Sand and Clay (13 page)

“Gina?” Caroline asked. Logan sighed and nodded.

“Caroline, she is gone now. I ended things with her when the
tour ended. I couldn’t do it during the tour because we had a business
contract, but it ended and it's over now. I swear there was nothing romantic
going on though. There hasn’t been anything romantic between Gina and I since I
met you. How could I even think about her or any other woman after having met
you?” Logan moved towards her on the bench and wrapped one arm around her back.
She leaned her head against his shoulder and he kissed her forehead. His hand
caressed through her hair behind them.

“Logan, I am living with someone. We have been dating awhile
and he is such a wonderful and sweet guy. I shouldn’t be here.” Caroline said,
pulling away from him again and turning her head to look at him.

“I know, George told me.” Logan said.

“You know and you still are here? Pulling this stunt to get
me to see you? You knew that I was happy and moved on and you still wanted to
just come throw some dynamite into my life?” Caroline’s voice was raising as
she stood up, stomping her foot in irritation at him. Logan quickly stood up to
face her.

“Happy and moved on? You really think you have moved on? Then
why are you even here, why did you come?” Logan said, matching her volume. Caroline
stuttered for a moment trying to think of a response, but coming up with
nothing.

“See, you know that I am right. You have not moved on. I
have not moved on. Caroline, you know there is something here and we can’t just
let go of that.” Logan said, stepping forward and grabbing Caroline. He leaned
down and pressed his mouth firmly against hers, kissing her. She pushed her
hands against his chest and pushed him away from her.

“You had an opportunity six months ago, Logan, but you were
with Gina. If you really think we have something, you would have left her back
then, but you didn’t! It’s not enough, Logan. Turner and I are a couple, he
actually puts me first and cares about me. When have I ever seen that from
you?” Caroline was yelling now.

“Caroline, don’t do this.” Logan said, grabbing her arm but
she yanked it away from him again.

“No, don’t tell me that like it was my choice. You made that
choice six months ago.” Caroline argued and then took a step towards him, her
finger pointing in his face, “I cried for weeks, Logan. Weeks. You did that.”

Caroline took a step back and lifted her chin, staring at
him. Logan lowered his head and ran his hand through his hair. He sighed and
knew that there was nothing he could say because she was right. He had hurt her
and he deserved her anger. He hated himself just then forever causing her any
pain.

 She stood there for another
moment, waiting for him to respond. Part of her wanted him to beg her to stay,
grab her, and kiss her; but the other part felt such guilt knowing Turner was
at home right now in love with her and blind to what was going on. She stared
at Logan a moment longer, let out a sigh, and walked away heading back down the
block. Logan didn’t follow her but instead sat down on the bench and put his
head in his hands.

Chapter
Seventeen

When Caroline let herself back into
her apartment, it was pretty late at night. She walked into the living room and
found Turner asleep and snoring on the couch with the television still on. She
smiled and kissed the top of his head. How could she find any fault with a man
like him? She knew he didn’t deserve what she had done today and the guilt was
stirring in her stomach. She went into the bedroom and got dressed into some
sweatpants and one of Turners t-shirts, then went back out to the living room
to wake Turner up.

“Turner,” Caroline whispered in his
ear, kissing his cheek, “wake up, honey, come to bed.”

“You’re home. I missed you, babe.” Turner
leaned up and kissed her, then stood up and followed her into the bedroom. The
two climbed into bed together and Turner wrapped his arms around her, pulling
her close as he yawned sleepily.

“How was Aralia?” Turner asked.

“What?” Caroline responded,
confused for a moment until she remembered that Aralia had been her cover
story. “Oh, she is good. Everything is fine.”

“That’s good, you’re a good friend,
babe.” Turner said, looking down at her and kissing her. Caroline felt guilty
all over again. Turner began moving his hands up and down her back pulling her
tighter against him and their kiss deepened.

“Babe, I’m tired.” Caroline said,
feeling guilty and hoping to dissuade him.

“I can help make you more tired.” Turner
grinned and winked at her, kissing her again. She smiled at him and gave in,
kissing him back and wrapping her arms around him. Turner was such a wonderful
guy and she knew that he deserved better than her right now.

~**~

“Caroline, I can’t say that I
really disagree with him.” Aralia told her, sitting across from her at the
restaurant table. She and Aralia were having lunch together two days after her
run in with Logan.

“What are you talking about?”
Caroline asked with a tone of irritation and disbelief.

“Well, hey, it’s just my opinion,
but you have never talked about Turner the way you talk about Logan. Even when
you are angry with Logan, there is still more passion there then there is with
Turner. Don’t get me wrong, I like Turner a lot, he is such a great guy, but
you and Logan… I don’t know, there is just something indescribable there.” Aralia
shrugged and took a few bites of her salmon salad.

Caroline was quiet for a bit and
ate her chicken wrap. She knew Aralia had a point, but she just didn’t want to
accept that yet. Turner was such a great guy, she couldn’t disappoint him
because he didn’t deserve that from her or anyone. On top of that, Logan had
picked Gina over her and then left for six months- that wasn’t a fact that she
could just forget or ignore. He just up and left her, without a word, without
any contact and then he just pops back into her life and expects her to drop
everything for him?

“I don’t think he is going to give
up, Caroline.” Aralia said.

“Who? Logan? Yeah, I know. I don’t
think he will either. I don’t know if I want him too.” Caroline sighed.

“Have you seen the news about his
career change?” Aralia asked Caroline. She shook her head that she didn’t know
and look inquisitively at Aralia.

“Well his new PR rep, not Gina by
the way, spun his coffee shop stunt into a promotion for his new art gallery. It
opens up next Friday night with a huge grand opening party. I think it is a
combination of his own paintings as well as some other up and coming city
artists.” Aralia explained.

“How was sitting in front of a
coffee shop waiting for me a promotion for an art gallery?” Caroline asked,
chuckling and taking another bite of her lunch. Aralia shrugged.

“I don’t know, but she spun the
crap out of that story. It is on every magazine cover in the grocery store
line. Apparently, he is taking a break from music to work on his artistic side.
Have you seen any of his paintings?” Aralia asked her. Caroline nodded and
thought of the painting that she had received from him, it was hidden in a
carefully wrapped box beneath her bed so Tucker wouldn’t see it. It was private
and she didn’t want Tucker to look at it, but she also didn’t want to explain
it to him or explain why she kept it even though she was with him now.

“He is very talented.” She told
Aralia.

“Well, maybe we should go check out
the gallery once it opens.” Aralia suggested to her.

“Seriously? Because that won’t be
awkward at all. How would I explain that to Turner? Hey, babe, want to go see
my ex-boyfriend’s or ex-whatever-we-are’s art gallery? Sounds like the perfect
date night.” Caroline chuckled sarcastically and rolled her eyes.  

“Turner and I have a date night
tonight, he says he wants it to be special. It’s our six month anniversary. So,
I really can’t be dwelling on Logan right now, Turner doesn’t deserve that.”
Caroline said, motioning to the waitress for their check.

“Turner is really a very good guy.” Aralia nodded in
agreement. The two girls finished paying for their lunch and said their
goodbyes before Caroline headed back to work and Aralia headed to the bar to
start work.

~**~

“Babe, do we have to go out
tonight?” Caroline called from the bathroom, looking into her makeup bag and
rummaging around.  Turner popped his head around the corner to look at her.

“What are you talking about? We
already have the reservations and everything is planned, plus it is our
anniversary?” Turner said, walking into the bathroom and hugging her from
behind. She looked back at him in the mirror in front of them.

“I know, I am just tired. It’s been
a long week.” Caroline sighed.

“Babe, I promise you will enjoy
tonight. Just give it a chance.” Turner kissed her cheek and then left the
room. Caroline sighed and then began putting on her makeup in preparation for
going out.

About an hour later, the couple was
dressed and ready to go. Turner had been waiting for Caroline for at least half
that time but she was finally all made up and ready to head out. They decided
to take a taxi and Turner handed the address to the cab driver on a piece of
paper in order for Caroline not to know where they were going. The entire night
he had planned was supposed to be a surprise date night, which Caroline thought
was sweet but she wasn’t always the biggest fan of surprises. They finally
reached their destination at a very nice restaurant right by Central Park that
Caroline had mentioned a few times, which Turner must have remembered and
tucked away for a night like tonight.

The hostess led them to their
assigned table which had been decorated ahead of time with small votive candles
and scattered red rose petals on a white linen tablecloth with white china
plate settings. There was a sterling champagne bucket filled with ice next to
the table containing a pricey bottle of champagne for them as well. Caroline
squeezed Turner’s arm and smiled at him.

“Sweetheart, this is beautiful. Did
you call ahead to set this up for us?” Caroline beamed at him.

“Of course, baby, this is a special
day for us!” Turner gave her a quick peck and then pulled out her chair for
her. She sat down and he pushed the chair in for her and then seated himself
across from her.

“Thank you, Turner. You make me
feel very special.” Caroline smiled and reached across the table for his hand,
which he quickly placed in hers. Caroline’s thoughts drifted momentarily to
Logan but she quickly pulled them back. Turner made her happy and he wanted to
make her happy. Isn’t that the way it is supposed to be in relationships and in
love? Why would she want to mess up a good thing?

The couple enjoyed their entrees
and the wines that they paired with it over the next forty-five minutes together.
Conversation was minimal though because Caroline couldn’t seem to get untangled
from her thoughts and Turner just seemed quieter than usual, although there was
no apparent reason as to why. Finally, their waitress brought them their
dessert to share which was a delicious chocolate, multi-layered cake with
raspberry drizzle over it.

“Oh my goodness, that looks so
delicious. It might be too rich for me!” Caroline commented on the dessert but
eagerly picked up her spoon and dug in anyways.

“Caroline, this has been an amazing
six months together. I am so glad that you came into my life.” Turner smiled at
her, he hadn’t started eating the dessert yet.

“Aw, Turner, that is so sweet. Happy
anniversary.” Caroline responded to him and then continued eating the cake.

“There is more though. You have
changed my entire life. I feel inspired and happier than I ever knew was
possible. I can’t imagine my life without you.” Turner cleared his throat and
stood up from the table. Caroline looked at him confused and felt nervous
because she wasn’t sure what was going on. Her eyes doubled in size when she
saw him kneel down on one knee at the side of the table, facing her. She put
down her fork and tried to swallow her cake, but her throat was closing up. She
gulped and coughed a bit in surprise but finally managed to swallow it down.

“Caroline, I know that we have only
been dating for six months but I feel like my entire life has been made better
when I met you. You are so beautiful and such a gentle soul, that I knew I had
to ask you this question.” Turner said to her, still on one knee.

“Turner, please don’t-” Caroline
tried to interrupt him with no success.

“Caroline, will you please marry
me?” Turner asked, looking up at her smiling with such hope that it made her
knees weaken.

People from the surrounding tables
started to clap for them and the excitement spread through the rest of the
restaurant within seconds. Caroline looked around and gave everyone a smile, at
least as much of a smile as she could muster up. She grabbed Turner’s hand with
the ring box and pulled him back up so that he was sitting in his chair. She
awkwardly took the ring box from him and waved thanks to the restaurant until
people stopped paying attention to them.

“Caroline? You haven’t answered my
question.” Turner’s mood had turned from excitement to fear, and his
nervousness was apparent.

“Turner!” Caroline said softly,
leaning into the table a bit.

“We met six months ago, we are
still getting to know each other. We haven’t even talked about marriage!”
Caroline explained, showing a bit of frustration.

“What are you saying, Caroline? We
live together, we love each other.” Turner started trying to argue with her but
she cut him off.

“Turner, I need a little time. Can
I have a few days to decide? Please, this is just so unexpected.” Caroline
said, looking down at the ring again. It was such a beautiful ring and she knew
a life with Turner would be happy, but was that enough for her? She felt
completely out of breath and shocked at the whole turn of events.

“Yeah, yeah okay. I understand, it
was unexpected. I’ve had weeks to think about this and decide and you just
found out. So, let’s just enjoy our time and take a week? Is that enough time?”
Turner asked.

“Yeah, of course, next Friday I
will know for sure. I mean probably before then, I’m sure.” Caroline said
awkwardly.

“Okay, so next Friday. Seven days. Alright,
we can work with this.” Turner stumbled over his words, clearly flustered and
nervous.

Just then, the waiter arrived with
the check and placed it on the table, interrupting their rambling. Turner
grabbed the check and put some cash with it. The couple stood up and walked out
of the restaurant, hailing a taxi. No words were exchanged for the entire drive
and the silence continued as they walked into the apartment.

Caroline quickly changed into
comfortable clothes and got into bed, leaving the ring box sitting on top of
their dresser, and immediately pretending to be asleep before Turner joined her
in the bedroom. They laid silently next to each other until they finally fell
asleep, neither one of them having the answers they were looking for.