I nodded.
“Walk from her. Right now. Don’t listen to anything she’s going to say, and tell Logan everything she’s said so far. He’ll dole out his vengeance, and she knows it.” She skimmed Helen faintly, adding to me, “I’d also ignore this one from here on out too. Let Logan handle her if he chooses. She’ll be the one regretting it, not you.”
An Escalade pulled up to the street, and Sam went to it, visibly shaking.
I knew who was in the Escalade, and I waited. Just a bit.
Once Sam was inside, and the door was closed, the back window rolled down. Logan was there, watching me, waiting.
That’s when I showed Tate. Lifting my phone from my pocket, I showed her the screen. “Logan likes these pants, but they’re worn. Raggedy. Still. Logan likes ’em, so I wear them for him. I won’t always be able to wear them, so I figured why not today. Early Christmas present for him. But you know the great thing about these pants?” I showed her the pocket, showed her the bunch of holes that were there.
She knew. She paled again.
I flashed her a grin, raising my phone and hitting the stop recording button. “The best thing today about these pants? Logan doesn’t need to be told about what went down because he saw the whole thing.” I said to Helen, “He heard the whole thing too.”
A door was shut from the street. A figure was coming toward us.
I knew who it was. Everyone else did too, but I added to Helen, “My mom’s dead, so I had hoped to have a relationship with my significant other’s mother. You did try at times. I’ll give that to you, but then it all changed, and you stopped. I kept trying. You began ignoring me. I blamed myself. Now, seeing and hearing all this, I know it was never me. It was always you. It will always be you. And I’ll be following Sam’s lead from now on. If she freezes you out, so will I. I’m going to have her back just like she had mine. Malinda is Mom enough. She’s ten times the mother and grandmother you are.” That figure moved up behind me, skimming a hand up my arm, brushing some of my hair back, and I felt his lips touch my neck before Logan spoke, “We’re doing a family Christmas party on Monday. You’re not invited, Helen.”
Logan took my phone, putting it in his pocket, and his hand found mine, lacing our fingers. He began walking back to the Escalade, tugging me with him. I saw that Heather was already inside.
That’s when Logan had the last word.
“See you in court, Tate.”
34
Taylor
Christmas was tomorrow.
Yesterday was a Kade family war because Tate was in jail. The new paternity tests were sent in. Helen was all sorts of regret. Analise was flying in but not staying with James. She was checking herself into a mental health facility because she stopped taking her meds. That facility was an hour from here.
Malinda was still livid.
David was quiet.
James was remorseful as well and a little bit weepy.
Mason, who was already back in Boston, led the fight from an iPad propped up on the table, but he didn’t tear into anyone. Logan was also quieter than usual. He sat by me, keeping a hand on my leg. I knew he wanted to touch my stomach, but Quincey and Samantha had both started giving me thoughtful looks, so he stopped doing that.
Instead, like right now, as I was standing and looking out our window, I felt him come up behind me. A hand touched my hip, moved under my shirt, and slid around to the front of my stomach now. He fit himself right behind me, pulling me back to half lean on him.
“Merry Christmas Eve.” He kissed my bare shoulder.
I reached up, catching his head, and slid my hand to the back of his neck. He stayed where he was, his head half bent over me, his mouth moving down my throat, and I groaned, tipping my head back for him.
“You feel better?”
My stomach clenched up just at the memory. After dinner, I went right to the bathroom and stayed there most of the night. Logan covered for me and came up to keep me company an hour later. He sat on the floor, rubbed my back, brushed my hair back, gave me a new washcloth when I needed it. For someone who worried about having kids, he was already setting the partner bar pretty damn high.
I nodded. “I’m better now. It comes and goes. The weirdest smells set me off too.”
“Can I do anything for you?”
I released his neck, and as his head straightened, I leaned my head against his shoulder and grinned up at him. “You’re doing it.”
We stayed there, Logan holding me as I stood in his embrace.