“You’re right! You can reach it this way,” I said, with my voice and my hands. “Okay, Rory, we’ll take it. And if it doesn’t look good, we can come back and get another one before Christmas, alright?”
“How could it not be beautiful?” Logan countered, and he seemed genuinely enchanted by the pine now. “We’ll buy extra lights. It will be gorgeous. Evelyn, can you tell Aurora the tree will be beautiful?”
Laughing, I relayed the message to Aurora, who couldn’t see his lips from her perch.
Her smile widened.
A salesman approached, and Logan confirmed we were taking the tree. While the man wrote up the receipt, I glanced at Anna and saw her with her arms crossed, head down.
“Hey, Anna…” I called. She didn’t look up. “What’s wrong, my love? You didn’t like the tree your sister picked?”
“I wanna leave,” she mumbled.
Logan finished with the receipt and crouched in front of her. “You didn’t like it? Rory really did, but if you don’t, we can keep looking for one you both like.”
“I don’t care about the stupid tree,” she snapped. “I just want to leave.”
The relaxed expression on Logan’s face crumbled into sadness.
Anna turned her back and walked away, breaking into a run that startled me until I saw her slump onto a bench. Aurora ran after her, sitting beside her and, sensing her sister didn’t want to talk, began to tenderly stroke her hair.
The scene was heartbreaking, a stark reminder of the sadness and confusion these girls carried from their mother’s abandonment and being thrust into a new life with a stranger for a father. Yet, it was also beautiful. As angry as Anna was, she didn’t push her sister away. And as ignored as she was, Aurora was determined to show her twin she wasn’t alone.
“I thought I was starting to get it right…” Logan said beside me, his eyes fixed on his daughters.
“It’s not that simple,” I replied softly. “You won’t automatically win their love, Logan. It’s a slow process.”
“It shouldn’t be. I’m their father.”
“And until a week ago, they didn’t even know you.”
“They didn’t know you either, and they already like you. You already told me why. You see them. You notice the details. And I, for all my life boasting about being smart… I have such a hard time doing the same.”
“Well… not always. You did well with Rory today. I probably would have kept insisting we find a ‘better’ tree, but you understood before I did that something about that… hideous thing… had captivated her.”
“Ah, the tree isn’t that ugly…”
“You’re going to have to buy alotof extra lights to cover all those gaps and make it look even remotely presentable.”
“Look on the bright side…” He waved the receipt. “It was heavily discounted…”
That made me laugh. In fact, we both laughed together. And it was amazing to realize that, for the first time since we’d met, Logan Turner and I were sharing a genuine laugh.
“You’re a Turner. And you’re the director of New York Center Hospital. Aren’t you ashamed to be hunting for discounts on Christmas trees?”
“I’m still thefuturedirector. It’s not official until next month.”
“It’s only a matter of time. Just like winning over the girls. You’re off to a good start. With Anna, you just need a little more patience.”
He grew thoughtful, his gaze lingering on his daughters.
And for the first time since this whole mess began, I saw a true, determined spark in his eyes—not just a sense of obligation, but a real desire to close the distance between them.
Chapter Eighteen
LOGAN
My back was killing me.
