The Pathway To Us (2 page)

“Melody, hold all of my calls. I don’t want to be disturbed while I’m meeting with Ms. Huntington.” Lily held her breath waiting for him to come through the door. It didn’t take long, only a second or two before the door crept open.

She did not—could not—blink. After so long, he finally stood just a few feet away. Their eyes connected in an instant and neither could look away.

Lily couldn’t tear her soft brown eyes away from his. They were hypnotic. Neither seemed able to turn away from the other as if each were trying to commit every detail to memory.

“Lily.” The way he said her name was like a soft caress. They’d spoken almost every day over the last few weeks but hearing him say her name in person was a completely different experience.

“Logan.” Her voice was airy, almost like a whisper. His hair was shorter. He’d cut it and was now clean shaven.

“It’s good to see you.” Logan felt as if he’d been punched in the gut. Her being here in person and standing just a few feet in front of him, beautiful as ever, twisted his heart.

Her mouth was like cotton. “You too.” She broke eye contact first. “You cut your hair. I-I like it.”

Logan ran his fingers through it. “Yeah, it had grown out quite a bit.” He walked towards her but kept an arm’s length of distance between them. He was afraid to get too close. Especially when his fingers itched to touch her.

Afraid that he wouldn’t be able to do what needed to be done, he dropped his gaze too. “Um…please have a seat.”

Lily was hoping he would pull her into his arms and kiss her, but he didn’t. It wasn’t a good sign. To hide her disappointment, Lily thrust the tin out toward him. “I brought you those cookies I promised.”

He smiled, it was the first genuine smile either of them had worn. She felt as if she’d found the cure for cancer.

Logan thumbed the space above his eyebrow. He attempted to bring some light-heartedness into the room. “I finally get to taste these world famous cookies?” When he took them from her outstretched hands, their fingers touched briefly. They stilled. All the air was sucked out of the room. An electrical current went through both of them. Logan’s voice dropped to a near-whisper. “Thank you.”

The tension was back and it was stronger than before as they stared intensely at one another. The energy was ripe with so much that needed to be said – and unsaid.

After a moment, Logan took the tin out of her hands and opened it. “I’ve put on a few pounds since I’ve been back so I should probably go easy, but I’ve dreamed about these cookies.” He pulled one out and took a bite.

Lily wondered if he’d dreamed about her too. “I hope you like them.” Anxiously, she nibbled on her bottom lip waiting for his response.

His eyebrows raised in surprise. “Lily…these are fantastic! Did you really make these?”

Praise wasn’t something that she was used to, even from her parents, and coming from him made it that much more special. She soaked it up like a flower in sunlight. “Yes. I made them special. Just for you.”

His smile faltered. It was in that small action that Lily had her answer. She took a deep breath and looked around the room. Hoping her eyes didn’t give away her hurt. “You look like you’re getting back into the swing of things.” Lily didn’t want Logan to feel guilty.

He placed the cookies on his desk then sat on the edge of it. Logan began to speak slowly, deliberately. “Yeah. Some things will take more time, but most things are falling back into place easily enough.”

She didn’t want to know what things were falling into place, not really. When she felt she had a bit more control, Lily turned her body back towards him. She should have known this would be the outcome. Why else would he want to meet at his office instead of someplace more private, intimate even? “Your family, especially your fiancé, Bree, must be happy to have you home.”

Logan couldn’t meet her eyes. “They seem to be. And your family must be happy to have you home too.” He had no idea that Lily really had no one. Her parents had been killed in a freak car accident a little over seven months ago, and like Logan, she had no siblings. She decided to keep that to herself. Lily wanted a lot from Logan but not his pity.

“Lily, I never wanted to hurt you. I never . . . ”

She shrugged as if her heart wasn’t breaking. Her smile was shaky. “It’s okay. I understand. Things happen. We didn’t plan any of it. You had a life, a family, and a fiancé before everything else that . . . ”

It wasn’t as if Logan hadn’t agonized over the right thing to do. He’d spent weeks trying to figure out how not to hurt anyone. But, now someone was going to get hurt. It killed him that it was going to be Lily. This time, he couldn’t help but touch her. He stepped forward to caress her cheek probably for the last time. “What we shared was real. We have a special bond that will never be broken. I won’t let it.”

As much as Lily wanted to disagree, she couldn’t. He was right. They survived a lot together and had created a bond that could never be broken.

His voice was full of pain. “Please promise me that if you ever need anything, no matter how big or small, that you’ll come to me.”

Tear-filled eyes looked into his. “I promise.” Lily said the words knowing she wouldn’t ever be able to keep the promise. In her heart, she knew they were false and that this would be the last time she would ever see Logan Tremont.

Struggling not to fall apart in front of him, Lily turned to pick up her bag. “I don’t want to take up any more of your time.” She spoke as if they had just finished a business deal instead of what was really happening. He’d made the decision that they wouldn’t be spending the rest of their lives together. He chose to go back to his life from before. “I should go.” Lily knew this wasn’t easy for him, but it was his decision.

She walked away from him towards the door. As her fingertips touched the knob she stopped. “Logan, thank you for keeping me safe. If I had to be stranded on an island with anyone, I’m glad it was with you.” Without a backward glance, she opened the door then walked out of his office and out of his life.

Lily didn’t think she could make her way back to the elevators, let alone out of the building without breaking down. Somehow, she managed to hold her head up high and keep her tears at bay, as she passed the same women she’d encountered on the way to see Logan.

As a matter of fact, there were even more people. Now, that Lily had been recognized from the press conference, it was obvious, word spread quickly that she was there. Having to smile and greet them as she passed by took a Herculean effort and every step was a miracle.

Her chest ached. Her heartbreak was so intense it felt like a physical pain. Still, Lily needed to hold it together for just a little while longer, at least until she could get outside of the building, where it was safe to breathe.

Lily’s legs moved as fast as they could without looking like running. The closer she came to the revolving doors, the sooner she would be able to exhale.

Finally, she’d done it. Lily made it to the outside. She wasn’t sure how she’d made it without falling apart considering how badly her heart was broken. Still, she managed to slowly inhale and exhale through the pain.

As Lily turned her face up to the heavens, the snow had begun to fall again, the winds had picked up, and it was cold; very cold.

She had her answers and now a singular focus. Lily needed to figure out how she was going to manage as a single mother.

Three months earlier

Lily sat behind a desk in a cramped cabin going over numbers on a spreadsheet. She’d been at it for hours. The totals just weren’t adding up. Not only were the totals not adding up but there seemed to be a pattern forming that she hoped was just her overactive imagination.

As Lily allowed a yawn to escape, her glasses slipped down the bridge of her nose for the hundredth time. Absentmindedly, she pushed them back up on her face then took the pink scrunchie from around her wrist and used it to pull her hair back into a neat little ponytail.

For the last five years, Lily worked as a Senior Auditor with IGA Financials reviewing financial reports for mid-sized companies. That was where she met Megan Laws, a co-worker and friend. Megan was hired just a little over a year ago and even though they were complete opposites, they clicked instantly.

Megan was full of life. She was always the life of the party whereas, Lily was much more shy and reserved. The stereotypical wallflower. She’d rather sit in the back of the room and watch all the action than participate in any of it. When she asked if Lily would look over her uncle’s financial statements for his winery business, in exchange for a seven-day vacation on his private yacht, Lily agreed. It seemed like a no-brainer. Especially since Lily couldn’t remember the last time she’d been on a real vacation.
Well
, she thought,
I do remember.
Lily had gone with her parents to Mexico for her college graduation present six years ago. Her throat almost closed up as she remembered —her vibrant, beautiful parents.

It had been less than six months since she’d lost them in a horrible car accident. A tire had blown off of a semi-trailer and smashed into their windshield. Her father lost control and crashed into another trailer killing them both instantly. In some ways, Lily was still grieving as if the accident happened yesterday. They were all she had in the world.

Lily was an only child. To hear them tell it, she was a miracle child. Had they been able they would have given her siblings, but, that never happened. Being born an only child to parents who didn’t have siblings made Lily’s family tree almost non-existent. One thing she knew for sure, if she were ever fortunate enough to get married and have children, she planned to have a house full.

Megan, raven-haired and beautiful, peeped inside her door. “Hey. I know this is a working vacation, but c’mon. You really need to work on the vacation part. You’ve been cooped up in here all day. Plus, there are a couple of great looking single guys up on deck by the pool.”

Lily turned around to see a sexy siren. A throwback to pin-up girls of the past. She would kill for an ounce of confidence that just oozed out of Megan so effortlessly. She wrinkled her nose at her comment. Lily was so shy that she always came across as an idiot when trying to meet men. She shuddered recalling how her past couple of attempts at dating ended in disaster. “I’m sure you’ll have them all eating out of the palm of your hand in that bikini. Maybe I’ll come up later. I’m trying to figure something out. These numbers aren’t adding up, and I think I’ve discovered a pattern. I hope I’m wrong, but I just want to triple check my work.”

“Really? Are you thinking it’s something other than some accounting errors?”

“Hmm…I don’t know. I need to play with it a little more.”

Megan pouted. “Well, you’ll have plenty of time for that. We’re on this boat for seven whole days and nights. So, come on. I don’t want to be alone up there. Yes, I’ll have the guys eating out of my hands, but it would be so much more fun if you were with me. For the record, you’ll have them eating out of the palm of your hand too. And, I’m not going to let you hide behind those numbers. I know you. You will figure out a way to hide for the entire trip.”

Lily mumbled. “I’m not hiding.”

“Yes, you are.” She walked over to Lily and pulled the scrunchie from of her hair letting her golden waves fall down over her shoulders. “You have great hair. Let’s try something.”

Megan tapped her finger over her bottom lip as she contemplated giving Lily a makeover. Lily was really a beautiful woman, but she didn’t know it and kept her looks hidden under baggy clothing and ponytails, sometimes messy and sometimes neat. Her glasses drove Megan crazy. She thought that if Lily were going to wear them instead of contacts, she should at least choose a modern style. The bottom line - Lily was too young for the look she insisted on wearing. “You should let me do your makeup, and I’ll let you borrow one of my bikinis. I
soooo
want to ax that librarian look.”

Lily waved her off. “Oh no. I could never expose my body that way. No. No. No.”

Megan ignored her. “Do you own a pair of contacts?”

Feeling insecure, Lilly pushed her glasses up on her face. “What? Yes, but did you hear me?”

“I heard you, but I’m choosing to ignore you. I’ve decided I’m going to help you find your confidence. The way I see it, being home schooled set you back
a lot
. It’s time to get you caught up into this decade. Maybe get you to live a little and possibly even give up your V-Card.”

Lilly didn’t like that comment. She crossed her arms underneath her breasts. “I was educated overseas while we traveled. My parents were teachers, Megan. I went
to
and graduated
from
college. I highly doubt that being
home schooled
set me back.” Lily thought, maybe
being shy set me back, but not homeschooling.
Lily gave it her best shot at sounding confident. “Anyway, how do you know I haven’t already given away my virginity?” She failed.

Megan wasn’t trying to piss off her friend. “Okay – okay. Sorry about the homeschooling thing. But, I still don’t believe for a minute that you’re not a virgin. You even have the virgin walk down.”