Chapter 4 Moving In

"Hey, Dad!" Veronica said into the phone.

"Hey Kiddo, tell me," Keith asked. "Do I have a place to stay?"

"We got it!" she squealed. "Oh Dad! Wait till you see it! It's so cool and there are three big bedrooms in the house itself and a complete apartment with a kitchenette and a bathroom over the garage! Any time you're ready to shake the dust of Neptune off your feet and come to the Midwest, we've got your place."

"Really, Veronica. I don't think your husband would be too thrilled with the idea of me living over his garage."

"Come on, Dad. You know Logan adores you and what else are we going to do with all that space? It's not like we could ever rent it out; you know it takes Logan about two years to move anyone from the 'stranger who may be taking pictures and notes' to the 'person I can stand to have around' category. Most people never make it. They go straight from being under suspicion to being dismissed. I don't know if you've noticed this about my beloved but he's kind of a misanthrope. It's actually one of the things we bonded over. The fact that you moved into the 'trustworthy friend' category in only two years is a testament to your awesomeness."

"Two years? When, exactly, do you think this process began? Because I've known Logan for ten years, now."

"Well you spent the first few years in the 'adult in position of authority and therefore to be avoided at all costs' category, then you were the entire 'person who's trying to destroy my best friend's family' category, although I quickly joined you there. Then of course, there was the very brief period when you were 'my girlfriend's father, who may or may not be watching us through a rifle mounted scope', followed by…oh, years of swinging between 'girlfriend's dad who threw me out of the house' and 'dad who is grateful I saved his daughter's life'. It's complicated."

"You left out the part where I was 'guy who accused my father of murder'."

"Actually, that part leap-frogged you over years of suspicion right into the 'trustworthy person whom I would like to have think well of me' category. That lasted even through another 'dad who threw me out' phase. You knowyou and I are the first people who ever believed Logan about Aaron. Well, who believed him and did anything about it, anyway. My point is that you two have been tight as homies since the night...Liam Fitzpatrick was shot."

Veronica had been trying for years not to outright lie to her father anymore. Ever since the night she told him about the sex tape of herself and Piz that had circulated on campus email, she had made a conscious policy of transparency with Keith. But the truth about who had killed Liam Fitzpatrick was not hers to tell. The official report was that Leo D'Amato had killed the son of a bitch and forensics backed it up. Leo, Logan and Veronica were the only people who knew the truth and although Veronica would never betray them, she couldn't bring herself to perpetuate the falsehood by saying "the night Leo shot Liam Fitzpatrick" to her father.

"I always thought a road trip was a good way to get to know someone," Keith said, "and when Logan and I chased after you into the desert, we got to know each other pretty well."

"He thinks you're the best. He took your name, Dad. I don't think he'd begrudge you the garage."

"Have you asked him?"

"No…"

"Look, Honey. As much as I miss you, my work and my life are here. I have no plans to relocate to the Midwest. I'm too old to learn how to survive winter."

"No, you're not."

"I'm happy to know you have plenty of room for me to visit."

"Promise you'll come for Christmas."

"I was thinking 'labor day'."

"I miss you too, Dad."


It had taken Bruce and Marla approximately three hours to get hold of the widow Blakely, present the offer, convince her that it was real, get the papers in order, talk to Logan's accountant, get the Mars back in the office, sign the papers and pay out the money.

Bruce had agreed to let Marla handle the young couple when they returned.

"I don't think they like you, Brucie, darling." Marla told him. So it was that Marla briefly commandeered Bruce's lovely offices and Candy was overjoyed to be assisting her.

"Even so," Marla said after Logan and Veronica had signed everything, "Legally, the house won't be yours until I file this with the state, which I will do the second the offices are open Monday morning."

"Well, where the hell are we supposed to sleep tonight?" Logan said, tossing his pen in exasperation.

"I…uh…" Marla stammered.

"I'm kidding." Logan immediately assured her, feeling like a jackass for putting her on the spot.

"You'll have to excuse him," Veronica apologized. "He's kind of a jerk that way."

"I am." Logan nodded. "I really am. I'm actually very impressed; you guys moved at warp speed. I had no idea you'd be able to do all this so quickly. I could really get used to having clout."

"I was going to offer you my guest bedroom!" Marla laughed.

"I was gonna offer you mine," Candy said, throwing a dirty look at Marla from beneath his swinging bangs. "But I don't have one."

"Where's Elliot?" Veronica asked.

"He's arranging with the staging company to remove all the furniture by Monday. Normally, Bruce would do it, since he hired them but he had to grapple with Mrs. Blakely and of course, you're my assignment, so Elliot volunteered."

"I'm sorry!" Veronica said "We never meant to be so much trouble."

"Sure we did." Logan looked at her.

"This has been, without a doubt, the most fun I've ever had selling a house." Marla said.

"Even though you had to work with…?" Veronica indicated Bruce's office.

"Are you kidding? That was the frosting on the cake!"


On Sunday night Veronica was packing up her suitcase, preparing to check out of the tacky little motel she'd been living in for the past week.

"Make sure my Dad gets all the stuff I boxed up to bring here." She said to Logan, who was lying on the bed, watching her. "I know he wants to keep reminders of me around, and I left him plenty. But the stuff I packed, I need."

"No can do."

"What? Why not?"

"I'm not going back." He smiled. "I'm staying here. You have to be at work in the morning, you don't have time to move us in. Someone needs to hook up the cable, the Internet, talk to the utilities…there's actual stuff involved in moving into a new house. We don't own any furniture."

"What do you know about all that stuff?" she demanded. "You've been living in a hotel since you were seventeen. I didn't think you knew how to do laundry, much less talk to utility companies."

"Of course I know how to do laundry! Set it out in the hall and by morning the laundry fairies bring it back clean. Same way it worked at home when I was a kid. I wasn't wasting all my time while you were here. I've had a few conversations with actual grown up people who know things. And yes, I mean your Dad."

"Well, who's gonna get all our stuff?"

"JR."

"Jeff? Logan, he graduated. He's not going to want to be your personal attendant anymore."

Jeff Ratner had worked at the Neptune Grand since he was sixteen. He had crossed Logan's path when Logan had moved into the Presidential Suite with Duncan Kane after Logan's house had burned to the ground near the beginning of their senior year. Duncan had skipped the country half way through the year, leaving Logan the sole occupant of the suite. Ratner had been a fly on the wall throughout the drama of Logan's senior year. Both had enrolled at Hearst College and after Logan's disastrous episode with the reporter, Norman Phipps, their relationship began to slowly change from VIP Hotel Guest and Lowly Hotel Employee to Rich Kid who needs favors and Poor Kid willing to perform them. Somewhere along the line, Jeff began to see Logan as a Hounded Reluctant Celebrity and himself as Logan's Buffer to the World. Logan, meanwhile, had come to think of Jeff as not only trustworthy, but as one of the half dozen people on Earth that he could stand to have around. By the time of graduation, their relationship was very much like Bruce Wayne and Alfred, if Alfred were the same age as Bruce and both were unrepentant smart asses.

"Sure he is." Logan said. "Not everyone with a degree in criminology and psychology gets recruited into a fancy pants federal agency right out of school, you know. Besides, I'm paying him more than the feds are paying you."

"To do what?" She demanded.

"The laundry?"

Veronica laughed, shut her suitcase and jumped onto the bed beside him. "Well, I'm glad he's willing to haul our crap half way across the country for us!" she said. "Especially if it means I don't have to wait any longer to get you all to myself. You have no idea how awful it's been, living in this dump for the last week, knowing you were out there, all alone."

"It was pretty crappy back in Neptune, too." He put an arm around her and pulled her close. "I like this place. Reminds me of the Camelot."

"Yuck." She snuggled next to him.

"I have some fond memories of that crab shack. You changed my life there, remember?"

"You were supposed to die there, remember?"

"I knew you'd never let that happen." He wrapped both arms around her.

"Rescuing you did seem like the polite thing to do, seeing how often you'd rescued me."

"It's what I live for."

"Well, I wasn't about to let Gory Sorokin feed you to the rats!"

"My hero." Logan sighed and batted his eyes but Veronica frowned.

"You know, that's another reason I'm glad you took the name Mars," she said. "Makes it that much less likely that he'll ever be able to find you again."

"I'm married to a bad ass FBI agent! Not even a moron like Gory is dumb enough to tangle with me now. Besides, his Uncle Lev promised he'd never bother us again and he seemed like a gent who means what he says. He never did come back to Hearst."

"Revenge is a dish best served cold."

"Oh, I like that. Did you find that old book of inspirational quotes I used to have? I thought it went up in smoke with everything else."

"What if Gory is willing to wait twenty years? What about when Uncle Lev is dead and Gory is the head of the Russian mob? What if he comes after you then?"

"Veronica, I spent an entire afternoon with him. As captivating as he was, that guy doesn't have the brains, fortitude or attention span necessary to pull off what you're talking about. I promise; if he ever shows his ugly face around here, I'll shoot him myself."

Logan spoke lightly but Veronica lifted herself up and looked him in the eye. "Minnesota is a shall-issue state." She said.

"You want me to get a gun permit?"

"You can carry concealed."

"Would you sleep better at night, knowing that at any time, I could be armed?" He asked and when she nodded he said "You're the only person who's ever known me who would."

She laid her head back on his chest. "Sometimes I think I am the only person who's ever known you. We're going to need a bed."

"Taken care of. Sleep Number, California king. They're delivering it between noon and two tomorrow."

"We don't have any linens. See, this is the drawback to not having a big deal wedding; no presents."

FLASHBACK

Keith and Veronica Mars walked up the steps to the Balboa County Courthouse. It was early on the Monday morning after Hearst College Commencement; an hour before actual office hours.

"Dad, I'm so glad Judge Ruedy was willing to do this for us!" she said.

"I still have friends in high places. Bill's known you since you were a kid. He was happy to do this."

"He's known Logan for quite a while too. Didn't he arraign him once or twice?"

"Yeah but he's also privy to the details of those cases and the fact that Logan was innocent of all charges. Don't worry! This isn't a set up." Keith shook his head, unable to believe that this was his daughter's concern on her wedding day.

Inside the Judge's chamber, Logan was waiting with his brother, Charlie. A few moments later, they were joined by Wallace and Mac, Veronica's Man-of-Honor and attendant. When Veronica had first asked Wallace to stand up for her, he had been hesitant.

"Superfly, in all the years you been asking me for favors, I been wondering where to draw the line but I never dreamed it would be wearing a puffy dress and carrying a bouquet."

"There will be no puffy dresses and no bouquets. Just one, tasteful flower tucked behind your ear…No?" she rolled her eyes. "Fine. We're actually keeping this on the down low. It'll be you, me, Dad, Logan and Charlie. Next to Logan, you're my oldest friend, Wallace. For a long time, you were my only friend. And Logan loves you, too. I can't do this without you."

"Who said anything about not being there? I'm GONNA be there. You saying there's gonna be no hoop-de-do? Why not? You and Logan finally making it legal is cause for celebration."

"We're not remotely interested in the hoop-de-do of a wedding. We just want to be married. We want it to be personal. Private. You know how Logan is."

"Yeah. Boy's got a reason to be that way. Never known anyone who had to keep paying for the sins of his youth like that guy. Every damn year…"

"More like the sins of the father."

"Like I said; boy's got a reason. You too, for that matter."

"Exactly."

"But three people? At your wedding? That's just sad."

"Are you kidding? I'm totally stoked that we found three! Actually, that was an exaggeration, there are more people invited than just you and Charlie."

"Oh, good."

"Mac and Dick are coming, too."

Dick had been unable to make it to the court house that early in the morning but he joined them for the wedding brunch afterward, bringing his wife, Melinda and sister in law, Heather. It had been a wonderful day, at the end of which, Veronica and Logan had taken his yacht to Catalina, making up for their aborted first date, which Veronica had ruined by standing Logan up.

"I've wanted to take you on a champagne cruise to Catalina and screw your brains out for six years," he growled in her ear as they walked down the pier to Logan's slip. "And now I'm finally gonna do it!"

"You're gonna screw my brains out for six years?" she dropped her jaw in amazement.

"If that's what it takes…"

END OF FLASHBACK

"I'll buy you all the presents you could ever want." Logan said, kissing her. "The house is just the beginning. My entire plan consists of spending the rest of my life making sure you have everything you could ever want."

"I already have everything I could ever want." She smiled up at him, running her hands through his hair.

"Except linens." He reminded her. Then he proceeded to make her forget her own name.


They were up and out of the motel room early Monday morning. Veronica only had time to grab a cup of coffee and a bagel at a nearby Bruegger's before heading to work, so after that, Logan kissed her in the parking lot and said "See you at home."

"Oh my God!" she bounced on her toes and grinned at him. "I'm so excited!"

"Try not to explode," he warned her, kissing her again. "They might actually need you to do some work today."

"Yeah," she nodded. "Yeah. Good. Try not to explode. You'd better stop kissing me. Okay. See you at home."

Once she arrived at the office, it was fairly easy to calm down. The life of a rookie agent wasn't the most glamorous thing in the world. The huge stack of dossiers on her desk needing back ground checks soon dampened Veronica's excitement. Three years of interning plus her three years as a licensed P.I., not to mention all the years she had spent investigating for her father before she got her own license had inured Veronica to the drudgery of the work. She knew, better than most, that investigating was far more often a matter of going through paperwork with a fine toothed comb than chasing down miscreants with a gun. She had once heard the job described as 99% boredom and 1% terror and that seemed about right to her, although if the research aspect of the job had really bored her, she would be doing something else professionally. Being naturally nosy, she enjoyed it, even if it didn't reek of excitement. She had no intention of being a bullpen drone forever, of course. She wanted field work. She knew she excelled in the field and all she needed was an opportunity to shine. She was willing to wait for it, but not forever.

By putting Logan, the house and all the exciting new changes in her life out of her mind, the morning actually passed quickly. During her lunch break, she called Logan.

"How's it coming?" she asked. "Having buyer's remorse?"

"Not at all. Marla met me here this morning with a magnum of champagne, which I have put on ice for tonight. Candy came by with a box of steaks, courtesy of Bruce the Bitch; Candy's words, not mine. Have you ever heard of the Aveda Institute?"

"Uh, yeah. Aveda products are high end, all natural cosmetics and hair products. Why?"

"Well, I guess the institute is right here in town and Candy's dream is to graduate, go to New York and do hair and makeup during fashion week, whatever that means."

"Sounds like you and Candy had quite a chat."

"We did. Get this; he's not gay."

"Do I even want to know why he told you that?"

"Long story but the punch line is; in the valley of the blind, a one eyed man is king."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning the only straight esthetician at fashion week will be marinating in pussy. Again, his words, not mine."

"That's…actually…genius."

"That's what I said!"

"It's also completely gross."

"Oh, we have tv and Internet hooked up."

"Already? Those guys are legendary for making people wait weeks for a service tech to show up!"

"I called the cable company and the satellite company, told them both I had talked to the other and said that whoever got here first got the job. They were finished hooking us up an hour ago. I gotta go buy some tv's. Where do you want 'em? I thought; big one in living room, small one in kitchen. Anywhere else? Bedroom?"

"Maybe in a guest bedroom but not in ours. 'Esthetician'?"

"Cool word, huh? Oh, I'm putting one in the gym."

"An esthetician?"

"No, a tv."

"What gym?"

"I'm having a sparring ring and heavy bag installed in that big room in the basement! Isn't that a great idea?"

"What if I wanted a sewing room?"

"I'd think I had a wrong number and a very pleasant conversation with a total stranger. Then I'd ask her what she was wearing."

"Why do we need one in the living room?"

"A total stranger?"

"A television. There's that media center downstairs."

"That's for movies. I don't want to play video games down there. I like the view of the lake. This way, you can watch the news while using the treadmill."

"We're getting a treadmill?" suddenly a gym didn't seem like a bad idea.

"Eventually. It's gonna snow here, you know."

"Okay but not too big a tv in the living room. I don't want it to compete with the fireplace."

"Babe, do you remember this fireplace? The alps couldn't compete with this thing."

"Don't call me 'babe'."

"Sugar Britches?"

"See? Doesn't that have a more professional ring to it?"

After she had said goodbye, she sat at her desk for a few moments, staring into space. One of her co-workers noticed.

"Hey, Agent Newlywed," Agent Stephanie Tuski teased from her desk. "Do I even have to ask what's on your mind?"

"Oh, no…" Veronica laughed. "I was just talking to…my…"

"Yeah, baby!" Tuski laughed. "What's he like, this young man who can put that look on your face?"

"What's he like? Well, this morning, he made the cable company sit up and beg."

"No shit?" Stephanie Tuski was impressed. "I hate those fuckers."


That evening, Veronica pulled her Audi up into her very own driveway for the first time and parked in the garage beside Logan's extremely yellow Ferrari. He met her on the back patio with a kiss and a glass of champagne. So far, all they had in the house were several flat screens and an enormous bed (with new linens) and the suitcases they'd been living out of for the last few days. They stood at the Island in their beautiful new kitchen and ate the rotisserie chicken Logan had bought for dinner off of paper plates.

"What about the steaks?" she asked. "You said Candy brought steaks."

"They looked too good for paper plates. Also, meat like that needs to be cooked over an open flame. I have to get us a grill."

"Excellent!" Veronica knew that while Logan may be a novice in the kitchen, he had known his way around a grill since the days when the fab four had spent evenings together around his pool whenever Aaron was on location. It made Veronica sad to remember that she had never wondered, back in those days, why they only hung out at Logan's house when Aaron wasn't around. Logan had tried to show Duncan the ways of the grill when they ate at Kane's, but Duncan showed no aptitude or interest and it had usually wound up being Jake and Logan in charge of the outdoor kitchen. Again, it had never occurred to her at the time but now she realized that everything Logan knew about cooking out, he had probably picked up from Jake, not Aaron. It was the memory of the two of them in Kane's back yard that had, in part, convinced Veronica to go to Jake for help back when Logan had gotten into trouble with Gory Sorokin. Veronica and Jake Kane would never be friendly again, but his help in that matter had gone a long, long way toward alleviating the strained relationship.

When they finished eating, they went online and shopped for kitchenware. It was a new and exciting experience for Veronica; they chose what they liked and hit add to cart without even looking at the bottom line.

Logan, who had grown up able to shop with impunity, would have become quickly bored if he hadn't enjoyed Veronica's enthusiasm so much. He encouraged her to go wildly overboard but her innate practically and years of frugal living reined her in. She was willing to buy Calphalon cookware and Wustof knives, but he couldn't talk her into buying anything she didn't think they would actually use.

He was far more interested in describing to her what he had done that day, after the practical matters of the morning had been taken care of. He had explored the neighborhood beyond the parkway and discovered that they were very close to some serious commercial areas. He had found two different grocery stores, a rib joint that featured live music, and a district packed with hip bars that catered to young professionals.

"So we'll be sure to stay away from there," he'd said.

He'd found a hardware store nearby, a patio furniture store and a warehouse that sold everything from furniture to baby clothes.

"That's where I bought the shit for the bed. It's all I got today. I knew we'd need that right away. I picked up a couple towels, too. We don't have any, do we? I didn't know if you wanted me to just start getting stuff, or if you wanted to do it, too?"

"I don't think I'll have any time. If we look at things on line, you'll get an idea of what I like and then you can shop your little heart out." She told him. "Good job on getting towels. We don't have any. What color did you get?"

"Yellow." His tone clearly said what other color is there?

"Yellow?" she grimaced, thinking of the earth toned bathroom.

"Yellow is the safest color for towels," he said, just to see the look on her face. Then he laughed, "They're dark green. They look good with the tile work in our bathroom. Come on up and see."

"Is this your way of luring me upstairs?" she asked. "We're married now; you can just throw me over your shoulder."

"I didn't think it was a good idea to manhandle a woman with a firearm."

She pointed across the kitchen to the far counter, where she'd dropped her shoulder holster the moment she got home.

He threw her over his shoulder and took her up to see the new towels.


Early morning sunlight coming through the high windows on the East side of the master bedroom woke Veronica before her alarm went off. She opened her eyes for the first time in her big empty house. Turning her head slightly, she smiled to see the sleeping face of her husband a few inches away. Looking around, she giggled. They were surrounded by acres of bed but they had gravitated toward each other and were snuggled together on about three feet in the middle of it. Logan's right hand and forearm lay heavily across Veronica's hips.

She looked around the room. The Eastern wall, which was the front of the house, had a row of square windows going across it, about five feet off the floor. Morning light was pouring through them but they were so high up they needed no coverings.

The Northern side of the room was divided in three; two large walk in closets, one at either end with a sitting area between them featuring a window seat and a window that reached all the way to the ceiling, looking out into the tree tops of the woods just north of the house. The Western wall featured two large windows overlooking the back yard with enough space between them for the king sized bed.

It was the Southern wall of the bedroom that was Veronica's favorite. Not only did the stone of the massive fireplace directly below continue up through the house, but another, smaller fireplace opened up in the master bedroom. The door to the master bath was to the right of this hearth and the huge bathroom took up the space behind the fireplace and stairway. The bathroom was the most luxurious Veronica had ever seen. In addition to two sinks with plenty of vanity space, a large dark cherry linen closet and a glassed in shower big enough for both of them, a Jacuzzi tub sat beneath a treated window overlooking the back; they could see out but no one could see in. The entire room was in neutral natural stone and tile but radiant heating in the floor would keep it from ever feeling cold when winter came. Two green towels hung on a towel bar that heated up when the furnace was on.

It struck her as a little bit odd that the closets were on the far side of the room from the bath, but she smiled thinking of how much Logan would enjoy watching her traipse naked from one to the other. Her smile widened when she thought how much she would enjoy watching him.

She looked at the two closets and frowned. Each was nearly as big as the bedroom in her father's apartment that she had so recently moved out of.

I will never own enough clothes to fill one of those. There must be a better way to use that space.

As she frowned, contemplating the excessive closet space, she became aware that the arm across her hips was moving, pulling her even closer and tighter against the warm body next to her. She turned and looked directly into Logan's eyes and she smiled.

Nothing on Earth looks as good as Logan when he's happy.

For the rest of the week, Veronica went to work in the morning while Logan explored the city and began furnishing their house. They ate dinner when she got home from work and then went for walks around their lake and sometimes down the parkway to Lake of the Isles or Lake Calhoun. Veronica ordered things they needed on line after their walks and by midweek, things began arriving via UPS. By the end of the week, they had dishes and flatware and their kitchen was beginning to look operational. She laughed at Logan's priorities; he got himself a gorgeous gas grill and a dining set and lounge chairs for the patio outside and a pair of large, comfortable arm chairs and an ottoman for the living room and declared himself finished. She had to admit, that did seem to be enough to get them through the summer.

This Idyllic existence lasted four days.

Veronica arrived home from work on Thursday to find her honeymoon home under siege and threatened with invasion.

She pulled into the drive and stopped. Her way was blocked by a large moving van and workers unloading furniture. It wasn't new furniture and they weren't carrying it into the house, but up the stairs to the apartment above the garage.

She got out of the car just as Logan came bouncing down the garage stairway.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"Hey, Sugarpuss, isn't it great? JR's here!" As he spoke, she noticed Logan's black Range Rover in the garage. "That van will get out of the driveway as soon as they're done moving in his stuff."

to be continued...