Winter Ice (Storm for All Seasons 3)

Maybe too many other emotions swirled through the lobby right now.

It didn't matter anyway. Today was Lissa and Aidan's day, and she'd simply have to push her feelings for Logan aside.

The music started and the long walk down the aisle began.

"You ready, partner?" Brett asked as he stepped next to her.

Refusing to dwell on the pain, she smiled brightly. "Ready as I'll ever be."

The wedding went off without a single mishap. The glowing white aura around Aidan and Lissa was so bright she almost had to turn away. Love filled the church.

Sophie shed a few tears as Aidan and Lissa recited their vows, promising to love each other forever.

She couldn't help but glance at Logan while those words of love were exchanged, wondering why commitment came so easily to some while it was so incredibly difficult for others. In her heart, she knew she and Logan belonged together. But she couldn't do anything about the fact that he didn't return her feelings.

Unrequited love sucked. Even though Josh wasn't who she thought he was, she felt a new sense of empathy for how he'd felt about her. He had loved her, back when he was a different person, and she hadn't been able to love him back.

Would she feel this miserable for the rest of her life?

Shaking off the melancholy, she smiled brightly when Father John pronounced Aidan and Melissa husband and wife. Aidan swept his new bride into a passionate kiss, lingering so long that Father John had to clear his throat to pull them apart.

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Winter Ice

"Ladies and gentlemen," Father John announced. "I'd like to introduce you to Mr.

and Mrs. Aidan Storm."

A huge round of applause echoed throughout the church. They stayed afterward and took what seemed like hundreds of pictures. The entire time, Sophie felt Logan's gaze on her, yet she refused to look at him again.

What was the point? After the wedding reception she'd go back to her job, find a new place to live, and start her life again. She wasn't the type of person to pine over someone who didn't care for her, and there was no reason to beat her head against an impenetrable wall.

She'd tried to win his love, and failed. It was time to move on.

They left the church and rode in limos to the hotel. The main ballroom was decorated in lavender and cream, paper bells, balloons and streamers draped along the rafters and walls. The band began to play as Aidan and Lissa entered. Sophie walked in with Brett, and they were required to dance the first official bridal party dance.

Brett held her close, smiling at her the entire time. Yet she sensed turbulent emotions flowing through him. Happiness, yet a tragic sadness that tugged at her heart.

"You like weddings?" she asked.

He shrugged. "They're fine for other people. How about you?"

"Yeah, I have to admit that I really do like them. But I'm a sucker for romance."

Brett laughed. When he laughed, he relaxed, and some of that dark aura that surrounded him dissipated. She wished she could help him, but there never seemed to be a right time to ask him what made him seem so unhappy on the inside.

Quit trying to save everyone, Sophie. You can't do it. Leave him alone.

Deciding to take her own advice, she let Brett whirl her around the dance floor and tell her jokes. Laughing out loud made her feel much better anyway.

147

Jaci Burton

*

"Logan, you're squeezing the breath out of me!"

Logan blinked and looked down at a glaring Shannon. "Sorry."

He'd been so busy keeping watch over Sophie and Brett that he'd hardly been aware he was dancing with his sister. The way Brett held her close, the easy way he made her laugh out loud, shouldn't irritate him.

But it did. Big time.

"Why don't you just go talk to her? Ask her to dance."

"She's dancing with Brett."

"So what? Go cut in. You two have unfinished business."

He rolled his eyes. Like every member of his family hadn't already told him that.

Twice. "Leave it alone, Shannon."

"Oh, please. Look who's talking. As if I'd had any choice when the family was trying to push me into Max's arms."

"Seems to me I recall you going quite willingly."

He winced when she stomped on his foot. "Dickhead."

"Love you too, Sis."

She laughed. "Seriously. You love her. She loves you. You belong together. What's the big damn deal?"

He turned his gaze from Sophie to his sister. "I hurt her, Shannon. Do you know how much I hurt her by not believing in her? What kind of a man does that make me?

Do you think she even wants me in her life after the things I said to her?"

"We women can be extremely forgiving. Look at all of us. We love you, despite the fact you're an overbearing, cold-hearted, anal-retentive pain in the ass."

He arched a brow. "You're so sweet. Stop. I'm blushing."

Grinning, she said, "That just means I love you and you know it. Now quit acting like such a baby and go talk to her."

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Winter Ice

"When I want advice, Shannon, I'll be sure not to ask you. Now let it go."

She shook her head. "You're going to end up old and alone, Logan. And cranky as hell. I swear to God if you get any grouchier with old age, one of us will have to smother you in your sleep."

"Ah, nothing like seeing my children get along so well."

Logan turned to his mother, who looked radiant as usual. "Shannon started it."

Angelina laughed. "Uh-huh. I'm cutting in."

Shannon stepped back. "It's not going away until you deal with it, Logan," she said, then headed toward Max, who grinned at her approach. His mother slipped into his arms.

"Want to talk about it?" she asked.

"Does it seem like I want to talk about it?"

"No. Which means you should. At least to me. I know how you feel, Logan."

He started to object, but it was pointless. His mother knew how each of her children felt. All the time, every day, year in and year out. It was damned disconcerting not to be able to hide anything from her. "Doesn't matter how I feel. Or how she feels. It's not right, Mother. Despite what you say, we're not meant to be together. We share no destiny, and if we did and you set this entire thing up between the two of us, it was only because you sensed the danger to our family. I give her all the credit for saving us, but there was nothing else between us."

Angelina frowned. "I set this...wait a minute. What are you talking about?"

He whirled her from the room and out into the lobby, taking her aside. "Look. I know that you and Sophie cooked this whole thing up. You arranged for us to meet because you got some wacky vibe that she and I were meant for each other."

"I did not."

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Jaci Burton

Exasperated, he said, "It's okay. I understand why now, though I didn't at the beginning. You know how I feel about the magic, Mother. You know I don't want any part of it. Look at the havoc it created. Look at what I did to Sophie."

Angelina crossed her arms and tapped her foot. "You think I put you and Sophie together? Well, you're wrong. I met Sophie for the first time the night of the Mardi Gras ball. And yes, at that moment I sensed your destiny, but not before then. As far as your magic, it creates no havoc whatsoever. Only your bullheaded refusal to accept who and what you are generates problems in your life, Logan. I'm sorry you're ashamed of us, but we are who we are and can't change that."

"Wait a minute. You didn't orchestrate my meeting with Sophie?"

"No."

"Then how..."

"Perhaps she knew where to find you. Perhaps you called to her in a way that had nothing to do with manipulation and everything to do with the fact that you were destined to meet, destined to fall in love, and destined to spend eternity together."

He felt the tension boiling within his mother, unable to recall ever seeing her this angry.

"Pull your head out of your ass and grow up, Logan. You aren't the only one in the world learning to deal with magic. Most of us get past it and learn to accept who we are, learn to embrace the wondrous gifts God has bestowed on us. You seem to be the only one fighting it, and it's way past time. Accept it, or not, it's up to you. But I'm tired of placating you and trying to apologize for giving you this gift. I won't do it any longer."

Tears welled in her eyes. He reached for her but she pushed away from him and fled down the hallway to the elevator.

He stood there, stunned and unable to move.

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Winter Ice

What the hell had he done? He'd alienated his family, especially his mother, the woman he loved more than anyone else in the world. Had his refusal to accept his magic hurt her that badly?

He stepped outside the hotel and took a walk along the river. The night was cool and foggy, yet he didn't even feel it.

It had never occurred to him that his mother might be hurt by his refusal to acknowledge his power. How the hell had it taken him so long to see that?

He knew why. Because he'd spent most of his adult life running from who he was, trying to hide the fact that what lived inside him was a gift from both his parents.

Instead of thanking them and celebrating his power, he'd led his mother to believe he was ashamed of the entire family.