Tall, Dark & Gorgeous: To Marry McKenzie

‘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 ahead 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 need you to help me persuade Darcy that I really do love her father, that I intend making him happy. Will you help me?’

Would he?

Wasn’t his mother, a woman he had kept at an emotional distance for more years than he cared to think about, asking him to take on the role Darcy had already cast him in at lunch-time—that of championing his mother?

Did he really want to champion his mother? Could he believe the things she was saying to him?

More to the point, didn’t Darcy already hate him enough…?

‘Call for you, Darcy,’ her grandmother called up the stairs.

A call for her…?

Who from? Apart from her father, no one else knew she had been staying with her maternal grandmother the last couple of days; and her father only knew because her grandmother had thought she ought to tell him.

Again, it was only a temporary arrangement, Darcy having found an apartment to rent that very afternoon. Unfortunately the current tenant wasn’t moving out until next week.

She ran down the stairs to pick up the receiver in the hallway. ‘Yes?’ she prompted warily.

‘Darcy,’ Logan McKenzie greeted with satisfaction. ‘You’re a very difficult young lady to track down.’

Darcy had stiffened as soon as she’d recognised his voice, her hand tightly gripping the receiver. ‘Why did you bother?’ she returned coldly.

‘I thought you might be interested to know that I’m in hospital with a broken shin-bone,’ he came back mildly.

‘You’re what?’ she gasped, remembering all too vividly the way she had kicked him on the leg at the restaurant two days ago.

‘That got your attention anyway.’ He chuckled. ‘Actually…’ he sobered ‘…I exaggerated slightly.’

‘How slightly?’ Darcy ventured warily.

‘I’m not in hospital. And my shin-bone isn’t broken.’

‘In other words, it was a total lie!’ Darcy came back disgustedly.

‘Fabrication,’ he corrected smoothly. ‘It isn’t nice to call someone a liar, Darcy.’

‘Logan,’ she sighed wearily, ‘what do you want?’

‘To have dinner with you this evening,’ he returned lightly.

She was taken aback at the unexpected invitation. ‘Why?’

‘You really are the most suspicious young lady!’ he opined dryly. ‘Why not?’

The reasons for that were too numerous to go into. And some of them were reasons she couldn’t possibly tell Logan! As in, she found him too disturbingly attractive. As in, she dared not run the risk of having him kiss her again. As in—

‘Oh, come on, Darcy,’ he cajoled at her continued silence. ‘It’s only dinner.’

Only dinner…

But what were the implications behind the invitation? What was it supposed to achieve? Because she had no doubts that under ordinary circumstances—such as his mother not being about to marry her father!—Logan would never have thought of asking her out to dinner! He must already be aware, she had no influence with her father whatsoever!

‘Logan, my father is a grown man, an adult, perfectly capable of making his own choices and decisions without any help from me,’ she told him decisively.

‘Yes?’

‘Yes!’