Chapter 108

I was so angry that I thought I might shake apart from it. I clutched my hands into fists and gave Logan my fiercest growl. Here we were, arguing in the middle of this nice restaurant. I had only wanted to help him, and now I looked like an ass.

I wanted to leave, maybe find a place to eat that didn’t charge an arm and a leg for a sandwich. My stomach gurgled. Hunger made everything worse.

Logan seemed to have noticed. His gaze softened marginally, before he looked away and dabbed at his face with the napkin.

“Go home, Hazel. We’ll speak at the office, tomorrow.”

“Monday, Sir,” I corrected. “It’s the weekend.” I wanted to make sure he didn’t actually want me to come in tomorrow.

“Right. Monday.”

Glancing at his empty table, I had a feeling like I shouldn’t leave him there like this. Maybe I could see to the bill while he left? But… no. The man had his pride – too much of it, sometimes. He didn’t need me to drag this night out any further.

“Goodnight,” I said.

He nodded, still not looking at me.

I turned my feet to the door and left him before I could talk myself into staying. My presence wouldn’t be welcome. If he wanted me to stay, he would have invited me to.

I dropped enough money to cover my bill and tip on my own table, then I saw myself out of the restaurant.

The next morning, I stood in the line at the coffee shop beside Maria. We were having a relatively lazy Saturday. It was almost noon already, but if I didn’t get some caffeine in me, I’d never make it for the rest of the day.

I hadn’t mentioned my new workload to Maria, though she could tell I was putting in the extra hours. Sharing the nature of the work I was doing for Logan would elicit too many questions I wasn’t ready to answer.

Honestly, I didn’t want to think about him at all right now.

Fortunately – or perhaps unfortunately – my life was not short of other drama topics to discuss.

“Are you sure you want to go through with the divorce?” Maria said. “What if you are actually married to man of your dreams?”

“It was a mistake. A clerical error, most likely,” I said. “Someone down at city hall must have put a check mark in the wrong place. Whoever I’m married to is most likely supposed to be married to someone else.”

Maria inched closer to me and lowered her voice so others couldn’t hear, “But what about Vegas?”

I covered my face with both hands and groaned. Would I ever outlive that embarrassment? It was bad enough that I had a one night stand. Would I have been so irresponsible to actually marry someone?

That would explain the ring.

God help me.

“The sooner I get divorced, the better,” I said. I checked my watch. Ten to 12. I was meeting Dylan at 3 to discuss next steps. “Dylan’s a good lawyer. I’m sure he’ll be quick about everything.”

“I’m sure he’s eager to get you single,” Maria said, waggling her eyebrows.

I made a show out of rolling my eyes at her.

“But, I’m just saying. You clearly liked this… whoever he was… back in Vegas. What if that was something genuine? Don’t you want to explore that first? Before you sacrifice this relationship without even knowing what you are giving up?”

“It’s not worth it.” I’d already decided. “Love is messy, and it hurts. I’m tired of dealing with all of it. I just want things to go back to how they were before.”

“When your sister was secretly dating your boyfriend, and you were miserable?” Maria asked.

“Yes,” I grumbled. I didn’t really mean it, I just wanted to win an argument for a change.

She shook her head, gracefully letting me have this one. “It will be good for you to spend time with Dylan,” Maria said. “You guys didn’t exactly get a chance to privately talk when he helped out with Elena.”

The conversation shifted then, to Elena and what became of her since getting fired. Maria was certain she saw Elena working at the nearby department store.

“Mrs. Hanson is primarily focusing on her,” Maria said. “She’s still mad at the company, from what I hear, but she hasn’t barged in shouting since that last time. I think you’re in the clear.”

“I gave Logan that evidence,” I said. “Jillian must have seen it. She knows who the real culprit is. Though… I can’t imagine she’ll want to hear from me any time soon.”

The Hanson’s had decided to take their business elsewhere, after the incident. It was understandable, I thought, though it did hurt to lose them as a contact and business friend. The company was likely sorry to see them go as well, as they were one of the larger clients of the business.

I didn’t know who was working on repairing that relationship between the Hanson’s and the company, but I hoped they were doing a good job. The Hanson’s were good people. They deserved better than to be caught in the middle of all this.

“They’ll come around,” Maria said.

But I wasn’t as sure. Mr. Hanson almost died because of a Hatfield Supply employee. No amount of well wishes and promises could erase that trauma.

At three o’clock sharp, I sat at a café opposite Dylan, sipping on a cup of coffee. This was my second of the day. I was much perkier now than I had been earlier, with Maria.

More awkward, too, though, with Dylan so near. We still hadn’t fully resolved things. Truthfully, I struggled with where to begin. The more time passed since things went sideways between us, the more I felt embarrassed. Had it been too long to talk about it at all?

As I worried myself into an anxiety tornado, Dylan placed a folder and a notepad beside his plate on the small table. He pulled the top off his pen.

“Alright,” he said. “So we know that you are married, but your name hasn’t been legally changed. Do you have any idea the name of the husband?”

“No. How could I? I’m sure it’s a clerical error…” I said again what I said to Maria, though, with Vegas fresher on my mind, that didn’t seem as true anymore.

Dylan, observant as he was, picked up on that hesitation. If I was on the stand, he’d likely cross-examine me hard. The only thing he did now was level me with a curious stare.

He didn’t say a word. He didn’t have to. I cracked almost instantly.

“I was in Vegas a few months ago…” I said.

He lowered his pen to his legal pad. “When was this?”

I gave him the date.

His pen stilled on the page. He looked up at me. “That… You know the exact date? You are sure that’s it?”

“Of course, I know the date,” I said. “It was one of the worst trips of my life. It was supposed to be one of the best.” I was pretty sure that date would be seared on my mind for the rest of my life.

Dylan wrote down the date. Then he stared at it, his expression blank.

“Dylan? Is something wrong?”

He shook his head. “No.” He closed his legal pad and his folder. We’d only just started.

“Are you leaving?” I asked.

“There’s something I needed to check.”

Dylan threw a fifty down on the table. That would more than cover whatever Hazel wanted to order, as well as be a nice tip for the poor waitress.

Hazel’s eyes were wide with confusion.

I couldn’t explain yet. Not until I was sure. And even then…

The date… It looked so familiar.

Two people, married, but uncertain to who…

They were both in Vegas…

And this date. Was it the same?

“Dylan?” Hazel said, a question in her voice.

“I’ll get you your divorce,” Dylan said. He promised.

Especially if the person she was married to was Logan.