Logan stood in front of the gorgeous array in front of him, not knowing which of the beauties to chose from. He felt like a starving man suddenly placed before a banquet.
"I can't decide," he finally said. "Choose for me."
The clerk chose the most expensive box of cigars, and Logan sighed in satisfaction. This was going to be beautiful. Cigars. Whiskey. Possibly some cards or pool. It was good to be back.
Logan was collecting his change when his cell phone rang. Somehow that phone annoyed him more than anything else. Why should a man who hated being at the mercy of a telephone at home carry one around with him? He took the phone out of his pocket and saw his wife's name on the screen. He closed the phone.
"Want a cell phone?" he asked the clerk.
"Who was that, your wife?" the clerk asked.
"How did you know?" Logan asked, handing the phone to the clerk.
"Something about the cigar business…most customers who come back, come back without their wives. You seem a lot happier than most," the clerk said.
"I reckon I like cigars a lot more than most," he said, giving the clerk a rare smile.
Later Logan sat on the patio with Remy and Rogue, who had just returned from taking Jubilee home. They were smoking the fine cigars and drinking whiskey, and playing a little Yuker.
"Logan?" Jean asked. "I tried calling you earlier--are you smoking?"
"Yep. Sorry 'bout that phone darlin', lost it somewhere," he said.
"Since when do you smoke cigars?" Jean asked.
"I thought better of quitting. I decided it wasn't really what I wanted," Logan said.
"You quit years ago!" Jean said.
"Its never too late to start again," Logan said.
"Can I talk to you?" Jean asked. "Its about Scott."
"Sure," Logan said. He followed his wife through the kitchen and up the stairs into the rooms they shared.
"What is it, Darlin'?"
"Scott is doing much better, and I just wanted to make sure you wouldn't say anything to upset him."
"I haven't even seen him. How could I upset him?" Logan asked.
"I want you to see him," she said.
"Why, to remind the both of you that you actually have a husband?" Logan asked.
"What! Logan, you're the one I found rolling around on the ground with a teenager," Jean said.
"She only hugged me for Chrissake!" Logan said. "And she ain't a teenager."
"She hugged you and told you that she loved you," Jean said.
"Its not her fault she feels that way. She's always felt that way about me, even when she was a teenager. I thought she'd get over it after we were married…" Logan said. He looked at Jean pointedly. "You know, the way you thought Scott would get over you."
"Scott's very vulnerable at the moment," Jean said. "He can't be held responsible for his actions. Jubilee, however, was taking advantage of my distraction to try to seduce you."
"You didn't hear the whole conversation, obviously," Logan said. "I told her…I told her that I thought our marriage was over. She told me I might feel differently in the morning. I didn't."
"What?" Jean said. She sat down on the bed, an expression of shock on her face. "I don't understand."
"Maybe you should…read my mind. I know I've kept you from doing that. That was probably wrong. I mean, you should have a partner that loves your gift as much as they love you. Darlin', I ain't bitter. I don't hate you, and I ain't angry. Just read my mind," Logan said.
Jean nodded, and closed her eyes. Logan could feel her in there, examining his feelings for her. He heard her sharp intake of breath as she found something that annoyed or shocked her. He was sure that she was looking at his feelings for Jubilee. When she opened her eyes, there was acceptance there.
"I should have done this a long time ago. Maybe then we could have made some kind of a compromise," she said.
"I just don't think we're right for each other. I think you love Scott more than you realize," he said.
"I know you think that," Jean said. Her luminous eyes filled with tears. "I think maybe your sense of honour is offended at the thought of stealing a girl away from someone you now consider a friend. It would help you out, help you out of this marriage if you thought I was supposed to be with him."
"He's your best friend," Logan said. He couldn't believe that he was trying to convince his wife she was in love with another man. This was probably the most surreal conversation he'd ever had.
"Just because you're in love with your best friend doesn't mean that I am," she said.
"I'm not in love with Jubilee," he said.
"No, you're not. I hurt you too much," she said, the tears spilling over her eyes. "But you will be, when you learn to trust women again."
"You didn't hurt me. We hurt each other. I should have known better. I'm a lot older than you, but obviously no wiser," Logan said. "Tell me you aren't just a little relieved."
Jean began to cry in earnest, and Logan was worried that he had misjudged her feelings for Scott. Finally she looked Logan in the eye. "I hate to be wrong," she said, "I didn't want to admit that I'd made a mistake. I thought it was okay because you seemed to need me more than he did."
Logan sighed. Even though it was the answer he wanted, needed to hear, it still hurt. "I can be pretty convincing," he said.
Jean laughed, a free, open laugh he hadn't heard in his presence in a long time. "I do love you, you know," she said. She hugged him closely, and Logan tried to memorize the feeling of her in his arms, because it could be the last time.
He knew she loved him, in a way. Just not the way she loved Scott, or the way Scott loved her. And certainly not the way Logan had loved her.
"Good morning, Heather," Jean said to the adolescent as she sat down at breakfast. The older woman looked worn and tired, but happier than she had in a long time. Heather admired Jean, but she worried that Jean didn't like her because Jean's friend Scott had been hurt saving her from her family.
"Morning," she said shyly. Although she had been at the mansion for about a week she still felt no closer to getting to know everyone there. There were so many of them, and they were all so…loud. Jean's husband was a bit scary, but it was always quiet near him, as aside from the occasional grunt he had never said a word to her.
The two Southerners, Gambit and Rogue, seemed nice enough but occasionally became explosive. It was safer to sit as far away from them as possible. Now that Scott was better, maybe she could spend some time with Jean.
Heather struggled to think of something to say to Jean. "Do you have any plans today?" she asked.
"I'm going into town to see a lawyer," she said. "Just taking care of some business. Do you want to come with me? I could drop you off at the mall."
"Think that's wise, Jean?" Rogue asked from the far end of the table. "What about the Friends of Humanity?"
Jean pursed her lips thoughtfully. "You're probably right, Rogue," she said. "Maybe Logan will take you for a walk around the grounds. He knows them better than anyone, and he's friendlier than he looks."
"What'd ya'll need a lawyer for, sug?" Rogue asked.
Jean blushed slightly and glanced around the room furtively before answering. "I'm filing for divorce," she said.
All activity stopped. Heather was amazed that Jean had just spoken in such a wife-like way about Logan, knowing she was about the get a divorce from him.
"What happened, chere?" Gambit asked, his voice sympathetic.
"Nothing happened. We just realized that it wasn't working out," Logan said from the doorway. He sat down beside Heather, across from Jean.
The people gathered around the table looked in awe at Jean and Logan as they smiled in a friendly, if hesitant fashion at each other and then dug into their breakfast.
"Logan, I was wondering if you wanted to show Heather the grounds today," Jean said. "She hasn't really had a chance to do anything fun with all the chaos surrounding Scott's injury."
"Sure thing, Red," Logan said. He looked at Heather. "You up for a long walk?"
"Okay," Heather said. He didn't seem like he was on the edge of a nervous breakdown or anything, although most of the time people getting divorced on movies freaked out and stuff.
"How is Scott, anyway?" Logan asked.
The activity around the table quieted so much that it was nearly silent, and Heather realized for the first time that there must be something going on between Jean and Scott. Or at least most of the other members of the household thought so.
"He's leaving the medlab today," Jean said. "He's thinking of going on a holiday. Hank is going to Hawaii to study wave patterns he thought he might join him."
"Wave patterns, eh? I reckon Hank'd look pretty good on a surf board," Logan said.
Jean laughed softly, and the table went back to its normal level of volume.
