texted as they were leaving the villa that he was almost there, so she wouldn’t have to wait long for him. Logan seemed a little reluctant to just leave her there, but didn’t argue and gave her a quick kiss on the temple before heading in to get them all a table. Veronica only had to wait a few minutes before Keith walked up. As he walked closer, she stood up to give him a hug.

“Hey sweetheart,” Keith said as they embraced. “Glad your back.”

“Yeah,” Veronica replied a little hesitantly. She noticed Keith started looking around, probably to see where Logan was. “I um… thought we could talk for a few minutes before we join the others. They went in to get us a table already.”

“Hmm… need to go over an approved list of questions first?” Keith asked with a teasing expression on his face.

Veronica let out a sigh and shook her head. “No… I just thought we should catch up first… on things that happened while I was in Oregon.”

Keith huffed out a breath and narrowed his eyes a bit more at her. “Veronica… you’re leaving for school in less than two weeks. I hope that you finding Logan isn’t going to impact that.”

“It’s not,” Veronica replied defensively. “It’s just…” She paused and decided to just blurt out what she wanted to say. Just rip the Band-Aid off, Veronica. “We’re together again… Logan and I.”

“Veronica,” Keith replied with a placating tone. “I’m sure seeing him again after all these years stirred up some nostalgic memories, but are you sure that’s such a wise thing, given you’ll be living in two different states for the next three years. You were only in Oregon with him for a few days. That’s hardly enough time to really establish a strong relationship again. Not to mention that he has a daughter now, which you still haven’t explained to me at all. Whatever mess Logan’s gotten himself into now, I don’t think you getting involved with him is a very smart thing to do.”

Veronica felt anger start to build up in her as Keith was speaking, but then that emotion was quickly replaced with panic as she noticed that Kathleen was standing right behind her dad. Obviously she’d just overheard everything that Keith had just said to Veronica based on her expression.

“Kathleen,” Veronica said, unable to hide her own worried expression. “Is everything okay?”

“Yes,” Kathleen replied more tersely than Veronica had ever heard her speak before. “It’s a little chilly out on the patio where we’re sitting, so I was going to run back to the villa and get a couple of light sweaters for myself and Evie.”

It’s obviously a little chilly right here now too. “Um… Kathleen, this is my father, Keith Mars,” Veronica added, although she was sure that wasn’t really going to help at all.

Kathleen gave Keith a smile that was not entirely friendly and nodded her head. “Yes, I recognize him from his book cover. I’ll be back in a few minutes, Veronica. Logan and Evie are at a table on the north side of the patio.” And with that, she briskly started walking back toward the villa.

“Nice going, Dad.” Veronica couldn’t help but quietly chastise Keith after Kathleen was hopefully out of earshot.

Keith let out a frustrated sigh and tried to give Veronica an apologetic look.

"I can understand you not being thrilled about this, but I hope you can figure out some way to be a little more supportive." Veronica took a deep breath before she continued. "I still love him, Dad. I don't think I ever really stopped even when he was gone. I know in the past I did things that probably didn't help the two of you get along very well, which I regret now. I can't change any of that, but I can try to do things differently this time around."

"I'm just trying to point out the practical side of things, Veronica," Keith tried again with a softer tone. "Long distance relationships can be challenging enough, let alone how busy you'll be with law school."

"I know that. But that doesn't mean I'm not going to try to make it work either."

Keith nodded and seemed as if he was going to back off of the topic, although she wasn't sure for how long.

"Let's go eat," Veronica suggested with a forced smile. Keith nodded and she started to lead the way, headed in the direction that Kathleen had mentioned. Veronica quickly spotted Logan who was facing their direction and gave him a small smile. Evie was sitting next to him and she smiled when she saw Veronica too. Veronica was hoping that Kathleen wouldn't say anything that might immediately cause a divide between her dad and Logan when she returned to the table. Veronica saw Logan’s expression change the slightest amount, apparently already aware of something being a little off with her.

"Mr. Mars," Logan said as he stood up from his chair to shake Keith's hand when Keith and Veronica reached the table.

"Logan," Keith replied softly as he shook his hand. "Good to see you again.”

Veronica held back the scoff that threatened to sneak out.

"This is my daughter Evie," Logan said proudly as he gestured toward her. "Can you say ‘hi’ to Mr. Mars, Evie? He's Veronica's father."

"Hi," Evie replied while she seemed to be studying Keith carefully. "Are you excited to see the pandas today too?" Evie asked as Logan sat back down and Veronica took the empty seat on the other side of him. They were at a round table and Veronica could tell that Kathleen had been in the spot next to Evie since there was already a partial cup of coffee sitting on the table there.

Keith took the spot next to next to Veronica, leaving an empty chair between his and Kathleen's. “Veronica was always a fan of the pandas when she was a little girl too,” Keith said in reply to Evie’s question as he gave her a friendly smile.

“We don’t have any pandas at our zoo,” Evie explained. “We have big polar bears though. Those are Daddy’s favorite bears at our zoo. I like the polar bears too, and the big brown ones. I really like the new lions we have too. I don’t like going to see the penguins though because it always smells bad there.” Veronica smirked slightly, as she watched Keith seem a bit overwhelmed by Evie’s energetic greeting, which didn’t stop at the penguins. “Daddy really likes the elephants too and so does Nana. Nana also likes to watch the monkeys and tells me I’m a monkey too. Sara likes the tigers though, but they are always sleepy. Sometimes I can’t see them unless Daddy picks me up and lets me sit on his shoulders. I’m glad Daddy is so tall. I like to sit on his shoulders when we see the giraffes too. Sara doesn’t like the birds because they pooped on her head. I don’t like it when the birds land on me either, but it’s funny when they land on Sara.”

Logan gave Evie an amused smile as he watched her talking about the zoo in Portland. When Evie paused for a moment, after mentioning Sara, Logan gave Veronica a quizzical look. “Sara’s Kathleen’s other daughter,” Logan explained as he looked between Veronica and Keith. “I’m not sure how much Veronica told you about Kathleen and Evie.”

“Actually, not much,” Keith said as he narrowed his eyes just the slightest amount at Veronica.

Logan smiled a bit uncomfortably and nodded. “Kathleen is Evie’s grandmother,” Logan started to explain as Kathleen walked back up to the table.

“Here’s Evie’s sweater, sweetheart,” Kathleen said as she handed the sweater to Logan and walked behind them to her seat.

“Thanks, Kathleen,” Logan said as he took it from her and then helped Evie put it on.

“Can we get food now that Nana’s back?” Evie asked as Kathleen started to sit down.

“I can take her through the buffet, if you’d like to catch up with Keith,” Kathleen said with a grim smile as she reached out for Evie’s hand.

Veronica watched Logan’s expression change to be a bit puzzled, but he nodded and smiled in reply. “Thanks, Kathleen,” he said as Evie climbed out of the chair and headed toward the buffet with Kathleen.

“We can also eat if you’re hungry,” Logan said with a slightly nervous smile. “Veronica or I could fill you in on the full story of Evie later if you’d like. I sort of stumbled into her life, and now she’s become the most important part of mine.”

Keith nodded and gave Logan a somber smile. “Food sounds good,” he said as he started to stand up from the table.

“We’ll be right there,” Veronica commented as her dad finished standing up from the table. Keith gave her a quick look before he nodded again, and then turned to head toward the buffet line.

“Okay… what’s going on?” Logan whispered quietly to Veronica after her dad had walked off.

Veronica let out a frustrated sigh and gave him a worried look. “Kathleen overheard my dad, being... um… not terribly supportive of the idea of us being back together and obviously, she didn’t like that at all.”

Logan took a deep breath and nodded. “Yeah…” he bit on his lip for a moment and then gave her a reassuring smile. “I’m sure it will be fine.”

Veronica wasn’t entirely convinced and looked at him questioningly. Logan leaned in to kiss her temple. “Come on,” he said with a tender smile. “Let’s get you some food. Everything seems better on a full stomach.”

Veronica laughed softly and shook her head. “I’m sorry that this day isn’t off to a very good start.”

Logan gave her a quick wink before he stood up and pulled her up as well. “That just means it can only get better from here.”

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“So tell me about Yachats,” Keith asked after they’d all returned to the table with their plates.

“It’s absolutely beautiful there,” Veronica replied fondly as she turned and smiled at Logan. “So many trees and gorgeous shorelines. And it definitely has a special small town charm to it.”

“It’s a great place to raise a family,” Kathleen interjected with a determined tone. “People certainly aren’t as judgmental as they are in southern California.”

Logan quickly jumped in next, perhaps trying to diffuse Kathleen’s obvious annoyance with Keith. “Kathleen owns the art gallery in town and is a key member of the chamber of commerce there. She’s helped coordinate a lot of the events that make it a wonderful tourist destination and a great place to live,” Logan explained.

“Logan’s actually helped with some of the event planning as well,” Kathleen added with a proud smile. “He’s given me some great ideas to run by the rest of the members and we’ve used several of them in our past few events.

“Did you always live there?” Keith asked Kathleen, his tone one Veronica recognized as him trying to ease Kathleen’s obvious annoyance with him by being friendly.

“No,” Kathleen answered as she shook her head slightly. “I grew up in Santa Cruz, and then moved with my late husband there when he took a position with the Sheriff’s Department. It became our home though, so even after he was killed in the line of duty there was no way I’d ever want to move away.” Kathleen paused and gave Logan a fond smile. “My oldest daughter wasn’t as keen on sticking around though and was more of a wandering spirit, which is how Logan came into our lives. I can’t even begin to say how grateful I am for that. I wouldn’t want my granddaughter raised by anyone else.”

Logan gave her a tender smile and nodded shyly in agreement.

"I'm sorry to hear about your husband," Keith commented solemnly. Kathleen gave him a curt nod, but didn't reply.

"I got to pet a bunny," Veronica chimed in, hoping to lighten the mood a bit.

"Bandit," Evie piped in as well.

Keith seemed a bit caught off guard by the sudden segue, but smiled and turned his attention to Evie. "You have a bunny?"

"No, we have Bella," Evie explained. “Well there’s a wild rabbit that comes in the yard, but I haven’t been able to catch him yet. He likes carrots though.”

Keith looked a little puzzled but nodded anyway.

"Bella's our Brittany," Logan clarified as he reached over and tousled Evie's hair slightly. "I bet she's missing you this morning, kiddo" he told Evie as she smiled up at him.

"I miss her too. Why couldn't she come?" Evie asked as her expression became a bit sad. "Can't doggies fly on airplanes?"

"They can, but it would have been hard to have her here at the hotel and when I go see the doctor to help Nick. Sara will take good care of her until we're back," Logan replied reassuringly.

"Bella loves Sara," Evie said with a fond smile.

"Yeah, she does," Logan replied again.

"Do you have a doggie?" Evie asked, turning her attention back to Keith.

"Actually, I do. His name is Backup," Keith answered.

"That's a funny name," Evie commented as she co*cked her head slightly to one side. "Does he walk backwards?"

Keith laughed and shook his head. Veronica thought she actually caught a small smirk on Kathleen's lips. The meaning of the name not lost on her. "No. I trained him to take care of Veronica when I wasn't with her, so that's where he got his name."

Evie gave him a puzzled look, apparently not understanding what Keith meant. "Daddy always takes care of me," Evie replied as she grinned up at Logan.

"Yes he does," Kathleen reiterated as she beamed at Logan as well. "You have the best daddy in the world," she added as she gave Evie a little wink. Logan let out a soft nervous chuckle as Evie nodded in agreement with Kathleen.

"It helps to have the greatest little girl in the world too," Logan replied as he leaned down and placed a kiss on Evie's head. “Who has the best grandma in the world,” he added as he glanced up at Kathleen with a soft expression on his face. Kathleen gave him an appreciative smile and nodded in reply.

The rest of breakfast went by without much conversation. Veronica thought that Kathleen still seemed a bit put off by her dad, and really hoped that would improve as the day went on. At that point, though, she couldn’t really imagine leaving them all alone on Wednesday while she went with Logan for the procedure at the hospital. She wasn’t sure that Logan or Evie would be okay with swapping her spot for Kathleen’s though. Veronica wondered if perhaps Kathleen would rather just do something on her own with Evie, without Keith, while Veronica went with Logan. So much for her grand plan of having her dad entertain them. She really hoped that Logan was right and that things could only get better from there.

When they were finished eating, Logan said he needed to get Evie’s bag from the villa before they drove to the zoo. Kathleen said she wanted to grab some things from the room as well, so they walked off ahead while Veronica and Keith trailed behind.

“I don’t think she likes me much,” Keith commented once the other three disappeared into the villa.

“Well you didn’t make the best first impression,” Veronica replied with a chastising expression.

Keith gave her a more serious look. “Where’s Evie’s mom?” he asked as they stopped outside the door to the villa. Veronica wasn’t surprised that he went with the direct approach.

“A bit like Lianne,” Veronica replied somberly as she glanced briefly in the direction the other three had gone. “I guess that’s something Evie and I both have in common.”

“And Evie’s dad?” Keith asked next, drawing an angry look from Veronica.

“Logan’s Evie’s dad,” Veronica replied without hesitation. “And he’s a really good dad too.”

Keith nodded in understanding. Veronica still didn’t get the feeling that her dad was sold that her and Logan being together was a good thing, but at least he seemed like he was starting to realize her position on it. She certainly planned on doing everything she could to make it clear to her dad how much she loved Logan and that she was willing to do whatever it took to make things work this time. It had been glaringly obvious to her how much Logan had changed and what a great dad he’d become, and she was hoping Keith was starting to realize that too. But regardless of whether Keith ended up being happy about it, Veronica had no intention of losing Logan ever again.

Chapter 23

Chapter Text

Chapter 23

Logan gave Kathleen a slightly admonishing look as they walked into the villa together. He knew he needed to intervene to try to salvage the rest of their day. “Sweetie, can you go use the bathroom and wash your hands before we head to the zoo, please?” Logan asked Evie who nodded in reply and disappeared into the room she’d slept in with Kathleen to use the bathroom there.

“What?” Kathleen asked, apparently thinking she could try to play coy with him.

Logan narrowed his eyes a bit more before he replied. “Would you like to explain your behavior at breakfast?” Wow, I really do sound like a dad sometimes, don’t I?

Kathleen rolled her eyes slightly and let out a loud sigh. “I don’t particularly like Veronica’s father, as I’m sure you easily figured out. What else do you want me to say?”

Logan sucked in a measured breath before he started to talk again. He knew Kathleen meant well and he certainly didn’t want to upset her, but, for everyone’s sake, he really hoped to be able to temper her mood. “Look… I’m sure I’d probably react the same way Keith did if the situation was reversed. Veronica told me what happened between her and Keith and that you overheard a portion of it. I know what I was like growing up as a teenager in Neptune. All the messes he saw me get into and all the terrible things I did to Veronica. I’d actually probably react even worse than he did if a boy like me was interested in Evie.” He couldn’t help internally cringing when he thought about the day something like that might actually happen.

“But you’re not that boy anymore, Logan,” Kathleen replied with a frustrated expression on her face and a tone to match. “And he started tearing into you before he even gave you the chance to show him you’d changed. That doesn’t work for me.” Logan could easily tell her frustration was quickly giving way to anger as she thought back to what had happened before breakfast.

Logan hoped she could see his appreciation in the way that he smiled at her before he spoke again. “I love how much you look out for me, but you butting heads with Keith isn’t going to make for a very enjoyable trip to the zoo. He may never be thrilled that Veronica and I are together again, and honestly, I think I’m okay with that as long as it doesn’t come between the two of us. And based on Veronica’s reaction at breakfast this morning, I’m convinced that it won’t. While I appreciate having you in my corner more than you could even imagine, can you try to go a little easier on him at the zoo?”

“I just want him to see what a wonderful man you’ve become, Logan,” Kathleen replied apologetically. “I don’t see anything wrong with that. You’re an amazing dad to Evie and I’m sure you’re nothing like the messed up teenager who left Neptune three years ago.”

“Mostly thanks to you,” Logan commented as he thought back to how big of a mess he was at times even after arriving in Yachats. “I wasn’t all that perfect when we showed up on your doorstep three years ago.”

“You loved Evie with all your heart even then, and were more than willing to work hard to become a good dad to her,” Kathleen reminded him as she reached out to squeeze his forearm. “That was all you, sweetheart. I just pointed you in the right direction when you got a little off course.”

Logan was about to disagree, but knew he’d lose that argument with her, if he did. “I really do appreciate everything you’ve done for me,” he replied instead, hoping his sincerity was obvious to her. “I know I’ve told you this before, but you’ve been more of a mother to me these last three years than my real mom ever was.” He let out a soft sigh before he continued. “And I know that your protective motherly instinct has been kicked into high gear with Keith’s comments to Veronica, but please try to reel them back in a bit?”

Kathleen didn’t look thrilled with the request, but reluctantly nodded in agreement. Before she had a chance to argue anymore with him, Evie reappeared from the bathroom with an excited look on her face.

“Pandas now?” she asked as she ran toward Logan and he reached down to scoop her up.

“Absolutely, munchkin,” Logan replied before he placed a big, loud kiss on her cheek. “Let’s go find us some panda bears.”

Logan grabbed his bag for Evie that was sitting next to the door and was about to leave the villa when Veronica came through the door. He could easily tell she was still stressing about how things were going with Keith and knew he didn’t need both Kathleen and Veronica on edge all morning.

“I just wanted to be sure you were bringing your camera along,” Veronica explained once the door had closed behind her.

Logan was positive that Veronica had watched him put it in the bag he was taking for Evie as he was packing that morning, and couldn’t help but wonder if she’d just used it as an excuse to come into the villa, away from her dad.

“I think it’s in my suitcase,” Logan lied as he put Evie down. “Can you get Evie buckled into her car seat? We’ll meet you there in just a minute,” he asked Kathleen as he handed the rental keys out toward her. Kathleen nodded and took the keys before taking Evie’s hand and heading out the door.

“Come here,” Logan said as he pulled Veronica against his chest once the door closed behind the other two. “What’s going on now? I know you saw me put it in the bag this morning because you asked if I needed to grab some extra batteries for it.”

Veronica let out a frustrated sigh and pressed her face against his chest. “Maybe this was a terrible idea… asking my dad to join us for the next few days.”

Logan tipped her head up toward him and then leaned down to kiss her deeply. He felt her body start to relax against his as she kissed him back. “I love you, Veronica,” he said with his lips still lingering against hers after the kiss. “And I need you to stop worrying so much. I’m not afraid of your dad, and now that I have Evie, I can understand exactly where he’s coming from. I know we have a lot of history… and most of it is not good. But I also know that deep down he’s a reasonable guy who’s willing to give people a chance to prove they’ve changed. Please believe in me enough this time to know that I won’t screw it up and to show him the person I’ve become. I’m pretty sure that, given time, even he’ll come to see I’m not the same f*cked up teenager I was all those years ago.”

Veronica laughed softly and pressed her lips to his. “When did you become the rational, wise one out of the two of us?” she asked after the kiss.

“Scary, isn’t it?” he asked playfully before kissing her again. “Unfortunately, I’m still working on Kathleen as well, so we’d better head out to the car to make sure they haven’t gotten into any disagreements being alone.”

The relaxed smile that had been on Veronica’s face after the kiss started to fade and a worried expression began to form again. “Hey, I’m mostly teasing,” Logan said before kissing her again. “I asked her to tone it down a bit. I’m sure it’s fine out there.” He kissed her one more time and then gestured with his head. “But just in case, we really should go.”

Veronica let out a nervous chuckle and nodded. “Hopefully they are both mature enough not to get too carried away in front of Evie,” Veronica suggested, to which Logan nodded in agreement. He could tell that Veronica wasn’t entirely convinced of it based on her tone, but he was still hoping that his little chat with Kathleen would help things go better for the rest of the day.

When they walked out of the villa, they found Keith waiting right outside the door for them. Apparently, Kathleen either didn’t ask if he wanted to walk to the car with her and Evie, or had told him not to. Logan wouldn’t put it past her to have told him that he should wait there for Veronica. Logan couldn’t help but give Keith a slightly uncomfortable smile as he felt Veronica’s arm wrap around his waist. It wasn’t that he was afraid of being affectionate with Veronica in front of Keith, but he was really trying to start out on as good of terms as he possibly could after their somewhat rocky breakfast.

“I hope traffic wasn’t too bad for your drive down this morning,” Logan tossed out there, grasping at something to talk about that wouldn’t result in any additional awkwardness. Traffic seemed like a safe enough topic to choose from. There’s always the weather and the Dodgers too, Logan.

Keith gave him an almost amused smile and nodded. Logan should have realized Keith would know he was only trying to make idle chitchat and didn’t really car that much about the traffic. You know you can’t really expect to get anything by him. “Yeah, it wasn’t too bad. There were a few slow spots, but I’ve seen it much worse,” Keith answered. At least he’s willing to play along.

“I’m hoping it’s not too bad between here and the zoo,” Logan commented as they continued to walk toward the parking lot, deciding to just stick with the same topic for now. “I’m afraid I’ve gotten pretty rusty at dealing with traffic where I’ve been living the last few years.” Logan paused and let out a soft chuckle thinking about how very different traffic in Yachats was compared to San Diego or LA. Even though Neptune was between the two larger cities, they still had to frequently deal with coastal highway traffic there. “It’s definitely one of the things about here that I never missed.” Veronica looked up at him at that point, and he just couldn’t help himself. Even if he was trying to make a good impression on Keith, his gratitude for her being back in his life and the love he felt for her was just too powerful of a force to keep completely quiet about. “Veronica was definitely one of the things I did miss, though,” he added as he beamed down at her.

Veronica’s lips quirked up in a tender smile, clearly not expecting his compliment, but seemingly touched by it all the same. Logan glanced at Keith and couldn’t quite read if he was bothered by Logan’s comment or just indifferent to it. He certainly didn’t seem to be overcome by a furious rage at least. Logan was glad it didn’t seem to ruffle him, since he still hoped the day could turn out better than it had started.

“I’ll sit in the back with Kathleen and Evie,” Veronica announced as they reached the SUV that Logan had rented. “You can sit up front with Logan,” she told Keith as she headed for the opposite side from where Kathleen was already sitting.

Before Keith even had a chance to object, Veronica had already opened the door and started climbing in. Logan would have much rather sat by Veronica, but realized putting some distance between Keith and Kathleen for now was definitely the wisest choice. Logan stopped by the door Veronica had just opened so that he could lean in for a minute to check on Evie before he walked around to the driver’s side.

“Did Nana get you all buckled in the right way?” Logan asked as he leaned slightly across Veronica to check on Evie’s seat. Evie nodded in reply as Kathleen narrowed her eyes slightly at him. He could easily guess what she was about to say from the expression on her face.

“One time… you accidentally strap your granddaughter in the seat the wrong way one time, and he never lets you forget it,” Kathleen grumbled slightly under her breath. “Car seats were much less complicated when Katie and Sara were little. That’s for sure.”

Logan laughed and shook his head at her. “You can’t blame me for wanting to make sure she’s safe.” He took the opportunity of being so close to Veronica to give her a quick kiss on the cheek before he leaned back out of the SUV and closed the door. Keith was already climbing into the passenger seat in front of Veronica by that time, and Logan wasn’t sure how much he even heard or saw about what had just occurred in the back seat.

“Can we see the pandas first?” Evie asked loudly from the backseat before they’d even made it to the Coronado Bridge.

“We can certainly head that direction when we get there, if you’d like,” Logan answered as he glanced up at her through the rear view mirror. “But they aren’t right by the entrance. Sort of like the lions at our zoo. You have to walk a ways to get to where they are.”

“Okay,” Evie replied as she nodded at his reflection.

“She’s pretty persistent about the pandas,” Keith commented with an amused chuckle. “I remember another small blonde who was just as bad when she was little.”

Logan couldn’t help but laugh softly at that as well. Veronica and Evie certainly did have lots of things in common. “You should see them both when i-c-e c-r-e-a-m is mentioned,” Logan said quietly in reply, causing Keith to laugh a bit louder and nod in understanding.

“I heard that,” Veronica protested from the back seat. “And just for that, we’ll definitely be getting some of that later. One of the two petite blondes in the backseat can spell, don’t forget.”

Logan glanced over his shoulder at her for a split second and gave her a quick wink. He undoubtedly had expected to be stopping for ice cream at some point that afternoon because he knew he couldn’t go an entire day with the two of them and not have it be requested, especially at a zoo. He was just hoping that he could put it off until after lunch on this trip. He briefly thought back to Evie’s meltdown at the aquarium when they went with Veronica and really hoped that wouldn’t happen again today. At least Evie wouldn’t have a specific agenda in her mind ahead of time since she’d never been there before.

Veronica and Evie started talking about the other animals at the zoo as they drove. Logan wasn’t surprised that Evie had remembered several of the other animals that Veronica had told her about the previous evening while he was making dinner for them all. Logan heard Evie get very excited over the koala bears as they were talking and made a mental note to be sure they made it to that part of the zoo. Even though it had been years since he’d last been there, he knew it was much larger than the zoo in Portland and it was unlikely that they’d be able to see the whole thing in a single day, especially with a four year old. From what he remembered, the Lost Forest section had most of the same animals as what they had in Portland, so they most likely wouldn’t worry about trying to visit that part of the zoo. And, while they had African in addition to Asian elephants, he really didn’t think Evie would appreciate the difference enough to worry about making it over to the elephant area either.

Logan was thankful that traffic wasn’t too bad since it was a Monday and they’d left after breakfast and rush hour. After parking the SUV, Logan climbed out and opened the back door for Kathleen to climb out. “I’ll get Evie,” Logan said as he offered his hand to Kathleen to help her out. Veronica hadn’t climbed out yet and smiled nervously across Evie’s seat at him. Logan could tell she still had the slightly worried look in her eyes that she’d had back at the hotel. As easy as it might be to follow her down that path of worrying about the day, he knew that would only make things worse. He gave her an overly confident smile and a flirty wink instead of feeding into her worry. She chuckled softly and smiled a bit more before opening her own door and climbing out.

By the time Logan had unbuckled Evie and helped her out of the SUV, Keith and Veronica had also walked around to that side of the SUV. Logan noticed Keith was keeping his distance from Kathleen and that she was looking anywhere but where Keith was standing. I suppose I should be glad Kathleen has at least stopped the verbal sparring for now even if she’s not ready to be friendly yet.

Logan set Evie down next to the SUV as he reached back in for his backpack. Evie must have already spotted the entrance to the zoo and started walking in that direction. “Whoa there, little lady,” Logan said as he quickly grabbed her shoulder. “The same rules apply here as they do at home.”

Evie let out a sigh and looked up at him with a less than pleased expression. Logan crouched down next to her. He’d found that she would sometimes listen to reason if he made the effort to explain why the rules were important. Although at this point there was still a fifty-fifty chance that it wouldn’t help at all. “This is a much bigger zoo than ours at home and I don’t want you to get lost. There will also be a lot more people here, so it will be too easy to accidentally get separated. So can you please promise to hold my hand or Nana’s all day while we are here?”

He could tell Evie was thinking of how to negotiate her way out of his request. After a few seconds of contemplating, she finally countered back. “What about Vronica? Does she have to hold her daddy’s hand?”

“Veronica isn’t four, Evie,” Logan replied firmly. He certainly wasn’t going to let Evie use that as an excuse not to hold someone’s hand.

Evie sighed again. “Can I hold Vronica’s hand instead if I want?”

Logan glanced up at Veronica who nodded at the request. “Of course you can,” Logan replied with a warmer smile. The thought of Evie preferring to hold Veronica’s hand over his or Kathleen’s surprised him a little, and he was unexpectedly moved that she had asked. He glanced up at Veronica who seemed to have an expression on her face very similar to how he felt as well.

“Then I want to hold her hand,” Evie decided as she turned and moved toward Veronica.

“Come on sweetie,” Veronica said with a fond smile as she reached out to take Evie’s hand. “Let’s go find those pandas.”

Evie looked up at her and nodded with a big grin on her face. Veronica quickly glanced at Logan before she held out her other hand for him. He happily took it and they headed toward the entrance. He thought he caught a small nostalgic grin on Keith’s lips as he glanced momentarily in his direction. Logan wondered how many times Keith had to have the same debate with Veronica when she was little. Logan also glanced at Kathleen who had a much larger smile on her face as she quickly fell in step behind them. It was easy to interpret her reaction as very similar to his and Veronica’s. He was sure that Kathleen was also happy to see how comfortable Evie was becoming with Veronica.

While Logan was trying to put his wallet away after paying for their admittance, Veronica and Evie had headed toward the flamingo and duck pond right inside the entrance. He chuckled when he saw the two of them imitating the flamingos and each standing on one leg. Keith and Kathleen were watching them as well, although still staying quite a distance apart.

“I want to ride on that, Daddy!” Evie shouted as one of the Skyfari trams went over their heads. Logan had forgotten that the zoo had those and hadn’t thought about how Evie might react to them.

“I thought you wanted to go see the pandas,” Logan reminded her as he tried to figure out the best strategy for dealing with this unplanned diversion from the course he’d already mapped out in his head. “I thought we would walk up through the monkeys and look at all of them on our way to the pandas. They have lots of other types of monkeys than we do in Portland... even Gorillas.”

“No, I want to ride on that,” Evie reiterated as she watched another one go over their heads. She glanced back at Logan and must have decided he was trying to figure out how to change her mind. “Please, Daddy,” she pleaded with the head tilt and pout that always seemed to melt him. Of course she would resort to that.

Logan caught a smirk on Veronica’s face as she watched Evie’s performance. “We could ride the tram up to the top and then circle back down to the pandas,” Veronica suggested with a conspiratorial expression on her face. Logan knew he was going to be in even more trouble if the two of them were going to gang up on him all day.

“Yes, what Vronica said,” Evie agreed as she nodded emphatically.

Logan let out a small sigh and nodded. He knew when he was beat. “Does that sound okay to both of you too?” Logan asked as he turned to look at Keith and Kathleen. They both nodded in agreement.

Evie must have figured out the direction they needed to go based on where the trams seemed to be coming and going from and started pulling Veronica in that direction. They took the lead with Kathleen following a few steps behind them. Logan and Keith ended up a little bit behind Kathleen.

“Are all petite blondes born with the ability to do that?” Logan asked Keith when he noticed he was giving him an amused smile.

“You’ve definitely got your work cut out for you with that one,” Keith answered as he chuckled softly at Logan. It was easy to tell Keith had to deal with similar situations many times with Veronica when she was little. Who am I kidding? He’s probably had to deal with similar situations even with Veronica as an adult.

“No kidding,” Logan replied. He couldn’t help the tender smile that formed on is face as he thought about how much he loved Evie, though. “But I wouldn’t change it for the world.” For the first time that Logan could ever remember, Keith seemed to give him a truly genuine heartfelt smile as he nodded in response. Logan was pretty sure Keith knew exactly what he meant and that Keith also felt the same way about Veronica.

The tram ride was a little awkward since Keith and Kathleen had to sit next to each other and still weren’t really talking to each other very much. Keith had asked as they boarded the tram if Kathleen had ever visited the zoo before, and she had replied that one summer her family had take a trip to southern California when her youngest was just a little older than Evie and that was one of the places they had stopped at. Logan was glad that she didn’t work some subtle dig at Keith into her response at least, although she was still not as friendly as she normally was with people she liked or even people she’d just met.

They all spent a little time looking at the polar bears and other exhibits in the Northern Frontier section after they disembarked from the Skyfari tram. Evie quickly became focused on wanting to see the pandas again though, so they made their way toward Eagle Trail, which would lead to the panda area. Evie was still mostly holding Veronica’s hand and was quick to point out all the animals that were like the ones at their zoo in Portland as they went along. Logan had tried to keep Evie going at a reasonable pace, but she was pretty excited to get to the pandas and would either drag himself or Veronica farther along the path every chance she got. When they finally did reach the panda area, it was easy to see the amazement in Evie’s eyes. She was completely mesmerized as she watched Gao Gao eating bamboo. Of course she was even more delighted when she was able to watch their cub, Yun Zi, play with his mother.

When they finally had enough of the pandas, they decided to head toward the monkeys on their way down to where the koalas would be. It had been long enough after breakfast that Logan suggested they all stop at Albert’s Restaurant for lunch. Logan had given Evie a few graham crackers earlier when she’d mentioned being hungry, but he knew those wouldn’t tide her over for long.

They were fortunate enough to get a great table near the waterfall, which everyone seemed to appreciate as they sat and looked over their menus. Keith seemed to be trying to get Kathleen to warm up a bit more to him, asking her more questions about growing up in Santa Cruz and how that compared to where she lived in Oregon. Logan thought Kathleen was starting to thaw a little toward Keith, but he could tell she was still bothered by what had happened that morning. Logan knew she could be just as stubborn as her granddaughter if she felt like it, so he wasn’t terribly surprised that she was still being a bit aloof with her answers.

Logan was glad that at least Veronica seemed much more relaxed than she had been in the villa right before they left. He’d seen Keith and Veronica talking a few times on their own, and it seemed that those interactions were going much better than how they’d been at breakfast. He saw them laughing together at a couple of the exhibits and was sure that probably helped ease her anxiety from earlier in the day. Keith had made a few comments to Logan, mostly regarding the exhibits they were looking at, but at least Keith seemed to be making an effort to be polite and friendly toward him.

Logan also loved seeing how comfortable Evie was becoming with Veronica. He knew there was a downside to that too though, given that Veronica would have to go back to college soon. But he still thought that the stronger the bond the two of them developed now would help them in the long run. Logan had ended up sitting between Veronica and Evie during lunch, which gave him the chance to have a little more physical contact with Veronica than he’d had walking around the zoo. They’d held hands a few times, but seemed to get separated more than he liked and he really appreciated having the opportunity to just sit and hold hands under the table while they waited for their food. Veronica had scooted as close to his chair as possible and rested her hand on his thigh while she leaned toward him so she could talk more with Evie about all the animals that they’d already seen. She had traded the camera off and on with Logan and so they took advantage of the break to look through the pictures they’d both taken so far. There were several really cute shots of Kathleen and Evie together, and even one where Evie had asked Keith if he could pick her up to see an exhibit that she wasn’t quite tall enough to see into and he was pointing to an animal that had been camouflaged behind some bushes.

Evie finished eating before everyone else and impatiently wanted to go see the koala bears. Kathleen volunteered to go look at more of the monkeys with her while the other three finished their lunches since they were almost done as well. Keith graciously said he was done eating too and that he’d go with them, which Logan could tell Kathleen wasn’t thrilled about, but she didn’t object to either. Keith started telling Evie about which monkeys were his favorite, and Logan saw a faint smile on Kathleen’s lips when he mentioned a few that she loved watching at the Portland Zoo. Logan noticed that Veronica looked slightly worried again as the other three stood up to leave, so he reached down and placed a soothing hand on her knee. He heard her let out a sigh as his hand touched her leg and saw her expression relax again.

“I’m sure they’ll be fine,” Logan whispered as he leaned toward her and placed a kiss on her temple. She turned to look at him and he placed another kiss on her lips. “Mm… I missed being able to kiss you whenever I wanted to,” Logan murmured against her lips.

Veronica laughed softly and gave him a sly look. “Who says you can’t?”

“I’m trying to be on my best behavior for your disapproving father,” Logan reminded her with a smirk. “And I’m thinking over the top PDA probably isn’t going to win me any points with him today.”

“Mm… but it would win you lots of points with me,” she replied flirtatiously.

Logan chuckled before kissing her again, a bit more passionately than before. She bit playfully on his lip before he pulled his mouth away from hers. “And here I thought this zoo didn’t actually have any bobcats,” he teased as he licked where she’d bit on his lip.

“We’re a pretty elusive species,” Veronica replied coyly as she watched his tongue move over his lip.

“As much as I’d rather sit here and show my appreciation for fierce little creatures, we should probably go catch up with the others,” Logan suggested a bit reluctantly. Veronica nodded in understanding and kissed him one more time before they stood up to leave the restaurant.

Logan took advantage of his remaining time alone with Veronica and wrapped his arm around her shoulders as they walked. They strolled along at a leisurely pace, allowing him to place a few kisses on her temple as they went along. “It seems like you and your dad are getting along better than at breakfast,” Logan commented as they walked along the trail.

Veronica nodded and glanced momentarily up at him. “Yeah, I think he’s trying his best to compensate for what happened earlier, without making it glaringly obvious that he is. Although we both know, no one can ever get anything by me.” She gave him one of her you’d-better-not-disagree-with-me expressions as she waited for his response.

Logan chuckled and nodded. “Yeah, and anyone who thinks they can is clearly delusional,” he replied, earning an agreeable smile from her. Unfortunately, I had to learn that the hard way, but now there’s no way I’d ever try to keep something from her again.

They eventually spotted a crowd near the gorillas and headed in that direction. With Logan’s height advantage he was easily able to spot Kathleen, Keith and Evie near the front of the crowd watching some of the gorillas play. As some of the other groups cleared out, Logan and Veronica made their way up to join the other three.

“They’re so big, Daddy,” Evie said in amazement when she saw he’d joined them again. “We don’t have any monkeys that big at our zoo.”

“You’re right, Evie,” Logan answered as he bent over to scoop her up. He placed a tender kiss on her cheek as she started to point out the different ones that they had been watching and giving him a play by play of what they had been doing. He caught Keith giving her a fond smile a few times as she enthusiastically told Logan about the gorillas.

Even with her fascination with the large primates, she quickly remembered her other objective. “Can we see the koala bears now?”

“We’re still quite a ways from them, but we can continue heading that direction,” Logan replied. Evie let out a little huff, and it wasn’t hard for him to translate that into what she was thinking. “Getting tired of walking, sweetie?” he asked as he reached up to brush some hair out of her face. She nodded and gave him a sad little smile. He chuckled softly and kissed her forehead, knowing he would ultimately cave to what she would likely be asking next. “I’ll carry you for a little while,” he offered, jumping directly to what he knew was coming based on her current demeanor.

“Thank you, Daddy,” she said as she rested her head on his shoulder. Kathleen gave him an amused smile as they all turned to continue along the path. Logan knew that if it had been just the three of them, she likely would have given him a hard time about being such a pushover with Evie, but she wouldn’t have wanted to make him look bad in front of Keith. He was certain that was the only reason she was going easier on him than she normally would. Logan knew she was just as bad as he was sometimes at giving in to what Evie wanted. Of course if he called her on it, she would typically use the grandmothers-get-to-spoil-their-grandkids excuse.

Logan was thankful when Keith suggested a quicker path than Logan had selected to get them to the Outback section of the zoo. Evie stood on her own a few times when they stopped at some of the exhibits along the way, but when they started walking for very long, she would ask Logan to carry her again. Keith made a comment about remembering how tiring it was carrying Veronica around the zoo when she was little too. Even though Evie was still fairly small, by the time they made it to the Outback area, Logan was more than ready for a break.

“You do know they have i-c-e c-r-e-a-m at Sydney’s, right?” Veronica asked with a sly grin as she stood next to him watching the koala bears.

“Thank you,” he whispered softly before stealthily placing a kiss on the side of her head. He should have known that if anyone knew all the locations at the zoo to get ice cream, that it would be Veronica. And he wasn’t surprised at all that she’d make sure he knew too.

“Who wants ice cream?” Logan asked after they’d spent a fair amount of time watching the koalas in their exhibit and he could tell Evie was starting to get restless again.

“Me!” Evie answered enthusiastically.

“Like you had to ask,” Kathleen commented as she rolled her eyes slightly. Logan immediately recognized the expression she would get when she’d want to give him a bad time about something, but thanks to Keith and Veronica being there, she refrained. Keith must have caught the interaction anyway because Logan heard him stifle a laugh.

After enjoying their ice cream, the group decided to head toward the playground area since they were near that end of the zoo again. Logan was sure Evie would take a really long nap as long as they could get her to stay awake all the way back to the villa. She had perked up a bit after he had carried her for a while, but he was sure she was still getting tired and some additional time playing on the playground was sure to lead to a nice lengthy nap that afternoon.

They spent a little time in the petting paddock as well before Logan suggested calling it a day and heading back to the hotel. As expected, Evie whined a little bit about leaving, but the other three adults agreed that they were ready to go too. Evie’s reluctance to leave was tempered by Logan suggesting that maybe they could come back and visit one more time before they flew back home. He also reminded her of the carousel and miniature train that she’d spotted on the way into the zoo and said they could spend a little time at those before they left. Thankfully that suggestion immediately dissuaded any more disagreement from her.

Of course they had to pass by a gift shop on the way out of the zoo, and the minute Evie spotted some stuffed koalas, Logan knew he wouldn’t easily get out of buying her one. He at least convinced her to pick a smaller one since it would be easier to take back on the airplane with them. Veronica also found her two nice story books that featured a koala bear in one and a panda bear in the other, and Evie was very excited about getting those as well.

Kathleen and Keith chose to sit on a bench and watch the other three on the carousel and train. Logan thought he caught them chatting a bit on a few occasions when he glanced over at them, but could tell Kathleen still hadn’t warmed up very much yet. It was actually a bit out of character to see her act like that. She was always so friendly with all the customers that came into the gallery and all the other people they would run into around town. Logan couldn’t really recall ever seeing her give someone the cold shoulder quite like she was giving to Keith. While he would have preferred that the two of them had hit it off, he had to admit that it felt good to have someone who was willing to look out for him like that. Logan had never really had anyone be that protective of him before and it was such a heartwarming feeling to know that she cared as much about him as she did her own girls.

After a few rides on the carousel, they all headed back to the SUV. “Please make sure she stays awake until we get to the villa,” Logan quietly asked Kathleen after he’d fastened Evie into her car seat. Kathleen gave him an understanding smile and nodded. Logan knew that Kathleen was just as aware of the drawbacks of Evie falling asleep in the car as he was.

Kathleen and Veronica spent most of the ride back asking Evie to tell them which animals she liked the most and pointing out various sights as they drove along. They also looked through her new books that Veronica had found for her. Kathleen was very good at making Evie try to read some of the words, which helped to keep her awake instead of just falling asleep listening to a story. Evie had always loved to have stories read to her and was actually starting to recognize many words in her books. He smiled proudly to himself as he heard her sound out several words in the new books that they were looking at on the drive back.

When they finally pulled into the parking lot at the hotel, Logan was relieved to see that Evie was still awake. Although, he wasn’t quite sure what to do about Keith at that point, so was thankful when Veronica suggested that Keith check into the hotel after they’d all climbed out of the SUV and Logan had helped Evie out of her car-seat. Veronica also told Keith that she’d call him a bit later to make arrangements for dinner.

Keith nodded in agreement, and then turned his attention to Logan. “Thanks for inviting me along, Logan,” he said as he stretched out his hand to shake Logan’s again. “It’s been way too long since I’ve made it down to the zoo and I really enjoyed it.”

There had been a few times that Logan had also started to doubt his suggestion to invite Keith to spend a few days with them, especially after their rocky start that morning, so he was relieved that Keith seemed genuinely appreciative. Logan nodded as he shifted Evie to one hip so he could shake Keith’s hand. “I’m glad you were able to join us too,” Logan replied with a genuine smile. He really did hope that spending the day with them would help Keith start to feel more comfortable about his relationship with Veronica. “Evie will probably nap for an hour or two, but then we’ll figure out our dinner plans and let you know.”

“Sounds good,” Keith said as he pulled his hand away and turned to walk back toward the main hotel parking lot.

When Logan looked over at Veronica, she had what he could only guess was a relieved smile on her face. Logan had noticed that she was acting less worried about things the longer they were at the zoo as well. Keith may still have some reservations about the two of them being together again, but at least he hadn’t made any specific comments about it during their time at the zoo. Logan wasn’t foolish enough to think spending a few hours together was going to completely erase all the doubts that Keith had likely formed about him over the years. But Logan knew Veronica very well too, and he knew that trying to tell her what to do never worked out for anyone. Veronica would always make up her own mind about things, and even if Keith wasn’t happy that they were a couple again, Logan was pretty sure that wouldn’t come between them. Of course, if Keith were to change his opinion on the matter, Logan knew that would be much easier for them in the long run. Even if Veronica was obstinate, she still adored her dad, and Logan knew that disappointing him would be something she’d have a hard time dealing with.

Evie let out a loud yawn as they reached the door to their villa. “Nap time?” Logan asked as he opened the door. He felt Evie let out a tired sigh before she nodded against his chest.

“Can I sleep in your bed this time?” Evie asked in a soft voice. Logan had noticed that her grip around his neck had slowly been loosening the closer they got to the villa.

“Sure, sweetie,” Logan replied as he started to walk toward the bedroom.

“Will you and Vronica take a nap with me too?” Evie asked next as she turned to look at Veronica.

He glanced at Veronica as well who gave them both an affectionate smile. “A nap sounds terrific,” Veronica replied with a small nod.

Evie agreed to let Logan lie in the middle, so both blondes curled up on either side of him. He knew Evie would fall asleep pretty quickly with how tired she was, but hadn’t expected Veronica to fall asleep just as fast too. He lay there for a few minutes, once again thinking about how blessed he was to have not only Evie and Kathleen in his life, but now Veronica again too. He hated the thought of being apart from Veronica when she had to start school, but held fast to the belief that they were both mature enough now to weather that without any issues. He wanted to just focus on enjoying every minute he still had with her now and not worry about what the future would hold. But he would fight with every ounce of his being to make sure that whatever their future turned out to be, that it included all of them, together as a family.

A/N – I realized as I finished this chapter and took a second to think about my other two open stories, that I currently ended all 3 with them napping! I guess my subconscious is just really tired these days and wishes I could find time for naps too!

Chapter 24

Chapter Text

Chapter 24

Logan had just dozed off when he heard the sound of a cell phone buzzing. Evie was completely out and didn’t budge, but Veronica shifted slightly and let out an annoyed grumble. Not wanting to disturb her more, Logan carefully slipped off the bed so he could grab it. Veronica rolled toward the spot he’d vacated and seemed to fall back asleep as he picked up his phone. He saw it was Charlie calling and headed out of the room before he answered it.

Logan noticed that Kathleen wasn’t in the main room as he closed the door to the master suite behind him. He headed over to take a seat on the couch and as he answered the call he noticed the door to the patio was opened slightly. He wasn’t surprised that Kathleen would be sitting out on the patio watching the ocean since that was one of her favorite things to do even at home.

Charlie started the conversation after a quick hello from Logan. “Wendy and I were hoping we could get a chance to see you before the procedure,” Charlie started out, sounding a little apprehensive. Logan had also been thinking it would be nice to actually meet Charlie and his family in person before the procedure on Saturday, but had been reluctant to suggest it. “We’ll be heading to San Diego tomorrow afternoon and thought maybe we could arrange to meet you after we arrive. We’d love to meet your daughter… and wife too of course.”

Logan chuckled a bit uncomfortably. He realized that with all the focus on talking about the procedure, he hadn’t really mentioned much besides having a daughter and that she’d be coming to California with him. “No wife, actually… I guess I didn’t really get a chance to explain all of that… as usual with my life, it’s a little complicated… Evie’s grandmother came along though… She um… well you know of course my own mom is gone, and Evie’s grandmother, Kathleen, has become like a mom to me now… Evie’s mom isn’t really part of our lives anymore, though.”

“Oh…” Charlie replied somewhat hesitantly as if trying to completely process that abbreviated version of Logan’s life. “Well we’d love to meet both of them.”

“Veronica’s also here with me,” Logan continued on. He was a little unsure of how the next part might sound, but went ahead with it anyway. “I guess one silver lining out of all of this is that the two of us found our way back into each other’s lives. I know the circ*mstances that brought us together are unfortunate, but I am so grateful for having her in my life again.”

“Well, I’m incredibly thankful that you were willing to do this for us, Logan. Really, I can’t even begin to express how much this means to me… to all of us,” Charlie replied sincerely.

“We’re planning to go to the beach in the morning, but if you wanted to get together later in the afternoon, I think that sounds like a good idea. We’re at a villa at the Del if you want to come over here, or we can meet you wherever you’ll be staying.”

“I’m sure Wendy and Nick would love to come and see your place there in Coronado. We’re staying at a smaller hotel close to the hospital, so coming over to see you would be nice. Thanks for offering.”

“Yeah… no problem. Why don’t you give me a call tomorrow when you get to San Diego and we can nail down the specifics,” Logan suggested before they both said goodbye and ended the call.

Logan stood up from the couch when he ended his call and headed toward the patio. The idea of finally getting to meet his half-brother was percolating through his mind. He’d been so desperate to meet Charlie three years ago, hoping to finally form a healthy familial bond with someone, but then that had been completely destroyed by the shady Vanity Fair reporter. Now though, while it would be great to finally meet Charlie, Logan realized that he finally had found that stable loving bond he was looking for with Kathleen and Sara. Logan spotted Kathleen sitting on one of the lounge chairs staring out at the ocean as he walked through the doorway.

“Mind if I join you?” Logan asked softly as he walked toward the empty lounge chair next to Kathleen.

“When have I ever minded having you around, Logan?” Kathleen asked with a questioning look as he took a seat. He shrugged and stared out at the ocean since he didn’t really have an answer and wasn’t even sure what compelled him to ask it in the first place. “So, how are you feeling about being back here?” Kathleen asked a bit more delicately.

“I don’t know… it’s odd I guess…” Logan started to reply uncertainly, still staring out at the ocean.

“Is it making you have second thoughts about whether you’d ever want to move back?” Kathleen asked next.

Logan shook his head with determination as he turned toward her. “No… definitely not,” he replied adamantly.

“How about Veronica?” Kathleen asked as she studied Logan carefully. “Have the two of you discussed where she would like to live when she finishes law school?” Logan shook his head and stared back out at the ocean again. “What if she really wants to stay in Southern California, Logan?” Kathleen continued in a cautious tone. “Her dad is here and, regardless of how I feel about the man, she seems very close to him. I could imagine she’d like to live some place near him.” The comment about Kathleen’s opinion of Keith made Logan’s lip quirk up slightly, although he still wasn’t thrilled with what Kathleen was suggesting.

Logan let out a frustrated sigh. “I know you’re right… we should probably talk about it at some point…” He paused a moment before he continued. “I guess I was hoping if she came and did an internship up with us that she’d realize she’d like to live there when she’s done, but I know that’s probably naive of me.”

Kathleen reached over and put her hand on his forearm. “I just don’t want it to be something that causes issues down the road for the two of you, and I think it’s something you should consider.”

Logan turned toward her and gave her an understanding smile. While he really didn’t want to move back to Southern California, he also didn’t want to lose Veronica again and hoped they would be able to come up with another alternative. Kathleen patted his arm gently before she turned back out toward the ocean.

“You’ve got to admit, the sun and surf down here is pretty exceptional,” Kathleen pointed out with a bit of encouragement to her tone. Logan nodded in agreement and tried not to think about all the darker parts of his past that had occurred in Southern California.

“So I take it Keith still hasn’t won you over yet?” Logan asked, thinking back to Kathleen’s comment. “It looked like the two of you were talking a bit while I was on the carousel with Evie and Veronica.”

Kathleen frowned in obvious annoyance. “He’s certainly persistent,” she replied tersely. “He kept trying to strike up a conversation… but I still don’t like him.” She glanced back at the ocean and had a slightly guilty look on her face.

“What did you do?” Logan asked with a frustrated sigh. He knew Kathleen too well not to know that look meant she’d done something he probably wasn’t going to like.

Kathleen shrugged and glanced back over at him. “Nothing,” she tried before she let out a sigh herself as he gave her a disbelieving look. “Fine. I may have stressed again how wonderful you are and that I’d expect a detective and former sheriff to be able to easily see that, and if he couldn’t then he clearly was in the wrong line of work.”

Logan let out a nervous chuckle and shook his head. “And here I was hoping the two of you were actually starting to get along.” He paused a moment and gave her an uncertain look. “Do I even want to know what his response was?”

Kathleen shrugged again. “He did say that it was apparent that you’d grown up quite a bit since the last time he’d seen you and that you clearly loved your daughter very much.”

Logan smiled and turned toward the ocean. It was definitely a good start. Even if Keith had some reservations about Veronica being with him again, at least he was starting to see that Logan was different now. It wasn’t the same thing as Keith’s approval to be with his daughter again, but it was a much better reaction than he’d been expecting, especially considering how the morning had started.

“Were you talking on the phone before you came out here?” Kathleen asked, reminding Logan of his call with Charlie.

“Oh yeah… Charlie called. They’ll be in town tomorrow afternoon for the procedure on Wednesday and wanted to meet in person. I offered to have them come here,” Logan let out a nervous sigh. “I know meeting in person is the right thing to do, but I’m still anxious about it.”

Kathleen reached over and squeezed his forearm again. “I’m sure it will be perfectly fine, sweetheart. I’m sure they are beyond grateful that you’ve decided to do this for them. I know things didn’t turn out well the first time you tried to contact him, but you of all people should know how important second chances are.”

Logan smiled tenderly in reply and nodded in agreement. And in the case of Veronica and I, that’s more like fourth chances. Regardless of how many times he’d messed things up with her in the past, he was adamant he wasn’t going to let that happen again.

After watching the ocean and beach goers for a little while, Logan decided he'd go and check on Veronica and Evie. Kathleen teased him for really just wanting to go back to sleep too, which he unconvincingly denied. He carefully opened and closed the bedroom door so he wouldn't disturb either sleeping blonde. Veronica had scooted a bit closer to Evie and was lying on her side facing Evie. Evie had rolled over onto her stomach and had her arms tucked in underneath her, similar to how she usually slept. After momentarily standing at the foot of the bed thinking about how lucky he was that this was his life right now, he slowly climbed on the bed next to Veronica and wrapped an arm around her. She let out a soft sigh and moved her own arm so she could interlock their fingers. Since she was alert enough to do that, Logan placed a light kiss on her shoulder and then followed that up with more tender kisses up her neck. He nuzzled his nose against her ear before she turned to look at him with half open eyes. Her lips curled up into a sensual smile which did more to him than was probably safe given that Evie was just a few feet away on the bed. Even though Evie was surely wiped out from the trip to the zoo, Logan wasn’t going to risk her unexpectedly waking up.

“I was thinking of taking a shower,” Veronica purred softly as she tipped her head up toward his ear and nipped him slightly. “Any chance you could join me?”

The bathroom door locks, and Kathleen would certainly listen for Evie to wake up if I asked her to. Logan let out a low moan and slowly nodded. “I’ll join you in two minutes?” he answered questioningly.

Veronica’s grin became even more predatory as she nodded in reply. “Don’t keep me waiting too long,” she whispered before placing a lingering kiss on his lips.

Logan took a deep breath as the kiss ended and then carefully climbed off the bed again, reaching out his hand to help Veronica up as well. He passionately kissed her one more time on the lips before sneaking back out of the room to make sure that the front door to the villa had the security latch set before he let Kathleen know he was going to take a shower. He asked if she could listen for Evie waking up while he was in there. Kathleen gave him an amused smile and nodded. He appreciated that she didn’t ask if Veronica was still sleeping or joining him, but he assumed she could guess the answer to that anyway.

Evie was still sleeping soundly when Logan entered the bedroom. He continued on to the bathroom where Veronica had left the door slightly ajar. She was sitting on the counter and gave him a salacious grin as he closed and locked the door behind him.

"I'm glad I didn't have to wait long," she commented with a sultry gaze as she pulled her shirt off over her head. She was wearing a cobalt blue lace bra and the color was intensified against her fair skin. Logan could already feel his pulse quicken and his jeans getting noticeably tighter. Veronica bit on her lip for a second before she hopped of the counter and pushed off the jeans she was wearing. "This bathroom really does have an exquisite mirror," she said suggestively as she turned away from Logan, looking at his reflection instead.

"Well I’d say that you're the most exquisite thing in here," Logan murmured as he closed the distance between them. He pressed against the back of her as his hands landed on her hips and his mouth on her shoulder.

He glanced up at her and could see the desire building in her eyes. He was suddenly overwhelmed by the memory of the first time she'd watched him in the mirror at the Grand when they were having sex in the bathroom. There was something more intense and intimate about that particular time than any of the others times they’d been together before that.

He'd expected them to quickly move to the shower, but the way she was looking at him, it was evident that wasn't what she had in mind at all. Her hands landed on his and then she moved one up to her breast and the other one down her front. The way she was looking at him only intensified as her breath quickened. His mouth went back to devouring her neck, but he kept his eyes locked with hers in the mirror. She moaned softly as the sensation of his fingers and his mouth caused her to arch back against him. As he started to lose the ability to think about anything other than how her body felt against his, he was unbelievably thankful that she'd suggested taking a shower. They were certainly going to need to get clean after what they were about to do.

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"Where were you thinking we'd go for dinner?" Veronica asked later as she towel-dried her hair. She was wrapped in one of the fluffy white robes that had been provided by the resort, casually watching Logan as he slipped on another robe.

Logan chuckled and shook his head slightly. "Do you ever think about anything other than sex and food, Mars?" he asked with a devilish grin. From her reaction, she must have been slightly surprised by his comment. He'd certainly been on better behavior previously, but she always could bring out the mischievous side of him.

She waggled her eyebrows and gave him a sultry smile after the surprised look vanished. "Lucky for you, not often," she quipped back with a wink.

Logan chuckled and shook his head. "So, what are you in the mood for?" he asked as a smirk remained on his lips. He certainly knew what he was in the mood for, but they were going to need to wait for another alone time for that. He had peeked out at Evie when they first climbed out of the shower and she looked like she was starting to stir a little.

"Well, if we're only talking food now," Veronica teased flirtatiously. "How about Miguel’s Cocina? It's practically across the street from us and we could even just walk there."

"Sounds good to me," Logan replied as he tugged on her robe to pull her closer. He pressed his lips against hers and a second later heard Evie call out 'Daddy'.

"You're being beckoned," Veronica teased before placing a quick kiss on his lips.

"Hey, munchkin," Logan said softly as he took a seat on the bed by Evie. "Did you have a good nap?"

Evie frowned as she looked at him. "I thought you and Vronica were taking a nap too."

"We did for a little while, but then we thought we'd get ready to go to dinner when we woke up. I'm betting you're going to be hungry for dinner soon. Why don't you go and see if Nana wants to play Spot-It with you while I get dressed?" Logan suggested, hoping the game might be a good distraction. Evie's face lit up as he mentioned it and he knew that his intuition was right.

"Okay," she replied and eagerly jumped off the bed.

Logan poked his head back into the bathroom after Evie left the bedroom and he had heard Kathleen agree to play with her. "The coast is clear if you need to come out for some clothes."

Veronica gave him an apologetic look as she walked into the bedroom. "Did you get the third degree about us taking a shower?" she asked with concern in her voice.

Logan shook his head and smiled tenderly at her. He appreciated that she considered that could have been a bit difficult to explain to Evie. "Luckily she was more focused on whether we took a nap with her or not. And then I distracted her with Spot-It and sent her out to Kathleen."

"Good. I really don't want to cause any problems. I know we need to be somewhat discreet around her," Veronica commented as she approached him and wrapped her arms around his waist. "It's tough though, knowing we have a limited time together before I'll be starting school."

Logan couldn't agree more and nodded as he wrapped his arms around her. "I know. At least we'll be able to be together until then." Veronica nodded in agreement as she leaned up to kiss him again.

As they both got dressed, Logan filled her in on the call from Charlie. She must have sensed some apprehension in his tone and gave him a reassuring smile. "I think it's a great idea for the two of you to get a chance to meet. I could go to dinner with my dad, if you’d rather have fewer people here when he comes."

“Absolutely not,” Logan replied with a determined tone to his voice. He was standing close enough to her that he could reach out and cup the side of her face. “I’m really counting on your support to help me get through it. You mean so much to me and I want you to be a permanent part of our lives, so of course I want you there when I meet my brother.”

Veronica gave him an understanding smile and nodded. “I thought I’d just offer.” She paused a moment and looked at him more tenderly. “And I want to be a permanent part of your life too… both of you… so of course I’ll stay if you want me here.”

“I do,” Logan said softly, not missing the importance of those two words. Maybe it was Veronica’s admission that she also wanted to be a permanent part of his life that made him feel even more emotional than he already had. He leaned forward and placed a slow deep kiss on her lips. “I love you,” he said softly after the kiss as his forehead rested against hers.

“I love you too,” she replied back with an affectionate smile. He wondered if she was also considering how significant what they’d just said to each other actually was. A part of him wanted so badly to drop down on one knee and ask her to marry him, right then, at that special moment, but another part knew that it was way too soon for that. Knowing Veronica, she’d probably freak out and not react so well to a spontaneous marriage proposal. He certainly didn’t want anything to get in the way of enjoying the limited time they had left. Her admission definitely had a huge impact on him, though, and he was grateful for the fact that she’d said as much as she had.

When they finished getting dressed, Logan went out to check on Evie and Kathleen, while Veronica returned to the bathroom to do her hair and make-up. Veronica had already called Keith, who agreed with their suggestion for dinner and said he'd head over to their villa shortly.

"Where's Vronica?" Evie asked as she looked up from the cards on the table at Logan.

"She's still doing her hair," Logan answered as he took a seat on the couch by Kathleen. Evie was sitting on one of the pillows from the couch that was placed on the floor across a small coffee table from Kathleen so they could play the card game on the table.

"I want curly hair too," Evie announced excitedly as she jumped up and ran toward the bedroom before Logan could even react. He'd completely forgotten about Evie asking Veronica if she could curl her hair when they were back in Yachats.

"Whoa, Evie," Logan called out, but she'd already made it through the bedroom door. Logan hurried after her, but she'd already reached Veronica in the bathroom and must have already asked her before he caught up to her.

“Sure, Evie,” Veronica was answering as she smiled at Evie and then glanced up as Logan bounded into the room. “Only if it’s okay with your Daddy,” she added looking a bit puzzled. Veronica must have been able to tell that Logan had failed at his attempt to catch Evie before she reached her.

“Please, Daddy?” Evie asked as she turned toward Logan with her head tilted the slightest bit and her mouth already in a little pout. Veronica smirked slightly behind her, obviously able to tell that Evie was not going to let this go without a fight.

Logan let out a soft sigh. “As long as it’s not too much work for Veronica,” Logan replied, looking hopelessly between the two of them. “Veronica’s dad is going to be here soon so we can go to dinner, and I’m sure he won’t want to have to wait too long.”

Veronica gave him an amused grin as Evie turned back toward her. Logan could see Evie’s expression in the mirror and knew Veronica probably wasn’t going to be able to refuse her either. “I’m sure he can wait a little bit, right Evie?” Veronica asked as she smiled conspiratorially at her.

“Yes,” Evie agreed as she nodded enthusiastically.

“All right, we’ll all be waiting out there for you two then,” Logan said as he shook his head slightly. Veronica gave him a little wink before she turned her attention back to Evie. At least I won’t have to be alone with Keith, since Kathleen will be there too.

Kathleen had already put the card game away by the time Logan made it back out to the main room. Obviously she expected that Evie wouldn’t be returning without getting her hair curled by Veronica. “I was thinking about sitting out on the patio again while we wait,” Kathleen commented with a sly smile.

Logan was about to answer when there was a knock on the villa door. “I’ll let Keith in and we can join you out there,” Logan replied with a slightly nervous expression. He really wasn’t sure he wanted to be alone with the two of them now either after learning what was said at the zoo. Although having Kathleen as a buffer still seemed like a better alternative than just sitting alone with Keith. He could tell that Kathleen wasn’t entirely thrilled by the suggestion either based on the expression she gave him before she turned and headed out the patio door.

“Hey, Mr. Mars,” Logan said, forcing as much confidence as he could into the greeting. Logan suddenly realized he used to be much better at putting on a façade when needed, but during the past three years there hadn’t really been a need to. He was surprised that it didn’t come as naturally as it used to.

“Logan,” Keith replied with a curious look. Perhaps he’d expected Veronica to be the one to meet him at the door. I suppose he’d still prefer me over Kathleen at least. “You can call me Keith if you’d like,” Keith added almost reluctantly.

Logan reached up to nervously scratch at the hair at the base of his neck. He realized it had been quite a while since he’d done that as well and quickly pulled his arm back down. “Um… Thanks… Keith. Veronica is curling Evie’s hair right now, so they’ll be a little bit longer,” Logan explained as Keith walked in and Logan closed the door behind him. “Kathleen and I were going to sit out on the deck while we waited for them. You’re welcome to join us out there.”

“That sounds fine,” Keith said with an understanding smile as he let Logan lead the way to the patio door. Logan couldn’t help but wonder how much of a lie that may have actually been. He could imagine Keith was also feeling a bit uncomfortable about the situation given how things had gone so far that day.

Logan took a seat on the lounge chair that was closest to Kathleen, leaving one on the other side of the patio for Keith. No sooner had Keith sat down, than Kathleen’s cell phone went off. She glanced at the caller ID without answering it yet and gave Logan an apologetic look.

“It’s Serena,” she explained as she started to stand up. “I’m just going to take the call inside so I can hear her better. I’m guessing she has some gallery related questions for me.” Logan could hear Kathleen saying hello to Serena as she headed inside and closed the patio door behind her. He actually wouldn’t have put it past her to have texted Serena while he was getting the door so she would have an excuse to avoid Keith.

“I’m sorry things got off to a rocky start between the two of us this morning,” Keith said apologetically gesturing with his head toward the door. His words took Logan a bit by surprise. “I hope you can understand why I was a bit apprehensive about you and Veronica being together again, though.”

Logan laughed a bit uncomfortably and nodded. “I completely understand… especially now being a dad myself.”

Keith narrowed his eyes slightly before he spoke again. “I still didn’t hear the full story about how that happened.”

Logan wasn’t terribly surprised that was where Keith went, given Logan had easily set Keith up for that opening. Logan took a deep breath as he decided exactly how far back to start and what to share with Keith. He finally decided starting at the beginning was probably best. “I stumbled across Evie and her mom, Katy, on my way to Vegas three years ago. Their car had broken down and I just happened to be the first person who stopped to see if they needed help. I guess my over-protective nature was kicked into high gear when I took them home and realized that Katy was being harassed by a creepy neighbor. I ended up staying with them and started getting closer to Katy until one night when the assho… sorry… guy attacked her when I was asleep.” Keith gave him a curt nod and Logan continued. “Katy wasn’t physically hurt very badly, but mentally… well her flight or fight leaned much more to flight, and she took off, leaving me a note asking if I could take Evie to her mom in Yachats. And that’s how I ended up in Oregon with Kathleen. Evie had become pretty attached to me by that point, and of course the opposite was true too, and the longer I was there… I couldn’t just leave her… and I really just didn’t want to go. Kathleen was so supportive and kind… and well… as you know, I never really had that growing up.” Keith gave him a sad smile and nodded in understanding. “The adoption thing… that was actually Kathleen’s idea. She was worried about how traumatic it would be on Evie if she were to ever lose me.”

“Cliff said that Evie’s mom didn’t give up her rights to her daughter,” Keith commented when Logan had paused again.

Logan wasn’t surprised that Keith had pressed Cliff for a bit of information and also wasn’t surprised that Cliff had caved and told him a bit of the story. He knew the two men were particularly close friends and, even given that, Logan hadn’t hesitated to ask Cliff for help. He knew his situation with Evie and Katy was a bit unusual and if anyone had connections and an ability to get it done, he had the utmost confidence that it would be Cliff. “No… I didn’t do it to try to take Evie away from Katy. I hope we never get to the point of it becoming some ugly legal battle between the two of us, but knowing Katy, I don’t think it will. I think she realizes, given her behavior these past few years, that trying to prove she’s more fit as a parent than I am would be difficult. She’d come back several times before I asked to legally adopt Evie and there was never any indication that she wanted to take Evie with her.”

“What if something were to happen to you?” Keith asked with a concerned expression on his face. “I’m sure you know that all medical procedures carry some unexpected risk.”

Logan nodded and gave him a grim smile. “Yeah, I do... Kathleen’s listed as her legal guardian if anything was to happen to me. I also set it up so Kathleen would be in charge of Evie’s inheritance until she’s old enough to manage it herself.”

Keith nodded in understanding. “I got the impression from my brief conversation with Veronica, that Evie’s biological dad was never part of the picture?”

“Yeah…” Logan took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Katy never listed a name on the birth certificate, and never told me anything about him. I don’t think Kathleen knows who he is either. Katy showed up on Kathleen’s doorstep pregnant and battered. But I don’t know for sure that the guy who beat her up was the father and, if he was, whether he even knew about the baby. I did try to ask Katy a couple times about it, but she would never open up and talk about it.”

Keith nodded in understanding. Logan surmised that, given Keith’s years in law enforcement, he would be familiar with similar situations. “Well, you certainly are a great dad to her and I can see why Kathleen was so worried about her losing you,” Keith commented warmly.

Logan was a bit taken aback by Keith’s kind words. “Thanks, Mr. Mar… Keith,” he replied humbly after taking a moment to let it sink in.

“And about you and Veronica,” Keith continued. Logan could easily hear Keith’s protective-father side starting to reemerge again in just those few words. He braced himself for what might come next, because he could already tell it wasn’t going to be as kind as the compliment that Logan was a good dad. “I don’t want to see her get hurt by you again and I’m worried about how difficult it will be to build a strong relationship living in two different states for the next three years. I would also hate for her to be short sighted and compromise her future by making a bad decision about Stanford.”

No one could ever say Keith Mars wasn’t direct and to the point. “I promise I don’t intend to ever hurt her again,” Logan replied with more determination in his tone than he remembered ever directing at Keith before. “And I also don’t want her to jeopardize whatever would make her happy.” Whether or not that actually is law school at Stanford. “The two of us have already discussed the challenge of her being in California while I’m in Oregon and we know it will be difficult, but we are both determined to make it work.”

Keith narrowed his eyes slightly and then nodded in understanding. Logan didn’t get the impression that Keith was completely convinced that the two of them would be successful this time, but Logan still believed in his heart that they would. “So… any tips you can give me to help me get on better terms with Kathleen?” Keith asked with a mischievous grin as his tone shifted once again.

Logan chuckled, a bit surprised by the request. “Well actually… she’s a pretty big noir movie buff,” Logan replied with a smirk.

Keith’s face lit up as he smiled in reply. “I think I can work with that. Thanks, Logan.”

“I sort of thought you’d be able to,” Logan said as he gave Keith a conspiratorial smile. A moment later the patio door opened and a beaming Evie ran out toward Logan.

“Look at my curly hair, Daddy!” Evie excitedly announced as she spun around in front of him. “Just like Vronica’s.”

“Yes it is, Evie,” Logan said as he enjoyed how excited Evie was about it. “You look beautiful.” He scooped her up and placed a kiss on her cheek as she took a seat on his lap. “Veronica did a fabulous job.”

“Why thank you,” Veronica replied as she walked through the patio door as well. Logan looked up at her and once again couldn’t believe how much Evie actually resembled her. It was even more prominent since Veronica’s hair was curled the same way as she’d done Evie’s.

“And you look absolutely beautiful too,” Logan added as Veronica walked over and took a seat on the lounge chair with him. Veronica smiled demurely at him before he leaned toward her and kissed her temple.

“Did you two chase Kathleen off?” Veronica asked as she looped an arm around Logan’s waist and gently rested her head against his shoulder.

“She had a call from her friend, Selena, who’s watching the gallery for her while she’s gone and must have gone back into her room to take it if you didn’t see her in the main room,” Logan explained as he glanced back inside. Veronica shook her head and gave him an inquisitive look. He was sure she was probably wondering how things had gone with him and her dad. Logan was about to suggest that he go in to let Kathleen know that Evie and Veronica were finished getting ready, when she came back out to the patio on her own. Logan couldn’t help but wonder if she’d been off the phone for a while, but waiting for the other two to join them. The room she was staying in also faced out to the patio, so she likely saw Evie and Veronica come out if she was watching for them from there.

“Look at my curls, Nana,” Evie said excitedly as she hopped off Logan’s lap and spun around in a circle in front of Kathleen.

“Oh so pretty, sweetheart. Let’s take a picture and send to Sara, okay?” Kathleen suggested with an endearing smile. Evie nodded enthusiastically. “Do you want to sit with Daddy and Veronica and I’ll get all three of you in the picture?” Evie nodded again and moved back closer to Logan so he could lift her up onto his lap again.

“Is it okay if I take one too?” Keith asked as he stood up from his chair and pulled out his phone. “It will be a nice picture before you head off to Stanford,” he directed to Veronica in explanation.

“Of course,” Logan replied as Veronica nodded as well. Logan thought he caught a bit of a surprised expression cross Veronica’s face before she smiled for the pictures. He certainly hadn’t expected Keith to want a picture of all three of them and could imagine she was just as surprised.

“Speaking of pictures,” Kathleen commented after both she and Keith had taken a few. “I have some exciting news for you, Veronica.” Veronica looked at her with a puzzled expression before Kathleen continued to explain. “I’ve already sold one of your prints!”

“What? How?” Veronica asked in confusion. “I just emailed them to you yesterday on the flight?”

Kathleen was beaming as she continued to share the news. “I emailed a friend of Selena’s who I thought might like them and she’s already ordered one for when we get it printed and framed for her. I told you I thought they were extraordinary and that you had quite a talent for capturing exquisite images.”

Logan leaned toward Veronica and placed a kiss on her head. “Congratulations,” he whispered softly.

“Wow, I… thank you, Kathleen,” Veronica replied uncertainly. “I didn’t expect that at all.”

“Well that’s something exciting to celebrate at dinner, isn’t it honey,” Keith said with a proud smile also on his face. “I’ll have to have Kathleen show me some of them as well. Maybe she could ship me a framed one to hang at home too.”

“I’m sure we could arrange something like that,” Kathleen replied with a friendlier smile than Logan had seen her give Keith yet. “Your daughter really is an exceptional photographer. Not everyone has the ability to create visually stimulating compositions.”

Logan glanced at Veronica and could tell she was touched by the compliment. Evie wiggled off Logan’s lap and wandered over to where Keith had taken a seat again. He still had his phone in his hand, and Evie must have noticed the picture he’d just taken of the three of them.

“Can I see the picture?” Evie asked Keith as she climbed up onto the lounge chair next to him.

“Sure, Evie,” Keith replied with a warm smile as he tilted his phone toward the little girl.

“My daddy has lots of pictures of me on his phone. Do you have more pictures of Vronica on yours?” Evie asked, looking expectantly up at Keith.

Keith nodded as his lips quirked up into an endearing smile. He pulled the phone back toward him, pressing on the screen a few times before tilting it back toward Evie again. “Here’s one of her and our dog, Backup.” Logan noticed that Evie’s face lit up a bit more as she studied the picture of Veronica and Backup.

“Can we show him Bella, Daddy?” Evie asked as she looked over at Logan questioningly.

“Sure, sweetie,” Logan replied as he pulled his phone out of his pocket and stood up to walk over by Keith and Evie. Logan opened his photo folder and swiftly flipped through his pictures until he found the one that he was looking for. He'd taken it at the small cove behind their house just a few weeks before. Evie was crouched down with her arms resting on her knees while she pointed at a big pink starfish that was in one of the small tide pools at the cove. Bella, as usual, had been following Evie closely around the cove and stopped and sat down right by her and was also looking into the water where Evie was pointing. Logan couldn’t help the fond smile that crossed his face before he held the phone out to Evie.

“This is our doggie, Bella,” Evie said proudly.

“She’s a beautiful dog,” Keith commented as he looked at the picture. Logan thought he saw a small look of nostalgia cross Keith’s face and wondered if he was also thinking back to when Veronica was as little as Evie.

“And Logan trained her… she’s probably even better behaved than Backup is,” Veronica bragged as she stood up and joined them as well, looking over Keith’s shoulder at the picture.

“Bella is a very good doggie,” Evie agreed. “She always does whatever Daddy tells her to do.”

“Too bad Evie doesn’t always do what I tell her to,” Logan teased Evie as he tickled her side. Evie giggled and shook her head at him.

“I can relate to that,” Keith mumbled under his breath, earning him a glare from Veronica.

“Show him the bubble picture, Daddy,” Evie commanded next. Logan took the phone again and quickly found the picture Evie was talking about and handed the phone back to her. It was also another one of his favorite pictures of the two of them, with Bella jumping high to try to catch a bubble and Evie gleefully laughing at her. “Bella loves to pop bubbles with me,” Evie explained as she looked up at Keith. “Does your doggie like to do that too?”

Keith gave her an uncertain look and shook his head. “I don’t think Backup has ever played with bubbles. Maybe if you come and visit him, you can do that with him too.”

“Can we go visit Vronica’s doggie?” Evie asked as she turned back toward Logan with an excited expression on her face. Logan knew that Evie loved meeting new dogs at the beach, and he could imagine how much she wanted to meet Backup as well now.

“Yeah, we can do that. We’re going to help Veronica pack her things to go to college, so you can play with Backup then,” Logan explained. He caught a quick questioning expression cross Keith’s face as he glanced at Veronica. Logan tried not to overanalyze the fact that Veronica probably hadn’t shared that little detail with Keith yet. He was also certain that she hadn’t mentioned that Logan was planning to be the one to drive up to Stanford with her instead of Keith.

“I’m sure Backup will enjoy that,” Veronica chimed in, likely trying to keep the focus away from her omission about her plans for leaving for Stanford.

“Does Backup chase bunnies too?” Evie asked next as she looked inquisitively back and forth between Veronica and Keith.

Veronica shook her head slightly. “No, we don’t get any bunnies in our yard. Squirrels sometimes though, and Backup does try to catch them. But they are too fast and run up the trees and chatter at him, which makes him mad so he barks at them.”

“Does he play ball like Bella?” Evie asked next.

“Yeah,” Veronica replied as she furtively glanced at Logan. “Your daddy used to play fetch with Backup too.”

“Really?” Evie asked with a skeptical expression. Logan had never really told Evie much about growing up in Neptune, so spending time with Backup and Veronica had certainly never come up.

Veronica smiled and nodded in reply. “Yeah, when your daddy used to live down here by us, he would go to the beach sometimes with me and throw the ball for Backup, just like he does now for Bella.”

“Before you were my daddy?” Evie asked as she looked questioningly at Logan.

“Yeah, sweetie,” Logan said with a tender smile. “I lived down here when I was younger. More like Sara’s age.” Even though he’d only been gone for three years, it felt like a lifetime ago now considering how much his life had changed in that time.

“I’m glad we live by Nana now,” Evie said as she gave Kathleen a broad smile. Logan glanced quickly at Kathleen and nodded as well. He noticed a slightly conflicted look on Kathleen’s face and was certain it was related to their conversation earlier that day. He wasn’t sure how much Evie really remembered about living in Las Vegas, although sometimes she would mention things like the park that they used to go to there. But her love for Kathleen and Sara was undeniably strong, and once again, Logan worried about what the future may bring for them if Veronica wouldn’t be happy living in Yachats with them. Before he could let those thoughts consume him, though, Evie switched topics completely. “Can we go eat now?” Evie asked, apparently finished discussing dogs and where people lived.

“Is someone hungry?” Logan asked with a soft chuckle as he helped Evie climb off his lap.

“Yes,” both Evie and Veronica replied at the same time, causing everyone to laugh.

Logan was relieved that Evie didn’t object at all to holding his hand on the way over to the restaurant since they all agreed to just walk there. Veronica moved to his free side and wrapped her arm around his waist as they started to walk toward their destination. Wrapping his arm across her shoulder felt completely natural now, and he pulled her a little closer to his side as the three of them kept pace with Evie’s shorter strides. Logan focused on the direction they were headed and didn’t glance back to see what might be going on with Kathleen and Keith. He could hear their footsteps behind them, but there still wasn’t any conversing going on with them. He’d been hopeful that Kathleen was starting to warm up when they were talking about Veronica’s photography skills, but evidently that wasn’t quite enough to get her to start casually talking to Keith yet.

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At least dinner went much more smoothly than their earlier meals had that day, and Keith even managed to work in some conversations about some recent noir films he’d seen. He also mentioned that there was a play that was being performed at the Old Globe theatre in Balboa Park based on the 1944 film, Double Indemnity. As Logan had hoped, Kathleen seemed to be finally warming up a bit to Keith, and Logan even sensed a little excitement in her tone as they discussed some of the noir films they’d both watched.

Keith walked with them all back to the villa after dinner before separating to head back to his own room. Veronica said she’d give him a call in the morning when they decided where they were going to have breakfast. They had briefly discussed at dinner whether they were just going to stay there at Coronado for Logan to surf the next day, or if they were going to travel to a different beach. Given that Logan was a bit out of practice in regards to surfing, he didn’t think he’d tackle anything too challenging so staying close to Coronado would be fine. He also pointed out that if they stayed near the resort, it would be easier if Evie needed a break from the beach.

“We could run out and get some groceries to be able to cook here,” Logan suggested after they’d all walked into the villa. Veronica gave him a confirming nod and he turned to see what Kathleen thought of the idea.

“I can stay here with Evie if the two of you want to do that,” Kathleen suggested. “We could play a few more games of Spot-It and then start getting ready for bed.”

Evie gave Kathleen a smile and nodded. Logan was relieved that Evie’s separation anxiety from her trip to the Portland Zoo with Kathleen seemed to have started to fade now and that she was back to her more normal behavior of being more than happy to spend some time alone with Kathleen too.

“I think that sounds like a great idea,” Logan quickly agreed before Evie could have any second thoughts. Grocery shopping with Evie could be challenging at times, and the thought of doing it in an unfamiliar place with Veronica made him a bit anxious, especially given how long of a day Evie had already had.

“At least dinner went much better than breakfast,” Logan commented as he and Veronica walked toward the rental car.

“You didn’t have anything to do with the noir topic, did you?” Veronica asked as she looked up at Logan and gave him an inquisitive look.

Logan chuckled as he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her closer to him. “Who me?” he asked innocently before he leaned down and pressed a kiss to her head.

“Well, however it happened, I was certainly glad to see them finally find something they could both agree on,” Veronica commented with a soft laugh as Logan opened the passenger door for her. He leaned toward her and gave her a quick kiss before she climbed in and he closed the door behind her.

Logan remembered passing a Vons right before they arrived at the resort, so they headed back that direction. Logan pushed the shopping cart, while Veronica made suggestions and put items they agreed to buy into it. They were going at a much more leisurely pace than any of his grocery shopping trips with Evie. When he was shopping with his daughter, he always tried to get the task over as quickly as possible before she either melted down over not getting something she wanted or got too bored and fussy. Logan couldn’t help but notice how quickly he and Veronica were falling into a comfortable rhythm doing even the simplest things together like picking up groceries. He was even a little surprised that when he playfully teased her about being too short to reach some of the items that they needed from the top shelves, that her only retort was to point out how good of a team they made.

When they made it back to the villa, Evie had already fallen asleep reading a book with Kathleen on the bed in Kathleen’s room. Logan couldn’t help but wonder if Kathleen had lured her in there on purpose so he could have another night alone with Veronica. Evie had definitely had a very full day, and even with her short nap that afternoon, he wasn’t surprised that she fell asleep a little earlier than normal.

“I can put the groceries away, if you two wanted to do something else… like a stroll on the beach or a dip in the hot tub,” Kathleen offered as Logan and Veronica sat the grocery bags down on the counter in the kitchenette area of the villa.

Logan glanced at Veronica to see what she thought of the suggestion. “A stroll on the beach sounds nice,” Veronica replied with a smile that bordered on sultry. Logan nodded and held out his hand for her to take before he led her to the patio door.

They decided to leave their shoes on the patio and walked barefoot out onto the sand right behind their villa. The sun was getting close to setting and while there were still quite a few people out enjoying the beach, they were able to find a secluded spot not too far from the villa to sit and enjoy the view. Veronica sat between Logan’s legs and leaned back against his chest while he wrapped his arms around her waist and placed a few gentle kisses at the juncture of her neck and shoulder. They sat together in peaceful silence as they watched the sun slowly sink into the Pacific Ocean.

“Thanks for an amazing day,” Veronica said as the last bit of light started to fade away. “I know it started out a bit rocky, but it ended really well.”

“Mmm… It’s not over yet,” Logan murmured huskily against her skin. He increased the intensity of his kisses as he moved slowly up her neck causing her to let out a soft moan. She turned her body enough so he could capture her lips with his own, kissing her slowly and deeply.

Veronica finally pulled away a little, slightly short of breath. “So… how did your time alone with my dad go?” she asked a bit hesitantly as her expression suddenly changed to interrogator mode.

Logan let out a surprised huff, not expecting that question to come up after where he was planning to head based on their kissing. He reached up and tucked some loose strands of hair behind her ear that the breeze was blowing around. He wondered how long she’d been stewing over that topic in her head before she finally worked up the nerve to ask. She obviously could have asked it on the way to or from the grocery store because he was pretty sure it would have been on her mind then too. He could see a little bit of nervousness in her eyes, even if she was trying not to outwardly show it.

“He asked about Katy,” Logan answered with a reassuring smile. Even if the conversation hadn’t been ideal, it had still been much better than he expected, and he didn’t want Veronica to worry about it. “So I explained the situation as well as I could to him.” Veronica nodded in understanding. “He mentioned again his concerns about the two of us, but he also said some pretty positive things too, which sort of softened that blow a bit.” Veronica let out a frustrated sigh and a crease formed across her forehead as she frowned slightly. Logan traced over the crease with the tip of his finger, before moving his hand so he could gently run his thumb over her chin. “I didn’t expect to win him over in one day, Veronica,” Logan said with a confident smile. “I think showing him how great we are together and proving him wrong is probably the best thing we can do, right?”

The crease in her forehead started to disappear as she smiled a bit more and nodded. “While it would be easier if he was being more supportive, that doesn’t change the way I feel about us at all,” she replied.

“Hmm… care to head back to the villa so you can show me exactly how you feel about us?” Logan asked with a salacious grin. Veronica relaxed again and her smile became even more lascivious to match his own as she leaned in and pressed a deep passionate kiss on his lips. “I’ll take that as a yes,” Logan said a bit breathlessly after their mouths finally parted from the kiss. Veronica smiled slyly as she stood up and reached her hand out for him.

“That’s definitely a yes,” she said suggestively before taking his hand in hers and heading back the direction they’d come.

Chapter 25

Chapter Text

As usual, Evie must have been the first one up and wasn't terribly quiet about coming into Logan's room to wake him up as well. Logan heard the bedroom door open and then felt the bed shift as Evie climbed onto it. He was lying on his stomach with his arm wrapped around Veronica's waist and his face nuzzled against her neck. Evie climbed on top of his back and wrapped her arms around his torso. A slow smile crept across his lips as she placed a big kiss on his cheek.

"Good morning, Daddy," she whispered quietly near his ear.

"Good morning, sweetie," Logan replied as he opened his eyes to see her. Instead of looking at him though, her gaze was fixed on Veronica who was sleeping on her back next to Logan.

"Vronica's still sleeping," she whispered again, her eyes trained on Veronica. "Should we wake her up for breakfast?"

"Why don't we go make breakfast and then when it's ready we could wake her up?" he suggested with a soft chuckle. He saw Veronica's lip quirk up the slightest amount and knew she wasn't really still asleep. Of course she couldn't resist the mention of food. "Is Nana still sleeping too?" Evie nodded in reply. Logan carefully rolled over on to his back and Evie shifted so that she was resting on his stomach instead of his back.

As his arm slid off of Veronica's waist, he heard her let out a small huff of discontent. She took a deep breath and then slowly opened her eyes. "Maybe Evie and I should make breakfast and let Daddy sleep longer," Veronica suggested as she gave Logan a tender smile.

"Okay," Evie answered as she nodded enthusiastically and beamed at Veronica. "Can I break the eggs?"

Logan immediately realized that that was the first time that Veronica had referred to him as just 'Daddy'. As surreal as the last week had been, having her say that without the 'your' in front of it, felt absolutely monumental to him. He was used to Kathleen and Sara referring to him like that when they would talk to Evie, but Veronica had always put 'your' in front of it. He felt as if the universe had suddenly shifted and he was shocked at how much of an impact it had on him. He was so taken aback by it that he didn't even realize that both girls were staring at him waiting for his reply.

"Did we break him?" Veronica asked with a teasing tone as she gave him a curious look.

"Sorry," he replied as he shook his head slightly, trying to regain his composure. "I could help too," he offered, though he realized his words sounded confused and uncertain as he said them.

Veronica was still looking at him with a puzzled expression on her face, clearly not having any idea what was going through his head. "You look like you could use a few more Z's. Come on, Evie," she commented as she sat up and reached her hand out for Evie to take. "I think we'd better make him some coffee too," Veronica added with an amused laugh as the two girls climbed off the bed.

Logan closed his eyes and took a deep breath as he listened to them leave the room. She probably didn't intentionally say it that way and I'm sure it's not as big a deal to her as you're making it out to be. He ran a hand over his face as he continued to chastise himself for reading too much into it. His brain finally started functioning properly again and Evie's request to break the eggs popped through the blissful fog he'd momentarily been stuck in. He shot up out of bed quickly so he could hurry out to catch up to them before Veronica let Evie loose on the eggs. Evie was convinced she was capable of breaking open eggs, but generally at least half of the shell ended up mixed in with the rest of the eggs. Logan, Kathleen and Sara all knew not to let her try, but Veronica wouldn't know any better. He breathed a sigh of relief when he spotted Kathleen already out in the kitchen and helping to pull the eggs out from the fridge.

"Frittatas?" Kathleen asked Veronica as she set the carton of eggs next to a bowl that was already on the counter. Logan watched Veronica nod as she finished up starting the coffee maker.

"Can I break them?" Evie asked, standing next to Kathleen and stretching up on her tippy toes to see the top of the counter better.

"How about Nana breaks them and you stir them all up, okay, sweet pea?" Kathleen asked, causing Evie to sigh slightly but she still nodded in agreement. Kathleen leaned down so she could scoop up Evie and sat her on the counter next to the bowl. "You're very good at stirring them up."

Logan had been leaning against the door frame just watching the three of them, undetected, but was caught in the act by Veronica as she turned away from the coffee maker toward the other two. "I thought Daddy was going to sleep some more," she teased as she raised her eyebrows at Logan. He swallowed the lump he suddenly felt in his throat at her words and shrugged in reply. The impact it had on him must have been visible because she gave him a puzzled look. "We've got this under control," she continued on as she studied him more carefully. "You can go back to sleep, or take a shower, or just... chill?"

He glanced over at Kathleen who quirked an eyebrow him as well before a knowing grin formed on her face. She must have figured out what it was that had happened to cause him to react the way he did. "What do you think, Evie?" Kathleen asked with just the slightest hint of teasing in her tone. "Should Daddy go back to sleep, or come out and help us cook?"

"Help us cook!" Evie answered enthusiastically. "Daddy makes the most yummy fritas."

"That's frittatas, sweetie," Logan corrected as he tried to nonchalantly walk over to join them in the kitchen. "And Nana's are really yummy too."

"Let's give Daddy a little break, Evie," Kathleen continued as she started breaking eggs into the bowl. "He can sit at the counter and watch us if he doesn't want to go back to bed. You know he has a really big day coming up tomorrow to help your cousin Nick, so we should let him take it easy today."

"When do I get to meet Nick?" Evie asked as she looked eagerly at Logan.

He'd forgotten that he hadn't mentioned to Evie that Charlie, Wendy and Nick were all coming by later that afternoon. "Later today, actually," Logan explained as he walked over to lean on the counter next to Evie. "But you need to remember that he's still sick, so he probably won't be able to play very much with you."

"I know," Evie nodded as she looked thoughtfully at him. "But we could color and read books right?"

"Yeah, I'm sure that would be okay," Logan replied as he tousled her hair. "But we'll have to ask his mommy and daddy when they get here, okay?"

Evie nodded and turned back toward the bowl of eggs. Logan glanced over at Veronica and she still had the same puzzled look on her face as she watched him. He couldn't help but wonder what sort of interrogation he was going to be subjected to later and what he should actually say. He decided that if Kathleen wasn't going to let him help, maybe going to take a shower would be a better idea. He hoped that maybe by the time he came back out that Veronica would have forgotten about his odd behavior.

"I think I'll take up that offer of a shower," he announced as he leaned toward Evie and placed a quick kiss on her head. "You be good for Nana and Veronica, okay?" Evie nodded in affirmation. Logan gave Veronica a quick smile and then turned back toward the bedroom.

Pull it together, man. The lack of a pronoun is not something to get so affected by. Logan tried to rationalize with himself. It’s likely just the stress of meeting Charlie for the first time later today and my anxiousness over the procedure that’s causing me to blow such a simple little thing out of proportion. By the time he turned the water off, he felt much better and had just reached for a towel when there was a soft knock on the bathroom door. He wrapped the towel around his waist and cracked open the door. Veronica's shining blue eyes were the first thing he noticed, followed by the strong aroma of coffee. She held a coffee mug up to him as a brilliant smile formed on her lips.

"Thought you might want some coffee," she explained as she stood there, apparently waiting for him to do something.

"Smells delicious," he said as he opened the door farther and reached for the mug. "Thanks," he added before leaning in to kiss her.

"Mm hmm," she replied as their mouths separated. "You want to talk about whatever had you so off balance earlier?"

He let out a nervous chuckle. You should have known she wouldn't have forgotten or missed that. "Will I be in trouble if I say no?" he asked anxiously.

Veronica gave him an amused laugh as she shook her head at him. "No, I'm not going to insist on knowing every thought that crosses your mind." She paused and reached up to stoke his cheek. "But I'm always willing to listen if you want to share, okay?" Her look became a bit more mischievous before she continued. "And if you don't want to share, you can just write it in your feelings journal and I'll read that later."

Logan couldn't help but laugh at her reference. "I think I forgot to pack it," he answered as he used the hand not holding the mug of coffee to pull her flush against him. "But there are some other feelings I'd like to share with you."

"Oh, I'm sure there are," Veronica replied slyly. "But my dad's already here and breakfast is ready. So I guess you'll just have to share those feelings with me later." With that, she gave him a quick peck on the lips before she winked and turned to walk back out of the bathroom.

Logan was relieved that the goodwill Keith had developed with Kathleen the night before seemed to still be in place and that the two of them conversed more civilly over breakfast. Kathleen seemed willing to answer questions with more than a one-word response and even asked Keith a few questions too. It probably helped that he’d stopped in the hotel gift shop and just happened to come across a newly released noir novel that he bought and offered to let her read first. As they spent a little time discussing a novel that they’d both just recently read, Veronica had given Logan a subtle conspiratorial smile. Maybe having Keith keep Kathleen and Evie company while Logan and Veronica were at the hospital hadn’t been such a terrible idea after all.

It was still early enough when they were finished eating for Logan to go out and catch some decent waves. It felt great to be out on a board again, even if it wasn't as challenging of surf as he'd sought out when he was younger. He kept an eye on the rest of the group when he was out in the surf waiting to catch a big enough wave to ride all the way in. It seemed as though Veronica was keeping an eye on him as well, and he started to notice that she would get Evie's attention to watch him when he would start paddling with one of the swells. When he was younger, he would have turned and headed right back out, but this time he'd wait for Evie to run over in the shallow surf to tell him that he did a good job and to try to sit on the board for a few minutes with him. After a while, he ended up just letting her sit on it while he let it bob around in the shallow water where there was only a small amount of current. As the morning went on, the waves started really flattening out, so he put up the board and joined the rest of them on the beach. Evie and Veronica were working on a large sand castle with some assistance from Keith and supervisory guidance from Kathleen. Logan couldn't help but chuckle at the fact that Kathleen seemed to be enjoying pointing out when Keith's part of the sand castle wasn't measuring up to her high standards.

When they finished building the sand castle, they decided to head back up and eat lunch at the villa. As they all started to gather up their things, Logan said he was going to return the board to the rental desk and would meet them back at their place when he was done.

"Come on, Evie," Veronica said as she held her hand out for her. "We'd better make sure Daddy doesn't get lost," she teased as Evie stood up and took her hand.

Logan of course caught the lack of a specific pronoun again and, based on the look on Keith's face, he wasn't the only one. Veronica didn't seem to notice either of their reactions and started walking with Evie in the direction of the main hotel. Logan quickly grabbed his board and started walking after them. Keith's reaction made him feel a little better that it wasn't just him that found it significant.

Evie had seen some kids out in the waves using boogie boards while they were on the beach and she insisted on trying that too. Veronica said she'd give it a try with Evie, so they rented two boards and a life jacket for Evie to wear when they returned the surfboard. By the time they made it back to the villa, Kathleen had already set out the sandwich making ingredients that Logan and Veronica had picked up the night before. They all sat out on the patio and ate, enjoying the warm weather and great view of the ocean.

After lunch, Evie said she wanted to go and ride on the boogie board. Kathleen and Keith both decided to watch from the patio this time, so Logan and the girls headed back out to the water. Logan waded out into the waves with Evie and stayed as close as possible while she tried to mimic what she'd seen the other kids doing earlier. It was a little harder than she may have expected, but Logan knew she'd keep trying until she got it. He was glad to see that Veronica was enjoying herself on hers and wondered if maybe sometime in the future she’d let him try to teach her to surf again. He’d tried when they were in college and she struggled with it the first time they went out and seemed reluctant to try it again after that. He had to remind himself that he didn’t really live in a prime surfing location anymore, but maybe now that Veronica was back in his life, he’d stop avoiding trips to California. He still didn’t want to move back on a permanent basis, but would at least consider a few trips down to visit Charlie and his family if it meant getting to spend more time with Veronica.

After a while Logan could tell that Evie was starting to get tired and suggested that they take a break. He'd noticed that they had ice cream up by the rental desk and knew that would be the easiest way to get Evie out of the water. Of course, as he expected, Veronica's eyes lit up at the mention of ice cream too.

They'd drifted down toward the main hotel as they'd been playing in the water, so the rental desk was closer than the villa now. They also picked up some ice cream for Keith and Kathleen as they were getting theirs and then headed back to the Villa. After they all finished eating, Logan said it was time for Evie to take a nap. He could tell she was about to protest, so he reminded her that she needed to be all rested up for when Nick came later.

"Will you and Vronica take a nap with me again today?" she asked hopefully as Logan went to scoop her up to carry her to the bedroom.

"I'm certainly not going to turn down the opportunity for a nap," Veronica chimed in as she hopped up from the lounge chair she was sitting in. Keith chuckled at her and shook his head slightly.

"Well, I think I'll head back to my room for a while too," Keith announced as he stood up from his own chair. "Give me a call later and let me know the plan for the rest of today and tomorrow," he added as he headed for the door.

Logan saw Kathleen make a small grimace before she spoke up. "Do you play gin rummy?" Kathleen asked before Keith had made it too far. "I have a deck of cards, and the three of them will probably be asleep for a while... if you wanted to play."

"Actually, that sounds like fun," Keith replied with a grateful smile.

Logan noticed a surprised expression momentarily cross Veronica's face before it was replaced with a smug grin. "Don't hustle her too badly, pops," Veronica warned playfully before she continued on inside.

--------------------------

Logan was surprised at how tired he did feel when he laid down with Evie and Veronica for a nap. They'd each curled up on either side of him, and he felt himself drifting off as Veronica was still gently rubbing his chest with her hand. When he woke up a while later, he felt Veronica's arm draped across him and her head was resting on his chest. He didn't want to wake her if she was still asleep, so he stayed frozen for a few minutes. He carefully turned his head to the side to be sure that Evie was also still asleep and saw that she was turned on her side facing away from him and Veronica. Veronica must have been awake enough to notice that he had turned his head and shifted her body so she could look up at him.

"Hey," she whispered so softly that it was barely audible.

"Hey," he whispered back and reached up to brush his fingers across her cheek.

She smiled demurely at him and leaned in to place a slow deep kiss on his lips, but then she must have remembered they weren't alone and looked nervously over toward Evie. He was pretty sure by the sound of Evie's breathing that she was still very sound asleep and probably wouldn't be waking up any time soon. Since Keith and Kathleen were likely still out in the main room playing cards, their options for being completely alone were pretty limited, unless they wanted to go into the bathroom. Logan loved pushing limits though and slid his hand under the waistband of Veronica's shorts and bikini so he could squeeze her bare ass.

A surprised look crossed her face at the motion. "Hey, keep it PG, Echolls," she warned in a slightly louder whisper than before, but he could see a slight bit of amusem*nt in her eyes.

He couldn't help but laugh as he pulled his hand back up to cup the back of her head and kissed her again. He felt her melting into the kiss and she let out a soft sigh as their lips parted.

"That's extremely difficult around you, Mars," he teased back with a salacious grin.

"Well we should probably shower before Charlie comes, right?" Veronica asked with a sultry look in her eye as she gestured with her head toward the bathroom.

Logan couldn’t stop the horrified expression that involuntarily flashed across his face. "But your dad’s here... and he'd likely figure out... I don't think..." he started incoherently babbling causing her to laugh and plant her head against his chest.

"Wow," she said quietly as she stopped laughing and looked up at him again. "I don't think I've seen that exact look of terror on your face for years."

He scoffed and rolled his eyes. "That wasn't terror... it was... I was..."

"So terrified you can't form complete sentences now?" Veronica asked with an amused smile on her face.

"No, that's not it," Logan replied feeling a little foolish now given her expression.

"I know... good impression and all that, right?" Veronica supplied for him. He nodded in reply. "I was only teasing, but that reaction was priceless. How about you go take a shower and I'll go see how things are going with Kathleen and my dad, and then when you're done, you can come and get me. All on the up and up."

He nodded again but still felt a little foolish. First you're freaking out over the fact that she didn't use 'your' and now you become a bumbling idiot at the thought of showering with her while her dad is in the villa. What's wrong with you, Echolls? You have so lost whatever bit of cool you used to have. She must have been able to tell he was feeling embarrassed by the whole thing because she gave him a reassuring smile before she kissed him quickly and then shifted off of him.

"See you in a bit," she said quietly with a small wave before she turned and headed out of the room. Logan let out a frustrated sigh before he finally scooted off the bed and headed for the shower.

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When Logan left the bathroom after his shower he noticed that Evie was no longer on the bed either. He continued out to the main room to see what everyone was doing and found Kathleen and Keith sitting at the small dining room table evidently still playing gin rummy. He glanced around and saw that Evie and Veronica were sitting on the floor in front of the small coffee table playing Spot-It. Logan walked over and took a seat on the couch closest to Veronica and leaned forward to watch them play.

"Vronica and I are playing too, just like Nana and Vronica's daddy," Evie explained with a proud smile.

"And Evie's beating me, just like Nana's beating my daddy too," Veronica added with a laugh.

"Hey, I've won a couple hands," Keith protested from across the room.

"One," Kathleen corrected as she was dealing out cards again. "You've won one hand."

Veronica and Logan both chuckled as Keith shrugged and gave them a defeated look.

"Can you play with your daddy now while I go take a shower?" Veronica asked as Evie played her last card. And the pronoun is back. Evie nodded and smiled at Logan as Veronica stood up from her spot on the floor. She gestured her hand in a grand flourish from where she'd just been as an invitation for Logan to take her spot. She leaned in and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before turning and heading off to the bathroom.

Evie and Logan had finished their third game when Kathleen and Keith finished theirs. "I should probably head back to my room before your brother gets here, Logan," Keith commented as he started to stand up from the table. "I don't want to intrude on your time with him."

"You're welcome to stay, Keith," Logan answered quickly. "It's not an intrusion at all. I was going to suggest ordering in something for dinner when they get here, and you're welcome to join us too." Keith gave him an uncertain look so Logan continued on. "You graciously agreed to come down here to help me out, and I'd feel terrible about you thinking you had to run off when you don't. You really are more than welcome to stay."

"Don't make him beg," Kathleen finally chimed in. "It's not a pretty look on him," she teased with a smirk.

"All right, I'll stay," Keith acquiesced before he sat back down at the table. "And I can feel my luck changing. I'm always luckier when I'm the dealer," he added as he picked up the deck of cards sitting in front of Kathleen and started shuffling them.

"Well the one game you did win, it was one of the five you dealt, so at least twenty percent of the time that's true," Kathleen replied with a laugh.

-----------------------------------------

Charlie had called shortly after Keith agreed to stay. and Logan gave him directions to get to their villa. Veronica rejoined them shortly after that and sat down to play with both Logan and Evie while they waited. Logan felt himself getting more anxious the closer it got to when Charlie would be arriving. Veronica must have noticed he was feeling a bit worried and placed her hand on his knee, giving it a comforting squeeze. When he glanced over at her, she had a look that clearly tried to communicate that everything was going to be okay. He really hoped she was right.

Charlie, Wendy and Nick arrived a short while later. Keith and Kathleen had put the cards away right before that and had moved to sit on opposite ends of one of the couches. Logan nervously went to answer the door after they heard a knock. He took a deep steadying breath before he reached for the door handle.

"Logan," Charlie said warmly as Logan opened the door. He was carrying Nick, who looked a little frightened, but Charlie still reached out his hand to shake Logan's.

"It's so nice to meet you in person, Charlie," Logan said with a genuine smile on his lips. As they dropped their hands at the end of the brief handshake, Logan was not expecting Wendy to barrel into him and wrap her arms around his torso.

"Thank you so much, Logan," she said as she squeezed him firmly.

"And this is Wendy," Charlie said with an amused grin. "And Nick of course," he added as he shifted the little boy slightly on his hip.

"I'm sorry," Wendy apologized as she took a step back. "I'm just unbelievably grateful that you've agreed to help us."

"It's fine," Logan reassured her as he gave her an understanding smile and gently squeezed her shoulder. He still couldn't imagine having to go through what they had been dealing with. "Come on. I'll introduce you to everyone else," he suggested as he waved his arms toward the center of the room. Evie was already running over to meet the others as Logan turned around. He reached down and scooped her up. "This is my daughter, Evie. Well Evelyn, but we all call her Evie."

"Actually Nick is Nicholas, but we either call him Nick or Nicky," Charlie explained as he smiled at Evie. "Nick can you say hello to your cousin Evie?" he asked the shy looking little boy in his arms. Nick gave Evie a small smile and then mumbled what sounded like hello. "And this is Evie's daddy, my brother, Logan. So he's your Uncle Logan. Can you say hello to him too?" Nick gave Logan a shy smile as well and quietly said hi.

“It’s really great to meet you, Nick,” Logan said with a warm smile. “Let’s go introduce you to everyone else.”

After introducing everyone, Evie asked if Nick wanted to color with her. Nick looked uncertainly at Charlie who gave him an encouraging nod. Evie had already brought her bag out from the bedroom and started pulling out some of her coloring books and spread them out on the coffee table. Wendy held her arms out for Nick to go to her and then took him over by Evie and sat down on the floor with him situated on her lap. Evie quickly found her favorite coloring book and opened it to share it with Nick. A tender smile formed on Logan's face as he watched how kind and careful Evie was being with the much smaller boy.

"So, Logan said you're a teacher?" Kathleen directed at Charlie. Logan was thankful for her starting up a conversation because he awkwardly felt at a loss for what to say next.

As Charlie confirmed that he was and spent a little time talking about his teaching career it gave Logan a moment to just observe him. He'd wondered before today how much Charlie would remind him of Aaron since the imposter hadn't for obvious reasons. There were a few nuances in the expressions that Charlie would make that definitely reminded Logan a bit of Aaron. He could see little similarities in some of his facial features too, but he certainly didn't detect any of the darkness that lurked just under the surface of Aaron's carefully constructed mask. Even though he’d barely spent any time with Charlie yet, Logan could tell from how fondly Charlie talked about the kids he taught that he didn’t seem to inherit any of Aaron's personality.

Charlie had taken a seat on the chair that was near where Wendy and Nick were sitting on the ground, leaving the couch that Kathleen and Keith hadn’t occupied for Logan and Veronica. Veronica had remained fairly quiet while Charlie shared an abbreviated version of his life, starting with teaching and then moving on to how he'd met and eventually married Wendy. Logan glanced at Veronica a couple times and she gave him reassuring smiles in return. He initially sat down with his hands nervously clasped in front of him on his lap and she'd reached over and gently threaded her fingers between his, making him feel a little more at ease.

Even though they could have ordered take-out, Kathleen suggested that she and Keith run out and pick something up. Logan didn’t feel like arguing with Kathleen, knowing that was a fruitless endeavor, so the two of them left once they all decided on Italian food. Once they were gone, Nick asked if he could go and play on the beach and Evie enthusiastically suggested that they could build a sand castle. Wendy said that sounded like fun and they started to head out toward the patio.

“Why don’t you talk a bit with Charlie,” Veronica suggested with a tender smile as Logan started to stand up to follow the others outside. “I’ll go out with Evie.”

Logan nodded and leaned over to give her a quick kiss on the temple. Wendy flashed an understanding smile back at the two men as she waited at the door for Veronica and Evie, holding Nick’s hand.

“So,” Charlie started as the others closed the door behind them. “Thanks again for doing this for us, Logan.”

“You really don’t have to keep thanking me,” Logan told him with a nervous smile. “Like I said before, if it was Evie in the same position, I’d hope someone would do the same for her.”

Charlie nodded, although Logan could tell he was feeling just as uncomfortable as Logan was. Logan wasn’t sure what to say, so just blurted out the one thing that had been nagging at him the more he thought about their situation. “Did you ever meet him?”

Charlie gave him a surprised look and then shook his head. “No… I knew, of course… well, eventually… but he seemed more interested in paying my mom to keep it quiet than anything else.”

Logan nodded in understanding. “Yeah, if there was one thing Aaron hated, it was bad publicity, and no offense, but a kid from one of his many affairs wouldn’t have looked too good,” he commented bitterly.

“I um…” Charlie let out a deep sigh. “I read Keith’s book… do you think his version is true, versus what came out in the trial?”

Logan sucked in a sharp breath before he nodded. “Yeah… um… Aaron actually admitted it to Veronica right before he was killed. co*cky asshole that he was.”

“I guess a part of me, hoped it wasn’t true, but given my mom didn’t seem terribly surprised that he had been accused of murder, I sort of suspected it probably was. I suppose she may have seen some of his temper when she confronted him about being pregnant. Luckily she was a pretty determined woman herself and made sure he agreed to take some responsibility for me. I’m sure you can relate to not wanting to be the son of a murderer.”

“Yeah,” Logan replied somberly. “Although you did get the better end of the bargain by not having to actually be part of his life.”

“I can’t even begin to imagine what that must have been like for you,” Charlie said as he shook his head slowly. “I was so thankful for my mom, even if she was away a lot. She was a flight attendant, so I spent a lot of time with my grandparents.”

“Ah, so the Vanity Fair reporter did have that detail right about your mom when he was impersonating you.”

Charlie nodded and looked apologetically at Logan. “Yeah, I’m sure he did a fair amount of research on me before he contacted you.”

“Is your mom here in Southern California too?”

Charlie shook his head. “No, she’s based out of Seattle these days. She comes to visit as often as she can, but the procedure was a little too short notice for her to come down for it. Maybe you can meet her some other time.”

Logan nodded, although he honestly wasn’t sure how he felt about meeting Charlie’s mom. It’s not like he didn’t know other women who’d slept with Aaron behind his mom’s back. Charlie maybe noticed Logan’s uneasiness and quickly spoke again.

“Wendy’s parents live in Wisconsin and they are going to try to fly out soon too. Does Kathleen live near you and Evie?”

“Yeah,” Logan answered with a fond smile. “She lives in Yachats with us too, which has been wonderful. Evie and I actually lived with her for a few months before I got my own place. It’s the first time in my life that I really felt like part of a real loving family.”

Charlie gave him a compassionate smile and nodded in understanding. “Having a loving family can really make a difference in a person’s life, can’t it?”

Logan nodded again in reply. “Yeah… it makes all the difference in the world.”

Chapter 26

Chapter Text

Veronica could tell throughout the day that Logan had been getting increasingly anxious. She imagined part of that was uncertainty over meeting Charlie, but the other part she figured was nervousness about the procedure the next day. Whatever else might be bothering him, she wasn’t sure, but with everything else going on, she wasn’t going to push him. She was a little curious about what he’d talked about with Charlie while Wendy and she had been out on the beach with Evie and Nick, but she wanted to give him space to decide how much he wanted to talk to her about that.

Charlie, Wendy and Nick had left shortly after dinner so they could all get rested up for the big day they had ahead of them. Veronica’s dad had also taken his leave shortly after they had, sharing that he and Kathleen had discussed their plans for the next day when they went to pick up dinner for everyone. So that left Veronica, Logan, Evie and Kathleen alone for the rest of the evening.

“You should probably get to bed early too,” Kathleen told Logan as she finished putting all the leftovers away in the refrigerator. “I can get Evie ready for bed tonight if you want.”

“It’s Evie’s turn to sleep with her daddy,” Veronica interjected as she tenderly squeezed Logan’s hand. Even though she’d love another night of it just being her and Logan, she had a feeling he’d want to spend extra time with Evie too. Logan gave her a grateful smile and nodded before leaning into her and placing a quick kiss on her temple.

“And I think it’s definitely bath time for my little girl,” he said as he walked over and scooped Evie up. Evie laughed and tried to wiggle out of his grasp, but Logan had too good of a hold on her. “Maybe after your bath, Veronica could watch a movie with us before we go to sleep?”

Evie looked over at Veronica with a big smile and nodded.

“Thanks,” Veronica replied appreciatively. “I’ll help straighten up things out here with Kathleen and you can let me know when you’re ready.” Logan and Evie both nodded before they disappeared into the bedroom.

“I know he appreciated that,” Kathleen commented as Veronica grabbed a glass that they’d missed picking up earlier. Veronica nodded while she walked over to rinse the glass so she could place it in the dishwasher.

“How do you think he’s feeling about all this?” Veronica asked quietly. While she felt like she was slowly starting to know Logan as well as she used to, she was certain Kathleen could probably read him even better from being with him for the last three years.

“I can tell he’s nervous about tomorrow, which is understandable, and that he was nervous about meeting Charlie too, but I think that went really well. I know one evening isn’t enough to build a strong relationship, but I think this will be just the beginning of the two of them getting to know each other better and being in each other’s lives.”

Veronica nodded in agreement since that had been her assessment too. “He just seemed… I don’t know… he seemed a little off even earlier and I couldn’t quite figure out what else might be going on, but maybe that’s all it was.” Veronica didn’t miss the way Kathleen’s lip quirked up slightly after her comment. “You know what that was about, don’t you?” Veronica asked, definitely more curious now, knowing she wasn’t the only one that had noticed it.

“Maybe…” Kathleen answered hesitantly as she seemed to be trying to repress a larger smile.

“Well?” Veronica asked with a quirked brow, hoping Kathleen would actually tell her.

Kathleen looked as though she was internally debating whether to say more before she finally shrugged and shook her head. “I noticed he definitely reacted to you calling him Daddy this morning when you were talking to Evie, and then again later on the beach,” Kathleen explained.

Veronica was a bit puzzled by that. “But he is her daddy. You and Sara call him that too... all the time. And I’ve said that to Evie many times before,” Veronica replied not understanding why that would cause him to act strangely.

Kathleen’s expression became a bit more amused. “Yeah, but you’ve always said your daddy to Evie before today. And, I don’t know… the way you were saying it today… it was more significant than that. I guess maybe like the way you see your role in their lives is different now,” Kathleen explained with a tender smile.

“Oh,” Veronica replied, thinking back to earlier in the day. She hadn’t even realized she’d been doing that all day, but it had just felt so natural. She also realized that with each day that went by, that she was feeling more and more like a part of their family. Even earlier that evening when she’d gone out with Evie to play on the beach, Evie hadn’t hesitated to go with Veronica, and Veronica hadn’t even given it a second thought to not offer to do that. She also couldn’t imagine what it would like to not be with them and anxiety washed over her. “I don’t know how I’m going to leave them to go to Stanford,” she found herself saying as she felt tears start to well up in her eyes.

“Oh, sweetie,” Kathleen said as she wrapped her arms around Veronica in an unexpected hug. Veronica exhaled and leaned a bit more against Kathleen. Kathleen pulled back a few seconds later and gave her a sympathetic smile. “I know it’s going to be hard, but I can tell he loves you so much. I’m confident that you two will be able to make it work.”

Veronica inhaled and wiped at her eyes. “I know… he’s said that too. I’m just… I’m going to miss him… them both… so much while I’m there.”

Kathleen nodded and looked at her compassionately. “I have a feeling you’ll probably be seeing more of him than either of you probably think right now. I also don’t believe he’s going to be able to just let you go either.”

“But his life… their life… it’s in Yachats with you,” Veronica replied, a hint of confusion coming through in her tone.

“But it doesn’t have to be… I know he’s reluctant to admit that too… but I think eventually he will. And if not… well I’m sure he’ll make every effort to spend as much time as possible with you over the next three years, and hopefully you can come and stay with us during the summers and do an internship there. I’m positive I can arrange something for you if you’d like.”

Veronica gave her a slim smile and nodded. “Yeah… you’re right… and I would like that.” Things will work out. She didn’t want her worries to have any impact on the limited time she had left with Logan. She decided to change the topic, hoping that would get her mind off the fact she’d have to say goodbye to them much sooner than she’d like. “So, you and my dad made plans for tomorrow already then?”

Kathleen nodded and could likely tell that Veronica was intentionally changing the topic. “Yeah, given that Evie loves animals and the two of us would prefer not to chase her all over, we decided we’d do a couple of the safari trips at the animal park.”

“I’m sure she’ll love that,” Veronica replied fondly. She was so glad that her dad and Kathleen seemed to be getting along much better than how they had when they first met. Kathleen and Veronica spent a little time talking about the animal park before Logan poked his head out of the bedroom door and told Veronica that they were ready for a movie.

“I’ll see you two in the morning before you head to the hospital,” Kathleen told them both before saying goodnight and heading into her own room.

When Veronica walked into the bedroom, Evie was already situated in the middle of the bed, her hair still a little damp from her bath and changed into her pajamas. Veronica walked over and started to climb on the bed next to Evie.

“No… you need your jamas too,” Evie told her as she shook her head at her.

“Oh… sorry,” Veronica said with a guilty look. She glanced at Logan who shrugged and gave her a small smile. Veronica realized then that he’d actually already changed into a t-shirt and flannel pants as well. “I’ll be right back,” she told them as she climbed off the bed and headed toward the dresser that she’d put her clothes into.

“And don’t forget to brush your teeth too,” Evie added as Veronica grabbed a tank-top and flannel shorts to sleep in.

“I’m sure she wouldn’t forget,” Logan chimed in as he gave Evie a slightly scolding look.

“It was nice of you to remind me, though,” Veronica replied with an amused grin.

“Daddy can time you if you want,” Evie offered helpfully.

Veronica co*cked an eyebrow at Logan inquisitively. “I time Evie to make sure she brushes for two minutes,” Logan explained with a slightly chagrined look.

“Well… I don’t think anyone has ever timed me before…” Veronica replied. “Sounds like fun.”

“Time Vronica, Daddy,” Evie instructed Logan with a determined look.

Logan narrowed his eyes slightly at Evie before she grinned and sung out ‘please’.

“That’s better,” Logan corrected and glanced at Veronica. “But only if she wants me to.”

Veronica smiled and nodded as she walked into the bathroom. “Be right back, munchkin,” she heard Logan call out before he walked in and closed the door behind him.

“So I get you for two whole minutes,” Veronica teased as she grinned at him.

Logan took a deep breath and walked over to her, lifting her up on the counter as he reached her. “I love you,” he said softly with a slightly distressed look in his eyes.

“Hey,” she said as she reached up and cupped his face. “What’s wrong?” she asked, although she could imagine she knew the answer.

He shook his head for a second before he closed his eyes and rested his forehead against hers. She moved her arms so she could put them around his chest and pulled him closer against her. “I know it’s a lot,” she said as she ran her hands up and down his back. Meeting Charlie, being back in Coronado, having a medical procedure the next day. She wasn’t surprised it would eventually all be a bit overwhelming. He shifted so he could hug her tighter and rested his cheek against the top of her head.

“I just…” Logan started and then cleared his throat when his voice came out thick with emotion. “I don’t want her to see me worried… or scared…”

“I know,” Veronica said and placed a kiss against his chest.

Logan inhaled deeply and then leaned back so he could see her face again. He looked more composed than he had a few moments ago. “I really appreciate you letting her sleep with us tonight.”

Veronica nodded and reached up to gently caress his cheek. “Of course,” she said with a tender smile. “And I love you too.”

Logan leaned down and pressed his lips to hers. His kisses were gentle and soft against her lips. She hoped being there for him gave him some sense of strength given everything going through his mind.

“I’d better get changed and brush my teeth,” Veronica whispered when he finally pulled back slightly. Logan nodded and placed a quick kiss on her forehead.

“Don’t forget to brush for two minutes,” Logan replied with a teasing smirk. Veronica nodded and gave him one more tender kiss before he turned and walked back out to the bedroom.

It didn’t take Veronica very long to get herself ready to join Logan and Evie back in the bedroom. She was a little surprised to see that Logan was in the middle of the bed where Evie had been before. She smiled at the two of them and then climbed in next to Logan who was sitting up with Evie leaning against his side.

“Evie picked Tangled for us to watch, I hope you don’t mind?” Logan asked as he picked up the remote to start the movie.

Veronica shook her head as Evie gave her a big smile. She actually wasn’t even sure what movie that was since, up until now, she really hadn’t paid much attention to kid’s animated movies. “It has a horse and a lizard in it,” Evie explained.

“Sounds great,” Veronica replied, trying to sound as enthusiastic as Evie appeared to be. Logan chuckled softly and then wrapped an arm around Veronica so he could pull her against his side. He placed a quick kiss on top of her head before turning back toward the TV.

It wasn’t surprising, given how much they’d done that day, that Evie fell asleep before the movie was even over. She’d been her normal movie-watching self though up until that, sharing commentary about the characters with Veronica. Veronica was actually impressed that even though Evie liked to fill Veronica in on things, she never seemed to actually give anything away about how the movie would end. Evie would just share comments on the actual scene and the characters on the screen and what she thought about what they were doing at that moment. Veronica had noticed the commentary had trailed off, though, and then they realized Evie had fallen asleep.

“We don’t have to finish it,” Logan whispered as he gently repositioned Evie so that she was lying down in a more comfortable position than what she’d fallen asleep in.

Veronica gave him an incredulous look which made him chuckle softly. “I don’t think so, mister,” she replied as he scooted back toward her. “I’m invested now and I have to know how this ends,” she added determinedly. Logan nodded with an amused grin on his face.

“Evie’s going to have you addicted to all these princess movies in no time at all, I see,” Logan teased softly as she shushed him so she could hear again. He just chuckled and placed a tender kiss on her temple while she went back to watching the movie.

Veronica tried not to get teary-eyed a bit later during a very emotional scene, but couldn’t really help it. She could tell Logan was watching her out of the corner of her eye and could see the smirk on his lips. “It’s just a cartoon,” Logan whispered with an amused tone as he leaned down to place a kiss on the side of her head.

“Oh, come on,” she protested, deciding it really wasn’t worth trying to pretend she hadn’t been caught up in the scene. “Can you honestly say you weren’t a bit moved by it the first time you watched it?” she asked defensively.

His only reply was a slightly guilty grin and another kiss to the side of her head. “I thought so,” she replied smugly.

When the movie was finally over, Logan turned the TV off and they snuggled closer together under the covers. Veronica could sense that he was still feeling a bit uneasy even if he’d tried to hide it while they were finishing the movie. She ran her fingers soothingly over his chest while he started to lightly trace patterns on the back of her forearm.

“Wendy seemed very nice,” Veronica commented softly, hoping that might encourage him to talk about what he was thinking about if he felt like sharing.

“Yeah… they both did,” Logan replied in a low voice. He paused for a moment, and she wondered if that was all he was going to say, but then he started talking again. “It was a bit unsettling to notice similarities to Aaron when I was talking to Charlie, though,” Logan added causing Veronica’s heart to ache for him. “I never thought to question that the imposter wasn’t Charlie before, but having met him now, there’s no doubt in my mind that Aaron was his dad. Of course he got the advantage of not ever having to meet him.”

Veronica inhaled slowly as she contemplated his words. She’d never stopped to wonder if Charlie had met Aaron at some point. Given Aaron had set-up a way to pass money to an account for Charlie, Aaron was obviously well aware of his existence. Veronica didn’t want Logan obsessing over Aaron now though, especially not considering what was happening the following day. “Evie certainly enjoyed getting to play with Nick,” Veronica pointed out, hoping that would shift Logan’s focus to something more positive.

“Yeah,” Logan agreed and she felt him nod slightly before he placed a tender kiss on her temple. “And thanks for going out on the beach with her so I could talk more with Charlie.”

“Of course,” Veronica replied trying not to let her mind wander back to her discussion earlier with Kathleen and how much she was going to miss the two of them.

“I can’t even tell you how much it means to me to have you here with us for this,” Logan continued softly, causing her chest to feel a bit tighter. One more reminder that soon she wouldn’t be there with them. She nodded this time instead of answering, not trusting her voice to not give her anxiety away. She moved her arm so she could squeeze him around his chest. His arms wrapped tighter around her and he placed another kiss to the top of her head.

“I love you,” she whispered softly.

“I love you too,” he replied as his face nuzzled against her hair.

Veronica tried drifting off to sleep, but her anxiety over having to let him go in barely over a week was tearing her apart. She at least kept herself from crying, because she really didn’t want to have that conversation with him again, not right before his big procedure the next day. She imagined he was just as anxious about everything and was relieved when his hold around her loosened slightly and she could hear him start to lightly snore. She laid there just listening to him sleeping for at least another hour before exhaustion finally overtook her as well.

The morning had been a flurry of activity with Evie being up early and Logan and Veronica getting ready to go to the hospital. The doctor’s assistant had told Logan he needed to pack an overnight bag just in case there were any complications and they needed to keep him longer than their original plan. They had assured him it was more of a precautionary measure and that he should be able to go home that evening if he was feeling up to it. He would undoubtedly have pain in his hips where they would extract the marrow, but normally they didn’t require overnight stays for that type of procedure.

Once they were at the hospital, Veronica had listened intently to the nurses and doctor who were doing the procedure and gave Logan one last kiss before they took him away to prep him for surgery. ‘See you soon,’ she’d whispered after the kiss. He’d given her a tender smile and nodded before leaning up to kiss her forehead, and then one of the nurses had escorted Veronica to the waiting room where they promised to update her on how the procedure was progressing. They told her he’d be under anesthesia for about two hours, but they could give her an update during that time as well.

Kathleen had texted her a couple times during the day to see how things were going. Kathleen assured her that everything was fine with them at the animal safari. Veronica had let her know when Logan went into the operating room and that they expected him to be out for a couple of hours. The doctor who they’d initially met with came out to talk to Veronica after the procedure was complete to let her know that Logan was still in recovery and that things had gone fine during the procedure. He was, however, a little concerned about how low Logan’s blood pressure had dropped and decided to keep him overnight so they could observe him to make sure there weren’t any other complications. Veronica felt a bit of anxiety pass through her at the news and hoped that once she was able to see him, she’d feel better. The doctor also told her that a nurse would come to get her when Logan was moved to a room.

Veronica called Kathleen after the doctor left to give her an update as well. They’d discussed the possibility that Logan may need to stay overnight, so it wasn’t a total surprise. Veronica let her know that once Logan was awake, she’d let them know so that Kathleen and Evie could come and see him too. The three of them had discussed that if Logan did need to stay overnight, that they may bring Evie over to see him so that she wouldn’t be worried and upset when he didn’t come back that night. Veronica’s anxiety continued to grow as she sat waiting for a nurse to come and get her. She finally breathed out a sigh of relief when a nurse came out and called her name.

Logan was still a bit groggy when she made it into his room, but he gave her a small smile. The nurse had told her that the anesthesia was wearing off, but he may still feel sleepy for a while.

“How ya feelin’, champ?” Veronica asked with a hesitant smile as she walked over and stood next to his bed.

“Better now that you’re here,” he mumbled as he lifted his arm up slightly and held out his hand. She took his hand and let out a shaky breath. She knew the procedure wasn’t expected to be very risky at all, but you never know what unexpected complication could arise.

“Did you talk with the doctor already?” Veronica asked as she glanced at the IV that was still attached to his other arm.

“Yeah,” he said with a deep breath, drawing her attention back to his face. “He said they wanted to keep me tonight.”

Veronica nodded while she reached up and gently pushed some stray hairs away from his forehead. He took another deep breath and closed his eyes as she softly caressed his cheek.

“Please don’t go,” Logan pleaded softly before he slowly dozed off to sleep.

“Never,” she replied, wishing she could mean that for more than just staying at the hospital with him.

She eventually let go of his hand and pulled one of the chairs closer to the bed so she could sit and hold his hand while she waited for him to wake up again. A short while later a nurse came in to check on him, rousing him from his sleep. He looked slightly confused at first, but then gave Veronica a reassuring smile as he answered questions from the nurse while she checked his vitals.

Veronica released his hand while the nurse was checking on him, but immediately reached for it again once she was finished. This time he lifted it up to his mouth and placed a tender kiss on the back of her hand.

“Thanks for being here today,” he told her, sounding much stronger than earlier when she’d first come into his room.

“Of course,” she replied as she added her second hand to their joined hands that were now resting on the bed next to him. “How are you feeling?”

“A little… um… blissed out still,” he answered with a soft chuckle. “They gave me some pretty strong stuff to help with the pain and I don’t think my tolerance is quite what it used to be.”

Veronica tried not to react to that, but she couldn’t help but think back to the reasons why he would have taken so many painkillers when he was younger. She was of course glad he was living a much healthier life now, but she couldn’t forget everything he’d been through prior to that.

“Any update from Kathleen?” Logan asked as he took a deep breath and closed his eyes again.

Veronica wondered if he was falling asleep again, so she didn’t answer right away. Logan opened his eyes a moment later with a concerned look on his face now. “Is everything okay?” he asked as he seemed to study her a bit more carefully.

“Yeah,” Veronica nodded and gave him a reassuring smile. “I thought you were dozing off again.”

Logan shook his head. “Nope… just feeling a little dizzy. Slowly getting better though.”

“Okay,” she replied as she squeezed his hand a little tighter. She couldn’t help but think back to how broken and weak he was the night he showed up at her apartment after being beaten by the PCHers on the bridge. “Kathleen said they were doing great, and if you’re feeling up to it, they’d stop by a little later.”

“Good,” Logan replied and took a deep breath. “Later… when I’m feeling better,” he added after slowly exhaling. She wondered how much pain he was still in even with the medicine they’d given him. She’d read the brochures too and knew there would be quite a bit of discomfort at the extraction area. Of course Logan had always had a very high tolerance for pain and likely wouldn’t complain much about it if it was at all bearable.

After sitting quietly for several minutes, Logan finally suggested turning on the TV since he knew he wasn’t being the best company. Veronica shook her head in disagreement, but still obliged to his request and flipped through channels until they found an episode of Criminal Minds to watch. She spent more time studying him than actually watching the TV, though. She wasn’t so sure he was actually focusing enough to keep up with the show, but maybe the background noise was better than if they were sitting in silence.

The nurse came back awhile later to check on Logan again. He was starting to sound more coherent the more time passed. It must have been at least two hours after Veronica had joined him in the room that he brought up Evie and Kathleen again. She suggested having them come by in the late afternoon so he could rest a bit more and he agreed that sounded best. Veronica sent Kathleen a quick text and they planned to meet downstairs in the lobby so that Veronica could bring them up to Logan’s room. Veronica eventually wandered down to get some food at the cafeteria, but she returned as soon as she could to be with Logan again. Much to her relief, he seemed to be quickly feeling better and had even scooted over enough so she could sit on the bed next to him after she got back from the cafeteria. He wrapped his free arm around her shoulders and rested his head against hers as they continued watching TV with some sparse conversation tossed in about inconsequential things. She was certain that neither one of them wanted to get into anything too serious until he was able to leave.

Eventually Kathleen texted her and let them know that Keith was going to drop them off and then he would go and find a place to park. Veronica gave Logan a quick kiss before leaving to go down to meet them.

“Vronica,” Evie called out happily when she spotted them waiting in the lobby.

“Do you mind if I run into the restroom for a minute before we head up?” Kathleen asked and Veronica shook her head no. “Do you want to come with me?” Kathleen asked Evie next, to which she also shook her head. “Okay, then you can wait here with Veronica and tell her all about the animal safari.”

“Did you have fun at the animal park, Evie?” Veronica asked as she smiled down at Evie. Evie nodded her head enthusiastically.

“Yeah, we saw lots of animals,” Evie explained with an excited look on her face.

“Evie?” an unfamiliar female voice called out from a few feet away.

Veronica and Evie both turned at the same time to look at whoever had said it. Veronica felt her pulse quicken and a panicked feeling course through her as she immediately recognized the young woman from her pictures at Kathleen’s house. Katy? Veronica felt one of Evie’s arms quickly wrap around her waist as she pressed herself against Veronica’s side.

Katy wasted no time in closing the distance between them and knelt down so she was closer to Evie’s height. “It’s okay, Evie. It’s me… mommy,” she explained with a soothing tone.

“No,” Evie whispered faintly and Veronica could feel her shaking her head against Veronica’s side. Veronica also noticed a man that had been standing in the same vicinity of where she first saw Katy walk over and stop right behind Katy, looking in confusion between Veronica, Evie and Katy.

Katy reached out toward Evie’s hand, causing Evie to shake her head even harder. “No,” Evie said more loudly this time. “I want Daddy,” she whimpered as tears started streaming down her face. Veronica glanced at Katy for a moment before looking back at Evie again. “Please, Veronica,” Evie pleaded insistently. “Please take me to Daddy.”

“Daddy?” Katy said in confusion and then looked up at Veronica. “Where’s Logan?” she asked as confusion started to give way to what looked more like worry.

“I don’t want to go with her,” Evie yelled as more tears streaked down her cheeks. “Please, Veronica… I want Daddy!”

“What’s wrong Ev…” Kathleen started to say as she walked out of the bathroom and stopped mid-sentence when she must have noticed Katy.

“Mom?” Katy asked as her focus shifted from Evie to Kathleen, confusion and worry still evident on her face. “What’s going on?”

Evie had pressed her face against Veronica’s stomach and wrapped both arms tightly around her waist now. Veronica could feel her crying, so she reached down and put her hand soothingly on her head.

“Take Evie up to Logan. I’ll find you all in a little while,” Kathleen instructed Veronica with a grim expression on her face. Veronica watched as Katy stood up and she suddenly realized that Katy’s stomach was noticeably swollen. The man who had walked over and stopped behind Katy put his hand protectively around her shoulders and looked critically between Kathleen and Veronica.

“Come on, sweetie,” Veronica said as she reached down to pick up Evie. She figured carrying her would be faster than trying to drag a crying four-year-old through the hospital. Logan had made picking her up look so easy, but Veronica hadn’t actually tried to carry Evie herself. Somehow she managed to get Evie to wrap her arms around her neck while she buried her face in Veronica’s shoulder. Veronica was thankful that the elevator was only a short distance away and that someone else had already pressed the ‘up’ button. Evie continued to sob against Veronica as she asked the person who entered with them to press the fourth floor button.

“You’re okay, sweetie,” Veronica whispered softly as the elevator stopped to let the other person out on the third floor.

“I don’t want to go with her,” Evie cried against her. “I just want Daddy.”

Veronica was glad that Logan’s room wasn’t terribly far from the elevator so she didn’t have to carry Evie much farther.

“Hey…” Logan started to say as Veronica opened the door, but then he stopped and gave them a concerned look.

“Daddy!” Evie screamed and scrambled out of Veronica’s arms before running toward him. She wasted no time in climbing up on the bed and hurling herself against Logan’s chest. Veronica watched him grimace slightly, but he didn’t try to stop Evie either. “I don’t want to go with her,” Evie yelled as she buried her face against his torso and continued to cry.

“Whoa, what’s going on?” Logan asked in confusion as he looked down at Evie and then up at Veronica.

Veronica shook her head, still in disbelief that they’d actually just bumped into Evie’s mom in the lobby. “Katy…” Veronica said softly as she gave Logan a worried look. “She’s downstairs.”

“Please don’t let her take me,” Evie cried against Logan’s chest.

“Hey… shhhhh,” Logan said soothingly as he carefully wrapped both arms around Evie. “You’re okay, sweetheart.”

“I want to stay with you and Veronica,” Evie sobbed as she shook her head against Logan. “Not her.”

“She’s not here to take you,” Logan replied reassuringly, although Veronica could sense the concern in his tone.

“But Nana said she might take me from you,” Evie mumbled between sobs.

“What?” Logan asked as he glanced up at Veronica and then back down at the top of Evie’s head. It was easy to see the pain on his facing realizing what Evie may have been thinking.

“I heard her one day,” Evie told him in a broken scared tone. “Bella ran away with the ball and I heard Nana say that.”

Logan let out a deep sigh and rested his cheek on the top of Evie’s head. “Oh, Evie… Katy… your mommy... she isn’t going to take you away, okay?”

Veronica could still hear Evie crying against Logan’s chest, but she at least nodded in reply. Logan glanced up at Veronica while his cheek was still pressed against Evie’s head and gave her a broken, worried look. She couldn’t even begin to imagine what might be going through his mind. She wasn’t sure what she should do so she just stood there helplessly staring at them. Logan closed his eyes and she saw him grimace slightly again. She realized Evie must have been hurting him but he probably didn’t want to let her go either. Veronica finally moved from her spot and walked closer to the bed so she could place her hand on top of Logan’s head and gently rubbed his scalp, moving her hand down to the nape of his neck. He let out a soft sigh and she was sure it likely didn’t help alleviate the pain, but she wasn’t sure what else to do. He’d been gently rubbing Evie’s back and Veronica realized that she’d stopped crying.

“Can you help me shift her a bit?” Logan asked quietly as he lifted his head and looked sadly at Veronica. “She’s asleep now.”

She nodded and helped him carefully shift Evie to the side of Logan where Veronica had been sitting earlier. She hadn’t thought about the fact that Evie probably hadn’t taken a nap yet and would be exhausted from the animal park. Logan reached down and brushed some of Evie’s hair out of her face before he looked back up at Veronica. She could see the anxiety on his face and she reached up to stroke his cheek. “What else can I do?” she whispered.

“Katy’s really here?” he asked with a mix of disbelief and worry clearly visible in his expression.

Veronica nodded in reply. “Yeah… Kathleen stayed behind to talk to her.” She wasn’t sure how much more she should share before Kathleen found them and filled them in on everything that was going on. It was obvious from Katy’s appearance that she was pregnant again. Veronica couldn’t help but wonder if that’s why she hadn’t been back to see them in quite a while.

Logan let out a frustrated sigh. “I feel terrible that Evie overheard Kathleen and I talking at some point. I really never meant for her to worry about that… ever.” Veronica nodded in understanding and looked at him sympathetically. His anguish over that was apparent. “Was she just… by herself?” he asked next, obviously trying to wrap his head around her being there.

Veronica shook her head and took a deep breath. She certainly didn’t want him to wonder why she didn’t mention what she noticed downstairs when he found out later now that he was asking more. “She um… there was a guy with her. I think um…” She paused again. For some reason she really didn’t want to be the one to share that with him, not knowing how he would react. He looked at her expectantly waiting for her to continue. Before she opened her mouth to keep going the door to the room opened and Kathleen walked in.

Kathleen looked grimly between the two of them and then down at her sleeping granddaughter. “How are you feeling?” she quietly asked Logan as her eyes traveled back up to him.

“Well I’d feel a hell of a lot better knowing why Katy is here when she told me just last week she was living in Texas,” Logan replied with exasperation clearly evident in his tone.

Kathleen nodded and took a deep breath as she walked further into the room. She glanced at Veronica for a second before turning her attention back to Logan. “Her umm… her fiancé’s brother was stationed here at the naval base, but was in a car accident while he was on leave and was admitted to this hospital.” Veronica noticed Logan co*ck his eyebrow when Kathleen mentioned that the guy was actually Katy’s fiancé. It was clear to tell from Kathleen’s demeanor that she must not have known about that either. She paused a moment, likely to see if Logan was going to interject before she continued. When he remained silent, she started speaking again. “She um…” she stopped and shook her head and Veronica was pretty sure she knew what was coming next. “She’s actually pregnant again.”

Logan’s eyes opened wider and it was clear to see he hadn’t expected to hear that. He glanced down at Evie and his expression became more troubled before he looked back up at Kathleen. He let out a discouraged sigh and shook his head. “Was she planning to tell you any of this if you hadn’t run into her?” he asked a bit angrily.

Kathleen shrugged. “Of course she said she was planning to, but who knows…” She paused and looked at Evie again. “She’d really like another chance to see Evie while they are here,” she told Logan with a sigh. “I know Evie got upset when she saw her downstairs, but I’m sure if you were with her, she might be okay.”

Logan shook his head but didn’t say anything at first. Veronica could tell he wasn’t happy with the current situation at all. After a minute or two he finally spoke again. “She was upset downstairs because she overheard you and I talking one day and thought Katy was going to take her away from me.”

“Oh, Logan. I’m sorry,” Kathleen replied grimly as she glanced at Evie again.

Logan glanced down at Evie as well and gently brushed his fingers over her hair. “I’ll need to think about letting Katy see her and talk more with Evie,” he finally said after a few minutes of silence.

Kathleen nodded in understanding. “I told her I’d talk with you, but given the scene downstairs, we’d need to figure out what was going on with her first. She um…” Kathleen paused again and glanced at Veronica for a second before looking back at Logan. “She said she’d like me to spend a little time with her and her fiancé, even if you wouldn’t let her see Evie. I was thinking with Evie napping for a while, maybe I should do it now, rather than later. But if that’s going to be a problem, I’ll figure something else out.”

“No,” Logan replied as he shook his head. “You should go and talk with them… She’s your daughter… I’m sure it would be good for you to spend some time with her and find out exactly how things are… given… her situation.” Kathleen let out a sigh and nodded.

“I could take Evie back later to the villa with my dad if that would help… after she wakes up and is ready to leave Logan, of course,” Veronica interjected and then looked a bit uncertainly at the two of them. “Unless you think she wouldn’t want to go back with just me?”

Logan gave Veronica a tender smile before he answered. “I’m pretty sure she’d be okay with that,” he reassured Veronica before turning his attention to Kathleen “But it’s up to you whether you want to spend that much time with them. And I don’t want Katy going to the villa and upsetting Evie while I’m gone.”

Kathleen nodded in understanding. “Yeah, I think our little girl’s had enough trauma for one day,” she agreed sadly.

Kathleen stayed for a little while longer, asking Logan how he was feeling from the procedure and double checking again with him that he was okay with her going to spend a little time with Katy. Keith had texted Veronica that he was in the lobby and could wait there for them or come up to the room. Given everything that was going on, Veronica suggested that maybe he should hang out downstairs for a little while. Since Kathleen was there with Logan, Veronica decided she’d go down and talk with her dad to fill him in on their change of plans for the rest of the day.

Keith seemed a bit surprised when Veronica came down to meet him. “Is everything still okay with Logan?” he asked as she walked over and took a seat next to him.

Veronica nodded and then let out a sigh. “They are just monitoring him since his blood pressure was lower than they liked during the procedure. But then Kathleen, Evie and I ran into Evie’s mom when I came down to meet them earlier,” she shared a little reluctantly.

“Oh…” Keith said and then paused as he seemed to be processing that. “Does she live here in San Diego?”

Veronica shook her head. “No… she was living in Texas, but her fiancé’s brother who does live here was in a car accident.”

“Oh… I’m guessing the fiancé was a surprise?”

Veronica nodded. “Yeah… and the fact that she’s expecting again.”

Keith’s eyes grew a little wider as he let out a slow breath.

“Unfortunately, Evie freaked out when she tried talking to her, so I took her up to Logan’s room and she’s now asleep.”

Keith nodded in understanding. “Kathleen did say she hoped Evie would make it back to the villa for a nap, but I guess that’s happening here now instead.”

“Do you mind hanging out down here for a while? Kathleen’s going to spend some time with Katy now, and I offered to take Evie back with you to the villa when she’s awake again and ready to leave Logan.”

“Actually, if it’s going to be a while, I may run over and visit a few friends at the SDPD that I haven’t seen in awhile. You can just text me when you’re ready to go and I’ll swing back by for you and Evie. Or I could switch cars with you again and just meet you back at the villa.”

Veronica took a deep breath as she contemplated the offer. She and Logan had used Keith’s car to drive over to the hospital so they didn’t have to move Evie’s car seat from the rental. She’d been thinking they could just leave Keith’s car overnight and he could bring her back in the morning to get it and Logan, but this option would probably make more sense. She’d liked the idea of having her dad there to help her with Evie, but she would likely be fine on her own. And there was still the chance that Kathleen might be back before Evie was even ready to leave Logan as well. “Okay,” she replied as she pulled his keys from her pocket. He gave her a questioning look for a moment before pulling the rental keys from his.

“Just give me a call if you need anything, kiddo,” he said as he handed her the keys and leaned in to give her a quick peck on the temple.

“Thanks, Dad,” she replied before taking the keys and then heading back to the elevator.

Veronica gave Kathleen and Logan a quick update on her dad right before one of the the nurses walked in to check on Logan again. Kathleen decided to take her leave then and gave Logan a gentle kiss on the forehead before saying goodbye to both of them and leaving the room. Veronica took a seat in one of the chairs against the wall so that she wasn’t in the nurse’s way. The nurse commented on how adorable Evie was and kept her voice low so she wouldn’t wake her up as she checked on Logan’s vitals and asked about his pain level. Veronica could imagine with the way Evie had hurled herself at him, that he probably was in a lot more pain than he normally would have been. She was pretty sure he downplayed it for both the nurses benefit as well as her own.

When the nurse left, Logan glanced across the room and gave Veronica a longing look. She stood up and walked over to the other side of the bed from Evie. With Logan and Evie on the bed, there wasn’t really room for Veronica too, but at least she could lean up against the edge and be closer to Logan than she was in the chair across the room. He tipped his head down so his forehead was resting on her shoulder. “How are you doing?” she whispered as she reached up and gently ran her fingers through his hair.

“I still can’t believe Katy’s here,” he mumbled quietly before he tipped his head up and looked at her. “How are you doing?” he asked with a concerned tone.

She smiled softly and caressed his cheek. “I’m fine, but I wish you didn’t have to deal with this on top of everything else.”

“I just wish I could go home with you and Evie tonight,” Logan said dejectedly. “I know you and Kathleen will be there for her, but, after what just happened, it kills me that I have to send her back without me.”

Veronica nodded her silent agreement. She was sure it was going to be hard for Evie too, but certainly didn’t want to make Logan worry any more than necessary. Logan took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a minute. “Maybe you should try to sleep for a little while too?” Veronica suggested, suddenly remembering that fatigue was definitely not unexpected after the procedure he’d just gone through. He slowly opened his eyes and she could see how exhausted he really was getting.

“Thank you,” he said softly as he leaned toward her and pressed a gentle kiss against her lips. “For being here for me.”

“Of course,” she replied as she reached up and stroked his cheek again. “Try to sleep, now,” she instructed before she leaned in and placed a kiss on his forehead. He nodded and closed his eyes again. She watched him for a few minutes before she walked back over to take a seat in the chair once more. She tried not to let herself worry about what was going to happen now that Katy had suddenly resurfaced in their life, but it was impossible to just pretend it hadn’t just happened either.

Chapter 27

Chapter Text

While Logan and Evie had been napping, Veronica tried to focus on the book she’d brought along to read. Unfortunately she found it hard to concentrate because her mind kept drifting back to Katy’s sudden appearance. Veronica worried about how Katy’s presence would disrupt things for them all. It had been heartbreaking to see how upset Evie had gotten when she thought Katy was there to take her away from Logan. Veronica was relieved, given the comment Kathleen had made when she was there earlier, that it seemed as though Katy wasn’t planning to push too hard to see Evie against Logan’s wishes. . It also made her feel a little better that Katy seemed to trust Logan judgement as to what was best for Evie. It was just another reminder to Veronica of how much Logan had changed in the past three years. But Veronica also knew that sometimes people weren’t always forthright about their intentions, and that’s what had her slightly anxious. She knew Logan had legal rights as Evie’s adopted father, but that didn’t mean that Katy couldn’t try upsetting things if she really wanted to. Veronica couldn’t help but wonder if the fact that Katy was going to become a mom again would lead to her reevaluating her relationship with Evie. She also wondered what sort of influence Katy’s fiancé might have on the current arrangement.

Veronica glanced frequently up at the bed as she attempted to read to watch for either Logan or Evie to wake up. Eventually Logan’s nurse returned to check in on him again. The nurse gave Veronica an apologetic smile as she explained that she needed to wake Logan up to have him take some more medicine and to check his vitals. At least he’d been able to sleep for almost two hours, and so had Evie.

Once she had woken Logan, the nurse suggested that he should try to get up and use the bathroom at that time. Veronica could tell that Logan was trying to carefully climb off the bed without waking Evie up, but unfortunately he wasn’t successful.

He reassured Evie that he would only be in the bathroom for a few minutes before giving her a kiss on the head and then disappearing into the adjacent lavatory. Evie quickly climbed off the bed and walked over to Veronica.

“Can I sit with you?” Evie asked, still looking noticeably frightened.

Veronica nodded and gave the little girl an affectionate smile before she put down her book and let Evie climb on her lap. Evie wrapped her arms around Veronica’s neck and rested her head against her shoulder.

“Can Daddy come home with us now?” Evie asked in a quiet voice. Veronica was pretty sure that Kathleen had already told Evie that he couldn’t, but given what happened with Katy, she assumed Evie was hoping that had changed.

“I’m sorry, sweetie, but the doctor wanted him to stay tonight so they could make sure he was all better to come home in the morning. But your grandma and I will be there with you tonight.”

“Okay,” Evie replied, her face lowering dejectedly.

“Maybe we could go swimming again or play on the beach for a little while before bedtime,” Veronica suggested, hoping that might lift Evie’s spirits a bit. She’d been so excited about swimming when they’d first arrived, so Veronica thought that might be a good distraction to keep her mind off everything else that was going on.

“Will you swim with me?” Evie asked, sitting up and looking hopefully at Veronica.

Veronica smiled and nodded. “Yeah, I’d love to swim with you. Did you want to eat dinner by the pool again too?” Veronica wasn’t sure what Kathleen had planned for dinner or if she’d actually end up eating with Katy. She figured offering to eat at the pool again should be safe, though.

Evie finally started to smile a bit more and nodded in reply. “Can we watch Tangled again tonight too?” Evie asked next.

“Of course we can if that’s what you want to watch. You fell asleep last night and didn’t get to finish it, so we could watch it again tonight. I really liked it too.”

“The horse is funny, isn’t he?” Evie asked, her expression wistful.

Veronica glanced up as the door to the bathroom opened, and Logan ventured slowly back out to his bed. She could tell that walking caused him quite a bit of discomfort, even if he wasn’t actually complaining about it. He gave both Veronica and Evie a faint smile as the nurse helped him climb back into his bed.

“Veronica’s going to swim with me,” Evie announced happily as the nurse finished with her ministrations and vanished back out into the hall.

“She is, is she?” Logan responded, looking at Veronica inquisitively.

“Yes… and she said we can watch Tangled again tonight too,” Evie added as she sat, nodding on Veronica’s lap.

Logan smiled a bit more at the two of them before he replied. “That sounds like a fun evening for the two of you. I’m sorry I have to stay here tonight, but I’m sure you and Veronica will have a lot of fun together.”

Evie glanced down at her lap for a moment before looking back up at Logan. “Is she… is Mommy gone now?”

Logan sighed softly and his expression became a bit more grim. “She’s still here in San Diego… Nana is with her right now… but she’s not going to come and see you tonight.” He paused for a moment before he continued. “She’d like to see you again though… but she’s not here to take you anywhere… she just wants to see you for a little while before she has to go back to Texas. But if you don’t want to see her, then you don’t have to. We can talk more about it when I’m back with you tomorrow, okay?”

Evie nodded but didn’t actually say anything. Veronica looked at Logan sympathetically. It was easy for her to tell how rattled he still was about Katy being there, although he seemed to be putting up a strong front for Evie’s sake.

“Can we go swimming now?” Evie asked as she turned to look up at Veronica, catching her a bit by surprise.

“Um… sure…” Veronica replied glancing up at Logan to see what his reaction was. She’d expected it to be much harder to convince Evie to leave Logan given how she’d acted earlier when they ran into Katy. Logan gave her an encouraging smile and shrugged. “Did you want to stay longer with your Daddy, though?” Veronica asked, feeling bad that they’d be leaving Logan all alone.

Evie shook her head. “No, I want to go swimming now.”

“I’ll be fine here… I’ll probably just try to sleep some more anyway. The medicine the nurse just gave me is already making me feel a bit groggy again. You two should go back and enjoy the pool while it’s still warm out,” Logan told them with a reassuring smile. “I can call you later before it gets too late to check in. And I’m sure Kathleen will probably stop in here again… she mentioned taking a cab back to the villa if that worked out best for everyone. But you can always call her if you need anything at all.”

“Okay,” Veronica replied a bit hesitantly.

Evie scrambled off her lap and quickly moved over toward Logan’s bed again. She was more careful this time as she climbed up onto it and wrapped her arms around Logan’s neck.

“You be good for Veronica. Okay, sweetheart?” Logan instructed Evie as he hugged her and placed a kiss on her cheek. “I love you and I’ll call you later.”

“I love you too, Daddy,” Evie said as she kissed his cheek in return.

Veronica walked over and stood next to the bed. Part of her wished she could just stay there with Logan, but now with everything else that had happened, doing something fun with Evie was certainly more important. It was still hard to abandon him even if it was what he wanted as well. She reached down and gently squeezed his hand. “You call us if you need anything, okay? Between my dad, Kathleen and I, one of us can be here in no time at all, okay? Promise?” she babbled, feeling an aching sadness in her chest that she had to leave him.

He smiled and nodded and then reached up with his hand and pulled her head close to his so he could kiss her temple. “I’ll be fine,” he said softly as he looked lovingly into her eyes. “Take care of my little girl and I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Come on,” Evie said as she climbed off the bed and took Veronica’s other hand. Before Evie could tug her away from Logan though, he leaned in and placed a slow soft kiss on her lips.

“I love you,” he whispered against her lips.

“I love you too,” she said fighting back the sudden urge to cry.

“Thank you,” he said softly and placed another quick kiss on her lips. “I’ll call you later.”

Veronica nodded as she felt Evie tugging a bit more insistently on her hand. She took a quick steadying breath trying not to sound emotional. “Get some rest,” she said quietly before giving him one last tender smile and then following Evie out the door.

Veronica was grateful that Evie was old enough to be able to help her figure out how to properly secure her into her car-seat once they got to the car. She’d never had to worry about putting a small child into one of those before and she was a little intimidated by the complicated criss-crossing straps. Evie laughed at Veronica’s first failed attempt and then showed her how to do it right. As they drove back to the villa, Veronica asked Evie about her trip to the animal park with Kathleen and Keith. Evie enthusiastically told her all about the animals they had seen while they were there.

Once they were back at the villa, Evie wasted no time before insisting that they change into their swimming suits so they could go to the pool. Veronica’s phone chimed with a new text alert as she was helping Evie find her swimsuit. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and saw that it was a message from Kathleen asking how things were going with Logan and Evie. Veronica quickly typed her a reply letting her know that they were back at the villa and were doing fine if she wanted to spend more time with Katy. Veronica also let her know about their plan to just eat dinner at the pool again if Kathleen wanted to join Katy and her fiance for dinner. Kathleen said that she might do that, but if Veronica ran into any trouble, to call her and she’d be back as soon as she could. Veronica also asked whether Kathleen had planned to stop in to check on Logan again since she still felt terrible about leaving him there all alone. Kathleen assured her that she’d return to the hospital early enough to spend some time with him before visiting hours were over.

Evie had already dressed herself by the time Veronica finished texting with Kathleen. She waited as patiently as she could while Veronica went in to change into her own suit and then they grabbed some towels and headed to the pool. There were two other young girls in the pool when they arrived, and Evie wasted no time in befriending them. The girls turned out to be sisters who were there with their grandparents. The older couple was watching them swim from a pair of lounge chairs by the pool and shared a brief hello with Veronica as one of the sisters pointed them out. All three girls quickly engaged Veronica in a game of Marco Polo. Veronica was quickly amused by the young threesome. Even though their giggles made it pretty easy to find them without even calling out, Veronica still pretended to not be able to find them, which made them laugh even harder. Once they’d had enough of Marco Polo, the girls moved on to a jumping contest to see who could make the biggest splash, electing Veronica to be the judge.

After Evie’s new playmates left, Evie asked if they could get dinner since she was starting to get hungry. Veronica and Evie ordered their food and then played in the pool a little longer while they waited for their dinner to be ready. As they were climbing out of the water to eat their food that had just been delivered at a poolside table, another family came out to use the pool as well. The family was composed of a what Veronica assumed was a young married couple, and a little boy slightly younger looking than Evie and then a fairly small baby. The mother took a seat in a lounge chair near the pool with the baby in her lap while the dad and little boy got into the water. They could hear the little boy repeatedly yelling out, “Mommy, mommy watch this!” as he jumped into the water where his dad was waiting to catch him. While it was slightly distracting, Veronica didn’t think much of it, but then she noticed that Evie had started watching them more closely and wasn’t eating anymore.

“Are your chicken strips good?” Veronica asked, trying to draw Evie’s attention back to her plate rather than watching the little boy and his dad.

“Where does your mommy live?” Evie asked abruptly as she turned to stare at Veronica.

“Oh… um…” Veronica stammered out, not expecting that question at all. “Well… I’m not exactly sure where she’s living right now, but I know she was living in Arizona for a while.”

“Is that far away?” Evie asked next with a slightly puzzled look on her face.

“Well that’s only about three hours away from here,” Veronica explained. “So not too far.”

“Why doesn’t she live with you?”

“Well… I guess it was like you and your mommy and daddy. You live with just your daddy now like I do.”

Veronica was relieved to see that Evie picked up one of her chicken strips and took a bite after dipping it into the barbecue sauce on her plate. Veronica really hoped they’d be able to talk to Logan to help Evie feel better too. She knew reaching patients in hospitals could be difficult sometimes though. Veronica sent a quick text off to Kathleen to see if she’d made it back to the hospital yet so that maybe their chance of actually getting to talk to Logan would be higher than if she’d just tried to call through to his room. She let Kathleen know that things were still going fine, but that Evie was starting to miss Logan, so she was hoping they could talk to him when Kathleen stopped in to see him. Her phone chimed a few minutes later with a reply text that Kathleen was just finishing up dinner with Katy and then would be headed to the hospital to see Logan. Kathleen assured her that she’d have him call them as soon as she arrived. That helped put Veronica’s mind at ease as she caught Evie frowning across the pool at the little boy and his mom again. Veronica felt a pang of sadness hit thinking of how hard this had to have been for Evie. Veronica had certainly had her own issues with her mom abandoning her, and couldn’t even imagine how hard that would be on a four year old. At least she was nearly an adult by the time Lianne took off and while it had been hard, she could certainly handle it better that a small child would. She couldn’t help but wonder exactly what Evie thought about the situation with Katy, but really didn’t feel like it was her place to ask.

“Wanna try one of my tater-tots?” Veronica asked, trying to divert Evie’s attention again. It took Evie a second to turn back toward her, but once she did, she nodded and reached out to take one from Veronica’s plate.

“Daddy likes tater-tots too,” Evie said as she dipped it into her barbecue sauce. “But he likes them with ketchup instead of barbecue sauce,” she added before putting it into her mouth.

Veronica smiled and nodded. She fondly recalled Logan teasing her in the past for requesting barbecue sauce instead of ketchup. Yet another thing she and Evie had in common. “They are definitely better in barbecue sauce, aren’t they?” Veronica asked with a conspiratorial smile.

The slight distraction seemed to at least get Evie back to eating again, and it helped that the little boy had quieted down as well. After they finished their dinner, Veronica asked Evie if she wanted to walk on the beach for a little while. She hoped getting Evie away from the family at the pool might shift her thoughts away from Katy. Evie happily agreed and they headed out to the sand to walk that way back to the villa. Evie enjoyed running along the shoreline, holding Veronica’s hand and squealing as the waves came up to hit their legs. Veronica was glad that Evie was as resilient as she was since she seemed to be handling everything that had happened that day better than she might have expected. They were just walking into the door of the villa when Veronica’s cell phone ringed.

“Hey, gorgeous,” Logan’s voice came across the line sounding a little strained.

“Hey, handsome,” she countered as playfully as she could, aching to actually be there with him instead of just talking with him on the phone. She wondered how much pain he was in and if he’d held off taking more medicine to stay awake to talk to them.

“I hear I have a little blonde girl there who’s missing me.”

“Make that two,” she replied tenderly.

“I miss you both too,” Logan replied sounding as anguished that he couldn’t be there as she felt being away from him.

She felt the familiar ache in her chest again realizing that if it was hard enough to be away from him for one night now, how was it going to feel to go off to school and not see him for possibly months at a time. “I’ll let you talk to Evie,” Veronica muttered quickly, trying to regain her composure. “It’s your daddy, sweetie,” Veronica said as she handed her cell phone to Evie.

Veronica couldn’t hear what Logan was asking, but saw Evie nodding her head a lot and telling him yes quite a few times. Then Evie told him about swimming and what they had for dinner. Their time ended with Evie telling Logan that she loved him too and then she handed the phone back to Veronica.

“Thanks again for watching her this afternoon,” Logan said when Veronica was back on the line. “Today didn’t really go the way I’d expected it to.”

“Of course. It was fine,” Veronica reassured him. “We had fun swimming and she’s been really great for me. I just know she’s still a bit shaken up over this afternoon and really misses you too.”

“Yeah… I’m still a bit in shock over that too...” he started and then trailed off. “I um,” he started after a quick pause. “I guess she… um Katy… wants to come and talk to me in the morning here at the hospital before I get discharged. At least that’s what she told Kathleen.”

“Oh…” Veronica started, but wasn’t really sure what she should say about that.

“Yeah… I’m sure that will be a fun conversation,” Logan continued, maybe sensing that Veronica was a bit uneasy. He paused again and then let out a deep sigh. “I really wish I was there with you two, rather than here.”

“Me too,” Veronica said as she let out a soft sigh herself.

“Kathleen should be heading back there soon. She’ll probably fuss over me for a little while longer until I can convince the nurse to send her away.” Veronica could tell that he was only joking about the last part and thought she could hear Kathleen scoff at him in the background.

“Well I hope you aren’t giving your nurse too hard of a time… you’d better do what they say so you can come home with me in the morning,” Veronica lightheartedly warned.

“Yeah… I’m behaving, for the most part anyway… the doctor did stop by a little while ago and said things were looking better, so he didn’t see any reason to not discharge me in the morning if I’m feeling well enough. He also let me know that things were going well with Nick too. Oh... and Charlie stopped by as well for a few minutes but didn’t stay long because he wanted to get back to Nick’s room.”

“I’m happy to hear that,” Veronica replied before Logan yawned through the phone. “Sounds like you should be getting some sleep now,” she told him and he mumbled a soft agreement. “I’ll let you go then and I’ll see you in the morning.”

“G’night, Veronica,” he mumbled softly. “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” she replied with a faint smile on her lips. Even though he couldn’t see her, she still couldn’t help smiling when she thought about how much she did love him.

“Can we watch Tangled now?” Evie asked as soon as Veronica was off the phone.

“Sure, Evie,” Veronica agreed.

“In the bedroom?” Evie asked next. When Veronica nodded in agreement, Evie grabbed her by the hand and started pulling her in that direction.

It didn’t take Veronica too long to figure out how to operate the TV and to queue up the movie again. Evie of course hadn’t forgotten about the mention of ice cream sundaes, so Veronica also ordered two of those for them to have while they watched the movie. Once they were done eating and Veronica had put their empty bowls in the kitchen, Evie curled up against her side. Veronica gently stroked her hair, and thought back to when she was a little girl and would watch shows with her mom. Everything had seemed so much simpler then, back before she had become disillusioned by all the terrible truths about her mom. She’d almost forgotten that there had been a lot of good times when she was younger.

They were over halfway through the movie when Kathleen made it back. Evie asked her to finish it with them, so Kathleen climbed onto the bed next to Evie. Veronica was a little surprised that Evie kept her position snuggled up with Veronica rather than shifting over to Kathleen. She’d actually expected it when Evie asked Kathleen to finish watching the movie with them. She was definitely touched by the thought of Evie being as comfortable with her as she was with Kathleen.

“Want to come and sleep with me?” Kathleen asked Evie when the movie was over.

“No… I want to stay in here with Ver-ronica,” Evie answered trying her best to say Veronica’s name the right way and sounding quite adamant about her choice.

Kathleen gave Veronica a quick look, definitely trying to silently check that it would be all right with her.

“I’d really like that,” Veronica responded, giving Kathleen a reassuring smile. “Why don’t we get changed into PJs and brush our teeth and then we can go to sleep, okay?”

Evie nodded and then climbed off the bed to go find her pajamas in the other room.

“Looks like things are going well between the two of you,” Kathleen commented as she watched Evie disappear.

“Yeah… they are,” Veronica replied with a fond smile. “Considering the day she’s had, she was much better than I would have ever expected.” Veronica paused before she continued a bit more somberly. “How did Logan seem when you saw him tonight? I thought he sounded like he was probably in more pain than he wanted to admit to me on the phone.”

Kathleen gave her a knowing look and nodded. “Yeah… I think he’d been fibbing a bit to the nurse about how he was feeling, but I convinced him to take something a little stronger so he could get some sleep tonight. I could tell he was hurting quite a bit though too.” Kathleen paused and glanced out to the main room to see if Evie was on her way back yet. “I um… I also ran a new idea by him tonight. I know my parents would love to see me and Evie… and since you’d all be ending up near them eventually… I was thinking I’d stick around a little longer and then head up to the Bay Area a few days ahead of you and Logan with Evie and we’d connect with you guys again there. It would give you more time alone together before you have to start school too. And I know he said you needed to pack up things to move up there as well; that would likely be easier without Evie underfoot.”

“Oh… what did Logan think of that idea?” Veronica could imagine after the run in with Katy that they’d just had, that separating Evie and Logan might be even more difficult than it would have been under normal circ*mstances.

Kathleen shrugged. “He said he’d think about it and talk it over with you. I know seeing Katy today was tough on Evie, but I think she’ll be over that in a couple of days. Katy would like to see her before they have to head back to Texas, but she really doesn’t want to make things difficult for Evie.”

Veronica nodded in understanding. “Well I really appreciate the offer, but if he decides not to take you up on it, that’s fine too. I’ll leave it up to him to decide once he sees how the next few days go I guess.”

“Why aren’t you in your pajamas?” Evie asked as she bounded back into the room, changed into hers already.

“Oops, sorry!” Veronica quickly replied as she climbed off the bed and headed to the dresser drawer with her clothes.

“You be good for Veronica tonight, okay?” Kathleen instructed as she placed a kiss on top of Evie’s head. “I’ll see you two in the morning,” she added with a tender smile before turning and heading off to her own room.

“Ready for me to time you?” Veronica asked as she pulled her pajamas out of the drawer.

Evie gave her a big grin and then turned to head into the bathroom. Veronica couldn’t help but smile herself realizing how much she was enjoying her time with Evie. It would have been even better if Logan was there with them, but she was relieved at how smoothly everything had gone. While she’d never given much consideration to actually being a mother, Evie certainly made her stop to think about what a future with Logan and kids would be like. Even if it was just the three of them, that would certainly be more than enough for her.

Chapter 28

Chapter Text

A soft knocking sound jostled Logan from his light slumber. The nurse had been there not long before to check on him, and he’d just started to doze off again. He let out a quiet sigh when he realized the petite blonde walking into his room was not the one he’d hoped to see. He was a little surprised that she’d actually followed through with coming to see him given her past behavior.

“Hey,” Katy whispered nervously as she took a step into the room so the door could close behind her. She looked him in the eye for a brief moment before glancing back down at the purse she was clutching tightly in front of her slightly protruding stomach; her pregnancy way past the point of being able to hide, especially with her petite frame. Logan noticed her shoulders were slightly hunched, and her furrowed brows reminded him of several other uncomfortable encounters that they’d had over the past three years.

“Hi, Katy,” Logan replied, realizing just how weary he sounded, although after everything that had happened in the past twenty-four hours he supposed it wasn’t really surprising.

“How are you feeling?” she mumbled, the anxiety and uncertainly in her tone matching her posture. She glanced in the direction of the bed, but her eyes didn’t travel all the way up to meet his. “Mom said there were some complications from the procedure.”

“Yeah… nothing too major, but they don’t want to take any chances.” He paused and then continued with a caustic tone. “I guess malpractice isn’t high on their list of favorite activities.”

“I can’t imagine a visit from me is high on yours,” she said sullenly as she finally made eye contact with him again.

Logan shrugged and looked down at his arm where the IV was still attached. “If it makes you feel any better, it’s higher on my list than being hooked up to machines in the hospital.”

He tipped his head up when she choked out a humourless laugh. “Well I’m glad to know I’m not at the very bottom at least.”

Logan let out a frustrated sigh. “I’m sure you’re not here just to inquire about my health,” he stated a bit more tersely than he’d intended. He didn’t want to argue with her, but he was short on energy and this was the last place he wanted to have this conversation. It seemed best to just get to the point of her visit.

“You’re right,” Katy said, nodding her head as her expression became more resolute. It always surprised him how she could go from anxious to fierce when pushed into certain situations. “I obviously wanted to talk to you about Evie. I know when we spoke last, you said you didn’t want me to be a part of her life if I couldn’t promise it would be permanent this time. Well, now you know why I couldn’t promise that,” she stated, pointing down at her swollen belly. “Things are a little more complicated. I didn’t know what I should do, so I did what I always do and just avoided dealing with it. But now that I’ve seen her here...I guess it changes things.” She paused and took in a shaky breath, the resolute expression on her face already starting to crumble slightly as she continued. “God Logan, it broke my heart yesterday when she reacted like that.”

“There was more to that than just seeing you here, but what did you expect, Katy? You’re practically a stranger to her now. Sure she sees your pictures all over Kathleen’s and knows you’re her mom, but that’s not the same as being in her life,” Logan told her, surprising himself with how cold he sounded. “She’s a little girl. It’s confusing.” In the past he’d tried always tried to take into account everything that Katy had been through. He’d tried so hard to be understanding, but maybe he’d finally reached his limit. He’d been sympathetic so many times knowing that they’d both been through so many tragedies when they were young, but seeing Evie’s reaction the day before felt like a turning point for him. Evie had to be his priority.

“I don’t know what I expected,” Katy spat back, her tone a mixture of anger and desperation. “I didn’t expect my daughter to be terrified of me, though. Of course Mom told me later why Evie acted that way, but that didn’t make me feel any better. I didn’t fight you one iota when you asked to adopt her. I’m still upset that Mom thought I would actually try to cut you out of Evie’s life after how much you’d done for her. I know what you mean to her, Logan. I know she needs you.” She paused and took a steadying breath, continuing in a calmer tone. “Look, I didn’t come here to fight with you. That stuff is history now. But I can’t move back to Oregon, Logan—my life with Dalton is in Texas—but I also don’t want Evie to hate me or think I don’t still love her, because I do. I don’t know how I can prove that to her though if you won’t let me see or talk to her.”

“That’s not f*cking fair, Katy. You can’t walk away and not contact us for months and then blame me.”

“I called. I—”

“Only when you heard I was with Veronica. You haven’t made any effort beyond that. I want what’s best for Evie, and she deserves more than a mom who’s only around when it’s convenient.” Logan stopped abruptly, clenching his jaw. It had been a long time since he’d had to deal with something that tested how well he could control his temper and he didn’t like how quickly that old rage seemed to bubble to the surface. “I don’t want to fight with you either, but I’m not willing to compromise on anything if it’s not what’s best for my daughter.”

Katy let out a loud sigh and shook her head. “I wouldn’t expect you to.” Her expression softened as she continued. “But she’s still my daughter too. I’m sorry that I didn’t stick around and try to get some help dealing with all my demons, but I can’t change that now. And I never called after I left the last time because I always felt so guilty for leaving and then things got more complicated when I found out I was pregnant again.”

“Have you actually gotten help now?” Logan asked, wondering if something or someone had finally forced her to since she’d brought it up voluntarily. In the past when they were together it was a topic that she’d quickly shut down any attempt to discuss.

Katy nodded, but not with a lot of conviction. “I’ve started. It’s hard, but Dalton has been encouraging me to with the baby coming. He knows there are things I’m still not ready to share with him, but he’s been really understanding about it.” She paused for a moment, what seemed like a wistful look appearing on her face as she looked down and ran her hand across her baby bump. “Dalton and his parents—who live in Corpus Christi, too—they’re all so excited for the baby.”

Logan almost felt guilty that his first reaction to what she’d just said was to assume that Katy had already planned an escape—loving father and grandparents to take over raising this baby if she let herself fail again—but given her past track record, it really wasn’t a stretch to imagine. Although maybe his gut instinct was wrong this time. Maybe whatever support she was getting would make a difference, but he wasn’t willing to bet Evie’s well-being on the fact that Katy had already changed that much either.

“Well, I’m glad you’ve at least started working through some of your issues and that you’ve got people around you that care,” Logan replied, trying to at least sound like he believed her.

“Yeah, me too. I guess it’s helped me at least become more aware of the issues I need to work through.” She paused and let out a bitter laugh. “And when I get back I can discuss how sh*tty this trip has made me feel too.”

As Logan started to furrow his brows and was about to protest, Katy cut him off with an apologetic look and a wave of her hand. “I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to imply that’s because of anything you or Evie did. I know Evie’s reaction is my own fault. Listen Logan, I’d still really like the chance to see her again while we’re both here in San Diego. Now that my current situation is out in the open, the hesitance and anxiety I had about coming home to tell Mom isn’t a factor anymore. I don’t know when I’ll be able to fly up, but I hope to come up at least once before the baby’s born. I’d prefer a chance to see Evie now, but if you’re set against that, I won’t...I don’t want to make things worse between she and I if it’s not the right time.”

“After yesterday, I just don’t think it’s a good idea, Katy. Not here, right now.”

Katy nodded in understanding, but he saw her shoulders dip in disappointment. She glanced down at her bump again, before looking back up at him. “I don’t know how it will work, but I want Evie to have the chance to know her brother. I know with her and you in Oregon and us in Texas, that won’t be easy, but I don’t want either one to grow up not knowing the other one exists. Mom told me about your brother, so I really hope of all people you could understand that.”

Logan hadn’t even stopped to consider that aspect of their current situation since learning about Katy’s pregnancy the day before. He’d been so focused on how seeing Katy again had affected Evie that he hadn’t given much thought to the fact that Evie would have a sibling soon. It saddened him to think that she could grow up possibly not even knowing him—just like himself and Charlie.

“We don’t fly out until Sunday morning,” Katy continued. “Please think about it, Logan. Mom has my number if you change your mind. And if you do decide that now is just not a good time, then I’ll be in touch to talk more about where things go from here.”

As Katy turned to head to the door she paused and looked back over her shoulder at him. “I hope you get out of here soon. I’m sure your daughter really misses you,” she told him with a tender smile. “I know how much she loves you, and I’ve never doubted how much you love her.”

Before Logan could say another word, Katy had vanished into the hall.

Logan had never liked hospitals, and his impatience to be discharged had only intensified with Katy’s visit. Luckily the doctor had stopped in right after Katy had left to let Logan know that everything looked good and that the nursing staff was already working on his discharge paperwork. Just moments later, a nurse came in to remove his IV and to let him know he could get changed back into regular clothes again. He was definitely happy to have something to focus on besides the situation with Katy.

Logan’s mood improved even more when he exited the ensuite lavatory and found Veronica leaning against the edge of his bed.

“Look at you. All dressed and standing up-right,” Veronica commented with a teasing smile.

“And tube free,” Logan added as he closed the distance between them, holding up his hand that previously had the IV connected to it.

He carefully slid his hands under her arms so he could lift her to sit on the mattress, putting her at a much better height for a proper greeting.

“And good morning to you,” he told her as he positioned himself between her knees and then leaned in to press a kiss to her lips.

“Mmm… yes it is,” she replied, sounding a tad breathless after the kiss. “Sounds like you get to blow this joint soon?”

Logan nodded. “The sooner, the better. I really missed you and Evie last night.”

“We missed you too,” she told him with a tender smile on her face, reaching up to gently stroke his cheek before running her fingers through his hair. “Not that I don’t like having you in this particular position, but I’m sure you’re still a little sore. Did you want your bed back? I don’t want you overdoing it before you’re even released.”

“Now you sound like one of the nurses,” Logan countered with a smug grin and a wink. “I suppose you’re right though,” he admitted before kissing her one more time and then turning so he could sit on the bed next to her. “So how did the evening go with you and Evie?”

“Given the circ*mstances, much better than I’d expected. She had a bit of a rough patch watching another family at the pool, but after that, things were fine.”

“What happened at the pool?” Logan asked, instantly worried

She gave him a reassuring smile before she started to explain. “Well, there was a very vocal little boy who kept yelling out for his mommy to watch him, and I’m sure that put Katy right at the front of Evie’s mind again. She even asked me where my mom was.”

“Do you know where she is?” Logan asked, wondering if Veronica had seen Lianne at all in the last three years that he’d been gone.

Veronica shook her head and sighed softly. “Nope. But that’s probably for the best.”

Logan reached over so he could hold her hand, gently stroking his thumb along the back of hers. Veronica looked down at their hands before she spoke again, her voice sounding a bit uneasy. “Speaking of absentee mothers, did Katy already stop by?”

Logan inhaled a deep breath as he nodded. “Yeah, a little while ago.”

Veronica tipped her head up to look him in the eyes again; it was easy to see the concern in her expression. “Did it go okay?” she asked apprehensively, her brows furrowing just the tiniest bit.

“As well as could be expected, I suppose. I did tell her I didn’t think it was a good idea for her to see Evie here in San Diego.”

“Did she get upset about that?”

“A little, yeah, but she didn’t push too hard on me about it at least.” He paused for a moment. He was still struggling with the comparison that Katy had made to him and Charlie. “She mentioned something I hadn’t really taken the time to consider yet. She’s pretty adamant about Evie getting to know her half-brother. Being here with Charlie, that definitely struck a chord with me. She did point out of course the obvious geographical obstacles we’d have, so she’s not being completely oblivious to that, but it’s something I hadn’t even thought about since this all started yesterday. And who knows what might happen in the future I suppose a lot depends on how she handles everything this time around.”

“Do you think she’s doing better than she was before?” Veronica asked next.

Logan shrugged and let out a deep sigh. “I don’t know. She said she’s started seeing someone, but she also hasn’t told her fiancé everything about her past, which might not be a good sign.” There had been several occasions in the past when Katy had been back with them that he’d fooled himself into thinking she seemed better initially, but every time he’d been proven wrong.

“Do you think she might bolt on him, like she did the other guy, and end up with Kathleen again?”

Logan shook his head. “I don’t think so. Well not before she has the baby. Not this time. It sounds like her fiancé and his parents are really excited about the baby, so I’m thinking that will make it different for her. Whether she eventually bolts on them and just vanishes for a while again, I can’t really say. I really hope that she won’t—for her sake as well as Kathleen’s. I’m guessing Kathleen might be having a tough time with all this too, even if she’s acting like she’s not. I know she sometimes blames herself for Katy’s bad decisions, even though she really did everything she could to help her. And I’m sure she wants a chance to get to know her grandson.”

Veronica opened her mouth to say something just as the door to the room opened and one of the nurses came in.

“I’m sure you’re happy to go home,” the nurse commented happily as she walked over to them with a folder of papers. “Here’s some information for you to take with you and a prescription for some mild painkillers that the doctor prescribed for the next couple of days. You can fill that at the pharmacy downstairs if that’s easier for you. I just need to have you sign some papers and then we’ll have you out of here in a jiffy.”

Veronica squeezed Logan’s hand tenderly before she released it so he could take the forms from the nurse.

They made it down to the main floor quickly. Even though Logan had protested, the nurse had insisted that it was standard procedure for discharged patients to leave in a wheelchair. Veronica had happily volunteered to push him and had thoroughly scolded him when he suggested just ditching it in the elevator once they were alone. Luckily the pharmacy was able to quickly fill his prescription and, with that taken care of, they were finally headed back to Coronado.

Logan hadn’t forgotten that they’d been interrupted by the nurse earlier and was wondering how Veronica was feeling with the whole Katy topic. He honestly wasn’t even sure how he was feeling about it and couldn’t imagine this entire situation was easy for Veronica either. It was certainly not what either of them had expected to be dealing with at this particular point in time. He had of course noticed the uneasiness in Veronica’s demeanor whenever they’d talked much about Katy over the past week, and that was when she was just some estranged mother to Evie and not an ex-girlfriend visiting him in his hospital room this morning. Even if he’d long since moved past those sort of feelings for Katy, he wasn’t sure Veronica was completely convinced. He struggled over whether to just let it go for now and see what came up later, but knowing this might be the last bit of privacy they’d have for a while, if there was more she’d wanted to say, he felt he should give her the chance.

“So, we sort of got interrupted at the hospital when the nurse walked in,” he threw out there a little hesitantly. “We um… we may not get a lot of alone time for a while once we get back... if there was still anything you wanted to talk about we could now.”

“Oh,” Veronica replied, definitely looking a bit caught off guard as she quickly glanced at him for a second before turning her attention back to the road in front of her. “Well, it is a lot to process I guess… for all of us. I get why you and Katy would want Evie to know—at least eventually—that she has a sibling out there, but do you think that’s going to be tough on her? I know if I’d found out my mom had started another family when she abandoned me, I think I’d have a hard time with it, although I’m not sure how I would have felt about it at four years old.”

“Yeah,” Logan responded with a discouraged sigh. “It’s definitely something I need to consider. Maybe it would be better for Evie to get to see her and spend some time with her before the new baby comes. I’m thinking that might make Evie feel a little less like she had been replaced, but I’m not sure if that will help or not. Not to mention the logistics, with Katy being in Texas and us in Oregon.”

“Maybe—” Veronica started and then shook her head, cutting herself short.

“Maybe what?” Logan asked, trying to get her to continue. “I do want to hear what you’re thinking about all of this, Veronica. I know this is all still so new for us being in each others lives again, but I’ve meant everything I’ve said about wanting this to work this time—which includes being open and honest about things, even when the other person might not agree.”

Veronica glanced in his direction with a tender smile before she continued, mostly watching the road, but sneaking a couple glances at him as well. “I want that too and I was just thinking—I know you said you were leaning toward not letting her see Evie here, but maybe this would be the best time to try to rebuild some connection between them. As long as Evie’s past worrying about Katy trying to take her away from you, of course. Being here in the same place, before Katy’s too far along, might not be as difficult on Evie as it would be if she doesn’t see her again until after the baby’s born.”

“Yeah, possibly,” Logan replied, still a little apprehensive given Evie’s reaction the day before, but also knowing that in the past she could be quite resilient. “Katy leaves Sunday morning, so there’s still a little time to see how Evie’s handling all of this and if I think she’ll be okay with it, maybe I’ll setup some time on Saturday.”

Veronica nodded her head in agreement. “That sounds like a good plan to me.”

Logan was a little surprised when they reached the villa how tired he felt already. Given that he’d been stuck in bed for the past twenty-four hours, the whole ordeal of getting released from the hospital combined with some very light walking had taken more out of him than he’d expected. His body was definitely still feeling the effects of the procedure, and even though it wasn’t a very intrusive operation, his hips still ached considerably. He was extremely grateful that he had both Kathleen and Veronica there to help him out with Evie given the condition he was in. Even though the literature had warned him to expect this sort of post-op fatigue and pain, he’d hoped his history with healing from injuries would have made it easier for him.

As soon as they opened the door to the villa, the smell of bacon and coffee filled his senses.

“Daddy!” Evie yelled happily, jumping off the couch to run over to him.

He’d expected her to barrel into him, like she usually did, but instead she stopped a few feet in front of him looking at him cautiously.

“Nana said I need to be careful not to hurt you,” Evie shared, giving him a slightly worried look. “She said I need to be really gentle while you heal up from helping Nick.”

Logan let out a soft chuckle and walked close enough so he could scoop her up. “Well I appreciate that, but I’m doing well enough to get a big hug from you,” he told her as he wrapped his arms tightly around her and kissed her cheek. “I missed you, sweetie.”

“I missed you too,” Evie replied, her arms tightening around his neck as she hugged him in return. “Nana made you a special breakfast. I helped mix the eggs,” she told him proudly.

“Well, it smells delicious,” Logan told her, placing another kiss on her cheek before setting her back down. She took his hand and lead him over to the table that was already set for five.

“Is your dad joining us?” Logan asked Veronica as he gingerly took a seat in one of the chairs, relieved to get off his feet again.

“Yeah, I hope that’s okay. He’s headed back to Neptune in a little while, but I thought he could join us for breakfast before he goes.”

“Of course that’s fine,” Logan reassured her. While Keith’s visit hadn’t gone as smoothly as he’d hoped, he was still grateful that Keith had been willing to help as much as he had. And after they’d had a chance to talk, he’d hoped that had helped quell some of Keith’s initial concerns at least.

Kathleen gave Logan a warm smile as she carried a plate of bacon over to the table. “Since you’ll probably still want to rest most of the day, I suggested to Evie that we go check out the New Children’s Museum. They have hands-on artwork exhibits which I thought she’d enjoy. And there’s a park right next door that she can play at for a little while too.”

While he’d missed Evie terribly, Logan also knew he probably wouldn’t be able to keep her very entertained today while he was recuperating. “Would you like to go do that with Nana, Evie?”

Evie smiled and nodded in reply, intensely eyeing the plate of bacon that Kathleen had just put down next to a breakfast casserole already sitting in the middle of the table.

“I was thinking it might give me some ideas for setting up some art stations for kids in the gallery too. I’ve seen too many parents stress out when they come in, worrying that their kids might damage something, so I was thinking of setting up an area that would be completely kid friendly to keep them entertained while their parents browse around,” Kathleen added as she turned to retrieve a large carafe of coffee from the kitchen.

“Are you sure the two of you will be okay on your own though?” Logan asked, suddenly feeling a bit apprehensive. Of course the look Kathleen immediately shot him in response made him regret asking. At least, likely due to his current physical state, she restrained from scolding him about it.

“We’ll be fine,” Kathleen responded, giving him a pointed look, even if her words weren’t as strong as they would have been under normal circ*mstances. “It’s only a few miles from here— back over the bridge. Close enough that it won’t take long to come back if Evie needs a break from all the fun we’ll be having, right Evie?”

Evie nodded again. “Can I have bacon now?”

Kathleen let out a chuckle and shook her head. “You can wait a couple more minutes. Veronica’s father should be here soon and then we can eat, okay?”

Evie’s mouth turned down in a pout and she let out a loud sigh, but she nodded anyway. Luckily for Evie, a second later there was a knock on the door.

“Now?” Evie called out eagerly as Veronica headed over to open the door.

“Evelyn Charlotte Beatrice Montgomery, where’s your manners,” Kathleen scolded, earning another sigh from Evie.

Logan heard a soft snicker come from Veronica as she opened the door for Keith.

“Good morning, pops,” Veronica said cheerfully as she leaned in and kissed Keith’s cheek. “Did you get all checked out already?”

“Yep. Hauled all my stuff to the car on my way over here,” Keith answered, giving a quick wave to the others in the room. “Thanks again for inviting me to join you,” Keith directed at Logan.

Logan nodded in reply. “Yeah, no problem. I’m glad you were able to come down. And thanks for going with Kathleen and Evie to the animal park yesterday.”

Kathleen had already taken a seat at the table on the other side of Evie, so Veronica and Keith walked over to join them.

“It was my pleasure,” Keith continued. “I can’t remember the last time Veronica and I went there. I guess we generally ended up at the zoo instead.”

“Can I have bacon now,” Evie asked again, exasperation evident in her tone.

Kathleen let out an audible sigh and quirked an eyebrow at Logan. It was her ‘you get to answer your daughter’ look. “Thanks for waiting for Veronica’s dad to get here,” Logan told Evie patiently. “I think it’s fine, but only two pieces to start with, okay?”

Evie eagerly nodded as Kathleen reached over to help her put two pieces on her plate.

“So, the other night you mentioned coming up to Neptune to help Veronica pack. Any idea when that might be?” Keith asked glancing first at Logan and then at Veronica. “You only have a little over a week before school starts,” he added, pointedly directing that at Veronica.

Logan noticed Veronica’s brows furrowed slightly. He wasn’t sure if she wasn’t thrilled about the reminder that time was running out for when she had to be at Stanford or if it was Keith reminding her that she hadn’t talked to him yet about her plans.

“I guess there are a few things I need to make some decisions on that could impact that,” Logan replied, glancing at Evie before he looked back at Keith. He was sure his uncertainty over what to do about Katy would impact what Veronica was planning to do. “The reservation on the villa is through Friday, but there’s a chance we may stay in San Diego a day or two longer than that.”

“Well, I’m sure Wallace and Mac would like to see you as well before you migrate north,” Keith continued, directing his comment at Veronica.

“I’m sure we’ll be up there by Monday,” Veronica answered, her tone sounding a bit agitated by her dad’s comments. “I’ll text you as soon as we finalize our plans. It’s not like I have a ton of possessions to pack up to take along either. You weren’t planning on renting my room out or something while I was gone, were you?” she asked, narrowing her eyes in a challenging gaze.

Keith chuckled and shook his head. “I was just looking forward to a little more daddy-daughter time before you leave.”

Veronica sighed and her posture which had become a bit rigid, relaxed somewhat. “You’ll probably be busy with cases too since you were down here for a couple days, but I’m sure we’ll get some time together next week before I leave. As soon as Logan and I figure out our plans, I’ll be sure to let you know.”

“Thank you, dear daughter,” Keith replied with a satisfied smile. “That casserole smells absolutely delicious,” he added, shooting an approving smile in Kathleen’s direction as Veronica passed the dish to him.

After they'd finished eating, Evie and Logan retreated to the couch to watch some cartoons while Kathleen cleaned up and Veronica walked her dad out to his car. Logan was hesitant to bring Katy up yet, even though the decision of whether to let her see Evie was weighing heavily on his mind. He decided it was probably best to wait until later in the day to talk with Evie about it. He was also hoping Kathleen would get Evie back to the villa for a nap so he could update her first on their discussion that morning. He really wanted to have a chance to discuss everything with Kathleen before he talked to Evie, and there weren't many options for speaking privately in the villa.

“Ready to go to the museum?” Kathleen asked Evie once she was finished cleaning up all the breakfast dishes.

“You’ll be sure to be back later for her nap, right?” Logan asked, trying not to sound too controlling, but hoping Kathleen might pick up on why he was even bringing it up. She’d known Katy was stopping by to see him and had yet to ask him how it went.

“Yep, I’m sure she’ll be tuckered out after having fun with me at the museum. Why don’t we plan to bring lunch back for you and Veronica too and then Evie can take a nap after she eats,” Kathleen suggested.

“Have fun with Nana, sweetie,” Logan told Evie as she leaned in to give him a hug goodbye. “And be sure you listen to her and hold her hand so you don’t get lost.”

“I know,” Evie replied irritatedly. At least the fact that she was back to being annoyed by his over protective daddy behavior was a good sign that she wasn’t too traumatized over the run in with Katy the day before. “I love you, Daddy.”

“I love you too,” Logan replied, reaching out to ruffle her hair.

As Evie jumped up from the couch to go with Kathleen, Veronica walked back into the villa.

“Bye, Ver-ronica,” Evie said as she ran over to give Veronica a hug too.

“Bye, kiddo,” Veronica replied, leaning down to place a quick kiss on top of Evie’s head. “Have fun with your Grandma at the museum. Maybe in a few days, Daddy will be feeling better and we can all go do something together.”

“I hope so,” Evie answered, glancing back to smile lovingly at Logan.

Logan nodded in reply, trying to tap down the feelings that popped up again when Veronica spoke about him like that. He’d nearly forgotten how that had impacted him so significantly the first time she’d said it that way. And watching the two of them interact, he was once again struck by how comfortable Evie had become with Veronica.

Kathleen said a quick goodbye as well before her and Evie headed out the door.

“Hey, you,” Veronica said with a soft smile as she made her way over to the couch. “How’s the pain? Aren’t you due for a pill about now?”

Logan shook his head at her. “Do I at least get the pleasure of seeing you in a nurse’s outfit if you’re going to dole out medical advice?” he inquired languidly with a sly grin.

Veronica snapped her fingers and made a clicking sound between her teeth. “Darn, I forgot to pack that. You’ll just have to use your imagination, which if memory serves is pretty creative,” she teased in reply.

“You say creative, but we both know you mean salacious,” Logan countered while he bobbed his eyebrows at her.

Veronica laughed and nodded in agreement. “Seriously though,” she continued, sitting down next to him and gently running her fingers through his hair. “How are you feeling? I thought I saw you grimace a few times when you were at the table and then again moving over here. You know it’s better to keep on top of your medication schedule, rather than waiting too long and having the pain sneak up on you.”

“You’re right, Nurse Mars,” Logan replied, letting out a deep exhale. “I probably should take another pill. I’m afraid I may not be great company if it makes me drowsy again though.”

“Pshaw,” Veronica told him, a sly grin slowly appearing. “Who said you’re great company when you’re not drowsy.”

Logan chuckled and shook his head again at her. “You’re bedside manner is extraordinary, Mars. Maybe I should think of other voluntary procedures to have, just so you can take care of me.”

The playful grin that was on her face suddenly became more serious. “Well I’m glad the timing worked out so I could be here to take care of you for this one.”

“Me too,” Logan replied reaching out to lace his fingers with hers. He pulled her hand up so he could place a tender kiss on the back of it. “Thank you. Not just for now, but for everything the last few days.” He took a deep breath before continuing. “Actually for every minute since you showed up on my doorstep last week. I don’t think I realized—or was willing to admit—that a part of me was actually missing. Even with Evie and Kathleen in my life, there was still a Veronica shaped hole in my heart—that only you could fill.”

“I know that feeling,” Veronica murmured quietly, biting slightly on her lower lip; an almost shy expression forming on her face. “We should get you that medicine though,” she added, reaching up to stroke her fingers through his hair again. “I’ve never liked seeing you in pain.”

Logan nodded and pulled her other hand up to kiss her knuckles again. “This wasn’t exactly the alone time scenario I was hoping for with you. Even if imagining you playing a nurse is hot, I don’t think the real medical professional wouldn’t have approved the activity I have in mind. I’m pretty sure there was something said about no extreme physical activity for a couple of days.”

“We’ll just have to slowly ease back into it,” Veronica countered with a coy grin, causing a deep chuckle to emanate from Logan.

“Speaking of alone time,” Logan broached thoughtfully as Veronica stood up to retrieve Logan’s medication. “Kathleen tossed out the idea of flying up to the Bay Area with Evie to spend some time with her parents while I help you pack and then we would meet back up when we drive up to Stanford.”

“Yeah, she mentioned something about that to me too,” Veronica shared as she grabbed the bottle of pills from Logan’s bag and headed back to the couch.

“With the whole Katy ordeal, I wasn’t sure if that would be a good idea or not, but the more I was thinking about it—Evie can be challenging on really long car rides. We’d all decided to drive up to Seattle a couple months ago, and realized the drive from our place to the Portland Zoo really is about the extent of what she can tolerate at this point. We ended up taking a flight from Portland instead of driving the rest of the way like we had originally planned. So I’m thinking, if Evie’s acting like her usual self, maybe Kathleen’s idea might be a good one.” Logan paused to see what Veronica’s reaction was. As a reassuring smile spread across her face, he continued again. “We could even plan one stop overnight if you wanted. Say a romantic night in Carmel or something?”

Logan loved that this current version of Veronica was so much more open and willing to actually share her feelings than how she’d been three years ago. He could easily guess her response based on the way her eyes lit up and her lips curved up into a whimsical smile.

“I’d love that,” Veronica confirmed, sitting down next to him again. “I think that sounds like a perfect way to make the most of the limited time we have left together right now.”

“How about we go snuggle on one of the giant lounge chairs on the deck and watch the waves roll against the beach while I wait for the pain killer to start working, and then maybe we can discuss that easing back into things, you mentioned a few minutes ago,” Logan suggested with a lecherous smirk. “It’s not like I had open heart surgery or something.”

“As your nurse, I wholeheartedly approve of that idea,” Veronica replied coyly, giving him a small wink before reaching out to help pull up up off the couch.

Chapter 29

Chapter Text

Logan hadn’t meant to doze off, but he’d quickly fallen asleep after taking his pain medication while lying out on the patio, lulled by the warm breeze and soothing sound of the ocean with Veronica tucked into his side. When he finally started to come to again, he realized he was the only one on the lounge chair. He wondered how long he'd actually been asleep, but he hadn't been wearing a watch and wasn’t even really sure what time he’d headed out there. He carefully shifted his legs so he could push himself up from the chair to go see where Veronica had disappeared to. At least the pain pills still seemed to be working since the aching in his hips was much less than it had been after he’d eaten breakfast. As he reached the door to the villa, he spotted Veronica sitting on the couch staring intently at her laptop.

Veronica immediately glanced up as the door opened. “Hey you!” she greeted him with a broad smile. “I had hoped to sneak back out there before you woke up, but I guess I didn’t quite make it. You look like you’re moving a bit better?”

“Yeah, a bit stiff—” He couldn’t help but stop mid-sentence and chuckle at the smirk and quirked eyebrows she shot him. “My hips,” he clarified, earning a ‘sure that’s what you meant’ look and head nod from her.

She glanced at her laptop screen for a second before looking back at him. “I had a few things to email off for school that I thought I’d better take care of since I’ve sort of neglected to do them yet.”

Logan nodded as he walked over and took a seat next to her on the couch. He wasn’t surprised that Keith’s comments from earlier might lead her to thinking more about what she still needed to finish up.

“Did you tell your dad that I’m planning to drive up with you yet?” Logan asked, trying to sound casual about it but not sure he’d succeeded.

Veronica squished up her face slightly and shook her head. “No… I know I need to. It just didn’t feel like the right time yet I guess.”

Logan wanted to retort with some quip about hoping the right time wasn’t as they were pulling out of her apartment parking lot, but resisted the urge. He knew how sensitive Veronica could be when dealing with her dad, and he wanted to trust that she’d bring it up when she was ready. Even though it bothered him, he decided the best thing was probably to just drop it for now.

“So you mentioned at breakfast that you don’t have to pack up much. Nothing big going north with you then?”

“Nope,” Veronica replied, seeming to be relieved that he’d moved on from the direct topic of her dad. “I’ll be living in the on-campus graduate housing, and all the apartments come with furniture.”

“Like a dorm?” Logan asked, curious now about exactly what her living situation there would be like since they hadn't discussed it yet.

“Sort of... but I’ll be in one of their high-rise graduate housing buildings where there are 2-bedroom units. Each unit shares a small kitchen and bathroom, so that will be much better than just a dorm room. Even though there's some limited shared space, each bedroom is separate and somewhat roomy.” She paused and gave him a knowing look. “But not really roomy enough to have you and Evie stay there with me, I don't think.”

Logan chuckled and nodded. "I'm sure I'll be able to find someplace near you to stay. I've been away from California for a while, but I'm pretty sure Palo Alto has more hotel options than Yachats. Is your roommate someone you know already?"

Veronica's face scrunched up a bit as she shook her head. "No, not really. I do know she’s another student in the same program though, so at least we'll have that in common. We did email back and forth a few times already so we could coordinate bringing things for the kitchen. It's not really big enough for both of us to bring a full set of kitchen supplies along. Her name's Beth and she just finished up her undergrad at Washington State. She’s actually from New Orleans though, and she’s down there now for the summer break."

Logan hadn't even realized he'd left his cell phone on the coffee table when they'd gone out to the patio, so he was a little surprised when the text alert sound chimed from it. He normally kept it on him when Evie wasn't with him, just to be sure that if there was an emergency he could be reached quickly—something he doubted his own parent's had ever even cared about. He realized he’d missed a few earlier texts from Kathleen and the latest one said they were on their way back with lunch. He couldn't help but smile when he scrolled back and saw a picture that Kathleen had sent earlier of Evie's hands and most of her face covered in paint splatters.

"Looks like Evie was having fun," he shared with Veronica as he tipped the phone in her direction.

Veronica laughed for a second and then a salacious grin formed on her lips. "I seem to recall something about you offering to paint all over me back at Hearst. An offer, I definitely regretted never taking you up on later."

"Hmm... finger painting you is something I think I could manage, even in my slightly impaired state,” Logan replied, sensually running a finger across her bare collarbone. “Unfortunately I don't think Evie brought any of her paint sets along, so we might have to save that until we get a chance to go shopping. Not to mention, Kathleen and Evie are on their way back soon."

"We'll have to start a list," Veronica suggested, her smile curving up teasingly.

"A list, eh?"

"Yeah, of everything we'd like to do to each other on those special occasions when we're alone together over the next three years."

Logan sighed heavily. He knew it would be three years, but for whatever reason the reality of that was hitting him even harder as she said it. "That could be one long list."

"We'll just have to prioritize the best ones," she assured him confidently. "It’ll give you something to look forward to."

"I'm sure just getting the chance to see you will be more than enough," he replied, reaching up to trace his fingers lightly across her forehead. He'd tried to keep the disappointment of having to be apart out of his tone, but he knew he hadn't been very successful.

"Hey, we still have a little over a week left," she reminded him with an affectionate smile. "No getting melancholy about things yet. I'll give you a pass since being on pain meds always makes you sappier than normal."

Logan laughed quietly and nodded as he leaned in to kiss her tenderly. They'd barely just stopped kissing, foreheads still pressed together when the door to the villa opened, surprising them both. Apparently when Kathleen texted that they were on their way back with lunch, they weren’t terribly far away.

"We're back, Daddy!" Evie called out as she ran in through the door toward the couch. "The museum was soooo much fun. Maybe you can go there tomorrow with us. And Vronica —Ver-ronica— too."

"We'll see, sweetie," Logan answered as he leaned away from Veronica, giving her a tender smile which she quickly returned. He was so thankful that Veronica didn't seem bothered too much by all the frequent interruptions caused by Evie. And they’d certainly had their share of them over the past week.

"I hope you like kabobs, Veronica," Kathleen announced as she carried in a couple of take-out bags. "We don't have any kabob places in Yachats so I couldn't resist."

"I don't think there are many foods Veronica doesn't like, are there?" Logan asked, only a little teasingly.

Veronica gave him a broad grin as she shook her head. "Especially not if meat and an open flame are involved," she replied happily.

Evie had argued a little bit about going in and taking a nap after they'd eaten lunch, but once Logan agreed she could watch one cartoon before going to sleep, she was more agreeable to the idea. He and Veronica had sat down on the bed with her initially, per Evie's request, but then a few minutes into the cartoon he'd said that he needed to talk to Kathleen for a little bit. He assured them that he would return before the cartoon was over as he’d climbed off the bed. Veronica had given him an understanding smile and said they'd be fine if he needed to take a little longer. Even though they hadn't explicitly talked about him wanting to discuss the Katy situation with Kathleen, he was pretty sure she knew what had been going through his mind.

"Hey, there," Kathleen said warmly as she looked up from the book she was reading on the couch. "How are you feeling?"

"Not too bad," Logan replied as he walked over and sunk down into the large chair next to where Kathleen was sitting. He stretched his legs out and slouched down slightly, trying to find the most comfortable position to sit in. "As well as could be expected, I guess. I took a pain pill shortly after you left and that helped, although it's probably getting close to time for another one."

Kathleen nodded in understanding as her expression became a bit more inquisitive. "So, how'd your chat with Katy go?"

"As well as could be expected, I guess," Logan repeated, smirking slightly as Kathleen softly chuckled. "Not surprisingly, she wanted to talk to me about seeing Evie while we're all here. You'd basically warned me of that last night, though." He paused for a second while she nodded. "I was pretty against it—at least at first," he continued, reaching over to pick up a pen that was sitting on the table between them. He clicked it twice until Kathleen shot him a pointed look, causing him to stop and just twirl it instead. "Although after Katy brought up wanting Evie to get a chance to know her half brother—just like I have the chance now to know Charlie—I guess I wasn't as confident in my initial decision."

Kathleen sighed heavily and nodded in understanding. "I’ve thought a lot about it since last night too," she admitted with a slight frown. "I of course want things to go better this time for Katy, and I really hope this time they will. Dalton seems like a good guy—although anyone can be on their best behavior for a couple of hours—but I didn't get any bad vibes during that time either. But we both know Katy, and as much as I love her, I do have some doubts still." Kathleen hesitated for a moment, likely trying to decide exactly what else to say. "I know letting her see Evie now would be convenient for Katy, but that doesn't make it the best decision either, Logan. She swore she wants to be a part of her life again, but I'm worried about what happens when she's over two-thousand miles away again and wrapped up in her own life there. You've told me before that you wished she hadn't completely vanished on Evie, but seeing her here when it's easy, doesn't mean you can count on Katy to keep it up once she's gone back to Texas. And honestly, I don't think that's any better for Evie than just giving her time to deal with running into her yesterday and waiting to see whether or not Katy is actually willing to keep her promise this time."

Logan nodded. He understood exactly what Kathleen was saying, although he still felt conflicted about what to do. He had to admit that there probably was a very high probability that Katy wouldn't follow through on consistently keeping in touch with Evie. He hadn't forgotten Veronica's comments during their drive that morning either, though—which at the time he felt had a lot of merit.

"Do you think it will be harder for Evie if she doesn't see Katy again until after she’s had the baby?" Logan asked, wondering what Kathleen's thoughts on that might be.

Kathleen looked like she was thoroughly considering the question before she finally spoke again. "I think Evie's still young enough that she wouldn't be upset about it—whether or not she saw Katy again this week. I think forcing her to see Katy now—when she's in a strange place and was already upset seeing her yesterday—would be worse than her being a little mad about Katy having another baby."

"Did she ask about Katy today?" Logan asked, wondering if the topic had come up while the two of them had been at the museum.

Kathleen shook her head with a compassionate smile. "No. She seemed a little clingier than usual, but I think that's because she was in a strange place more than anything."

"Do you think Katy actually will come to visit you—or us—in Yachats?"

Kathleen exhaled slowly and shrugged. "I hope she will. It sounds like Dalton's mom would be willing to fly up with her sometimes even if Dalton couldn't get away from work to go with her. His dad’s in the Navy too, but his mom doesn't work, so she'd be free anytime. Katy had mentioned wanting to come see me, but she seemed a little worried about when Dalton would be able to get away again which prompted him to share the information about his mom. I got the feeling that Dalton's probably explained some of Katy's situation to his parents too. And I was a little surprised that when Katy had mentioned wanting to see Evie before they flew back, he'd actually been the first to suggest that after the scene at the hospital, Evie might need a little time to adjust. He'd even said that maybe it would be better if she flew up to visit Evie in Yachats instead."

Logan clicked the pen a couple times until Kathleen arched an eyebrow at him and he put it back down on the table. He let out a frustrated sigh. "At least he sounds like a decent guy, which I suppose is good if he's going to be Evie's step-dad."

Kathleen furrowed her brows and frowned a bit as she nodded. "I'm sure that's bothering you too. But you've got to know that no one could ever take your place in Evie's life, right?"

Logan nodded slowly in response.

"And no one will ever take your place in mine either," Kathleen added with a tender smile as she reached over and squeezed his hand. "And I'll always be there to support you, no matter what decisions you make, Logan, because I know what's in your heart and that you're much more than just a decent guy."

He couldn't help but smile a bit more, feeling so fortunate that Kathleen had welcomed him into their family and always treated him like one of her own kids.

"And that includes if you decide to move to the Bay Area to be with Veronica, Logan," she continued, looking a bit more pointedly at him. "I know you said you didn't want to talk about that the other day, but I really think you should consider it. I know how much you love her, and honestly, I think Evie loves her almost as much, even though she’s only known her a short time. While she never brought up Katy today, she did bring up Veronica numerous times."

"Kathleen—" Logan started before she interrupted him.

"I know... but just think about it more, okay? And don't rule anything out. Spend a few days there, seeing how you'd like the city. And not just Palo Alto, but other cities around the area too. Even though Veronica starts school at the beginning of the following week, that doesn't mean you have to rush right back to Yachats. My parents would be thrilled to have you and Evie stay a few extra days so they could see her more. When I mentioned to my mom that we'd be headed up there, at least for a few days even if Evie and I don't go early, she was really excited."

Logan couldn't help the skeptical look that formed on his face, remembering the last visit as being a bit awkward. Kathleen must have been able to read his mind and shrugged before she spoke again.

"Maybe they were a little less than enthusiastic last time, but now that they know how committed to raising Evie you are, they've accepted the situation. They actually do ask me how you're doing when we talk on the phone from time to time. So just keep an open mind, okay?"

"Wouldn't that make it even harder for Katy to get a chance to be in Evie's life again though?" Logan asked, not forgetting where this conversation had started.

"Whether you're in the Bay Area or Yachats, it's still not Texas. You really shouldn't use that as an excuse to not consider moving down there."

Logan nodded, feeling even more anxious with all these decisions closing in on him.

Kathleen squeezed his hand a little tighter. "I'm sure after you think it over a bit more, you'll know what the right thing to do is, Logan."

He gave her an appreciative smile. "I'd better get back in to be sure Evie’s fallen asleep and doesn't need me to read her a story."

Kathleen nodded and released his hand, picking her book back up from her lap as he stood up from the chair.

He quietly opened the bedroom door, not wanting to disturb Evie if she had fallen asleep. He wasn't terribly surprised to find both blondes asleep on the bed even though the TV was still on. He flipped off the TV and walked over to crawl onto the bed behind Veronica. She let out a deep sigh as he pressed a kiss to her shoulder. He reached over and gently stroked Evie's head for a second before wrapping his arm tightly around Veronica's waist. Even though Veronica may have been dozing off, she still moved her hand to interlock her fingers with his, letting out another deep sigh before her breathing became more steady. Logan closed his eyes and focused on the feel of her against him, not wanting to worry about Katy or Stanford for a while at least.

Logan woke up to a small hand softly patting his cheek. He could tell before he even opened his eyes that it was Evie.

“Hi,” Evie whispered quietly when he opened his eyes to look at her. Evie was still on the other side of Veronica, leaning carefully over the top of her so she could pat his face.

“Hi,” Logan whispered in reply, unable to not smile a bit thinking about how grateful he was to be back there with them.

“Can we play on the beach now?” Evie asked, still talking as quietly as she could, probably so she wouldn’t wake up Veronica.

Logan felt Veronica chuckle softly against him, obviously not asleep even if she’d appeared that way to Evie.

“I guess nap time’s over?” Logan asked already knowing the answer to the question.

“Nana said you can’t swim yet, but you could play on the beach if you don’t get wet,” Evie responded, not exactly answering the question directly at least.

“That’s right. I have a couple little spots on my hips that I have to be really careful until they heal more,” Logan confirmed. “But I can go out to the beach with you if you want.”

Evie nodded eagerly in reply.

“Okay—” Logan started and then let out a slight groan as he tried rolling away from Veronica to get off the bed.

Veronica must have realized what happened and turned over so she could see Logan, worry clearly etched on her face. “Why don’t I go out with you first, Evie,” Veronica offered, reaching out to squeeze Logan’s hand. “Your daddy may need to take some of his medicine before he’s able to come out with us. Remember how your grandma said you need to be careful with him for a few days?”

Evie nodded as she gave Logan a sad smile.

“Hey, maybe we’ll see the two little girls you were playing with in the pool yesterday out on the beach,” Veronica suggested, an encouraging tone in her voice.

“Not Mommy though, right?” Evie asked, a frown forming on her face as she looked nervously between Veronica and Logan.

“No, sweetie,” Logan said reassuringly as he reached out and stroked her head tenderly. “You’re mommy isn’t staying near here.”

“Okay, good,” Evie replied, her confidence returning a bit more. “I hope we do see Jessie and Emma though.”

“Me too,” Veronica shared, glancing momentarily in Logan’s direction with a compassionate look before sitting up between the two of them. “Let’s go get Daddy’s medicine from the other room and then we can go play on the beach, okay?”

Evie nodded and started to scramble off the bed. Before Veronica followed her, she turned toward Logan again. Thank you, he mouthed silently to which she smiled genuinely and nodded.

“I’ll be right back,” she assured him, leaning down to place a quick kiss on his cheek before she stood up and followed Evie out to the main room.

Logan rolled gingerly onto his back, stretching out carefully to avoid causing any additional discomfort or pain. Obviously Evie was still worried about having to see Katy again. The other times Katy had taken off, her absences hadn’t been as lengthy. She’d never stayed away as long as this last time, so Evie had generally gotten comfortable being around her without much difficulty. Logan could easily tell this time was completely different. He wasn’t sure how much of it was due to them being in an unfamiliar place when it happened or even the fact that he’d been in the hospital and not with Evie when she first ran into Katy. Evie was also getting older and processing things much differently than when she was younger. He hadn’t wanted this trip to be stressful or disappointing for Evie, and he was afraid that making her see Katy again would definitely tarnish it.

Before he had more time to worry over what to do in regards to Katy, Veronica was walking back into the room with his medicine and a glass of water. “Kathleen’s going to take Evie out to play on the beach for now, and she said we could join them when you’re feeling up to walking out there,” she shared as she sat down on the bed next to him, holding the pill bottle out toward him. “Obviously Evie’s still upset over Katy, huh? What did Kathleen have to say about your talk with her this morning?”

Logan nodded as he opened the bottle and poured two pills into his palm. Veronica took the bottle back, securing the lid tightly before handing him the glass of water. He’d taken enough pills in his life to not need water to swallow them down, but he still appreciated her desire to help take care of him. “Kathleen said I shouldn’t feel obligated to make it so easy for Katy just because we’re all here at the same time. She’s also worried about the fact that once the convenience is gone, Katy might not make an effort. She did say that Katy’s fiancé seemed pretty supportive, which is good, I guess.” Logan paused and let out a frustrated sigh. “I really wanted this trip to be a fun one for Evie. I never wanted it to turn into her having to deal with the trauma of running into her estranged mother.” He wanted to say that nothing good ever happened in California, but he didn’t want Veronica to take that the wrong way. This was still her home after all—even if he couldn’t see himself ever wanting to move back.

“I’m so sorry we had to run into her at the hospital. If only our timing had been just a little bit different, this likely never would have happened,” Veronica commented, her brows furrowed in frustration.

“Well, that’s certainly not your fault,” Logan reassured her as he reached up to brush her hair off her forehead, placing a kiss there. He was happy to see the furrowed brows relax at least. “I think I’m going to stick with my initial decision not to let Katy see her while we’re here. If Katy genuinely wants to be part of her life again, she needs to prove that she’s willing to work at it. I was thinking—maybe you can tell me what you think of my idea anyway—since Evie loves reading books so much, I was thinking I would suggest that Katy could send her a book and buy a copy for herself too, and then Katy can call her after we get it to read it with Evie over the phone. I’m thinking Evie would like that and maybe that would help repair some of their relationship before Katy comes back to visit. At least try to get into some sort of regular routine to show she’s committed to being there for Evie now.”

“Would it be too much if I said I’d like to do that with Evie too?” Veronica asked, sounding much more sentimental than Logan had expected. “You know… after I’m at Stanford and you two are back home.”

Once again, Logan’s heart swelled thinking about how close Veronica had already become with Evie. “I don’t think Evie would ever complain about getting the chance to read books with anyone,” Logan responded as Veronica scooted over to snuggle against his side. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and placed a kiss to the top of her head. “I’m sure Evie would love to go shopping for books with you before we fly home too. And shopping for new books might give us an excuse to fly down to visit you too.”

“I may just be tempted to pick relatively short books then,” Veronica teased with a sly grin as she wrapped her arms around his chest and squeezed him tightly.

Chapter 30

Chapter Text

Even though it had been over three years since he’d left Neptune, making his way to the Sunset Cliff Apartments felt just as familiar as it always had to Logan. He’d initially been worried that being back in Neptune would stir up too many bad memories, but maybe the reassuring warmth radiating from where Veronica had her hand resting on his leg was helping to keep all those negative thoughts at bay. And contrary to several recurring nightmares he’d had over the past few years, nothing catastrophic had happened as they’d driven past the sign that marked the edge of Neptune. If he were really being honest about how he’d felt before, it may have just been the thought of returning with her not being a part of his life that he had never wanted to face—and thankfully he didn’t have to now that they’d found their way back to each other. He still wasn’t ready to come back to Neptune permanently but felt more confident that he could easily survive this short stay they were about to embark on.

“I thought we were going to Ver-ronica’s house?” Evie asked from the backseat as Logan pulled into an empty spot at the front of the apartment complex.

“This is where Veronica lives, sweetie,” Logan explained as he turned and glanced over his shoulder at Evie who had a puzzled look on her face.

“At a hotel ?” Evie asked next, confusion evident in her tone.

Veronica chuckled and shook her head as she also turned around in her seat to look back at Evie.

“It would be silly to live at a hotel, wouldn’t it?” Veronica teased as she quickly shot a mischievous wink in Logan’s direction, drawing a small chuckle from Kathleen.

Logan fought the urge to jump into a defiant rebuttal and turned his attention back to Evie instead. “Veronica and her dad live in an apartment . It just sort of looks like some of the hotels you’ve been to from the outside, but it’s bigger on the inside.”

Evie scrunched up her face as she peered out the window again, a slight frown forming on her brow. “But where does her doggy get to play?”

“We take him out to the beach a lot to run and play,” Veronica shared, appearing to be amused by Evie’s questions at least and not offended. “We do have a swimming pool, so that sort of makes up for no yard to play in. Although Backup isn’t allowed to swim in it with us, but he’s totally fine with just swimming in the ocean when he wants to.”

Evie turned back to look at Veronica, her eyes starting to light up with excitement. “Can we go swimming in your pool now ?”

“I think we’ll save that for later,” Logan quickly interjected. “We’re just dropping Veronica off for a little while so she can do a few things here while we go and get checked into the hotel we’ll be staying at.”

It was easy to tell that Evie was about to protest, so Logan quickly undid his seatbelt.

“I’m going to help Veronica take her suitcase inside while you wait here with Nana,” Logan continued, shooting a glance in Kathleen’s direction as well. “I’ll just be gone for a few minutes and then we can head over to the Regency.”

“But I want to come too ,” Evie blurted out as she reached down to unbuckle her car seat. “I want to see her house and her doggy and her pool.”

“Daddy will just be gone a few minutes,” Kathleen assured Evie as she reached over to stop her from getting free of her restraints. “Let’s look at the new book you picked out earlier with Veronica again, okay?” Kathleen continued, pulling the book up from the bag at the edge of her seat.

Evie let out a loud sigh but seemed to at least reluctantly agree. Logan thought he heard a small ‘fine’ from Evie as he opened his door and started climbing out of the vehicle. The smirk from moments before reappeared on Veronica’s face as she met him at the back of the SUV.

“ Silly , huh?” he asked as he quirked an eyebrow at her. “I don’t recall you ever complaining about my living situation all the nights you stayed over. Room service at any time of the day. Never running out of hot water during showers. Top of the line air conditioning for those sweltering hot summer days. And I noticed the chocolate mints housekeeping would leave on my pillow always seemed to go missing on the nights that you were there. Never was silly mentioned then.”

Veronica smiled coyly as she slid her hands onto his sides. “It just wasn’t the most financially responsible place to live is all. Of course I’m not going to even try to argue that I didn't love all the perks.”

Logan couldn’t help but let a loud laugh escape, causing Veronica to raise her eyebrows in what appeared to be a slightly perplexed expression. After all of these years, he suddenly realized he’d never let her in on a little secret he was keeping back then. “I never told you, did I? I was never actually paying for the penthouse.”

“What?” Veronica asked, her brows furrowed in confusion.

Logan nodded his head as a smug grin spread across his face. “Kane Software had set up an automatic payment to the hotel when Duncan first moved into the suite and apparently no one ever got around to stopping it when he fled the country, so all those buffalo burgers… you can send Jake Kane a thank you card some time. Or maybe you should address it to some slacker in his accounting department.”

Veronica tossed her head back as she laughed loudly as well. “If I’d only known back then I would have ordered a side of caviar every night and just flushed it out of spite.”

“Well I’m guessing if the bill suddenly doubled, they maybe would have noticed, so good thing I didn’t tell you back then.”

Veronica snickered a bit more as she nodded in agreement.

As Logan opened the back of the SUV to grab Veronica’s suitcase he could see Evie trying to turn in her car seat to look at him. “I love you, sweetie. I’ll be back in a few minutes,” Logan reiterated as he grabbed Veronica’s bag, hoping the momentary distraction wouldn’t cause Evie to protest being left in the car again. He was relieved when Evie just replied with a quick ‘Love you too, Daddy’ right before he closed the door. He was once again very grateful that Kathleen was a master at redirecting Evie’s attention at moments like these.

“ Few minutes , huh?” Veronica asked with a salacious grin. “Doesn’t leave us much time for fooling around, but I’m sure we can make it work.”

Logan chuckled and shook his head slightly. “Sorry we haven’t had much alone time the last couple of days. But soon it will be just us—for a couple of nights at least.” He was determined to at least try to focus on their drive up to Palo Alto and not let himself dwell on the fact that before they knew it, he'd have to head back to Oregon without her.

“It’s okay,” Veronica reassured him as she reached out and squeezed his free hand. “I was just teasing. I know you were still pretty sore from the procedure and Evie missed you so much the night you were stuck at the hospital. I wouldn’t have changed a thing the past few days.”

Logan leaned down so he could place a quick kiss on her temple. “Thanks for being so understanding.”

“Of course,” she responded with a tender smile as she started leading him toward her apartment. “So, what are you thinking for the rest of the day? I’m fine here on my own doing some packing and other stuff for a few hours if you want to meet up later for dinner.” She paused and gave him a slightly anxious look as she reached her door, which had him worried for a second. “Were you… umm… going to try to connect with Dick while you’re in town?”

Logan grimaced slightly at the question. He hadn’t really given that a lot of consideration, but suddenly the thought of explaining Evie to Dick… or Dick to Evie… seemed more than he was ready to deal with this trip. “I think I’ll hold off on that. I’m sure he’d rather not hang out with me and Evie and, given we’ll only be in town for a couple of days before we start driving up to Palo Alto, I’d rather not worry about trying to track him down.”

“Well if you change your mind, let me know. I do actually know where he lives since I stopped by to see if he knew where you were before I found you in Yachats. I’d be happy to entertain Evie and Kathleen for a couple of hours if you just wanted to go and grab a bite to eat with him before we leave.”

“Thanks, I’ll think about it, but sort of doubt that I’ll change my mind,” Logan replied, watching Veronica unlock and open the door to the apartment. “Speaking of friends … did you set up some time for you to see Mac and Wallace before we leave?”

Veronica shook her head in reply before speaking. “Hm… the ‘you’ in that statement sounded a bit solitary… I’d really like for you to join us when I do set something up. I’d love for them to see you and meet Kathleen and Evie too.”

Logan involuntarily cringed a bit at the prospect. “I’m not so sure your friends would agree, particularly Wallace. Our last interaction before I left Neptune wasn’t that great.”

Logan followed Veronica into the apartment and set her suitcase down near the door. As if on cue, he heard a fairly loud thump followed by the sound of dog feet coming from the direction of Veronica’s bedroom. Seconds later, a very excited Backup emerged. Ignoring Logan completely he trotted happily to Veronica’s side and looked up at her expectantly, his little stump of a tail wagging enthusiastically.

“Hey, Buddy,” Veronica said softly as she reached down and scratched him behind the ears. “I missed you, too,” she said to the pooch, before turning her attention back to Logan. “Well, that was a long time ago,” Veronica countered, clearly still on the topic of him seeing her friends.

Before Logan had a chance to respond, Backup seemed to have decided he needed to check out who had come in with his beloved mistress and gave a small growl as he started to stare up at Logan. “Hey buddy, remember me,” Logan said softly as he held his hand out for the dog to sniff. Thankfully it only took a few seconds for Backup to relax and start wagging his tail again. Logan patted his head a couple of times as Veronica walked over and grabbed a chew treat from a box on the counter.

“Who wants a treat?” she asked in a playful sing-song tone as she held it out to Backup. She giggled as Backup swiftly jumped away from Logan to grab the treat and then ran over to his dog bed in the corner of the room.

“I’ll take a treat as well,” Logan teased as he reached out and pulled her in for a kiss. He let out a deep sigh as she dodged his lips and pulled her head back slightly.

“So I can count you all in when I set-up something with Mac and Wallace?” she asked, raising her eyebrows quizzically.

“I still think they’d rather spend a little quality time with just you ,” Logan tried again. He really had no idea how judgmental they both might be regarding the choices he’d made since he’d last been in Neptune. While he wouldn’t change a thing, he wasn’t so sure her friends would see things the same way. Keith certainly hadn’t been an easy sell. He didn’t want to cause any new issues given they were not going to be in town very long. “I’d expected that you’d want to do some things without me in Neptune and I’m totally cool with that. As long as we get to enjoy the drive from LAX up to Palo Alto alone together after we drop off Kathleen and Evie for their flight, I’m more than happy to just relax at the hotel with Evie and Kathleen and let you do your thing. It sounded like your dad really wanted to spend some quality time with you too.”

“Yeah,” Veronica replied a little reluctantly.. “We did just spend time with him in San Diego, but I guess maybe you’re right.” She paused for a second before a sultry grin spread across her face. “And I’m really looking forward to our drive up north too. That place you found in Carmel looks amazing.”

Logan leaned down and pressed his lips to hers. He was relieved when she didn’t pull away this time. He doubted that she’d completely drop the topic of him seeing her friends while they were in town, but for the moment at least he was hoping they could stop discussing it. He kissed her more fervently, wanting to take full advantage of the limited time alone that they did have. Without giving it much thought, Logan picked Veronica up and sat her on the edge of the counter as they continued to kiss. While it made it much easier to kiss her, it also made it too easy for her to wrap her legs around his and pull him up against her.

He let out a deep sigh as he pulled his head back slightly. While he really didn’t want to stop, he knew exactly where they were headed. “I um… I’d better get back to the car before Evie gets too unruly,” he tried, clearly not sounding very confident about wanting to stop. “I’ll um… I’ll give you a call after we get settled in at the hotel to make plans for later.”

Veronica chuckled softly and nodded before leaning in and giving him one last chaste kiss. “Carmel can’t come soon enough,” she teased with a small wink.

Logan carefully slipped out of the master suite, leaving the door open a crack to be able to hear Evie if she woke up early from her nap.

“Thanks for the call. Sorry to hear the flight was a bit bumpy. I know you’ve never enjoyed those... Mm hmm...” Kathleen muttered into her phone as she glanced up at Logan. He could tell by the expression on her face that she was a little surprised to see him come out of the bedroom. “Okay, talk to you soon. Love you too,” she added before disconnecting the call. “I’m surprised you’re up. I thought maybe you’d be taking a nap too,” Kathleen commented, laying her cell phone down on the table next to the chair she was sitting in.

Logan shook his head and made his way over to grab a bottle of water from the in-suite fridge. The layout of the two-bedroom suite they were staying in at the Regency Hotel was very similar to the penthouse at the Grand with a large living area that had a very limited kitchenette type area off to one side. Given that their stay in Neptune was going to be fairly brief, Logan hadn’t worried about finding something larger for them. The Regency was under construction when he’d left Neptune so it still had that very new and fresh feel to it.

“Shocking as it may sound, I think all the resting and naps from the past few days finally re-energized me,” Logan shared as he leaned against the counter and screwed the cap off the water bottle.

“Well, I bet Veronica would appreciate some of that energy to help her pack,” Kathleen suggested, giving him a slightly mischievous grin.

Logan chuckled as he shrugged in response. He wondered if Kathleen was intentionally trying to shift his focus to Veronica versus the call he’d just caught the tail end of. “So Katy made it safely back to Corpus Christi?”

Kathleen’s smile faltered slightly as she nodded in reply.

“Is she still upset I decided not to let her see Evie before she left San Diego?”

“I’m sure she’s still a little disappointed, but she didn’t mention it again today,” Kathleen replied, her expression shifting more to the one he’d seen many times in the last three years when Kathleen was either about to lecture Sara or himself. “You made the right decision, Logan. When I spoke to her last night, she said she’d talk with Dalton’s mom when they got back and plan a time to fly up to see us in the next month or two. And she did appreciate that you let her talk to Evie on the phone for a little while as a compromise. That seemed to go pretty well, I thought.”

“Yeah,” Logan agreed nodding a bit as he fidgeted with the cap from the water bottle he’d opened. “I think Evie was a little anxious about it, but knowing it was just going to be talking on the phone and not seeing her again in person seemed to help.”

“I think Evie will do better when she’s back home where she feels safe and comfortable,” Kathleen assured him with a warm smile. “And if they are able to talk on the phone a few more times before then, I’m sure that will help. I do feel like she’s doing better than the last time she was home, so I’m trying to stay optimistic about everything.”

Logan nodded. “I hope you’re right. Not just for Evie’s sake, but for Katy’s as well.”

Kathleen’s motherly expression shifted back to the slightly mischievous smirk before she spoke again. “So are you going to hang around here and spend the next two hours or so second guessing your decision, or are you going to see if Veronica wants some help packing?”

Logan couldn’t help but laugh a bit at her persistence. There was clearly no doubt where Evie’s single-mindedness had come from. The two of them were like peas in a pod when they had their mind set on something. “I guess it wouldn’t hurt to ask, now would it?” he replied as he pulled his phone from his back pocket. “Are you sure you don’t want me to stay here with you and Evie, though? I know she wanted to go swimming when she wakes up since that was all she talked about after we dropped Veronica off.”

“Well I can either take her down to the hotel pool when she wakes up, or we could join you over at Veronica’s.”

“Yeah, I guess I could get a car to drop me off over at Veronica’s and leave you the SUV then,” Logan suggested as he sat his water bottle down and clicked on Veronica’s contact name on his phone.

“Is someone skipping nap time?” Veronica teased through the line.

“Yeah, I’m being rebellious since my personal nurse isn’t around to keep me in line,” Logan countered, unable to keep a smile from forming on his lips. “I thought I’d see if I could offer my services to help you pack while Evie sleeps. I could save you the trouble of pulling out the step stool to reach the top shelf in your closet.”

“That stool is awfully heavy,” Veronica humorously pondered in reply. “Hey, did you want a ride over? I’m actually at the office picking up some more boxes for packing so I’m only a couple blocks from you. I could be there in about ten minutes.”

“Perfect. See you soon,” Logan replied, saying a quick goodbye before ending the call.

“You’re sure your dad won’t come home unexpectedly?” Logan asked, cringing internally as he realized how much he sounded like a nervous teen boy all over again.

Veronica laughed and shook her head, leaning up to nip at his jaw. “He shouldn’t—but if he does, I’ll just explain how I was rewarding you for reaching all those boxes from the top shelf of my closet,” she teased before shifting so she could suck on his ear lobe.

Logan let out a low groan; it was definitely a mixture of frustration from her answer and the sensation Veronica caused as she pressed her hips up against his. She’d insisted on a quick rest on her bed after he’d gotten the boxes all down for her which promptly led to kissing and before he knew it, she’d shifted them so he was hovering above her.

“You definitely deserve a reward for all that hard work,” Veronica continued in a sultry tone, slipping a hand between them to stroke him through his jeans.

Logan sucked in a deep breath. At least her bedroom door was closed and a few of the boxes he’d pulled down were sitting partially in front of it. As his mouth made contact with her collar bone she let out a satisfied sigh and moved her hands to grip his ass while grinding up against him again. They really hadn’t found many opportunities to be alone in the past couple of days, so he willed himself not to worry about Keith coming home and catching them so he could just enjoy the moment.

“Too many clothes,” Veronica moaned, tugging on his shirt.

Logan leaned up so he could remove his shirt right as Backup barked loudly from the front room.

“Definitely not, Dad,” Veronica reassured him as she continued to try to help him with the shirt.

It took his brain a few seconds to shift from worrying it might be Keith to a completely new concern as Backup barked a couple more times. “sh*t… where’s my phone?” Logan blurted out, rolling to his side as his eyes scanned the room. He’d given Kathleen the address to Veronica’s apartment in case they decided to head over after Evie’s nap. He hadn’t expected it to be this soon, but Evie’s naps had been getting shorter and shorter.

“I think you set it down on the kitchen counter when you grabbed a soda for me out of the fridge,” Veronica replied, looking toward her bedroom door with a slight frown forming on her face. “Do you think…” she continued looking back up at him with a bit more concern as Backup continued barking from the other room.

Logan let out a deep sigh and placed a quick kiss on her lips. “Sorry… I’ll just… I’ll see if it’s them and if not I’ll be right back,” he explained as he scooted toward the end of the bed and started straightening his clothes.

Veronica bit on her lower lip and nodded. “I’ll just…” she paused and waved at the bed. “Holler if it’s them.”

Logan nodded before scooting a couple boxes out of the way so he could open the bedroom door. Backup was still barking and his gaze was firmly locked on the front door. Logan could tell someone was standing at the door, but wasn’t able to tell who it was as he made his way down the hall. Whoever it was knocked, likely not for the first time based on Backup’s reaction.

He gave Backup the command to chill as he’d heard Veronica do so many times in the past, as he made his way to the door. He was thrilled that Backup readily obeyed him by taking a step back and sitting, but the dog’s gaze was still trained on the door. Logan murmured a soft ‘good boy’, scratching Backup’s head as he reached for the door handle. Logan was pretty sure the surprise on the two pairs of eyes staring at him likely matched his own as he swung the door open. The two guys standing in front of him were definitely the last two people he expected to see—well one of them, anyway.

“Hey… umm... Logan ?” Wallace stuttered out before Logan had a chance to speak. “Is umm... Veronica here?”

“Woah, Logan! It’s been a long time,” Piz chimed in, a look of bewilderment on his face. At least Logan though it was bewilderment but with Piz he found it really hard to tell.

“Yeah,” Logan replied, nodding in answer to both of their comments as he looked back and forth between the two men in front of him. “Uh… wait here a second and I’ll let her know you’re here,” he added, not quite sure if he should just invite them in or leave them standing outside the door. Backup must have recognized the visitors and lost interest because he had already retreated to his dog bed in the corner of the living room. Logan decided he’d at least leave the door open because it felt a bit odd to close it in their faces, although the thought did cross his mind.

After Veronica had picked Logan up from the hotel, he’d avoided asking about whether she’d finalized any plans to see Mac and Wallace given their earlier discussion on the topic. At no point in the last two weeks had Piz’s name come up, so Logan was completely caught off guard to see him at the door with Wallace. Logan certainly hadn’t wanted to revisit anything at all related to Piz after she’d arrived in Yachats, and since only Mac and Wallace had been mentioned before, he really hadn’t given Piz too much thought.

Veronica was still stretched out on her bed as he poked his head in her bedroom door. He noticed she’d unbuttoned her jeans in his absence but hadn’t slipped out of them yet. “You, uh, have two gentlemen callers at the door for you,” he informed her. Based on her furrowed brow, she must have been just as surprised as he had been. With a shrug, she swung her feet off the bed and started to button her jeans.

“Friends or foes?” she asked when he didn’t elaborate on who exactly was at the door.

“Of you or me?” he couldn’t help but quip in reply, drawing a slight frown from Veronica.

“ Dos ?” she asked next, holding up two fingers. Her pitch was higher than usual as she made her way toward the bedroom door.

“ Sí, dos caballeros ,” he couldn’t help tease back in reply, glad he actually remembered the Spanish word for gentlemen since it had been quite some time since he’d spoken anything other than English.

She quirked an eyebrow before heading past him into the hall. After a few steps, she looked back over her shoulder at him, seemingly surprised that he wasn’t following right behind her. She jerked her head slightly in the direction of the front door, drawing a sigh from him before he started moving along as well.

“Surprise!” Wallace and Piz half-heartedly called out as Veronica reached the edge of the kitchen.

Logan could see Veronica take in a deep breath from his position behind her, so he closed the distance to be able to lean close enough to speak softly in her ear. “Like I said, dos caballeros .”

He heard a slight chuckle from her as she shook her head slightly. “Surprise, indeed. I definitely wasn’t expecting to have the two of you drop by this afternoon,” she directed at Wallace and Piz.

“Yeah, I know you texted and said to call when I got the chance, but I was picking Piz up at the airport. When I mentioned to him that you’d just got back into town as well, he suggested we should stop by.” Wallace paused and glanced at Logan before he continued. “I didn’t realize Logan was back in Neptune. What a crazy coincidence.”

“The craziest ,” Logan blurted out a bit sarcastically before he could stop himself.

“Yeah,” Veronica started, shooting a reassuring smile at Logan before continuing, her tone taking on a hint of annoyance. “That was one of the things I was planning to fill you in on when you called me back. We’ve got a lot to catch up on.”

“Yeah, I just flew in from visiting my dad the night before last,” Wallace shared, nodding in agreement with what Veronica had just said and starting to look a bit like he’d regretted the unplanned drop in.

“We wanted to invite you over to our place tonight,” Piz interjected excitedly. Logan thought it was unlikely he had noticed that Veronica seemed a little irritated that Wallace had stopped by instead of calling. “We know you’re heading up to Palo Alto soon, and since I just got back from visiting my parents in Oregon too, we thought a welcome home, slash, bon voyage, slash, apartment warming party sounded like a blast.” He paused and glanced at Logan. His smile faltered for only a second before he started talking again. “And of course Logan is welcome to come too, right Wallace?”

“Uh, sure,” Wallace answered, nodding as he glanced at Veronica, likely to gauge her reaction to it all.

As awkward as this little impromptu meeting had been, Logan couldn’t even begin to imagine how uncomfortable an entire evening might feel with all of them. “Thanks, but I think I’ll take a raincheck. But you should go, Veronica,” he suggested giving her what he hoped was an encouraging smile.

Veronica furrowed her brows a bit and looked like she was about to say something when the sound of small feet running quickly interrupted her.

“Daddy!” Evie yelled out as she weaved her way between Wallace and Piz and beelined straight toward Logan. “The swimming pool is broken !”

An exasperated Kathleen appeared a second later in the doorway stopping just behind Wallace and Piz. She let out a deep sigh and shrugged apologetically when she spotted Logan.

Logan glanced at Wallace and Piz for a second before looking down at an obviously irritated Evie wearing only her swimsuit and a pair of flip flops. The expressions on Piz and Wallace’s faces were about as bewildered as when he’d been the one to answer the door.

“The pool at the hotel had to be closed due to an… incident ,” Kathleen explained, wrinkling up her nose slightly. “We’d just headed down there and so I suggested that we could come over here to swim instead. I did text you,” she added, perhaps sensing that he was a little surprised to see them, or more likely worried because he hadn’t responded to her message yet.

Kathleen’s explanation seemed to have caught Evie’s attention because she stopped moving toward Logan and spun back to look at Kathleen, but then her attention must have shifted to Piz and Wallace. “Who are they ?” she asked, apparently realizing for the first time that there were people in the apartment that she didn’t know.

“That’s Wallace,” Veronica explained pointing toward Wallace as she spoke. “He’s one of my best friends from high school. And his roomate Piz.”

Logan was pretty sure he caught a slight flicker of disappointment flash across Piz’s face at her less than fond description of him. Even if it bothered Piz, it made Logan feel better that she hadn’t given him a higher status in her life than just being someone Wallace lived with.

“This is Logan’s daughter, Evie and her grandmother, Kathleen,” Veronica continued, gesturing at Evie first and then Kathleen. “They all live in Oregon with Logan. They’re just here for a couple days while I pack up for Stanford. More of what I’d planned to explain when you’d called me back, Wallace.”

“Oh, well…. They’re welcome to come to our place tonight too if they’d like,” Wallace tossed out, sounding even more sheepish than he had previously.

“Thanks for the offer, man,” Logan started, still not having any desire to spend an evening with them.

“We’ll talk it over and let you know,” Veronica interjected before Logan could turn Wallace down again. Given their earlier discussion when he dropped her off, he was sure she wasn’t ready to let him off the hook. He certainly didn’t want to spend time at that moment arguing about it though, so gave a curt nod instead. And maybe with a little more time he could actually come up with a sound justification for not attending this impromptu little soiree.

“Well, I hope you can all make it. Any dietary restrictions?” Wallace asked glancing at Evie and then up at Logan. “We’re headed to the grocery store next. I texted Mac too and plan to pick up some veggie burgers for her and regular patties for the rest of us.”

Logan sighed and shook his head. He was still hoping he could get out of going, but wondered how big of a battle that might end up being now.

“Alrighty then,” Wallace continued nudging Piz toward the door. “We were thinking around seven, but if that doesn’t work just let us know later.”

“Thanks for stopping by,” Veronica offered with a slight hint of sarcasm in her tone as she gave them a little wave before they disappeared out the door.

“Well, they seemed nice,” Kathleen mused as she finished walking all the way in and closed the door behind her.

“Doggy!” Evie announced loudly, evidently spotting Backup for the first time since she’d come in.

“Yeah, some guard dog, isn’t he?” Veronica replied with a scoff.

“Hey, he did warn us about the other dangerous intruders,” Logan pointed out with a chuckle.

Veronica rolled her eyes and shook her head slightly before addressing Evie. “I’m sure he’d love to go for a walk on the beach and since you’re all suited up, you could play a little in the ocean before we check out my pool. I’ll just run in and put on my suit so I can go in with you too,” she suggested as she started walking toward her bedroom again. “And we’ll talk about our plans for later, after we have some fun,” she added, shooting a knowing look at Logan.

“I’m sure we will,” Logan replied, already imagining exactly what the outcome of that conversation was going to be. Welcome back to Neptune, Logan .