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“I don’t understand why you’re acting this way. You told me you’d always want me, and that would never change,” she said tearfully.
Logan gazed into her eyes. “I was wrong.”
“I don’t know why I’m surprised,” she said harshly. “Indecisiveness is your forte, right?”
He took the ring and placed it in a drawer. Without another word, Logan walked out of the room and slammed the door behind him. Dakota was unsure of how long she stood there, but eventually her legs gave way, and she collapsed back on the bed.
They made it off the plane in complete silence. Logan drove her home to Glenview without one word spoken. When he pulled up outside her house, Dakota tried one last time.
“Logan, I just don’t understand the line you’ve drawn. Why can’t we get past this roadblock?”
“You see, that’s the thing. I don’t see this as an obstacle. You have a fork in the road. You can either go left, or go right. One path leads to me and our life together. One doesn’t. Only you can decide which one to take. I can’t help you choose, Dakota.”
She got out of the car and walked up to her door. The moment she opened it, he pulled off. Dakota watched until the lights were swallowed up in the dark of night.
“Happy New Year, Logan.”
* * *
A week had gone by since Logan had proposed to Dakota, and she turned him down. One week of silence and wallowing in her own misery. Considering how much she had dealt with that over the years, Dakota was determined that history would not repeat itself. She had to try again. She called Logan repeatedly, but he did not return her calls.
It was time to kick it up a notch. This time, Dakota sought him out. The chances of being buzzed upstairs at his condo were slim, so she opted for more neutral territory: Norma Jean’s house.
His aunt was more than happy to set up an ambush, and in fact was reveling in catching her nephew unawares.
“He’ll have no choice but to hear you out,” Norma Jean told Dakota. “And when he does, he’ll know how sincere you are, and how much you want to work out your differences. He’ll come around, honey. I know it.”
That was exactly what Dakota hoped, too. In fact, she was counting on appealing to his rational side that evening.
Dakota was nervous waiting for Logan to arrive at the Andersons’ for dinner. She had an entire speech planned out, but the moment she saw Logan, it flew out of her head. There was so much animosity simmering off him at finding her there, and figuring out that he had been duped, that it gave her pause.
“When is my aunt going to leave well enough alone and quit meddling?” he said when he walked into the family room to find Dakota waiting for him. “Where is she?”
“Your aunt and uncle aren’t here. They left. It’s bowling night.”
“Of course it is. Look, Dakota, whatever you and Aunt Jeannie have conjured up is not going to work. You made it crystal clear how you feel about my marriage proposal, so let’s not waste any more of our time rehashing things.”
He turned to walk away, and then Dakota’s good intentions flew out the window.
“You are such a hypocritical ass,” she snapped.
Logan stopped and turned around. “Me? I’m a hypocrite? You’ll have to explain that one.”
“I’m right here—I’ve always been here—waiting for you to get up the gumption to fight for me—for us—but you just threw in the towel at the first sign of trouble.”
“Why? Because I chose not to jump through any more hoops, or give in to emotional blackmail?”
“What are you talking about?”
“You’re holding our relationship hostage. You refused my marriage proposal because in your mind, I still need to pay for the transgressions of my past. My leaving you, my not coming back like I promised. It’s all relative, Dakota.”
“That’s not what I’m doing. You accused me of running away, of turning my back on you, but actually you were the one who gave up on us, Logan. You used your family’s business, work and everything else you could find as an excuse because you were too scared to give our relationship a try because you were afraid that we might fail,” she shot back.
“Yes, and part of me was afraid that we wouldn’t.”
She stared at him in shock. “What does that even mean?”
Logan cursed under his breath. “Back then…my whole world was turned upside down, Dakota. Nothing was going like I’d planned it. My family’s expectations, the decisions that I’d made for my life. None of it. You were the only constant during that crazy time, but all I could think of was what the hell I’d do if that relationship didn’t work out, either. I was scared to take the risk. Yes, you have me pegged. I was a coward. I told you that my leaving was all my father’s fault, but that wasn’t exactly the whole picture. I lied.”
