Unsettled (31 page)

We were escorted to a table at the front of the ballroom, and immediately my blood spiked.

“Your family is here?” I asked, slightly shocked. Logan’s father was sitting at the table we were headed toward. Now knowing why Logan disliked his father, I had a hard time being impartial.

“Yes, they are. Why wouldn’t they be?” he asked. He seemed confused by my question.

“Oh—I just didn’t know this was a family affair,” I responded smoothly.

As we approached our table, a man stood to greet us. He looked familiar, but I couldn’t be sure.

“Hey man, nice to see you.” He obviously knew Logan, and they had a slight resemblance. “I didn’t know you were bringing a date,” he finished.

“Scott, this is Brooklyn. Brooklyn, meet Scott, my brother.”
Scott.
He’d been in the meeting of the minds that day.

Scott shook my hand platonically, and I returned the gesture, smiling amiably.

“Nice to meet you,” Scott said. “Can’t say I’ve heard much about you, but then again, if you know Logan well, you know he isn’t a huge talker.”

“Are you kidding me, I can’t get him to be quiet,” I joked.

Scott laughed. It was the response I was looking for, something to keep the mood lighter than the way I felt being in the same proximity with a man who made his child feel reviled.

“Brooklyn, you’ve already met my father, but this lovely woman is my mother, Olivia,” Logan said, gesturing in his mother’s direction.

“Nice to see you again, Brooklyn,” Logan Sr. said, standing from his seat to greet me. I shook Logan Sr.’s hand and forced myself to plaster a smile onto my face.

Logan’s mother stood, and I found myself wondering if I looked appropriate enough to be meeting his mother. I didn’t have much experience trying to impress a significant other’s parents, being that Damon’s parents took to me right away and his mother treated me more like a daughter than anything. I hadn’t planned on meeting any other members of Logan’s immediate family, and found myself feeling slightly self-conscious.

Mrs. Colton stood from her seat and offered her dainty hand, which donned a beautiful smoky quartz ring. It matched her cream-colored chiffon evening dress. Mrs. Colton was the epitome of elegance. Not one brown ringlet was out of place.

“A pleasure to meet you, Brooklyn. I love your dress,” Olivia remarked, smiling warmly. Her comment put me at ease immediately.

“Thank you. I love your outfit, too,” I complimented.

Logan interrupted our conversation, “And this is Laura, my sister, her husband, Jonathan, and Scott’s girlfriend, Alisa,” he said, rounding out the introductions. Laura was a spitting image of Logan, green eyes and all. I greeted the rest of the table and then took my seat, admiring the tall cream and yellow rose pomander centerpieces. Logan took his seat next to me.

“Should I be expecting to meet any more of your family?” I asked, motioning to the two empty chairs across from me.

“No, that’s all of them.”

As we sat and politely mingled and waited for the evening to begin, I saw a flicker of purple out of the corner of my eye.

“Hey girlie,” a familiar voice whispered behind me.

“Alex?” I said, turning all the way in my seat. Alex and Jay were standing behind me in full evening attire. Alex was in a mid-length lilac formal dress and shimmering dangle earrings, with Jay looking handsome in a black tuxedo and slim tie.

“You clean up nicely, B,” Jay said, nodding his head in approval of my appearance.

I stood to give them both hugs. “What are you guys doing here?” I asked, astonished.

“Alex, Jay, glad you two could make it. Please have a seat. Let me introduce you to my family,” Logan said, now standing beside me. Apparently I was the only one left out of his masterful plan.

“You look smashing in that dress by the way,” Alex whispered in my ear.

“Yeah, you have quite a bit of explaining to do, young lady.” Alex smirked and made her way to the other side of the table, opposite me.

“So, you’re in cahoots with my friends, I see,” I said impassively, sipping from the glass of water that was in front of me.

“I figured you’d feel out of place not knowing anyone, and I wanted you to escort me. I thought you’d like to have your best friend around,” he murmured.

Before I had the opportunity to respond to Logan’s sneakiness, a man’s voice boomed through the speakers near the stage.

“If I may please have your attention, we’d like to get started,” he continued. “As most of you may know, my name is Alan Colton, and I will be your master of ceremonies this evening. It is with great pleasure that I welcome you to the seventh annual Living Life After Prosthesis gala. On behalf of myself and the rest of the members of the Colton family, we hope that you enjoy yourself and find it in your hearts to support our worthy cause. Before we begin the festivities, I would like to invite my cousin and founder of L.L.A.P. to say a few words. Please join me in welcoming Logan Colton to the stage,” he finished.

My eyes balked and I peered in Logan’s direction. Why hadn’t he told me that he was the reason behind this function? Something that I was learning very quickly about Logan was that he played things pretty close to his chest. It was now painfully obvious to me that Logan’s confessions about being obsessed with work were really about him being racked with guilt.

Logan didn’t respond to my slight glare, he just smiled uneasily and stood from his seat to head toward the stage near the back of the ballroom. I think he may have saw the flickering light bulbs in my head.

My thoughts were momentarily jarred as I watched Logan on stage. I couldn’t help but admire how dapper he looked with the long cream drapes serving as his backdrop. His eyes matched the green tie that was fastened around his neck, which I found to be irresistible. The frostiness I’d felt a few seconds earlier was melted when his voice filtered through the microphone.

“Thank you all for coming to our seventh annual Living Life After Prosthesis gala. As most of you are aware, this charity holds a special place in my heart—my brother Scott is an amputee who has not let his disability hamper him in any way. He enjoys living life to the fullest, and I for one endeavor to be more like him every day.” His words touched a place deep in my heart. On some level I felt pity for Logan. It seemed like he was living his life as a constant reminder of what he’d lost and what once was. Logan’s voice drifted back into my ears, pulling me back from my internal quandaries.

“I am thrilled and honored that you all have decided to participate in such a great cause. As a reminder, all donations can be made out directly to L.L.A.P. and dropped into the secure donation boxes around the room. All proceeds will be divvied between various organizations throughout our nation and abroad. Once again, thank you for attending and wanting to make a difference.”

Logan swiftly stepped back from the microphone and made his way back to our table.

As I watched him head back toward me he was stopped by a few attendees. Alex stole my attention away from looking at Logan.

“Good speech,” she mouthed from across the table, smiling and shaking her head like a bobble head figurine in approval.

Classical music began to waft through the speakers and the MC invited everyone out onto the dance floor.

“Dance with me?” Logan requested when he made it back to our table.

“All right,” I said, standing to my feet, “but only if the party crashers join us,” I said, pointing at Jay and Alex. “I need other people out there who have two left feet like I do.

“Sure—I can’t have you out there looking like a fool by yourself,” Alex chimed in over the music, standing to her feet.

“Watch your toes,” I warned to Logan as we stepped onto the wooden floor. I was more of a casual dancer. When it came to waltzes, mambos, or cha chas, I wasn’t winning any prizes.

Logan took me into his arms, taking me along in easy sway movements and circles. I caught on quickly enough, and prayed that I wouldn’t fall in front of all the people twirling around us.

“I liked your speech. Seems like you know how to host a party,” I remarked, attempting to keep up with his strides. “Why didn’t you tell me you were the founder and host of this shindig?” I asked.

“You should know by now that I don’t like to draw attention to myself. I was slightly annoyed that Alan called me to the stage.” The couple next to us swayed in perfect harmony.

“Back to more important things—have I told you how beautiful you look tonight?” he asked, stepping back to spin me around. My dress twirled at my feet, showing off my crystalline shoes.

“As a matter of fact, you have,” I responded when he pulled me back to his chest.

“Well I definitely can’t wait for later,” he murmured, running his finger over one of my shoulder straps. My exposed skin shivered under his touch.

“Mind if I cut in?” Jay asked. Alex was standing next to him.

“Sure, take her away,” Logan said, offering my hand.

“You’re stuck with me now buddy,” Alex teased as Logan took her hand and led her into a spin timed to saxophone beats and chimes.

Jay took my hand and pulled me in so that we could sway together among the other guests. “This is a nice place,” he commented as we swung together.

“Yeah it is,” I agreed. The way that the ceiling was adorned with sparkly, crystal chandeliers and coffered ceilings really brought the room to life.

“So what’s the real situation with you two?” Jay smiled.

“I think right now we’re sort of just feeling one another out. Undeniably, there is a lot to take in.”

“I can understand that, it takes a while to get to know someone. He seems like a cool cat though,” Jay said, smirking. Jay had taken on the role of big brother in some respects.

“What’s the smirk about?” I asked. His smirk shifted slightly, revealing that he had other thoughts on his mind.

“Well—you’re like a sister to me and Alex, and seeing you happy makes her happy. But I just wanted to know if you thought you and Damon might ever patch things up. The whole time he was here, all I heard about was how he royally screwed up.”

I took in Jay’s words as we rocked back and forth. His admission was slightly surprising. Even though Damon had made his intentions clear the other night, I hadn’t expected him to still be wallowing in it. He was the type of guy who always bounced back.

“He seems to think he has a shot at getting you back, but I figured I would just ask you. You know Alex wants to string him up by his toe nails, but out of respect for me, she wouldn’t go that far.” I couldn’t think of a more fitting torture.

He smiled fondly at the mention of her name. “I guess I’m just trying to say that I’ve been where he is right now—well, maybe not to the same extent, but similar. Luckily for me, Alex took my sorry ass back, but whatever your answer, I’ll relay that to him so hopefully you both can move on in peace.”

“What did you do exactly?” I asked, letting curiosity get the best of me. Alex failed to give me the full details of her breakup with Jay.

“I guess it was a mixture of immaturity and dumb luck. I started falling for a girl who I worked with, but once I realized that I was screwing up things with Alex, I killed it. It nearly broke Alex because she’d given up so much for me. It nearly killed me knowing that I was the source of her pain,” he said, grimacing at the memory.

“Well, I’m glad that you guys found your way back to one another. As far as Damon and I go though, no Jay, there is no chance for us.” I found Jay’s eyes. “He hurt me beyond repair,” I whispered.

“I understand. I just want to see both of you happy—and right now, he isn’t.”

“Well, there isn’t much I can do about that,” I said. I had spent years suffering in silence. I was ready to move on with my life. Logan stepping into the picture had kickstarted the process.

“Well, I hope you know that while I wish there was a way for things to go back to how they were, like Alex I just want you to be happy. If Logan makes you happy, then so be it. But if he hurts you, I’ll want to break his face, just like Alex would. I don’t know who will be worse for him to deal with, me or her,” he joked, showing a clenched tooth smile.

I laughed at his face. “I think I’ll have to give that award to Alex. But I’m trying to be optimistic. Hopefully it won’t come to that.”

Just then, the song ended and I decided to excuse myself to go to the ladies room. I walked over the Alex and Logan.

“Hey, I’m going to go powder my face. Do you want to go with me?”

“Yeah, let me just grab my purse,” she said.

We slithered through the other dancers with Logan and Jay on our heels. When we got back to our table, I turned to see Logan tied up with a man in a tight suit. My bladder was starting to sing.

“Ready?” I asked Alex as Jay took a seat at the table.

“Yep, let’s go.” Alex and I headed off in search of the restroom, flowing through the masses of guests.

I was too consumed with need to marvel at the plush decorations of the lavatory. I almost broke out into a full sprint.

“I’ll be right back,” I said, pushing my way through the door that separated me from sheer relief.

“All right,” Alex said, plopping down on one of the couches.

I walked through the empty space and into one of the stalls at the end of the row. I proceeded to hike my dress up, and it was hard trying to roll down my nylons and not let my dress accidentally fall into the toilet.

I was adjusting my nylons back on my waist when I heard the sound of two women’s voices come through the door.

“I’m so bored; this is my third benefit dinner this month. Sometimes I get tired of the same song and dance.”
Poor you,
I thought sarcastically. L.L.A.P was a great effort to help those in need. Wounded vets came to my mind at that moment.

“Agreed, but at least this event has some fine eye candy to look at.”

“Seriously, Logan is a sight for sore eyes.”
Logan?
My ears perked when I heard his name.

“Morgan, I hope you aren’t lying in wait for Logan. Elizabeth would hate you forever.”

“Of course not, Sam! I could never do that to her.”