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Logan could see, by the genuine puzzlement on her face, that she really
wanted to know. Incredible!
'Life, Mother,' he bit out economically. 'Yours,' he added hardly as she
would have spoken.
She shook her head. 'I can't believe that after all these years—Logan, I know
I've made mistakes in the past—'
'Mistakes!' Now he did stand up, moving impatiently to the coffee machine
that stood on a sidetable, pouring himself a cup of the dark steaming brew.
'Your life has had all the stability of a helter-skelter! And during the early
years, after my father died, when I wasn't old enough to have a say in things,
you took me along for the ride!' he concluded disgustedly.
His mother's eyes, as she looked up at him, flooded with sudden tears, and
she suddenly looked very tiny, and slightly vulnerable. Strange, he had
never seen her in quite that light before...
No! His mother was a consummate actress—she had made a living the last
thirty years, both on and off screen, with that acting! He must not be taken in
and manipulated by the role she apparently saw herself in now.
'I know I was far from the perfect mother to you, Logan, after your father
died,' she began huskily. 'But I just missed him so much—'
'I missed him too,' Logan told her coldly.
'I know,' she acknowledged shakily. 'I do know, Logan,' she insisted as he
would have protested. 'But it isn't the same. I had lost the man I loved. I was
lost, seemed to lose all direction in my life. I—I made a mistake when I
married again, I know'that,' she admitted. 'But I was lonely, and— There's
nothing I can do or say now that will take away the past. It's the future we
have to look to now.'
Logan looked down at her. This really was a different role for her. His
mother had never spoken to him in this way before, never confided in him in
this way. And he wasn't quite sure how to deal with it.
'Whose future are we talking about, Mother?' he queried. 'Yours or mine?'
She looked back up at him, her gaze unwavering. 'I love Daniel Simon,' she
told him quietly. 'He's the first and only man I have loved since I lost your
father. And I would like to marry him.'
Logan shrugged. 'The last I heard, that's exactly what you intend doing!'
She shook her head. 'Not without Darcy's approval.'
His mouth quirked. 'Again, the last I heard—and she didn't exactly use these
words, you understand?—there was about as much chance of Darcy giving
her blessing to her father marrying you as there is of hell freezing over!'
'I know,' his mother agreed dully.
Logan gave her a probing look, still unsure of her in this mood. Usually his
mother gave the impression she was totally in control of her world, and the
people in it. Perhaps that was the trouble this time...?
'Dear, dear, Mother, don't tell me that you aren't more than capable of
talking Daniel Simon round to your way of thinking?' he taunted. Goodness
knew there were very few men who could resist his mother's brand of
charm!
'You just don't understand, do you, Logan?' His mother shook her head
sadly as she returned his gaze unblinkingly. 'Daniel is all for going ahead
with the marriage, and dealing with Darcy's feelings later; I'm the one who
won't go j-e^d with the wedding without his daughter's approval.
It's no way to begin our married life together, and I will not come between
father and daughter.'
Now Logan was really puzzled. Could it be, could it really be, that his
mother really did love Daniel Simon, that she was putting someone else's
happiness above her own...? It would be the first time!
His mother gave a shy smile at his obviously stunned expression. 'Not
exactly the way you see me, is it, Logan?' she ventured ruefully. 'Maybe if
we had been closer the last twenty years or so—'
'As you are well aware, Mother, I despised Malcolm Slater, the man you
chose to marry after my father died, preferred to live with Grandfather
rather than with you and him,' he revealed with distaste.
'I despised Malcolm myself by the time we were divorced,' she admitted.
Logan was surprised. 'You did?'
His mother gave a wistful smile. 'I did. Mainly because I lost my son during
the five years we were married. Logan, why do you think I feel so strongly
about having Darcy's approval to her father marrying me? It's because I
know how it feels to lose your child in those circumstances,' she continued
firmly. 'I lost you for that very reason, because of the way you felt about
Malcolm,' she said emotionally. 'And although it may be too late to do
anything to salvage our own relationship, I won't do that to Daniel and
Darcy!'
Logan stared at his mother, wondering, just wondering, if he could have
been wrong about her all these years...
She looked at him with unwavering blue eyes. 'I need your help, Logan. I
