“What about you and Logan?” Sophie asked worriedly.
“I don’t know. He and I are so opposite. He’s everything I don’t like. He’s arrogant, unpredictable, cold one minute and soft the next. I never know where I stand with him. Who knows how next week will go.”
“Next week?” Sophie frowned, confusion evident in both her tone and expression.
Claire swallowed another groan. Now it was time for the explanations. “Logan and I are going on vacation next week.”
Sophie’s mouth dropped open. “Together?”
“Together.” Claire sipped at her tea again. “We’ve leaving tomorrow for Maryland, but that’s all I can get him to tell me about it. Can you believe that? He always has to be in charge of everything.”
Claire broke off, noticing the odd way Sophie was suddenly looking at her. “What is it, Soph?”
“I can’t believe it,” her sister said, still eying Claire like she may sprout a second head at any moment. “You’re falling for him, aren’t you? I thought it was a rebound, that he was available and you were hurting, and I thought it was just a one-time thing. But that’s not all there is to it. I can see that now.”
Sophie’s observations made Claire very uncomfortable. In fact, she longed to squirm a bit in her chair. Because no one could render her as transparent as her sister could, and because Sophie was absolutely right.
“I don’t know, Soph,” she admitted. “I’ve been telling myself I care about him only as the father of my child, but it’s not true anymore. I’m not even sure if it was ever true. The more I spend time with him and the more he opens up to me, I find myself drawn to him. I try to keep my distance, to push him away, because in the end I’m afraid he isn’t the right man for me. And I know I’m so stupid to feel this way about Logan Monroe, of all people, but…”
“But you can’t help it,” Sophie finished for her. “I know what you’re saying. I’ve been there, believe me.”
“You and Trevor are so perfect for one another though,” Claire argued. “Logan and I aren’t.”
“You’re two people who are going to have a baby together,” Sophie pointed out. “Maybe it’s not such a bad idea for you to listen to your heart instead of your head. You might regret it later if you don’t.”
Claire considered Sophie’s words, afraid to even ponder their consequences. “I might regret it if I do.”
Sophie sent her a small smile. “But you’ll never know unless you try.” She squeezed Claire’s hand. “Just promise me you’ll be careful.”
Three hours into their drive Sunday morning, a right turn off the highway led them to an utterly picturesque little town. The streets were narrow in an ancient European fashion and lined by imposing red brick buildings that had retained their old-world elegance. It was like driving into a time warp. Claire half expected to see horse-drawn carriages for opposing traffic.
“Thank God,” Logan murmured. “If I was forced to buy one more fast food breakfast item, you would’ve had to roll me into the hotel for check-in.”
Claire cast him a sidelong glance of censure, distracted for a moment from her scenery ogling. “You don’t understand what it’s like to have someone lying on your bladder. Besides, it was only three stops.”
“Four,” Logan corrected instantly. “But who’s counting?”
Okay, so they’d hit a few fast food restaurants for pee breaks. Once inside, both felt obligated to buy some sort of food item. After all, it was an unwritten traveler’s law that stopping to use a restroom without buying anything was a no-no.
“You really should try to be more accommodating,” she informed him.
Logan grunted in response, braking at a stop sign and waiting for the VW across the street to make a right turn. “I don’t know what you’d call more accommodating than two hash browns, an egg Mc-something, and a cinnamon roll. Not to mention the shitty-tasting black liquid they passed off as coffee.”
Claire turned her attention to the window again as they moved forward, crossing an intersection unlike any she’d ever seen. Five roads came together from all different angles. “Need I remind you who invited me?”
He shot her an amused look. “Oh believe me, I remember.”
“Having second thoughts, Monroe?” Because God knew she’d been having them all morning, alternately second-guessing herself, then vindicating herself again with various arguments.
“Not a single one.”
Claire returned her attention to the passing scenery and wondered whether he was telling her the truth. He had to harbor at least some slight regret about their night together. Logan Monroe was a man who stood alone, who liked to be in control of every detail in his life. God knew he hadn’t planned to sleep with her, let alone to create a child with her. But here they were, stuck together for the next eighteen years, minimum.
To Claire, that idea’s appeal grew every day, regardless of her frustration with Logan. But to him, she just didn’t know. It often hit her, made her heavy with the weight of dread, to think he might feel trapped by their mutual situation. She was ashamed to admit that, at least initially, she had felt trapped by the baby. But now she had the ability to recognize her marriage with Garrett had already been long dead. And she was prepared to be the best mother to her child she possibly could. She loved him or her more than words could express already.
“This is the hotel,” Logan announced, interrupting her broodings.
“It’s the most charming thing I’ve ever seen,” Claire breathed, instantly taken with the structure. It was tall compared to the town’s other buildings, but would have easily been dwarfed by any of the buildings in downtown Philly. The brick composing its façade was clearly old. A long porch graced the entire length of the hotel, dotted with wooden rocking chairs and hanging plant baskets. A half circle at its top proclaimed it had been built in 1897.
