Chapter 1 - THE QUESTION LOGAN WASN’T SUPPOSED TO ASK
Megan had promised herself she would stay ninety minutes.
Long enough to be polite.
Long enough to give Vanessa the wrapped silver baby frame sitting beneath the gift table.
Long enough that Diane couldn't later tell the family Megan had “made the shower about herself.”
Then she would take Logan home.
That had been the plan.
Vanessa ruined it in fifty-three minutes.
The baby shower filled nearly every room on the first floor of the suburban house.
Pastel balloons floated above cream-colored tables.
White roses and pale blue hydrangeas surrounded the dessert display.
Relatives in expensive clothes balanced champagne flutes and little plates of lemon cake while pretending not to notice that Vanessa had been needling Megan since she arrived.
First it was the dress.
“Black at a baby shower?”
Then Megan's apartment.
“Still renting?”
Then Logan.
“Fifteen already. God, it goes fast when you're doing everything alone.”
Megan had smiled through all of it.
She had learned that reacting only made the family feel confirmed.
Five years earlier she'd divorced Aaron Blake after finding out the affair he called “one mistake” had actually lasted fourteen months.
Diane had begged Megan to reconsider.
Not because Aaron was innocent.
Because Logan needed a father.
Megan had chosen divorce anyway.
Diane never quite forgave her for it.
Now Vanessa stood beside the gift table with one manicured hand resting on her pregnant stomach.
Seven months.
First baby.
Years of fertility treatments.
A room full of people who had been instructed, directly or otherwise, to treat the pregnancy like a royal event.
Megan was genuinely happy the baby was healthy.
That made the cruelty harder to understand.
Vanessa accepted another gift.
Then looked directly at Megan.
Her smile sharpened.
“At least my baby will have a father.”
The room changed.
Not silence.
Worse.
Awkward laughter.
Two cousins looked immediately at their plates.
Someone near the balloons actually snorted before realizing nobody else wanted to be the loudest person laughing.
Megan felt Logan stiffen beside her.
She did not look at him.
That was deliberate.
If she looked, he would see how much it hurt.
Vanessa tilted her head.
“What?”
Megan picked up her water.
“Nothing.”
“No, really. You look upset.”
“I’m fine.”
Across the room, Diane sighed.
Megan's mother had been sitting beside the dessert table in a pale gray suit, accepting congratulations as though she were personally responsible for Vanessa's pregnancy.
She shook her head.
“Some choices speak for themselves.”
That landed where Vanessa's line had been aimed.
Megan put down the glass.
Slowly.
She could leave.
That was the adult thing.
Take Logan.
Thank the hostess.
Go home.
She turned toward him.
His chair scraped backward.
Every face in the room moved toward the sound.
Logan stood.
Fifteen.
Too tall suddenly.
Dark hair falling over his forehead.
His jaw set in a way Megan had seen only twice before.
“Logan.”
He stepped away from the table.
Not toward Vanessa exactly.
Toward the center of the room.
Vanessa looked amused.
“Oh, come on. I was joking.”
Logan lifted one hand.
Pointed directly at her.
“Aunt Vanessa…”
The laughter died.
Megan stood.
“What are you doing?”
Logan did not look at her.
He looked at Vanessa.
Then past Vanessa.
Toward the dessert table.
Toward Travis.
Megan's older brother had been standing there with a glass of sparkling water, smiling through most of the afternoon.
He was not smiling now.
Logan's voice stayed steady.
“Should I tell everyone about Uncle Travis’s other family?”
Vanessa's face went blank.
Travis stopped moving.
The glass remained halfway between the table and his hand.
Several relatives turned toward him so quickly that chairs shifted.
Diane stood.
“Logan.”
Vanessa's smile had disappeared.
Completely.
“Logan… what are you talking about?”
Travis's face was draining of color.
Megan looked at her son.
Then at her brother.
For the first time, she saw fear in Travis's expression.
Not annoyance.
Not embarrassment.
Fear.
He took one nervous step backward.
Logan watched him.
Vanessa looked between them.
“What is he talking about?”
No one answered.
Travis opened his mouth.
May you like
Logan stared directly at him.
“You know exactly what I mean.”
