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“I think you’re pretty terrific already.”
“You must be in love with me,” he declared, kissing her on the nose.
“Why would you say that?” She tried for a light tone, but it came out sounding a little too anxious.
“Because only a woman in love would think I’m terrific after I took my anxiety and exasperation out on her earlier.”
“Oh, that.” She waved her hand in dismissal. “I’m just used to your bad-tempered ways.”
She took his hand. The feel of her fingers meshed with his lowered his blood pressure and calmed the agitation he’d been feeling since she’d hung up on him yesterday.
She, too, looked more at ease as they exited the parking ramp. Silence reigned as he got them onto the freeway and heading north.
“I’m all out of ideas where we should look for Madison next,” he said, prodding her out of her thoughts.
“I called Chase before the plane left Las Vegas, but he hadn’t heard from her.”
“I can’t believe she’d call him.”
“Why not?” Scarlett smiled. “Chase might be a mega star, but he’s also a great guy. He’s never forgotten the help he had on the way up and donates a ton of his time to charities. He likes to give back. And he really hit it off with Madison.”
“He seems to hit it off with you, as well.” Logan made no attempt to conceal his irritation.
“We’ve worked together.”
“It seemed more familiar than I would expect between two colleagues.”
“We might have dated briefly.”
That piece of information didn’t surprise Logan, but it made his heart feel like a cumbersome weight in his chest. “Was it serious?”
Scarlett stared out the side window. “We were young.” Her phone began to ring before Logan could press further. “It’s Madison.”
Logan saw his niece’s smiling face on Scarlett’s phone screen. Relief rushed through him.
Scarlett keyed the speaker. “Madison, oh, thank heavens. I left you three messages. Are you all right?”
“Fine. I forgot my charger when I packed for L.A. and my phone died. I finally got around to buying a new one.”
“Well, I’m glad you did. Logan’s here with me. We’ve been frantic. Why didn’t you tell us you were headed to L.A.?”
“I left a note for Logan.”
“I wish you’d talked with me instead,” Logan said.
“You don’t talk,” Madison complained. “You command.”
“I can’t argue with you there.” Scarlett spared Logan a brief glance and saw his lips tighten. “But didn’t you think you could tell me what was going on?”
“I should have, but I was so mad at Uncle Logan and you two are so tight these days....”
But not so tight anymore. The thought tempered her joy in finding out Madison was okay.
“Besides, I wanted to surprise you once everything was finalized,” the teenager continued.
“Once what was finalized?” Logan asked.
“I’m going to attend UCLA in the fall.”
“UCLA?” Scarlett silently demanded answers from Logan, but he shook his head. “That’s wonderful. How come you didn’t mention that you’d been accepted there?”
“Because I didn’t know. I never got an acceptance letter and assumed that they’d rejected me.”
“But they didn’t?”
“No. Turns out my parents intercepted the letter and didn’t tell me I’d gotten in. It was my top choice because it’s in L.A. and they’ve got a fantastic school of theater, film and television. I was devastated when the letters went out last March and I didn’t get one.”
Is that what had accounted for her running off to L.A. last spring? Scarlet exchanged a glance with Logan. “So how did you find out you were accepted?”
“They also posted the acceptances online. I was so bummed about the letter, I completely forgot that I could find out from their website until I was clearing out old emails yesterday and found the ID and password.”
“I’m thrilled for you,” Scarlett said, giddy with relief and delight. “So you came to L.A. to...?”
“Tour the campus and check out the dorms.”
“Of course.” Weak with relief, she grinned at Logan. “Where are you? We’ll come pick you up and take you out for a celebratory dinner.”
“You’re in L.A.?”
“Logan and I came here looking for you.”
“You really were worried.” Madison sounded as if she finally realized the impact of what she’d done. “I’m sorry, but I can’t do dinner. I already have plans with some of the people I met last time I was out here.”
