' Quinn and Logan win hands down for the quirkiest wedding decorations '

Chase, Zoey, and the rest of their little group had just spent the last few hours making place cards in the theme of science then helping count the mossy green linen table cloths that would cover the tables at the reception . He was glad that they weren't called in on flowers .

There was only saw much wedding fuss one could handle before a guys head would explode .

' We can't actually set up until the morning before since those two want the reception on the patio ' reminded Zoey, reaching for the hand lotion on the nightstand as her hands ached . She still had to do some sewing on Quinn's wedding gown yet on her to do list ,' I spoke with Dustin this afternoon , he's still with the girlfriend on summer vacation , and is planning on making it to the wedding '

Her younger brother , Dustin, had an affection for both Quinn and Logan. When he had been much younger , Dustin had wanted to emulate Logan ( Zoey still couldn't understand that ) and the rich jerk had even coached him then later on paid Dustin to be his assistant .

Dustin had also been one of Quinn's first test subjects when she wanted to test a new Quinnvention paying the boy to work for her . Money hungry Dustin oblidged easy enough even though the sleep deprivation hadn't been worth the money he had been paid .

Zoey loved her friend but had put a ban on her brother working for Quinn and Logan .

Not that Dustin always chose to listen to her .

' That's good, I guess ' figured Chase , moving to his laptop on the desk ,' I've got to find something manly for us men to do for Logan's bachelor party gig . I was thinking old school beer , cigars, and a stripper '

Zoey arched a brow at him .' None of you smoke '

' That is beside the point , honey ,' pointed out Chase, pulling up websites on clubs nearby with the weariness of a man whose wife was sitting right across from him, ' My thinking being one stripper is less to get us and or the groom in very much trouble with the bride '

' Quinn trusts Logan and the rest of you idiots aren't going to be stupid about the whole thing so one is probably much better than a whole club of scantily clad women ' Zoey bit down on the bottom of her lip,' Chase , can we talk about us for a second here ? '

Chase turned around to give her his full attention .' I am not divorcing you '

Zoey spluttered a laugh . ' God, I love you ,' sighed Zoey, folding her hands together ,' even if you're a lunatic sometimes ' She paused to consider her words as if she hadn't been thinking about their problem for weeks now ,' Do you want us to move back so you can focus on your career instead of mine ? Because I cant believe that you would want to do that when everything is going so well for me in Paris …'

Chase threw up both hands , frusturation evident on his face .' How can you ask me that ? This has nothing to do with my writing career , psh, I can do that anywhere , Zo. Your smart, honey, so, why can't you see we cannot afford to live in Paris another year ? I don't make that much working over there and that loft is too expensive for us and even if we got a smaller place, we'll probably be the starving artist , literally .'

Chase took over their finances once he and Zoey had gotten married and it hadn't been a problem between them. They shared everything and it wasn't like she wasn't in the loop about school and their bills which is why this whole issue drove him mad !

It felt like they were constantly going in circles and getting no where each time .

' I know you hate the idea of my parents helping us out but my internship is going so well , I don't want to screw it up ,' confessed a torn Zoey,' maybe I can try to sell some of my sample works to help us out . I'll think of something , Chase, I promise and we'll make it work .'

Chase scrubbed his hands over his face, beat all of the sudden . He didn't want to continue fighting with Zoey and they were only running in circles on this subject matter , it wasn't helping their marriage any . Looks like he needed to make the compromise and hope for the best it worked for them .

He was just done with it .

' I don't know what to say ,' Chase deflated right before her ,' I just want to make you happy . If Paris does that for you then I suppose we'll do what it takes and try the long distance marriage . I'll just transfer here and get a place and we'll figure it out together …'

' Long distance ? Chase , that's crazy ! We need to discuss this more ,' floundered a floored Zoey as her stomach twisted ,' how is living apart going to work ? We hashed this out way before we got married and agreed it was a very bad idea …..and now it's not ? '

Chase shrugged and kissed her forehead , lightly .' Things change and as far as I can tell, this is the only solution . You can finish your design internship over there and I'll move back here , find us a place to live , and you can join me when you are finished interning '

He shut down the laptop , the bachelor party the last thing on his mind now .' Hey, if Quinn and Logan can make long distance work for them then we got this in the bag . Now I am done with this conversation for the duration of our vacation so I am going to see if I can drag Michael into a game of horse '

Zoey felt pressure behind her eyes .' That isn't what I wanted ….'

Chase just gazed , lovingly , at her with the hint of sadness in his green eyes .' I'm sorry , Zo, but it's the only solution that I figure we could make work '

With those simple words, Chase walked out , leaving a stunned Zoey absorbing it all and wondering how it had all come down to this , wondering how much it would cost them and if it truly were the only right decision for them .

*******************************Wedding Bells *******************************

' Dad, what did you want to talk to me and Quinn about ? What is going on ? '

Logan and Quinn sat on the sofa in Malcom's home office , holding hands, while Julia fussed with the flowers in a vase while Malcolm leaned against the mahogany of his desk , drinking a cup of coffee . Though he looked more relaxed in khaki slacks and a navy button down shirt rather than his Hugo Boss suit , Logan sensed his Dad was clearly up to something .

His step-mom wasn't being chatty which was her nature so hint number two and Logan hadn't gained that much more patience so he just wanted to find out the nature of the thing . He hoped their parents hadn't gotten into another fight over wedding expenses as he knew his Dad and Frank had already gotten into a spat earlier on .

' We really don't want an orchestra at our reception , ' spoke up Quinn, with a bit of force behind it ,' Honestly , Logan and I appreciate all of the help you have given us for the wedding but we just are not orchestra people . We rented some equiptment and Michael has even volunteered to double as a DJ for us '

' Michael is quite talented ,' Julia flanked her husbands side ,' however, this isn't anything to do with your actual wedding . It is more about our gift to the two of you '

Quinn leaned forward , laying a hand on Logan's knee .' Oh that isn't necessary , you've helped so much with our wedding , the both of you .'

' You might as well stop , Quinn, it's useless when they've already made up their mind '

Malcom sat down the coffee cup and laid a hand on his wife's arm . ' As you are both aware that Julia has taken over managing Vaccaro's in Malibu and I have several new projects in the works , we have decided it isn't feasible for us to live here any longer '

Logan shot up, anger surging through him. ' Your selling this house ? This house …the house that we lived in with Mom '

Quinn was up in a flash, reaching for Logan .' Logan, don't , please . Just let your Dad explain ….'

Logan flicked his gaze to the woman he adored , his heart in his eyes .' Mom loved this house , I love this house , Quinn ! My memories of her , of us together as a family ,are mostly at this damned house '

Logan felt all twisted up on the inside and couldn't imagine not spending time here in this house . Even though his mother had been gone such a long time now he always felt her presence when he spent time here and it always soothed him as if Lorraine Reese was looking down on him and smiling that serene smile he remembered so well.

' I know , sweetie, I know '

' Now get a grip, Logan ,' cut off Malcolm , giving him a stern look ,' I am well aware of all of that and your feelings about this house which is why I ..we are giving it to you and Quinn as a wedding gift '

' We know that you both love this place,' picked up Julia , kindly ,' It felt like the natural thing to do . Malcolm and I found a smaller place closer to Malibu that suits us just fine .'

Logan was floored .' Your giving us the Santa Barbara house '

' Your mother would have wanted it that way, son, and you and Quinn can start your life here together. I'm having our lawyer drawing up the papers so it will all be taken care of in no time at all '

' It's very generous of you ,' Quinn moved to hug her soon to be father -in-law ,' Thank you both so much . I know how I should probably be insisting it is too much and protesting but I can't because I know how important is to my guy '

Malcolm returned her hug .' This has always been more of a home to my son than our place in Beverly Hills , Quinn . I've always known that .'

Meanwhile Logan moved to embrace Julia and felt Quinn's eyes upon him .' Thank you, Julia , I mean it . I know that you helped Dad with this and it means a lot to me '

There had been a time when he had tried to hate Julia , when he wanted to hate her, but he just couldn't find it in himself . She never tried to be his mom, and somehow managed to become his friend and Logan found he really did think of her sometimes in a Mom way .

He'd reconciled with himself that it was finally okay for him to feel that way .

' It didn't take that much convincing , dear ,' replied Julia , pleased that Logan finally felt comfortable enough to hug her ,' we both know this house is meant for you and Quinn . '

She gave his arm a pat then released him .' As for Chauncey, I am sure he would be pleased to stay on and see to the house like always '

' Cool because It wouldn't be home without Chauncey being here trying to be sarcastic but just sounding like a grumpy old dude '

' Which is why the man is so fond of you, son '

Logan flashed his cocky grin so much like Malcolm's own . ' I know it besides Chauncey adores Quinn too '

' True '

Quinn slid her hand into Logan's and sent him a knowing look .' Thank you both but I am afraid that Logan and I have an appointment with the florist this afternoon '

Logan sent her a blank look of obvious confusion .' Flowers ? I thought Lola and your Mom were going to help you with those , Quinn '

' I wanted your input on them, Logan, ' insisted Quinn ,' Besides my folks are out sight seeing today and Lola and Vince went to pick up her Mom from the airport '

' Oh ,' Logan made a face ,' Baby, you know , we talked about the flowers and I am good with the roses and tulips you wanted. I wont get bent out of shape if you decided to drag Lisa instead of me because you know , Lisa knows things like this ….'

Logan felt like he was involved with the wedding but in this case, he really didn't want to study a million different kinds of flowers either. If they had did the whole wedding in Seattle , he knew that Quinn's Mom would have helped with flowers from her own greenhouse which could have been handy .

Maybe he shouldn't have been that gung ho on the details which come to think of , Chase had reminded him of the whole crazy beforehand but he hadn't listened .

Shit !

Quinn's eyes gleamed mischeviously behind her glasses , laughter tumbling out .

' Come on, Logan , I promise it wont be painful '

' You don't know that, Quinn '

' Have fun '

As the happy couple left the office, Julia folded her arms and pierced Malcom with a warning look as he made a point to close the door unwilling to risk anyone in the wedding party overhearing this conversation .

' Malcolm, we need to tell them about Bart . I am honestly shocked that Quinn hasn't started questioning why you have extra guards on the grounds during the summer ,' berated Julia , forehead creasing ,' it will be worse if we don't inform them of the truth .'

' No ,' Malcolm moved to the glass doors watching the waves from the ocean , his expression protective ,' Vega has his men out searching for Bart and I refuse to give in to this putting a damper on the kids wedding . He's probably long gone from here ..'

Julia came up, wrapped her arms around his chest, laying her chin on his shoulder .

' Detective Vega hasn't apprehended Bart either which means that sicko is still out there,' said Julia, softly ,' He is still a threat to Quinn and Logan . I understand how you want them to be protected as do I but they need to know …'

' Bart terrorized them , ' Malcolm sighed , heavily ,' God, I know that you are right , Julia , but I just hate to be the one to tell them that the police don't know where he is and that the bastard is out there '

Malcolm didn't have a clue at just how close by Bart was to Quinn and Logan and turned away from the glass doors missing the shadow thatt was only a stones throw away from them .. .. or notice the shadow that dared watch them from the grounds .

******************************WB*********************************

Meanwhile Lola and Vince greeted Janna Martinez as she arrived at the airport fresh from New York , her dense brown hair swinging around her heart shaped face , and looking lovely in a mint colored dress , silver hoops dangling from her ears, the very image of what Lola would look like in a good twenty years .

' Mom '

' Lola, my baby,' Janna embraced her oldest daughter, warmly ,' you look even more stunning but then California did always suit you well .'

Lola exchanged knowing looks with Vince before managing a sheepish smile .

' Thanks, Mom ,' answered Lola, scanning the crowded airport terminal for her father ,' where is Dad? Is he coming in later ? '

Janna patted her arm.' I am afraid not , Lola ,' explained Janna of her husbands absence,' there was a bit of a family issue that needs tended to in Romania so your Father and Talia went to assist your grandparents with it . I am sure Quinn will understand .'

Lola bit her lip, tempted to ask what so called demons or otherworldy things needed the powers of a Gypsy clan but the actress decided she really didn't need to know or be involved in whatever those might be . She was good on her vacation bubble of happy .

' Quinn is very understanding '

Vince cleared his throat , used to the subtle tension that always seemed to be just there between Lola and Janna . It was fraught with tension but it wasn't horrible like his own strained relationship with his own father .

' The car is in the lot , ladies '

' Oh, Vince , how wonderful to see you,' Janna doffed his cheek with a kiss,' I only brought my carry on for luggage as I fully intend to purchase a new suitcase and fill it while I am here for the wedding .'

Vince took her bag then led the women towards his car .' Sounds like a plan '

' Quinn's folks got in just last week so I know they will be glad to see you, Mom '

' I bet Suzanna is beyond herself with excitement with Quinn getting married ' sighed Janna, thinking of her friend ,' she and Frank must be over the moon . '

' Probably but Quinn most definitely over a moon, on cloud 9, and going a little crazy the closer it gets I think ,' related Lola, easily ,' Logan is totally immersed in the wedding giving him the Groom-zilla title . It's nuts '

Vince tossed the bag in the trunk of the car .' Logan makes Chase look sane '

Janna grew quiet as she slid into the backseat of the car .' Dear Zoey isn't seeing what is right in front of her , I shall have to sit her down for a reading of the tea leaves ,' mused Janna, more to herself ,' I made a new salve to help protect Lisa's dancers feet '

Lola rolled her eyes towards the heavens .' Mother, it's Quinn and Logan' s wedding , will you please lay off the magic and the woo woo until after the festivities .'

Before Janna could respond in kind , a cold chill seeped in and around the car, a thickness marred by the aura of something very dark sent nerves skittering up Janna's spine , a flash of a vision blinking barely across her minds eye .

Lola blanched as she reached for Vince , gripping him , tightly .' What the hell was that ?'

Janna rubbed the rose quartz over and over in her hand .

' I see trouble and it is very near ….. I am afraid that Quinn and Logan are in danger '