Chapter 194

“Of course we did,” Frank said.

“We love you, Logan,” Tammy said. “You are our son.”

Logan sat frozen, staring between the two of them. The words must have been taking their time sinking in down through the protective barriers he’d built around his heart.

Frank and Tammy made everything seem so simple, and maybe to them, it was.

I watched Logan, wondering if I should interject. After a moment more of his stunned silence, I placed my hand on the table near his arm and told him, “We could go…”

That roused him from the trance he was in. “No,” he said. “It’s fine. I’m okay…”

“Maybe we should go back to our house,” Tammy suggested. “You might feel more comfortable to talk there, rather than in public.”

“We can order the pizza to go,” I added.

Logan nodded. “I think I’d like that.”

So that was what we did.

Thirty minutes later, we walked through the front door of Logan’s childhood home. While we all stood awkwardly around in their living room, Logan looked around, seeing the wall dedicated to himself and the framed articles of him clipped from the newspapers.

“I’ve been wrong,” he said softly, as if to himself. “I’ve been so wrong all this time.”

Then he turned to his foster parents. “Mom. Dad. I’m sorry. I love you too.”

Tammy’s waterworks started, which made me cry too. The three of them hugged while I sniffled off to the side, watching.

Soon, though, Tammy glanced back at me. “Get in here, Hazel.” She held open her arm.

I looked at Logan, and with his nod of approval, I stepped forward and joined in the hug.

Tears were shed. Kind words were exchanged. The hug lasted for several long minutes.

A while later, when our stomach’s rumbled, Frank stood from the couch where Tammy and Logan were sitting and said, “I’ll heat up that pizza.”

I immediately hopped from the recliner where I had perched. “I’ll help you.”

Together, we walked toward the kitchen.

Sitting on the couch with Tammy – the woman he’d always thought of as his mom – Logan still couldn’t believe the turn of events in the past few days. A week ago he would have thought as he had since his talk with his grandfather, that the Christopher’s were only after the Hatfield money.

But after talking with them… After being here in this house and seeing how they’ve followed his whole life like loving parents… He couldn’t deny the truth.

He’d fallen for his grandfather’s lies and let them tear him away from the only family that had actually cared for him.

Something he meant to rectify now.

With his renewed familial bonds with mom and dad, he wasn’t going to let grandfather or anyone else separate him from his family again.

Mom smiled at him. “You and Hazel seem close.”

“We are.”

“That’s good,” Mom said. “She’s a very nice girl.”

“She is.”

Mom nodded. “The papers say you are engaged to a woman named Tina? Is she also nice?”

Logan opened his mouth, but then immediately closed it. He wanted to tell Mom the truth, but would it be safe? Could he trust her enough?

Yes, he thought so. At the very least, he was certain she wouldn’t run to the press or to grandfather. He couldn’t be as sure that she wouldn’t share with her card-playing friends. Not unless he made her take a vow on secrecy.

“Can you keep a secret?” he asked. “If I ask you to keep it from everyone, even your Sunday friends?”

“Even Frank?” she asked, already leaning.

“No, you can tell him.”

Mom nodded with confidence then.

Logan watched her for a long moment, then made the decision to trust. “Tina and I have been fake dating, to help cover for a secret relationship I am in that my grandfather would not approve of.”

Mom’s face went serious, her brow lowering. “Your grandfather strikes me as the type who wouldn’t approve of any woman of actual substance.”

She wasn’t far off the mark, so Logan didn’t answer, letting his silence be his agreement.

Mom then glanced at the opening to the kitchen and back to me. In a whisper, she asked, “Hazel?”

“Hazel,” Logan told her.

Mom’s eyes lit up brightly, her smile growing wide. “Oh that perfect girl. We approve most assuredly.”

“Dad doesn’t even know yet,” Logan said, laughing lightly.

“He’ll approve too, I’m telling you. We’ve so quickly come to love that girl like a daughter. Oh, this is the best news, Logan!” She clapped her hands together.

For a moment, they shared in the joy of it.

But then, a moment later, Mom’s face started to fall. “You are keeping her secret, then. And… she’s okay with this?”

Logan’s smile fell, too. “I don’t like doing it myself, but it’s the only way we can be together.”

“Is it?” Mom asked. “Logan dearest.” Her expression tightened with worry. “I say this as a person who loves you…”

Logan braced himself. “Go, on.”

“Do you love her?” Mom asked.

Logan didn’t need to consider it. The word came to his lips without his even thinking about it. “Yes.”

“Then you have to fight for her, Logan. Against your grandfather, against the whole world if you have to. To love someone is to prioritize them. Putting her in the shadows as you are, hiding her away… You are putting her second. Or even third!”

“Grandfather controls my future, Mom. If I make him unhappy, everything I’ve worked for could be lost…”

“So how long will you make her hide? Forever?” Mom asked. “Or until your grandfather finally kicks off? And in that time, you’ll hide Hazel away. Not getting married. Not having children. Logan, if you do this, do you really expect her to stay? How could she? That girl deserves to know how much you love her.”

“I can tell her…”

“You have to show her, Logan. Words won’t be enough, not in the long run. Not if you can’t back them up with actions.”

Deep down, Logan knew that she was right. Hazel was different than the girls he’d been with in the past. Money alone wouldn’t be enough to keep her waiting. She cared for Logan, of that he was sure, but even if she loved him, she would eventually grow tired of him hiding her to flaunt fake relationships with others.

He tried to imagine how he would feel if she had to date someone else to keep their relationship a secret. He’d gone feral when Dylan had tried to take her on a date before they’d even been together. He’d be unable to handle her being with someone else, fake or otherwise.

That made him a hypocrite, he knew.

“Your grandfather is used to people blindly obeying him,” Mom said. “You will have to fight him tooth and nail to secure your future with Hazel.” She patted Logan on the knee. “But you are our son, Logan. We raised you in a house filled with love. You know in your heart what’s most important.”

Grandfather had taught Logan that money was king. Your worth as a person was entirely determined by how many zeros were in your bank account.

Before that, Logan’s foster parents had showed him that love was more important than anything else. As long as they had enough money to put food on the table and a roof over their heads, love would fulfill the rest.

Logan wondered how he could have ever forgotten that lesson.

But, as much as he could now recognize the value of love, he was also a man of ambition.

As such, he was determined to bring Hazel into the light and maintain his wealth and place in society.

It would mean directly taking on his grandfather.

If anyone could do it, Logan could.

He was done being his grandfather’s perfect little heir.

He was ready to fight back.