“Logan, you should probably leave Ellery alone so she can get some rest.” Leaning against the bedpost, Nancy gave every indication that she was going to stay until Logan was out of the room.
With a roll of his eyes, Logan put his hands on his knees and pushed up from the love seat. “If you need anything, Ellery, I’ll be right next door.”
“And I’ll be across the hall.” Nancy pursed her lips as she herded her son out the door. “Good night, Ellery. Sweet dreams.”
The door closed, and she was alone.
Sweet dreams…if only that were possible.
The nightmares weren’t as frequent these days, but they always came after seeing a car accident. Today, she’d seen two—the fender-bender in Austin and the wreck in Houston. She carried a prescription sedative for an emergency situation like this, which mostly worked like a sleeping pill. It wouldn’t necessarily stop the bad dreams, but at least she wouldn’t wake up every twenty minutes in a full-blown panic attack. A quick search of her purse produced the prescription bottle, and she downed a pill with a handful of water from the tap.
The menacing bed loomed, its pristine sheets and fluffy comforter promising a night of torture.
“Might as well get it over with.”
She climbed in bed and waited for sleep to take her.
CHAPTER 6
Logan woke with a start, his chest thumping. He sat up in bed, his eyes probing the darkness in confusion, trying to determine his strange whereabouts. As he recognized the guest room at his mother’s Houston home, his pulse began to slow. What had pulled him out of a dead sleep? Was his body that off kilter from being away from home?
Josiah’s right. I’m turning into a hermit.
He checked the time—2:10—and laid back on his pillow, forcing his muscles to relax. Maybe he’d had a panic attack in his sleep. No doubt, tomorrow would be hard, facing his old friends without Allegra’s support. Allegra had always been his crutch. As long as she was by his side, no one had dared to criticize him. At least, not to his face.
He knew nasty things had been spoken behind his back, but part of that had come from jealousy. With Allegra, he’d had status. Without her, all his education and money and success had bought him tolerance, at best. He wouldn’t have been invited to the wedding at all if his mother hadn’t been best friends with Allegra’s mom, Carlotta. Defying social and family pressures, Carlotta had stood by Nancy throughout the ugly affair and divorce that had ruined Nancy’s life and catapulted her out of their social circle.
This wedding would be hard on Logan’s mom, that much was certain. His mom had always put on a brave front as if nothing bothered her. The divorce, the ensuing financial crisis, the loss of most of her so-called friends…none of those things had made her lose her faith in God or her gracious attitude. Yet he’d seen her crying when she’d thought no one was looking. Now Logan wanted badly to protect her from any more pain, to shield her from the harsh whisperings of all those hypocrites. Everyone knew his stepdad had been the one who’d cheated, gotten a girl pregnant. Yet his mother was the one who’d been shunned, while the other woman—almost half her age—had taken her place at his stepfather’s side…the new Mrs. Abercrombie.
Chester Abercrombie had never been an affectionate man. Yet ever since Logan could remember, he’d been trying to earn the man’s love, even after he divorced Logan’s mom and left them struggling to survive on a teacher’s salary. Even now, Logan wondered if his existence hadn’t been at the root of his parents’ problems.
Somewhere in his adult years, Logan had finally recognized the truth…his stepfather was a vengeful man with no morals. Though Logan had never asked, he wondered what had attracted his mother to the man in the first place.
As much as he dreaded confronting his stepdad, he looked forward to seeing Allegra again. This was their chance to make a clean start. Hopefully, when she saw the new, improved version of Logan West, she’d be willing to give him another chance. If she still wasn’t interested, he would simply pretend he didn’t care.
He tried to picture Allegra’s face, but it was Ellery’s clear blue eyes that filled his mind. Logan had never met anyone quite like her. He smiled, recalling their meeting. It had been less than twenty-four hours, yet it felt as if he’d known her forever. Authenticity. Everything about her was real. She was exactly what she appeared to be, and proud of it.
He’d never met a woman so brave. She hadn’t given him the details of the accident, but he’d put the pieces together from her earlier conversation with his mom. Having lived through some kind of horrific crash that had taken her family’s lives and left her scarred, Ellery faced the world with her chin held high. In comparison, his own actions, retreating into the safety of his home, looked like cowardice.
Not anymore! His fists clenched of their own accord.
For the past five years, he’d avoided people because of his phobia. He’d only made one trip to his mother’s house in Houston, and that had been two years ago, the day he’d purchased it for her. Yet today, consumed with making Ellery feel comfortable, he’d hardly felt any anxiety about being out in public.
Was it possible his so-called phobia had been a complete fabrication? Maybe he’d simply become so self-focused, he couldn’t function like a normal person. No matter what, Logan knew something had to change. He would conquer this as he had every other obstacle in his life. He couldn’t control the actions of his stepdad or Allegra or anyone else, but he could control his own. He would find a way to shield himself from people without avoiding them. He would build an immunity the same way he’d built up his muscles and his bank account…with hard work, determination, and perseverance.
But for now, he needed to sleep. Saturday would be stressful enough without a sleepless night to start it off.
He’d barely closed his eyes again when a bloodcurdling scream erupted from the wall behind him. “Help me!” Ellery’s terrified cry sent his heart into his throat.
In an instant, he was out of his bed and out in the hallway. He was almost to Ellery’s room when his mother’s door opened across the hall.
“Nightmares?” his mom whispered, eyes wide.
He shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“Where’s your shirt?” She frowned, elbows on her hips as she regarded his state of undress, though he was perfectly decent wearing athletic shorts.
“I didn’t stop to put one on,” he murmured.
Another pitiful wail came through Ellery’s door, and his mother’s forehead wrinkled with concern.
“Go on. I trust you. Hurry up!” She waved her hand toward Ellery’s room. “But leave the door open.”
Logan cracked the door and spied Ellery on the bed, thrashing in the twisted sheet, the comforter on the floor. The moonlight pouring through the cracks in the blinds illuminated her face in eerie stripes, glistening with tears.
“Hey,” he said in a soft voice as he drew closer, “you’re okay.”
She whimpered, tossing her head from side to side on the pillow, her hair fanned out in a dark, tangled mass.
“It’s only a dream.” He brushed her face with his fingers, hoping to wake her gently, but she cried out, her hand shooting up to grasp his wrist in an iron grip.
“Help!” The fear in her voice made the hair rise on the back of his neck.
“Ellery, wake up,” he urged, using his other hand to give her shoulder a shake.
She shrieked like he’d sliced her with a knife, dropping his hand to wrestle with the imprisoning sheet.
