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I bow again to willow and a fan. Without their help this chapter would not have been possible.
Please be nice and leave a review.
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Chapter 12: Rain
The next morning the weather was still rainy and windy, so they decided to get up late and have a good and long brunch before they started any activities.
Steven and Sarah weren't in the mood to do anything, so Logan and Max left the house on their own, dressed in warm rain-clothes.
They went for a walk through the little village and when they found out that there were small wooden paths through the dunes they strolled along them. When Max looked at Logan she had to smile. He was wearing a dark blue raincoat and had put on the hood so the small raindrops wouldn't slip under his collar. Only his face was peeking out of the coat and as his glasses were spotted with raindrops, there was really not much to be seen of him.
"What are you smiling at?" Logan asked.
"You. You look cute. Cute and wet."
"Thanks. You look like a wet gummy bear in Granny's raincoat and those pants."
"A gummy bear?" she asked and stopped, turning around to face him. "You're calling me a gummy bear?"
"Yes. And the way you said that makes me grateful that there's no snow here." Logan grinned and Max laughed as she sat down in his lap.
"Okay, I'm the red gummy bear and you're the blue."
"I can deal with that." Logan nodded and pulled her face close to kiss her. "Do you want to go home? You're wet."
"Maybe wet but still warm. I don't need to go home."
"Me neither. Want a ride?"
Max nodded and stayed on his lap when Logan continued to push the wheels. He only stopped when the wooden path ended and they had reached the beach. Standing up, Max smiled at the view in front of her. "Wow! Logan, this is awesome! Look! There's almost half a mile to go before you reach the water. I wish we had beaches like that in Seattle."
Logan squeezed her hand. "Yeah, it's wonderful. So much sand, so fine and white."
"Shall we go to the water?" Max asked, but a look from Logan made her start thinking. "Well, the sand isn't frozen but it's wet. Don't you think we could manage?" she asked.
Laughing a little, Logan shrugged. "I'd say no, but we could always try. You're the one who might have to carry me back."
"Yeah, let's try it. We can go back to the cabin along the shore," she proposed, and Logan didn't have the heart to bring her back to earth. She was so excited. What was the worst thing that could happen? He'd get stuck in the sand and Max would have to help him get back. He had faced fates worse than that.
So he leaned back to lift the front wheels and pushed over the end of the walkway into the sand - and felt the wheels sink immediately. Max grabbed the back of his chair and tried to push him, but she needed some of her Manticore-powers to move him.
"Sorry, Max," Logan said, turning his head to face her. "Doesn't look as if this is going to work."
"Don't tell me you're giving up already? Maybe the sand a little closer to the shore will carry you?"
Logan shrugged and let Max try. Usually he hated being pushed around - that's why he'd never buy a chair with handles - but with Max it was okay. They both knew he didn't need her help and that he'd normally just have dispensed with the walk at the beach and would have been okay with that. He trusted her with his life, so why not trust her with a little walk?
Max struggled to keep Logan and his chair moving, but after a while decided, "Sorry, Logan, but I give up. You okay if we go back the same way we came?"
As she stood in front of him, her face clearly showed her disappointment. He said, "It's okay, Angel. It really is. If you still want to walk home on the beach you could just help me back and do it on your own."
"No way. I love to walk on the beach but I won't do it without you."
"Sorry it didn't work," Logan apologized, feeling really bad at what had happened. Max loved to walk at the beach, but they'd never be able to do it together.
"Sorry I tried. I should have known it wouldn't work."
Logan didn't say anything until they were back on solid ground and Max was standing next to him. "Max, there are still a lot of things I haven't tried since being in the chair. This was one of it and it didn't work. I'm sorry for that. But if you're willing to stay with me, there are a lot of other things we can try together, and I'm sure some of them will work even in the chair."
Max, who had been staring in the sand, looked up and at Logan. This optimism was typical of Eyes Only, but not for Logan. Logan was never optimistic regarding his disability. But she was not going to remind him of that, so she just smiled instead.
"Okay. I'm willing to stay for a lifetime. And I can probably think of a lot of things we could try."
Logan smiled back at her. There was no more disappointment in her face, only love and anticipation.
"A lifetime can be a really long time, you know?" he said.
Max nodded. "I know."
When she leaned down to kiss him and he wrapped his arms around her waist, he felt her shiver. "You okay?" he asked.
"Just getting a little cold. My feet are wet. Time to go home, I'm afraid."
"When your feet are freezing, I don't want to know about mine. Let's head back."
When they reached the house and opened the front door, Sarah came to see if they needed anything and without a word disappeared to get some towels.
"Max, take off those wet clothes. Logan, you too."
Both followed the order and gratefully took the towels to dry themselves. Max was heading to the bedroom where she could get some dry clothes when she heard Sarah shout at Logan.
"Logan, stop it!"
Not knowing what she was talking about he looked up at her, startled. "What?"
"I'd tell you to take off your shoes but that won't help, I'm afraid." She grinned, then laughed, and Logan turned his head to see what she was talking about.
"Oh." His wheels had gotten so dirty that even the journey back and the pouring rain hadn't completely cleaned them, and he had brought in half of the beach's sand. Not to mention the water still dripping from the wheels.
"No, I'm afraid taking off my shoes won't help," Logan repeated sarcastically. "So what do you want me to do? Fly to the bedroom?"
Sarah hadn't meant to offend him and was surprised at his emotional outburst. She decided to act as if he hadn't answered in that tone of voice, and said lightly, "Yes, if you could please do so."
Logan looked at her and his face softened. "Sorry, Granny."
Max came back to the entrance, carrying a chair from the dinner table. Placing it next to Logan she said, "If you could change seats for a minute you'll get your wheelchair back as clean and dry as it was when we left."
Sarah and Logan looked at her, both relieved that the awkward exchange was over. Logan transferred to the chair and watched Max carrying it to their bedroom and, judging from the noise, further to the bathroom.
When she brought it back it was as clean and as dry as possible. "Sorry, but the seat's still a little wet. Do you think you can live with a wet butt?"
"Yeah, I think so. I can assure you that I won't even notice."
"Very funny, Logan." Max grinned and watched him move back to the wheelchair.
"Thanks, Max. And sorry, Granny, I should have brought a second chair."
"No need to be sorry. Put on some dry and warm clothes, I'll clean up the floor," she said with a warm smile and Logan nodded.
In their bedroom, Logan was pulling out some new clothes when Max asked, "Do you have some warm socks I can borrow? My feet are still cold."
"Did you think about taking a hot bath?"
"Yeah, I did. But to no conclusion. What about you?" she asked.
Logan, who was just taking off his pants, shook his head. "I don't like taking baths. My legs won't stay under the water, makes me feel ridiculous. But I think I'm gonna take a shower, they're really cold." He threw something at her and when she caught it, she smiled.
"Wool socks. Thanks. Meet you in the living room?"
"Yeah."
When Logan went to the bathroom, Max put on a pair of jeans, a thick pullover and the socks before going to the living room, where Steven and Sarah were reading.
"Logan's taking a shower," she explained.
Sarah nodded. "Would you like a hot chocolate?"
"Oh, I'd love one."
When Sarah stood up and went to the kitchen, Max followed her.
"Thanks for saving me."
"Saving you?"
"I didn't want to offend Logan. But it's hard sometimes, isn't it?"
Max smiled. "It is. He can be so stubborn. But he knew you didn't mean to offend him. He's just acts like a real guy sometimes."
"Yeah, but he seemed so happy when you came in. I didn't want to ruin that."
"You didn't. Don't think about it too much. Logan's been so optimistic this afternoon, I'm sure that's not gonna change just 'cause he took something you said the wrong way," Max tried to calm her and Sarah nodded, her gaze focused on the milk but her thoughts obviously far away.
"Everything okay?" Max asked.
Breathing deeply Sarah nodded. "Yeah. This stubbornness is a family disease. His mother was stubborn as hell."
"Logan's mother? He never talks about her."
"I know. And neither of his father, am I right?"
"Yeah. Is that another family disease? They appear in some of his stories about vacations they have made or holidays they have celebrated, but they are never real characters, you know? You never get to know them, they are just some extras, never necessary for the plot."
Sarah smiled and handed Max the mug. "It's not easy, Max. I needed a lot of talking to get over it, so I'm used to it. But Logan was still a kid when it happened. He never talked with anyone, not then and not now. Back then I wasn't able to make him talk about it and today he won't let me. It's like he has hidden all his memories inside himself and is afraid that sharing them would make them disappear."
"But sharing memories makes them bigger, not smaller," Max said.
Sarah nodded. "Yeah, it does. Everybody has different memories and when you put them all together, everyone will gain something new. But Logan has never been willing to share - maybe because he wasn't forced to in the first place. Jonas and Margot never liked talking about Julie and Ben either."
"Julie and Ben? Those were their names?"
"Yeah. Juliana and Benjamin. But we never called her Juliana, she was always our Julie. She was three years older than her brother Daniel."
"The one who lives in Australia?"
"Yeah. We were still living in the U.S. back then. Steven had just started a small business as a carpenter and since we didn't know if that'd give us enough money to live on, I was working in a restaurant. Julie and Daniel were both in high school, Julie was in her senior year when she met Ben."
"They met in high school?"
"No, they didn't. Ben was in boarding school, a very expensive one near Seattle. His family was living in Seattle, he could have gone home every evening but he never did. He preferred staying in school. He was very talented in all kinds of business and met Julie when she went to the school's library to check out some books for her economics class. He gave her some advice for the work she had to write and she got an A for it. So she invited him for dinner, not knowing that he was the heir of Cale Industries and when she found out, it was already too late..."
"..they had fallen in love."
Max turned around and saw Logan in the doorway. He was the one who had finished the sentence.
Sarah expected him to be angry at her, because she had started telling Max about his parents, but he was smiling.
"I just wanted to see if I can get a hot chocolate, too. And I'm in the mood to hear some good stories."
Max shrugged at Sarah who raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Okay. We can go back to the living room. I'll take the chocolate," Sarah said and took another mug.
When she got to the living room, Max and Logan were already cuddling on the couch and Steven had put away his magazine.
Sarah sat down in an armchair and continued telling them about Julie and Ben.
"Logan was right, they had fallen in love. I remember the day Julie came home from a date with Benjamin and was completely dazzled. 'Mom, can you believe it?' she asked me. 'One day he'll own Cale Industries. And he never told me.' She had no idea what to do. Julie had been an independent woman and she had never imagined she'd be a housewife that would stay at home and raise the kids, but that was what Benjamin's parents would have expected her to do."
"But they were still in high school, only dating, right?" Max wanted to know.
"Yeah, they were. And that was what I told her. She could go to college and see how the relationship would develop. If she was going to marry him, then she could start the fight against Ben's parents."
Max was so excited to hear this story and asked, "Did they go to the same college? I'm sure Benjamin was supposed to go to one of the elite ones."
"He was. And we wouldn't have been able to afford it. That's why Ben broke with the family tradition and didn't go to Yale. They married right after graduation and Julie didn't stay at home. They returned to Seattle and Ben started working with his father. Julie found a good job in a small company where she worked until she became pregnant. When Logan was born she kept working part-time and the Cale family seemed to be okay with it."
"Did you have a nanny or where did you stay when your parents were working?" Max asked Logan and he shook his head.
"Stayed with Granny until I went to school. My mother was home after school, and made sure I did my homework and went outside afterwards, instead of watching TV or sitting in front of my computer. She and my father still lived the traditional way. When he came home from work she would have done all the chores and dinner would be ready."
Steven nodded. "Juliewas great at everything she did. Mother, wife, and employee."
"Why didn't she work with Logan's father?" Max wanted to know.
"She never liked Jonas and was happier when she didn't have to be around him. Ben and Jonas got along okay but not Julie. Ben would change completely when he left his home and entered his office. There was nothing to be seen of the lovely and tender person he was at home, at Cale Industries there was only business. Cold, hard business. Sharks, you know?" Sarah asked.
"And that worked? One person with two different personalities? He never confused them?"
Logan shrugged. "I don't know if he was ever tender at work, but he sometimes had this strictly business attitude at home. Especially when I told him when I was about ten that I wanted to be a writer. I don't know how long he talked to me about my responsibility for Cale Industries. Or how often. Usually it was up to Mom to rescue me, but she wasn't always there."
Sarah nodded. "They had separated their roles. Julie was the 'good guy' and Ben the 'bad guy'. Maybe that was because of their experience in business matters.."
Smiling, Logan said, "Yeah, but it worked. Sometimes, when they hadn't talked about certain things and Dad had said no, I got it from Mom. Didn't work too often, usually they had talked about everything. But looking back now I would do it differently. If I'll ever have kids, I won't let the roles be so rigid. It's better that the good guy-bad guy roles change every now and then. Confuses the kids and forces one of the parents to be the enemy. 'Cause that's what happened with me and Dad. He was always so strict, always talking about rules and responsibility. I was just a kid. I didn't know that he wanted to protect me back then, I just thought he was mean." He hesitated for a moment before he said, "I don't know where I would be today if he hadn't died. Maybe I would have listened to him, like I always did. And then I would be in Seattle now, working for the dear Cale Corporation and I think I would have given up on all my dreams."
Slowly Sarah looked up and at Logan and asked, "You thought about that a lot, didn't you?"
"Sometimes every day," he answered honestly.
"I always wondered why you never talk about them. Julie and Ben are taboo and I never knew why. It's been more than seventeen years since their deaths and I don't think you've ever said a word about them. And that's all because you didn't do what Ben expected you to do? Because you didn't join the family business?"
When Logan shrugged, Sarah continued, "That's what Jonas and Margot planted in your head, didn't they? That you didn't do what you were supposed to and that that wouldn't have pleased your father? And not only your father but the whole Cale family? I knew they had tried that, but I never knew they had succeeded."
"They didn't plant it in my head, it was more a reminder of all the talks I had with Dad. He sure wouldn't have been pleased."
Steven sighed a little and said, "You really believe that? Benjamin would never have wanted you to do anything you didn't want. It was more a test, you know. If you survived all his speeches about responsibility and how your destiny was to work with him, and if you still wanted to do something else, then you would have proved that you really meant it. And then it would have been okay for him. He never wanted you to give up your dreams, he just wanted you to fight for them."
When Max looked at Logan she saw that he was thinking. Trying to understand what Steven had just said and comparing it with what he remembered. He had been only fourteen when his parents had died and he hadn't gotten the chance to end the fight. So maybe Steven was right. Maybe everything would have been okay if he had just had the chance to prove his father that he really wanted to write. Maybe he was really right.
Max could almost see how reality sunk in and Logan had to fight his emotions.
"Wow, if I had known that this is what would come out of it, I'd have asked a long time ago," Max said, trying to lighten the mood and made Logan smile a little.
Steven grinned widely and stated, "You know, I told you a catastrophe could have been prevented if you'd talked with me about Valerie, but I figure out that there are more things that turned out catastrophically because you didn't tell me about them. Any more bodies buried?"
Logan shook his head. "No, I don't think so. And I can't believe how many bodies we've already unearthed these last few days."
Max laughed a little and cuddled closer to Logan. "Will I get to hear some more Julie and Ben stories now?"
"As much as I can remember," Logan answered and placed a kiss on the top of her head.
They kept talking for hours, remembering all the good things that had happened during Logan's childhood and when they went to bed late, Max was sure she had learned more about family tonight than she had in all her life before. Smiling happily, she moved closer to Logan and listened to his breathing until she fell asleep.
When Logan woke up the next morning, Max was nowhere to be seen. Pushing away his disappointment, he transferred to his chair and wheeled to the bathroom. While sitting in the shower he thought about last night's conversation. He had never thought that his father would have supported him even if he hadn't joined the family business. But he knew his grandparents, knew how good they had known his father and knew that they'd never lie to him. He still couldn't believe it. Had all his childhood memories of his father been wrong? Misinterpreted by the narrow-minded view of a child?
Putting on his clothes and an extra thick pullover he went to see if he could find Max anywhere.
She was neither to be seen on the terrace nor on the street in front of the house and Logan decided that she might be jogging at the beach.
Slowly he wheeled around the house and followed the wooden path to the beach. The weather was great this morning -- the sun was shining and the stormy wind had blown away all the clouds. He stopped where the walkway ended and set the brakes. He watched the waves rolling at the shore and heard the seagulls above him. The beach was empty -- not a single person was to be seen and nothing disturbed the peace of the winter morning.
Breathing deeply he thought of a similar situation only a few days ago when he had been at the sea bridge, staring over the water and thinking of Max. He had been so sad back then, had thought that they'd never cross the line of being 'just friends'. But they had, they finally had. He remembered how badly he had wanted her to be there with him and now she was here. One of his biggest dreams had come true.
A smile spread across his face when he saw Max come running along the beach. She was wearing a pair of sweatpants and a pullover with a hood to protect her head from the storm.
When Max saw Logan sitting there she couldn't wait to get to him. She had already missed him the minute she had left the bed to move a little. But there he was, watching her and smiling. She still couldn't believe that they had finally been honest. Now that she was really having a relationship with Logan and for the first time in her life was someone's girlfriend, she knew that this was what had been missing in her life. She had tried to live a normal life since the escape from Manticore but it had never felt as good and as normal to her as it did right now. Well, not normal. More special than normal, in a very, very good way. To be in love with somebody could never be normal, but now that she had finally been brave enough to admit it, it felt like the best thing ever.
Lydecker could turn up here and take her back and it would have been worth it just because Logan was waiting for her with a smile on his face.
Coming closer she could see all the love and affection in his eyes that matched her own. She slowed down and walked the last few steps before she stopped in front of him. "Hey."
"Hey."
She pushed the hood from her head and fastened her ponytail. Logan thought about how young she looked with her hair pulled back, but his thoughts were interrupted. "So what's for breakfast?"
He laughed. "You shouldn't go jogging around the island if you haven't checked your food supply."
"Very funny," she laughed.
Logan said, "Maybe, if you're nice, I might be able to arrange something."
"Oh, you're so kind", she replied and looked into his eyes, smiling again at all the true emotions she could see there. She kneeled down beside him and hugged him tightly, wrapping her arms around his muscular upper body, her cheek against his. He encircled her small frame, tight at first then loosening a little to kiss her. Max couldn't stop a silly grin from spreading across her face and Logan thought that he'd never been so happy in his life.
On the terrace, Sarah had stepped next to Steven and asked him, "What are you looking at?"
"Logan and Max. Just look how happy she is."
"I don't think she's the only one smiling," Sarah said.
Steven nodded. "I've never seen two people so obviously and honestly in love with each other."
"Except us, maybe..."
"Yeah, except us. Of course." Steven laughed.
"I'm really happy for both of them. Logan has had a hard time, maybe even a hard life after losing his parents, but he's such a good person."
"I'm really proud of him."
"Me too."
Steven stepped behind Sarah, embracing her from behind, both of them watching the couple on the beach.
"Is it just me or do you also think that it's not only Logan who has had a hard time? I can't get rid of the feeling that Max has seen more in her life than she should have," Sarah asked.
"Yeah, she's old for her age. Seems as if they both need and deserve the love they are finally able to share."
"Everybody needs to be loved and just look at them. They've found each other."
"Yeah, and I think this is Logan's first real love. Do you remember all these Valeries and Daphnes Logan showed up with? Young, rich, and beautiful women but none of them an equal partner for him. Logan is clever and so is Max. They won't get bored of each other."
"No they won't. Especially not back in Seattle where every day is another day of struggling. I wish they could stay here with us."
"I know," Steven said, "but today we'll go back home and the day after tomorrow Max and Logan will fly back to Seattle."
They enjoyed the rest of the day together and went home late that afternoon when it was already getting dark outside. The ride home was in a comfortable silence, only interrupted by a long and nice dinner in a restaurant along the way.
I bow again to willow and a fan. Without their help this chapter would not have been possible.
Please be nice and leave a review.
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Chapter 12: Rain
The next morning the weather was still rainy and windy, so they decided to get up late and have a good and long brunch before they started any activities.
Steven and Sarah weren't in the mood to do anything, so Logan and Max left the house on their own, dressed in warm rain-clothes.
They went for a walk through the little village and when they found out that there were small wooden paths through the dunes they strolled along them. When Max looked at Logan she had to smile. He was wearing a dark blue raincoat and had put on the hood so the small raindrops wouldn't slip under his collar. Only his face was peeking out of the coat and as his glasses were spotted with raindrops, there was really not much to be seen of him.
"What are you smiling at?" Logan asked.
"You. You look cute. Cute and wet."
"Thanks. You look like a wet gummy bear in Granny's raincoat and those pants."
"A gummy bear?" she asked and stopped, turning around to face him. "You're calling me a gummy bear?"
"Yes. And the way you said that makes me grateful that there's no snow here." Logan grinned and Max laughed as she sat down in his lap.
"Okay, I'm the red gummy bear and you're the blue."
"I can deal with that." Logan nodded and pulled her face close to kiss her. "Do you want to go home? You're wet."
"Maybe wet but still warm. I don't need to go home."
"Me neither. Want a ride?"
Max nodded and stayed on his lap when Logan continued to push the wheels. He only stopped when the wooden path ended and they had reached the beach. Standing up, Max smiled at the view in front of her. "Wow! Logan, this is awesome! Look! There's almost half a mile to go before you reach the water. I wish we had beaches like that in Seattle."
Logan squeezed her hand. "Yeah, it's wonderful. So much sand, so fine and white."
"Shall we go to the water?" Max asked, but a look from Logan made her start thinking. "Well, the sand isn't frozen but it's wet. Don't you think we could manage?" she asked.
Laughing a little, Logan shrugged. "I'd say no, but we could always try. You're the one who might have to carry me back."
"Yeah, let's try it. We can go back to the cabin along the shore," she proposed, and Logan didn't have the heart to bring her back to earth. She was so excited. What was the worst thing that could happen? He'd get stuck in the sand and Max would have to help him get back. He had faced fates worse than that.
So he leaned back to lift the front wheels and pushed over the end of the walkway into the sand - and felt the wheels sink immediately. Max grabbed the back of his chair and tried to push him, but she needed some of her Manticore-powers to move him.
"Sorry, Max," Logan said, turning his head to face her. "Doesn't look as if this is going to work."
"Don't tell me you're giving up already? Maybe the sand a little closer to the shore will carry you?"
Logan shrugged and let Max try. Usually he hated being pushed around - that's why he'd never buy a chair with handles - but with Max it was okay. They both knew he didn't need her help and that he'd normally just have dispensed with the walk at the beach and would have been okay with that. He trusted her with his life, so why not trust her with a little walk?
Max struggled to keep Logan and his chair moving, but after a while decided, "Sorry, Logan, but I give up. You okay if we go back the same way we came?"
As she stood in front of him, her face clearly showed her disappointment. He said, "It's okay, Angel. It really is. If you still want to walk home on the beach you could just help me back and do it on your own."
"No way. I love to walk on the beach but I won't do it without you."
"Sorry it didn't work," Logan apologized, feeling really bad at what had happened. Max loved to walk at the beach, but they'd never be able to do it together.
"Sorry I tried. I should have known it wouldn't work."
Logan didn't say anything until they were back on solid ground and Max was standing next to him. "Max, there are still a lot of things I haven't tried since being in the chair. This was one of it and it didn't work. I'm sorry for that. But if you're willing to stay with me, there are a lot of other things we can try together, and I'm sure some of them will work even in the chair."
Max, who had been staring in the sand, looked up and at Logan. This optimism was typical of Eyes Only, but not for Logan. Logan was never optimistic regarding his disability. But she was not going to remind him of that, so she just smiled instead.
"Okay. I'm willing to stay for a lifetime. And I can probably think of a lot of things we could try."
Logan smiled back at her. There was no more disappointment in her face, only love and anticipation.
"A lifetime can be a really long time, you know?" he said.
Max nodded. "I know."
When she leaned down to kiss him and he wrapped his arms around her waist, he felt her shiver. "You okay?" he asked.
"Just getting a little cold. My feet are wet. Time to go home, I'm afraid."
"When your feet are freezing, I don't want to know about mine. Let's head back."
When they reached the house and opened the front door, Sarah came to see if they needed anything and without a word disappeared to get some towels.
"Max, take off those wet clothes. Logan, you too."
Both followed the order and gratefully took the towels to dry themselves. Max was heading to the bedroom where she could get some dry clothes when she heard Sarah shout at Logan.
"Logan, stop it!"
Not knowing what she was talking about he looked up at her, startled. "What?"
"I'd tell you to take off your shoes but that won't help, I'm afraid." She grinned, then laughed, and Logan turned his head to see what she was talking about.
"Oh." His wheels had gotten so dirty that even the journey back and the pouring rain hadn't completely cleaned them, and he had brought in half of the beach's sand. Not to mention the water still dripping from the wheels.
"No, I'm afraid taking off my shoes won't help," Logan repeated sarcastically. "So what do you want me to do? Fly to the bedroom?"
Sarah hadn't meant to offend him and was surprised at his emotional outburst. She decided to act as if he hadn't answered in that tone of voice, and said lightly, "Yes, if you could please do so."
Logan looked at her and his face softened. "Sorry, Granny."
Max came back to the entrance, carrying a chair from the dinner table. Placing it next to Logan she said, "If you could change seats for a minute you'll get your wheelchair back as clean and dry as it was when we left."
Sarah and Logan looked at her, both relieved that the awkward exchange was over. Logan transferred to the chair and watched Max carrying it to their bedroom and, judging from the noise, further to the bathroom.
When she brought it back it was as clean and as dry as possible. "Sorry, but the seat's still a little wet. Do you think you can live with a wet butt?"
"Yeah, I think so. I can assure you that I won't even notice."
"Very funny, Logan." Max grinned and watched him move back to the wheelchair.
"Thanks, Max. And sorry, Granny, I should have brought a second chair."
"No need to be sorry. Put on some dry and warm clothes, I'll clean up the floor," she said with a warm smile and Logan nodded.
In their bedroom, Logan was pulling out some new clothes when Max asked, "Do you have some warm socks I can borrow? My feet are still cold."
"Did you think about taking a hot bath?"
"Yeah, I did. But to no conclusion. What about you?" she asked.
Logan, who was just taking off his pants, shook his head. "I don't like taking baths. My legs won't stay under the water, makes me feel ridiculous. But I think I'm gonna take a shower, they're really cold." He threw something at her and when she caught it, she smiled.
"Wool socks. Thanks. Meet you in the living room?"
"Yeah."
When Logan went to the bathroom, Max put on a pair of jeans, a thick pullover and the socks before going to the living room, where Steven and Sarah were reading.
"Logan's taking a shower," she explained.
Sarah nodded. "Would you like a hot chocolate?"
"Oh, I'd love one."
When Sarah stood up and went to the kitchen, Max followed her.
"Thanks for saving me."
"Saving you?"
"I didn't want to offend Logan. But it's hard sometimes, isn't it?"
Max smiled. "It is. He can be so stubborn. But he knew you didn't mean to offend him. He's just acts like a real guy sometimes."
"Yeah, but he seemed so happy when you came in. I didn't want to ruin that."
"You didn't. Don't think about it too much. Logan's been so optimistic this afternoon, I'm sure that's not gonna change just 'cause he took something you said the wrong way," Max tried to calm her and Sarah nodded, her gaze focused on the milk but her thoughts obviously far away.
"Everything okay?" Max asked.
Breathing deeply Sarah nodded. "Yeah. This stubbornness is a family disease. His mother was stubborn as hell."
"Logan's mother? He never talks about her."
"I know. And neither of his father, am I right?"
"Yeah. Is that another family disease? They appear in some of his stories about vacations they have made or holidays they have celebrated, but they are never real characters, you know? You never get to know them, they are just some extras, never necessary for the plot."
Sarah smiled and handed Max the mug. "It's not easy, Max. I needed a lot of talking to get over it, so I'm used to it. But Logan was still a kid when it happened. He never talked with anyone, not then and not now. Back then I wasn't able to make him talk about it and today he won't let me. It's like he has hidden all his memories inside himself and is afraid that sharing them would make them disappear."
"But sharing memories makes them bigger, not smaller," Max said.
Sarah nodded. "Yeah, it does. Everybody has different memories and when you put them all together, everyone will gain something new. But Logan has never been willing to share - maybe because he wasn't forced to in the first place. Jonas and Margot never liked talking about Julie and Ben either."
"Julie and Ben? Those were their names?"
"Yeah. Juliana and Benjamin. But we never called her Juliana, she was always our Julie. She was three years older than her brother Daniel."
"The one who lives in Australia?"
"Yeah. We were still living in the U.S. back then. Steven had just started a small business as a carpenter and since we didn't know if that'd give us enough money to live on, I was working in a restaurant. Julie and Daniel were both in high school, Julie was in her senior year when she met Ben."
"They met in high school?"
"No, they didn't. Ben was in boarding school, a very expensive one near Seattle. His family was living in Seattle, he could have gone home every evening but he never did. He preferred staying in school. He was very talented in all kinds of business and met Julie when she went to the school's library to check out some books for her economics class. He gave her some advice for the work she had to write and she got an A for it. So she invited him for dinner, not knowing that he was the heir of Cale Industries and when she found out, it was already too late..."
"..they had fallen in love."
Max turned around and saw Logan in the doorway. He was the one who had finished the sentence.
Sarah expected him to be angry at her, because she had started telling Max about his parents, but he was smiling.
"I just wanted to see if I can get a hot chocolate, too. And I'm in the mood to hear some good stories."
Max shrugged at Sarah who raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Okay. We can go back to the living room. I'll take the chocolate," Sarah said and took another mug.
When she got to the living room, Max and Logan were already cuddling on the couch and Steven had put away his magazine.
Sarah sat down in an armchair and continued telling them about Julie and Ben.
"Logan was right, they had fallen in love. I remember the day Julie came home from a date with Benjamin and was completely dazzled. 'Mom, can you believe it?' she asked me. 'One day he'll own Cale Industries. And he never told me.' She had no idea what to do. Julie had been an independent woman and she had never imagined she'd be a housewife that would stay at home and raise the kids, but that was what Benjamin's parents would have expected her to do."
"But they were still in high school, only dating, right?" Max wanted to know.
"Yeah, they were. And that was what I told her. She could go to college and see how the relationship would develop. If she was going to marry him, then she could start the fight against Ben's parents."
Max was so excited to hear this story and asked, "Did they go to the same college? I'm sure Benjamin was supposed to go to one of the elite ones."
"He was. And we wouldn't have been able to afford it. That's why Ben broke with the family tradition and didn't go to Yale. They married right after graduation and Julie didn't stay at home. They returned to Seattle and Ben started working with his father. Julie found a good job in a small company where she worked until she became pregnant. When Logan was born she kept working part-time and the Cale family seemed to be okay with it."
"Did you have a nanny or where did you stay when your parents were working?" Max asked Logan and he shook his head.
"Stayed with Granny until I went to school. My mother was home after school, and made sure I did my homework and went outside afterwards, instead of watching TV or sitting in front of my computer. She and my father still lived the traditional way. When he came home from work she would have done all the chores and dinner would be ready."
Steven nodded. "Juliewas great at everything she did. Mother, wife, and employee."
"Why didn't she work with Logan's father?" Max wanted to know.
"She never liked Jonas and was happier when she didn't have to be around him. Ben and Jonas got along okay but not Julie. Ben would change completely when he left his home and entered his office. There was nothing to be seen of the lovely and tender person he was at home, at Cale Industries there was only business. Cold, hard business. Sharks, you know?" Sarah asked.
"And that worked? One person with two different personalities? He never confused them?"
Logan shrugged. "I don't know if he was ever tender at work, but he sometimes had this strictly business attitude at home. Especially when I told him when I was about ten that I wanted to be a writer. I don't know how long he talked to me about my responsibility for Cale Industries. Or how often. Usually it was up to Mom to rescue me, but she wasn't always there."
Sarah nodded. "They had separated their roles. Julie was the 'good guy' and Ben the 'bad guy'. Maybe that was because of their experience in business matters.."
Smiling, Logan said, "Yeah, but it worked. Sometimes, when they hadn't talked about certain things and Dad had said no, I got it from Mom. Didn't work too often, usually they had talked about everything. But looking back now I would do it differently. If I'll ever have kids, I won't let the roles be so rigid. It's better that the good guy-bad guy roles change every now and then. Confuses the kids and forces one of the parents to be the enemy. 'Cause that's what happened with me and Dad. He was always so strict, always talking about rules and responsibility. I was just a kid. I didn't know that he wanted to protect me back then, I just thought he was mean." He hesitated for a moment before he said, "I don't know where I would be today if he hadn't died. Maybe I would have listened to him, like I always did. And then I would be in Seattle now, working for the dear Cale Corporation and I think I would have given up on all my dreams."
Slowly Sarah looked up and at Logan and asked, "You thought about that a lot, didn't you?"
"Sometimes every day," he answered honestly.
"I always wondered why you never talk about them. Julie and Ben are taboo and I never knew why. It's been more than seventeen years since their deaths and I don't think you've ever said a word about them. And that's all because you didn't do what Ben expected you to do? Because you didn't join the family business?"
When Logan shrugged, Sarah continued, "That's what Jonas and Margot planted in your head, didn't they? That you didn't do what you were supposed to and that that wouldn't have pleased your father? And not only your father but the whole Cale family? I knew they had tried that, but I never knew they had succeeded."
"They didn't plant it in my head, it was more a reminder of all the talks I had with Dad. He sure wouldn't have been pleased."
Steven sighed a little and said, "You really believe that? Benjamin would never have wanted you to do anything you didn't want. It was more a test, you know. If you survived all his speeches about responsibility and how your destiny was to work with him, and if you still wanted to do something else, then you would have proved that you really meant it. And then it would have been okay for him. He never wanted you to give up your dreams, he just wanted you to fight for them."
When Max looked at Logan she saw that he was thinking. Trying to understand what Steven had just said and comparing it with what he remembered. He had been only fourteen when his parents had died and he hadn't gotten the chance to end the fight. So maybe Steven was right. Maybe everything would have been okay if he had just had the chance to prove his father that he really wanted to write. Maybe he was really right.
Max could almost see how reality sunk in and Logan had to fight his emotions.
"Wow, if I had known that this is what would come out of it, I'd have asked a long time ago," Max said, trying to lighten the mood and made Logan smile a little.
Steven grinned widely and stated, "You know, I told you a catastrophe could have been prevented if you'd talked with me about Valerie, but I figure out that there are more things that turned out catastrophically because you didn't tell me about them. Any more bodies buried?"
Logan shook his head. "No, I don't think so. And I can't believe how many bodies we've already unearthed these last few days."
Max laughed a little and cuddled closer to Logan. "Will I get to hear some more Julie and Ben stories now?"
"As much as I can remember," Logan answered and placed a kiss on the top of her head.
They kept talking for hours, remembering all the good things that had happened during Logan's childhood and when they went to bed late, Max was sure she had learned more about family tonight than she had in all her life before. Smiling happily, she moved closer to Logan and listened to his breathing until she fell asleep.
When Logan woke up the next morning, Max was nowhere to be seen. Pushing away his disappointment, he transferred to his chair and wheeled to the bathroom. While sitting in the shower he thought about last night's conversation. He had never thought that his father would have supported him even if he hadn't joined the family business. But he knew his grandparents, knew how good they had known his father and knew that they'd never lie to him. He still couldn't believe it. Had all his childhood memories of his father been wrong? Misinterpreted by the narrow-minded view of a child?
Putting on his clothes and an extra thick pullover he went to see if he could find Max anywhere.
She was neither to be seen on the terrace nor on the street in front of the house and Logan decided that she might be jogging at the beach.
Slowly he wheeled around the house and followed the wooden path to the beach. The weather was great this morning -- the sun was shining and the stormy wind had blown away all the clouds. He stopped where the walkway ended and set the brakes. He watched the waves rolling at the shore and heard the seagulls above him. The beach was empty -- not a single person was to be seen and nothing disturbed the peace of the winter morning.
Breathing deeply he thought of a similar situation only a few days ago when he had been at the sea bridge, staring over the water and thinking of Max. He had been so sad back then, had thought that they'd never cross the line of being 'just friends'. But they had, they finally had. He remembered how badly he had wanted her to be there with him and now she was here. One of his biggest dreams had come true.
A smile spread across his face when he saw Max come running along the beach. She was wearing a pair of sweatpants and a pullover with a hood to protect her head from the storm.
When Max saw Logan sitting there she couldn't wait to get to him. She had already missed him the minute she had left the bed to move a little. But there he was, watching her and smiling. She still couldn't believe that they had finally been honest. Now that she was really having a relationship with Logan and for the first time in her life was someone's girlfriend, she knew that this was what had been missing in her life. She had tried to live a normal life since the escape from Manticore but it had never felt as good and as normal to her as it did right now. Well, not normal. More special than normal, in a very, very good way. To be in love with somebody could never be normal, but now that she had finally been brave enough to admit it, it felt like the best thing ever.
Lydecker could turn up here and take her back and it would have been worth it just because Logan was waiting for her with a smile on his face.
Coming closer she could see all the love and affection in his eyes that matched her own. She slowed down and walked the last few steps before she stopped in front of him. "Hey."
"Hey."
She pushed the hood from her head and fastened her ponytail. Logan thought about how young she looked with her hair pulled back, but his thoughts were interrupted. "So what's for breakfast?"
He laughed. "You shouldn't go jogging around the island if you haven't checked your food supply."
"Very funny," she laughed.
Logan said, "Maybe, if you're nice, I might be able to arrange something."
"Oh, you're so kind", she replied and looked into his eyes, smiling again at all the true emotions she could see there. She kneeled down beside him and hugged him tightly, wrapping her arms around his muscular upper body, her cheek against his. He encircled her small frame, tight at first then loosening a little to kiss her. Max couldn't stop a silly grin from spreading across her face and Logan thought that he'd never been so happy in his life.
On the terrace, Sarah had stepped next to Steven and asked him, "What are you looking at?"
"Logan and Max. Just look how happy she is."
"I don't think she's the only one smiling," Sarah said.
Steven nodded. "I've never seen two people so obviously and honestly in love with each other."
"Except us, maybe..."
"Yeah, except us. Of course." Steven laughed.
"I'm really happy for both of them. Logan has had a hard time, maybe even a hard life after losing his parents, but he's such a good person."
"I'm really proud of him."
"Me too."
Steven stepped behind Sarah, embracing her from behind, both of them watching the couple on the beach.
"Is it just me or do you also think that it's not only Logan who has had a hard time? I can't get rid of the feeling that Max has seen more in her life than she should have," Sarah asked.
"Yeah, she's old for her age. Seems as if they both need and deserve the love they are finally able to share."
"Everybody needs to be loved and just look at them. They've found each other."
"Yeah, and I think this is Logan's first real love. Do you remember all these Valeries and Daphnes Logan showed up with? Young, rich, and beautiful women but none of them an equal partner for him. Logan is clever and so is Max. They won't get bored of each other."
"No they won't. Especially not back in Seattle where every day is another day of struggling. I wish they could stay here with us."
"I know," Steven said, "but today we'll go back home and the day after tomorrow Max and Logan will fly back to Seattle."
They enjoyed the rest of the day together and went home late that afternoon when it was already getting dark outside. The ride home was in a comfortable silence, only interrupted by a long and nice dinner in a restaurant along the way.