Surrounded (Unsettled Series Book 2) (11 page)

Scott and I were escorted into the conference room twenty minutes early. I was hoping I’d be able to put my plan in action. If I could catch Brooklyn before everyone else headed in for the meeting I might be able to get some answers. But Brooklyn never showed. Shortly after the meeting started, I had the pleasure of telling Trent that a partnership between Colton Capital and Copple was out of the question. My accountants found way too many red flags in their annual reports. No need to form a partnership with a company whose doors maybe closed within a year.

Trent was not too happy with my decision, and blazingly walked out of the room as soon as our meeting ended, but Ron respectfully stayed behind to chat.

We made small talk for a bit, then I finally asked the question I needed an answer to.

“Ron, where is Ms. Caldwell? I noticed she didn’t come in during our meeting.”

I could tell he was confused why I was wondering about Trent’s assistant. But since I was no longer a prospective client me asking shouldn’t have been an issue. “Unfortunately Ms. Caldwell is no longer with Copple” he said shaking his head.

What?

I felt my eyebrows snap together in dismay. “Oh? When did that take place?” I asked as nonchalantly as possible, trying to cover my initial reaction. I didn’t want to make things too obvious.

“I believe it was just yesterday, actually.”

“Ah” I said, not adding anymore to the conversation. Instantly I felt the need to get out of there and figure
out what the hell was going on.

There was only one place I needed to stop, and I needed to get there now.

Brooklyn

I stepped off the escalator near baggage claim at LAX and was immediately bombarded by my mother’s flailing arms, “Honey! I am so happy you’re here!”

“Hi, Mom” I said, hugging her tightly and grinning at her enthusiasm. We stepped to the side to keep from blocking traffic. I hadn’t realized how much I’d actually missed her. From afar my mom could grate my nerves easily, but today I was glad to have a few days of fun and exorcise my thoughts of Logan.

“Baggage from flight 1248 from Washington D.C. will be deployed to carousel 2,” the man over the loud speaker hollered.

My mom and I followed a swarm of passengers to the spinning carousel.

As I reached for my bag, one of the guys near me grabbed it off the turn style and set it in front of my feet. “Thanks,” I said.

“No problem,” he replied, turning back to
collect his own belongings. My mom and I exited the terminal, with me rolling my humungous suitcase behind me. I don’t know why, but I still hadn’t mastered the art of packing light. My phone buzzed and I pulled it from the pocket of my jeans.

“Hey, Dani, you’re going to have to speak up. We’re outside the airport” I yelled into the phone. Danielle was my older sister who still lived in L.A. A traffic patrol cop blew his whistle behind me, forcing me to plug my ear.

“Are you here?” she screamed into the phone. I could hear the excitement in her voice. I hadn’t been gone that long—it had only been six months since I’d been home for Christmas.

“Yeah, M
om and I are walking to the car now.” I stepped into the crosswalk, trying to balance my suitcase and conversation.

“Okay, we’re coming by tonight after I get off work. We’ll probably be there around 5:00. I can’t wait for you to see Aiden. He is so big now, B.”

“I can’t wait to see him either. Let’s hit up Siri’s, too.” Siri’s was a spot near the beach where Danielle and I liked to chill out.

“Sure. Okay, I’ll see you later.” I hung up the phone.

After we managed to squeeze my suitcase into the trunk of my mom’s car, we joined the masses of commuters on the dreaded 405 freeway.

“So honey, how are things going?” she asked as we merged into traffic. Even though it was only three in the afternoon, traffic was already backed up to a dead halt.

“They’re okay mom. I mean, as good as can be expected, I guess.” Happy to no longer be squeezed into my economy class seat on the plane, I stretched my legs as far as they would go.

“Well I’m glad you finally quit working for that moron,” she said, shaking her head. My mom knew all the highlights of Trent and his demeanor. I doubted I’d ever share the full details with my mom about why I’d quit. She didn’t need to know that a guy was behind most of my problems. The last thing I needed to do was give her something else to worry about—or be excited about, depending on how you looked at it. I’d never officially gotten around to telling her about Logan in the first place, and I knew if she found out she’d want more information than I was willing to share.

I cleared my throat. “Yeah, hopefully I can find something sooner than later. I can’t move back home with you and Dad.”

“And what’s wrong with that?” my mom asked.

“Um, everything. I’m an adult mom. I have no desire to be twenty five and living at my parents’ house.” No amount of bribing was going to get me to move back in with my mom and dad. I’d need to be on my death bed to agree to that. I could handle a couple weeks, but as an indefinite thing—no thank you.

“Well, we’ll see about that. I already talked to Mariana and she said that she can get you a job at her law firm, if you’re interested.” I should’ve known. Mariana was my mom’s best friend and a very successful attorney. If I had aspirations of going into law, I would’ve already made good of her multiple offers to hire me. But I didn’t want to go that route. I didn’t even want to go the route I went when I accepted the job at Copple—taking a position just to pay the bills even though I was miserable. I wanted this time
to be different. I wanted to take a chance and do something that truly made me happy. I was tired of wasting my time at dead end jobs that gave me headaches and heartburn. If I was lucky, I’d be able to get a gig working at a photography studio. That was my hope, anyway.

“Mom, I doubt I’ll be in California that long. There’s no need for me to take on a job. I just came here to get away for a few weeks.”

“I guess I can understand that. I’m just glad that you’re here” she said, patting my leg as she drove.

“Me too, M
om,” I said, meaning it.

Twenty minutes later we pulled into the driveway. My Dad poked his head out from underneath the hood of his Camaro and smiled broadly.

I hopped right out of the car and into his arms. “Dad!”

“Hi, Keds. How’s it going?” Seeing my dad made me feel like I’d been gone for years, not months. And hearing his childhood nickname for me, given to me because he said I was once small enough to fit into a Keds box, just drove home how long I’d been gone. While I’d been away he’d started wearing glasses.

“Glasses?”

“Yeah, you know that’s what old folks have to do.”

“Dad, enough with the old talk.” While he looked good in glasses, I didn’t want to admit that the father who’d raced me through the park most Saturdays was transforming into a much older version of himself. If
he
was getting older, that meant
I
was, too, and I couldn’t fathom not having him around to hug, like I was at that moment.

My dad chuckled and stepped back, “Let’s get your things inside.”

He hoisted my suitcase and entered the house, dropping it by the bed in my old bedroom. “How was your flight?” he puffed, no doubt from the weight of my bag.

“Good. Long. I’m glad I’m off the plane”

“Well, I’m going to be in the garage working on the Camaro if you want to come outside and keep me company.” His comment made me think about all the days after school when I’d snuck into the garage after my mom had already given me a bath. My dad would let me hide out on a stool in the corner, wrapped in a blanket and slippers out of sight. Those were the nights I loved and missed the most. My mom knew we had that little ritual going on, but she’d always act surprised when he’d carry me back into the house way past my bedtime. My dad was the one man in my life who I admired and looked up to. He was who every guy I became involved with had to emulate. For a while, Damon had reminded me of my father. But he’d changed. And Logan…

Logan carried many of the same attributes, and I knew that was what drew me to him. The tenderness he showed when I was sad. The way he carried me to bed. His love notes. The day he left that note with the flowers, I knew he could be
my one.
The first thing I thought of when I saw them was how my dad always brought my mom flowers after a long day. She always seemed to be on his mind so when Logan started the ritual of bringing flowers to me, I couldn’t help but think I was on his mind, too.

Now though,
sitting in my room in my parents’ house, I felt like I was in a slightly foreign place. Pictures of me and Danielle at my sixteenth birthday party still hung on the wall. It was a little eerie looking at the music posters and the pictures of me and Alex I’d hung after I’d moved home for the summer after my freshman year of college.

I was home, but I wasn’t. I was surrounded by a wallpapered room of memories, but I couldn’t help but feel like I was in someone else’s room. So many things had happened since that summer my freshman year of college. I wasn’t that girl anymore. It was like I was looking at all the memories around me through a different set of eyes. I never thought that the next time I was back in my room it would be because I was trying to bounce back from unemployment.

But I didn’t have time to dwell, which was a good thing. Danielle was calling my name from downstairs. I grabbed my phone and purse and headed toward the living room.

Time to start putting my heartache behind me. If only just for a girls’ night out.

Logan

I rapped on the front door later that evening. Nothing. The street was abnormally quiet. Sometimes DC amazed me—quiet areas amongst organized chaos. I waited a few more seconds before I knocked again. I heard shuffling behind the door and my heart became hopeful, but then Alex’s head popped around the door.

“Oh, it’s you” she said despondently, as she opened the door further, “I thought you were the delivery guy.”

“I’m pretty sure you knew it was me since I heard you lean against the door.”

She smirked at me and opened the door wider. I was lying but she didn’t need to know that. I really just wanted to get her talking so I could find out what the hell was going on.

“Is she here?” I asked, crossing my arms over my chest. The way Alex cut her eyes at
me; you’d have thought I just asked her to dump Jay for me.
As if that would ever happen.

“Even if she was, do you think I’d tell you?” she retorted. I could tell she was pissed with me now, too, and yet again I still had no idea why. I hated how clueless I felt in this whole situation. It was total bullshit. I hadn’t done anything wrong.

If Brooklyn would just talk to me, we could get whatever this mess was straightened out ASAP. Why was everyone road blocking me? First Brooklyn. Now Alex.

“So she isn’t here?” I responded.

“No, she went out.” The way she averted her eyes told me she was lying. She knew exactly where Brooklyn was, and she was going to tell me. Alex leaned against the door frame and let out a deep sigh.

“Since you insist on lying about where she is, why don’t we start with what you
are
prepared to tell me?”

“You really fucked up, Logan. I mean, damn, really? I was actually in your corner for five seconds, and you know that was hard for me to do because I love B like a sister.” Alex wasn’t saying anything that I didn’t already know. I have fucked up. I do fuck up, but none of that mattered right now. I just wanted to know
how
I fucked Brooklyn over, because for the first time ever, I was pretty sure I didn’t do anything wrong.

“Anything else? Like why the hell she ran out Saturday night, or better yet, why she’s even upset, because I’m really drawing blanks right now.”

I guess my last sentence sent Alex over the edge, because she threw her hands up wildly. “You got another woman pregnant, Logan! How did you really expect her to react? I mean really? Elizabeth Drexel? Really? After you told her that you two were just friends! And the trip to Seattle? Come on!” She waved her hand in my face and I began to feel my cheeks heat under her gaze. What. The. Hell? Pregnant? Elizabeth? Seattle? Those were the only words playing in my mind.

“What?” I thundered. My ears must have deceived me, because I damn sure couldn’t have heard what I thought I had. Unfortunately, I could tell by the look on her face, she was more than serious.

I was stuck in a state of shock. I had just seen Elizabeth a couple weeks back. She’d looked like she had gained a little weight, but definitely didn’t look pregnant. I slouched back into the siding of the house, grabbing the bridge of my nose, and closed my eyes. Suddenly I had a tremendous headache.
Elizabeth was pregnant?
With my child?
Elizabeth and I had only slept together once—the night of the charity event last year. We were both tipsy, and it just happened. It meant nothing to me. But that happened long before I knew Brooklyn, and definitely long enough ago that the baby she was carrying couldn’t be mine. Could it? We’d used protection. Hadn’t we? We were both pretty messed up that night. But it didn’t matter. This situation was unreal.

“What did Brooklyn tell you?”

“Long story short, while she was in the bathroom Saturday night, two chicks were in there talking about Elizabeth and how she is pregnant
with your baby
. The two chicks seemed to be friends with Elizabeth.”

Who the hell could it have been? “Did she say who they were?”

“She was a little more focused on how her supposed boyfriend was actually an expectant father, so I doubt she stopped to grab their names.”

“Where is she now?” I asked again.