Chapter 187

“Your… son…?” I continued pointing at the framed picture of Logan, confusedly looking between it and Tammy.

“Oh,” she said suddenly. “This must be very confusing for you if you know him. I doubt he talks about us.”

“He’s ashamed of us,” Frank said, sitting. Candy curled into the space beside him. On the television, a black and white western played, with the volume low.

“Don’t say that,” Tammy said, smiling, but there was something sad about it. “He’s just so important, he’s too busy to check in. That’s all.” She looked at me. “Tell Frank how important Logan is.”

“He is important,” I admitted to Frank before looking back to Tammy. “But I don’t understand. How can you be Logan’s parents if he’s a Hatfield?”

I’d met his parents at the high society parties. They didn’t strike me as particularly memorable people. Even Logan didn’t interact with them much. But they were still clearly his family. They all looked alike.

“We were his foster parents,” Frank said. “When those rich bastards thought a baby was too much work.”

“Language, Frank,” Tammy chided gently.

Frank huffed and turned up the television. Soon the room was filled with the sound of horse hooves and gunshots.

“Come into the kitchen,” Tammy said. “I’ll put coffee on and tell you whatever you want to know.”

With a wordless nod, I followed Tammy into the kitchen, then sat down at the kitchen table while she set up the coffee maker. For a while, we were in silence, with the television blaring through from the living room.

Maybe it wasn’t my place to ask. Logan had said that he would tell me everything the next time he saw me. I shouldn’t pry.

But if Tammy was so open… Maybe learning more about Logan would help me understand him and the choices he made.

If what Frank had said held even a tiny bit of truth, I was ready to rage. I’d rather do it here, in the presence of his foster parents, than in front of Logan who would need me to listen calmly and understand.

I could just be kidding myself. It was possible I just wanted to know more about Logan was making excuses to justify my prying.

On the other hand, Logan was my husband. Husbands and wives shouldn’t be so mysterious with each other, even if they did have quickie Vegas weddings.

The coffee finished as I was debating with myself. Tammy poured two mugs then joined me at the table. The mug Tammy handed me said #1 Dad, with some of the paint worn off from age.

“I always wanted children,” Tammy said, beginning her story unprompted. “But God chose not to bless me with the ability to have my own. We reached out where we could, when we were able, and Logan came into our care at one year old.”

Her smile brightened, talking of Logan. “He was such a smart child. Good with numbers. He didn’t want to talk right away, but when he did finally open up, he didn’t want to stop. Such a good kid, so loving and bright. He really made this house a home for those eleven years he was with us.”

Too soon, her smile wavered and fell. “It was over much too soon. We’d wanted to adopt him fully but his birth parents always stood in our way. When Logan was twelve, they decided they wanted him back. But the way they spoke of him… They said they wanted their heir back. Heir, not son. It broke my heart.”

Mine, too.

“It still breaks,” Tammy continues. “I can only imagine what it must have been like for him to return to them with their attitude like that. Yes, they have more money than us. We couldn’t argue with that. But does money make for a more loving home?”

“I don’t think so,” I said. I hadn’t grown up with money in my home, but I didn’t think it would make a difference with my parents. In fact, they’d likely just ignore me more.

“I don’t think so either,” Tammy said, now frowning as she looked down into the coffee cup she hadn’t touched.

I sipped at mine, not wanting all of the coffee she’d made to go to waste.

“We raised him with love, that much I can say,” Tammy said, distant now, as if lost in her thoughts.

“Did you try to see him since?” I asked. “Now that he’s an adult –”

“Many times,” Tammy said. “But he never takes our calls. He’s made it clear that he doesn’t want anything to do with us anymore. It must be so stressful, running a company like he does. In the beginning, we fought much harder, but we never had the money for lawyers, especially those who could compete with the ones bought on the Hatfield wealth…”

She was lost again for a long moment, then she blinked and returned to that kitchen with Hazel. “Oh, I’m sorry, dear. I don’t mean to sound downtrodden. We were blessed for the years Logan was in our care, and we aren’t as hard-pressed for money as we used to be. In fact, a few years back, we’ve been receiving these mysterious checks…”

“Checks?” I asked, worried they might have been falling for a scam.

“They clear every month and stay there,” Tammy said. “I don’t recognize the name but… Oh! Maybe you do.”

Standing, Tammy hurried to where a desk was pressed up against the back wall. It was covered in paperwork, mostly laying atop a computer that looked straight out of 1993. She shuffled a minute then brought an old check to me.

She read me the name and I knew in an instant.

“Dylan,” I said. “You’re sure?”

“You know him?” Tammy asked.

Of course I did. For Dylan to be sending these checks like this, it had to be under Logan’s direction.

I closed my eyes, further proud of my husband. Even if he was estranged with his foster parents, he still wanted to see them taken care of.

I couldn’t wait to hear his side of all this. He’d likely fill in the blanks that Tammy either didn’t know or was withholding.

Tammy set aside the check and returned the table. “Hazel, dear. You never mentioned how you know Logan? Although… I suppose you know of him, working for his company.”

“I know him personally as well,” I said.

“Tell me everything,” Tammy said, leaning forward. She placed her hand over mine of the table. “It has been so long since we’ve heard a word from someone other than the newspaper reporters.”

“I… uh…” More than anything, I wanted to tell Tammy that I was Logan’s wife, but until I knew the full nature of their past and if Tammy could truly be trusted, I didn’t dare. It would only cut Logan deeper for us to have our relationship exposed by someone he used to trust and maybe still did.

“I was, um, Logan’s assistant,” I said. “So I know him quite well.”

“Oh, how wonderful! Is he well? You must tell me whatever you can. I know he likes his privacy.”

“He does.”

Before I could say more than that, Tammy cut in once more. “We’ve seen that he’s dating that Tina person. Tell me, Hazel. Is she good enough for him?”