Chapter Seven

He led her into the garage and she immediately went to the ruby red Stingray. "I always was a sucker for a redhead" She said as she affectionately stroked the hood, feeling in under her fingers. "Can I drive?" She asked hopefully as she looked up at him with her kewpie-doll wide eyes. He laughed and patted her head. "No" She pouted prettily. "I'm a good driver, back home I had a Mini" He smiled as he unlocked the door. "This is kind of different from a Mini. Maybe next year kid ok?"

Miffed but accepting defeat, Kelly settled herself into the smooth black leather seats. The drive was a little more then half an hour, the scene changed from the appearance to Westchester, to the steel of Lower Manhattan, to the pretty homely feel of Long Island.

"I've never been here before," She said wistfully as she popped a piece of gum in her mouth. "Really?" He asked without taking his eyes off the road. "Yeah, in fact this is my first time in New York at all" Logan nearly veered off the road at this. "Are you serious?" Kelly nodded. "I lived in Montana with Mom, she never-" "Liked the city" Logan finished for her. "Yeah. But I'm confused, if you love the city, and it's obvious that you do, why were you Montana?"

He didn't answer right away; in fact he didn't answer her at all but pulled into a near empty parking lot. There was an old man about 75 standing on the dock who began to wave almost frantically when he saw Logan drive the car into the lot. Logan smiled, and Kelly decided it was the damn sexiest smile that she ever saw. He stepped out of the car and Kelly had to trot to keep up with his long strides. When Logan reached the dock, he wrapped the old man in a bone-crushing hug.

"Kelly, this is the man who should have been my father, Simon Carey" Simon Carey had a friendly face, a little scarred by the wind, but he had lively green eyes and a thick mane of white hair that was pulled away from his face. All he needed was a golden hoop earring and Kelly decided that he would have looked like a pirate. "Who is this lovely young lady you have here? Who is definitely young enough to be your daughter" Kelly smiled at the second part that he mumbled and looked up at Logan.

"Well Simon, this is Kelly Morgan. She is my daughter" Simon's eyes widened as they darted almost frantically between Logan and Kelly. "Oh," Simon said as he lowered himself to the bench. "So she's your daughter, and you're her father?" He asked slowly. Logan nodded and smiled as if he were amused and patted Simon on the cheek. "I'm gonna take her out on Sinatra," Still a little shaky, Simon rose and took out a ring of brass keys and tossed them to Logan.

As they walked down the dock, Kelly raised an amused eyebrow. "You named your boat Sinatra?" He gave her a look that made her shut her mouth, but she smiled anyway and trotted after him. The boat was sitting in the blue topaz water like a toy in a child's tub. "This is Sinatra," He said as he helped her aboard. Though Kelly stuck by her claim that she hated boats, she didn't mind Sinatra. It was white, except for the inside of the cabin, which was painted the same color as the singer's eyes.

"So how did someone like you get around to liking Ole Blue Eyes?" She asked as she leaned back on a cushioned seat. He let the 'someone like you' comment roll off him. "They would play his old songs a lot at O'Brien's. He had a great voice so I just got around to liking him, and when I decided to buy a boat, it was the only name that came to my head" She leaned back, letting the sunlight wash over her. "What's your favorite song?" She asked almost sleepily. "Come Fly With Me" He said as he walked up the short flight of stairs to the helm.

"That's funny, I guessed you would have said Mack the Knife. Y'know, the killing and all" He sent her a look from the helm that made her want to cringe. "You don't think much of me do you Kelly?" She smiled and closed her eyes as she felt the warm sun on her. "Sure I do. Its just that you seem like a kind of rough-and-tumble sort of guy" He rolled his eyes and took the boat away from the dock.

Soon after they were floating calmly in the middle of Huntington Harbor, she went up to his side at the helm of the pretty boat. "You never answered my question about why you were in Montana" Once the boat was settled he cut off the engine and turned to her. "Well I didn't meet Annie in Montana. I met her in Chicago. She wanted to be an actress and I guess she figured if she could get screen work, she'd be able to work on the stage like she really wanted. Boy she was beautiful; she could sing like an angel too, man. Anyway, I met her when she was auditioning for a movie, I don't remember what it was called though. She didn't get the part and she was so upset because I guess she really wanted it

"I was in the lobby when she came out, at first I thought I was seeing an angel. She was crying so she ran into me, she fell on the floor and I helped her up. Her skin was so pale I thought she was going to be sick. As soon as I picked her up, she told me she was going to be sick.."

-Flashback, 16 years ago-

"I'm going to be sick," Annie Morgan moaned softly and Logan quickly searched for the ladies restroom, only finding the men's, he half carried her into the bathroom and helped her to the stall. She knelt by the toilet as Logan held back her long blonde hair.

After ten minutes, she leaned back against him and he wiped her forehead with the sleeve of his shirt. "I'm sorry, I don't even know you" Once she was able to sit up, Logan slipped away and brought her a paper cup of water. She drank it gratefully and tried to smile.

"I'm Annie Morgan," She said as she rubbed at her eyes with the back of her hands. "Logan Hill" He said and helped her too her feet. "I've never been so embarrassed" She said with a small laugh. Her cheeks were flushed, she looked like a cherub.

The next day, Logan supposed that the little experience with Annie was over, until she walked into the club were he was boxing. He was in the middle of a fight when she walked in and he got punched squarely in his left temple. He was knocked out and his opponent was ushered out of the ring.

Annie, who was wearing a long ruffled dress the color of ginger cloves, jumped into the ring and bundled him into her arms. She stroked his thick hair and kissed the bruise that was forming across the left side of his face. His eyes fluttered open and he smiled when he saw her. "Hi again," He muttered as he played with the ends of her butter soft hair.

"Hi," She grinned like a schoolgirl and gazed down at him fondly. "Hey," He said as he sat up shakily, "your eyes have a little gold in them" She blushed and for a moment, both of them seemed to forget that they were sitting in the middle of a boxing ring with hundreds of pairs of eyes staring at them. Logan laughed and stood up. "I gotta go," He said as he took Annie's hand in his. "I'm sorry, but I gotta go"

He lead her out of the smoky club and down to the apartment of which he lived and brought her up to his room. He caught her staring at him with her wide eyes and decided that she knew, but played along anyway. "What?" He asked as he sipped a glass of water. "Your bruise, it's gone" With a sound 'clink' he set the glass down and turned to her. "You're a mutant," She said slowly. "That's not going to be a problem is it?" He asked. She watched him for several long seconds.

In a few long strides, she was to him as she reached up and cupped his face in her hands as she brought him down to kiss her. Her lips were warm and soft and tasted like kiwi lip-gloss and minty toothpaste. The more he tasted it, the more he wanted it. He took the kiss deeper and Annie seemed to melt against him. She backed up towards the small bed and he nearly fell on top of her.

-End flashback-

"The rest is kind of cloudy from there. Annie and I spent the next few days in bed together and one morning she was gone. About a month later I got a call from her, she was staying with her parents in their townhouse in Georgia, she never said anything about being pregnant" Kelly's eyes were a little misty and she settled herself in Logan's lap.

"That's a sad story" She murmured. "Yeah it is, but you didn't have to live it" He gently lifted her from his lap and went back to the helm to start the boat again. "Congratulations" He said after a few moments of silence. "On what?" "On your dance program you're starting with Scott" She smiled blindingly at him and stretched out her long legs. "Yeah it's pretty cool" When the dock was in sight, he asked. "What's the first song you're going to do?" She shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know, something along the lines of: Come fly with me lets fly lets fly away."