A/N – Okay, so of course it's going to be impossible to do better than last chapter! I'm glad everyone loved all the LoVe in that one. I hadn't even planned the almost proposal then, but the more I thought about them being so loving together in the suite and all the memories of their past there, I just ended up going with it and thought it seemed perfect for them. I'm still trying to figure out a good balance of LoVe with the mysteries too.
As always, thanks for all the support and for continuing to read along. Please let me know what you think with a review! I really do love to hear what people are thinking of the story. It makes me more excited to work on it when I get feedback from all of you. I also apologize that I don't always reply to every review but I do read them all (sometimes many, many times!)
Disclaimer: All original VM characters belong to Rob Thomas.
Chapter 19 – Still Waters
Veronica was standing in front of an antique full length mirror admiring herself in a gorgeous white wedding gown. Bright light was streaming in from large windows that looked out over an exquisite rose garden made up of only red roses. Her hair was pulled up in a fancy up-do and she had a stunning diamond necklace around her neck with beautiful diamond earrings hanging from her ears.
"Mrs. Logan Echolls... color me impressed, Veronica Mars," a familiar voice broke through the silence.
"Lilly?" Veronica said, turning from the mirror to see Lilly standing slightly behind her. She was wearing the gold gown she'd worn for the last homecoming that they'd gone to before she'd died.
Lilly giggled, "Who else would it be silly?" Lilly looked her over carefully from head to toe. "I guess I was right about you being red satin, because we know Logan would never settle for yellow cotton dresses." Lilly laughed again, throwing her head back. "Not Donut though, no he was certainly yellow cotton dresses. I suppose that's why he fell in love with Meg."
"Hey," a second voice called out and Veronica turned her head to see Meg standing there in the yellow cotton dress that she herself used to own. "It's not nice to speak ill of the dead, Lilly," Meg replied in a reprimanding tone.
Lilly laughed heartily again, "I don't think that applies if you're dead as well. And face it," Lilly added gesturing to Meg. "You are totally a yellow cotton dress." Meg shook her head angrily at Lilly.
"Meg?" Veronica said in surprise.
"Hi Veronica," Meg replied in her familiar friendly voice that she had always used before her breakup with Duncan. "You look absolutely beautiful."
"Thank you," Veronica said as she turned back toward the mirror again with a happy smile on her face.
"He's never going to marry you," another voice added causing Veronica to spin around again. This time it was Alexis standing there in a stunning strapless red satin gown. "It's me that he really loves, not you. I'm his red satin, not you. As soon as I wake up again, you'll see." Veronica gasped as a red gash appeared on Alexis's head and bright red blood dripped down, disappearing into her red satin dress.
Alexis laughed and suddenly Veronica was alone again in Alexis's house. She heard loud moaning sounds coming from the bedroom upstairs and hesitantly started climbing the stairs. The bedroom door appeared a second later, opening on its own to reveal Alexis and Logan having sex in her bed which was covered with red satin sheets. "No!" Veronica cried out. Logan turned to look at her and shook his head. "Alexis was right. She's the one I love. The only one I've ever loved." The picture above Alexis's bed changed from the one in her house to one of her and Logan having sex on a beach with the sun setting behind them.
Veronica shook her head vehemently. She closed her eyes tightly and when she opened them again she was in Alexis's yard staring at the pool. She heard a soft laugh from behind her and spun around to see Logan and Alexis now lying wrapped up in each others arms completely naked in the hammock. She felt like she was frozen and suddenly Alexis was next to her as well. "I told you," she said in a taunting tone. "He's mine, not yours. He'll never really be yours because he'll always love me."
Veronica looked down at her hands and she was holding the wave sculpture. The words engraved on the sculpture flooded through her ears, in Logan's voice. 'Life's storms bring the best waves. Thanks for being my tempest. Love always, Logan'.
Alexis laughed again and shook her head, "Poor Veronica Mars, thinking you could actually have your happily ever after, but you couldn't even say yes when he wanted you to marry him. You should have known that eventually he'd grow tired of you and come running back to me."
"No!" Veronica yelled again and swung her arm striking Alexis in the head with the sculpture. Her body fell to the concrete in slow motion as bright red blood started flowing all around her turning into a red satin sheet bunched underneath her. All the water in the pool also changed to red and then Logan was kneeling over Alexis looking up at Veronica with tears in his eyes.
"How could you?" He asked through broken sobs. "You just have to ruin everything don't you?"
"No, no, no!" Veronica cried again, tears were falling down her face as she looked helplessly at him. She couldn't breath and it felt like there was a giant hole in her chest where her heart should be.
"Veronica," Logan's voice sounded farther away now and concerned not angry. "Veronica, shhhh, you're okay."
"What?" Veronica said in confusion sitting up with a start.
Logan's arms were wrapped tightly around her, "You were having a nightmare and screaming 'no' in your sleep."
Veronica felt her heart beat racing and her breath was slightly labored. She wrapped her arms around him tightly and buried her face against his chest. She could feel real tears falling down her face.
"Hey, it's okay," he said gently stroking her hair. "Everything's okay. It was just a bad dream."
She nodded her head against his chest, but couldn't find her voice to speak yet. She sniffled and tried to make the tears stop.
"What were you dreaming about that got you so upset?" Logan asked softly as he continued to hold her and run a hand up and down her back.
Veronica shook her head and didn't say anything. He pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Please talk to me?" he said in a quite pleading tone. She let out a small sigh and shook her head again.
"Okay, who was in the dream with you?" he asked compassionately, not willing to just let it go apparently.
"It was just a bad dream," she said softly not wanting to open up about it at all.
"Veronica," he said in a soothing but stern tone. "Remember earlier tonight when I said I was worried what would happen if you bottled up how you were feeling and didn't talk about it?" She sighed and nodded. "Well this is what I was talking about."
"Logan…" she said though trailed off and didn't say any more.
"Was it a dream about Alexis?" Logan asked quietly. She let out a deep breath and nodded.
"I'm sorry," he replied and kissed her on the head again. "I wish I knew what else to say to help you feel better. I could just ask Victor to text me if there's any change and not go back to the hospital tomorrow."
Veronica took a deep breath and sat up so she could finally look in his eyes. She shook her head and ran her fingers across his face, resting them by his ear so her thumb could still gently rub his cheek. "No, you should be there for her family. I can tell how much they care about you and I'm sure having you there makes it a little less painful for them."
He gave her a soft smile, "They have each other though. You're the one that matters the most to me. I'd rather do whatever I can to be sure you believe that and that you don't have any doubts. And don't try to tell me that you don't have any doubts, because I don't think you would have had whatever nightmare you just had if that were the case."
She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "It was just really hard…" she felt a few tears fall down her face again.
"What, the dream?" he asked when she didn't continue right away.
She shook her head. "No… being at her house today. Seeing all the things she still has of you there… and combining that with how much you care about her. I know what you said, and I believe you. But that doesn't wash away years of being insecure about whether I'm enough for you."
He let out a small laugh and leaned in to hold her tightly again. "Veronica, you really are everything I've ever wanted. I wish I could figure out how to prove it to you, besides just reminding you of it every chance I get and hoping that in time you'll realize it's true. And as far as things at her house, you know there's nothing like that at our house. Obviously I couldn't just demand that she take down pictures that she owns, but I certainly didn't keep anything out that reminded me of her." He sat there silently for a few minutes before he took a deep breath and continued. "Would you rather we bought a new house? A fresh start for just the two of us?"
She felt that unwelcome feeling of panic start welling up again. Buying a new house together seemed almost as scary as getting engaged at this point apparently. She shook her head quickly. "No, the house… no I don't think we need to do that… and I thought you liked it there… the beach and everything." She realized she was starting to ramble and not even using complete sentences.
He must have noticed her anxiety. "Okay, I just thought I'd throw that out there. It was just an idea that popped into my head."
She took a deep breath and glanced at the clock, realizing that it was only about 2am. "I'm sorry I woke you up. We should get back to sleep."
He gave her an intense look, "Well since we're both awake…" he waggled his eyebrows at her and a salacious grin spread across his face. "Maybe I should show you exactly how much I really do love you…" he pressed his lips to hers and kissed her deeply for a moment then pulled them slightly away. "…want you…" he kissed her again for a moment then spoke again. "…need you."
She was certainly wide awake after the nightmare and realized that she wanted nothing more at that moment than to feel intimately connected to him too. "I need you too," she said in a sultry voice as she shifted her body to straddle him on the bed and then pressed her lips to his, kissing him desperately. The few hours that they had been asleep must have been enough to rejuvenate him and Logan emphatically showed her just how much he did want her. It was actually sort of surreal being back in his old suite again, having some of the most amazing sex there with him almost like she'd traveled back in time. But she knew things were better now between them than they'd ever been back then. She also realized that him loving her was never what had ever been an issue between them. He'd always loved her unconditionally, only really asking for her to love him back the same way, but back then she wasn't able to do that, not completely. But now she knew she could. She wasn't going to try to kid herself and think that this thing with Alexis was going to be easy, but she did believe that together they'd get through it.
After they were finished and he rolled over onto his back panting and slightly covered in perspiration, she tilted up on her elbow to look at him. "Would it be cliché if I said 'woof'?" She gave him a devious grin and leaned in to kiss him on the lips.
He shook his head and a satisfied smile crossed his lips. "Nothing you could ever say would become cliché to me," his smile became more smug, "especially about my amazing sexual prowess."
She laughed and shook her head. "I'm glad to see you're still so modest."
"With people of limited ability modesty is merely honesty. But with those who possess great talent it is hypocrisy," he replied seriously, and then started to laugh softly.
She laughed along with him. "Are you seriously thinking about dead German philosophers after just having mind blowing sex with me?"
He laughed more and shook his head defensively. "No… of course not."
She raised her eyebrow questioningly at him. "You hoped I wouldn't know who actually said that didn't you."
He smirked and nodded. "You of course are way sexier than Arthur Schopenhauer."
"I'd better be!" she said playfully as she bumped her hip into his.
He grabbed her and pulled her on top of him. "How did you even know who that quote was from anyway?"
She smiled down at him with a sheepish grin. "I took a philosophy class during college and he was one of the philosophers we studied and I remembered that quote for some reason."
"For some reason, hmmm?" he smirked at her. "Your own modesty wouldn't have been the reason, now would it?"
She laughed and shook her head. "Absolutely not! It did remind me of you though."
"Oh really!" He quickly rolled them over and pinned her beneath him. He kissed her playfully on the mouth first, then all along her neck. He stopped after a few minutes and then stared into her eyes. "So was that the only quote that reminded you of me?"
She smiled up at him and looked thoughtful for a moment before she spoke again. "The sound of a kiss is not so loud as that of a cannon, but its echo lasts a great deal longer."
He shifted his arm so he could caress her face. He couldn't hide the sheer adoration that was on his face. "I love you so much Veronica."
"I love you too." She took a deep breath and then she looked at him more intensely. "Always and forever."
He smiled down at her and nodded. "Always and forever… I promise Veronica." He pressed his lips to hers and kissed her softly before resting his head against hers with his eyes closed for a few moments. He finally opened his eyes and gave her a playful smile. "Even if you make me wait a whole year to finally make you an honest woman."
She laughed and ran her hand over his cheek. "Well maybe you can get that sentenced reduced for good behavior."
He laughed softly. "Hmmm… so if I appeal it, opposing counsel will consider reducing her original ruling?"
She bit on her bottom lip as she smiled, "She'll consider it and get back to you when she decides on whether she'll be more lenient with you."
He brushed his nose across her cheek and placed a soft kiss on her lip. "I promise to be on my very best behavior then." He kissed her softly again. "I hope her Excellency will find it within her heart to be extremely lenient with me."
She looked at him with complete amazement and shook her head slightly. She studied his face for a few moments before she spoke again. "Even though I'm not ready to get married Logan, I hope you don't doubt at all that I do love you enough to say yes."
"You know…" he said with a look that she easily recognized as him trying to talk her into something. "We could compromise. Just because we get engaged doesn't mean we have to get married right away. We don't have to be like Dick and Mac and immediately head down the aisle. We could get engaged now and say we'll wait a year until we actually do get married."
She gave him an understanding smile. "I'll think about it okay?" He smiled and nodded again as she let out a yawn.
"Okay sleepy head, I'd better let you get back to sleep now." He gave her another quick kiss and rolled off of her, but pulled her along with him, so she was still snuggled up against his chest. He kissed her on the forehead as she closed her eyes and listened to his heartbeat. She had a small smile on her lips when she did fall asleep thinking about how much she actually did want to be Mrs. Logan Echolls.
When Veronica woke up in the morning, she smelled coffee. She opened her eyes to see Logan lying next to her, propped up on his elbow watching her.
"How long have you been watching me sleep?" she asked with an eyebrow quirked up. He shrugged in answer. "Well it's sort of creepy." He gave her a playful smile and leaned in and kissed her.
"Will you forgive me if I ordered you Belgium waffles with strawberries and whipped cream?" He asked with a sly smile.
She looked thoughtful for a moment, then smiled and nodded. He kissed her one more time, then stood up and went back out into the main room and returned with a tray with coffee and a plate covered with a metal cover. He sat the tray in front of her and then removed the cover. Her smile got even larger as she saw the huge waffle and all the toppings. He gave her a quick kiss, then went back out to the main room and returned with a second tray that had his breakfast on it. He'd ordered an omelet with extra bacon on the side for her to share.
"So what's your schedule like today?" Logan asked after swallowing a big bite of his omelet.
"Norris and I are planning to talk to Mrs. Branford today," Veronica replied after she swallowed her own bite of waffle. "Oh and I forgot to tell you about the jewelry case!"
"Did you find your Jack MacLean?" Logan asked with a proud smile on his face.
Veronica laughed softly for a moment before continuing. "Well, I don't know about finding a super-thief, but I did find out that Stephanie Whitman and Stacey Davenport wore two of Mrs. Bennett's necklaces to a formal dance at school without permission, so they had some way of getting them out of her safe that Mrs. Bennett wasn't aware of."
Logan's eyebrows raised in surprise. "So you think the girls stole the other necklaces too?' He shook his head. "I guess the later generations at Neptune High really may have been as corrupt as ours."
Veronica shrugged. "Well it's a start at least. Leo's getting us a search warrant and then we'll head over to Stephanie's when she'll be home from school and do a little interrogation."
"Mmmm... really put the screws to her eh?" Logan said with a smirk.
"You know it baby," Veronica replied with a playful smile. "I think we may go back and put a little more pressure on Kennedy too. See if she really had an alibi, and if it's Gavin then we'll go from there. The other detectives were checking to see if they could locate him somewhere else during that time frame to catch her lying about her alibi."
Veronica bit on her lip and hesitated for a moment before she continued. Logan gave her an expectant look, waiting for her to continue. "Do you think Vanessa would be up to talking at all? I'd love to know if she mentioned the 'bad penny' to her or if she'd have any idea who it might be. Or even if she might know of anyone that would want to hurt Alexis that we haven't considered yet."
Logan's face became a bit concerned and he let out a deep sigh. "She was pretty upset yesterday. Hopefully she'll be better today. You could come over to the hospital with me and we can see how stable she is and then decide."
Veronica nodded as she drank some of her coffee. "Is she staying here at the Grand too? Maybe it would be better to catch her before she heads to the hospital, in a less stressful environment, you know?"
Logan nodded slowly. "Actually I think Maggie and Victor are staying in one of the other presidential suites to have extra room for them, so they are probably on this floor too." He hesitated before he continued. "I could send her a text and see if she's still here and if she could talk with you for a few minutes."
"I'd really appreciate it," Veronica said with a grateful expression on her face. "I'm sure she wants us to get this person too." Logan nodded in agreement, and then let out another deep sigh before reaching for his phone on the table next to the bed. He typed a text to Vanessa and hit send, then went back to eating the rest of his breakfast.
Once they were done eating, they set the breakfast dishes aside and headed into the shower. "Do you remember the last time we showered together here?" Logan asked with a salacious smile on his face. She returned the look and nodded. He slowly started removing her clothes, kissing her exposed skin as he went, and then slipped out of his shorts and pulled her into the shower with him.
When they finally finished up in the shower, Logan checked his phone that he'd set on the bathroom counter and saw there was a reply from Vanessa. "Nessa said you could stop by their suite in about 20 minutes."
Veronica hurried to get ready and 20 minutes later the two of them headed down the hall to the other suite. Logan knocked and a moment later, Tyler opened the door for them. He gave them a small nod and then closed the door behind them. "Are Maggie and Victor still here?" Logan asked, looking around the suite and only seeing Vanessa and Tyler.
Vanessa shook her head. "No, the nurses have been letting them stay as long as they want in Lexi's room. Dad came back and slept for a couple hours, then sent Mom over for a couple hours too, but they are both over there now again."
Tyler had gone back over and sat on the couch next to Vanessa and wrapped his arm over her shoulder. Logan and Veronica took a seat on the opposite side of the L shaped couch.
"I'm so sorry about all of this Vanessa," Veronica said in a soft tone. "I'm sure you know that I'm trying to figure out who could have done this to her."
Vanessa nodded, though looked a bit more upset than when they'd first walked in.
"Do you have any idea who would have wanted to hurt her?" Veronica asked. "Someone mentioned that she'd said something about someone from her past that had turned up like a bad penny and we're trying to figure out if that could be connected to the attack or not too. Any ideas on that?"
Vanessa took a deep breath and looked thoughtful for a moment, and then shook her head. "Of course Lexi wasn't always the easiest person to get along with, but I can't think of anyone who would want to hurt her that badly. Obviously Kennedy was pretty mad at her on Saturday, but other than her, I can't think of anyone who'd be that angry with her. Are you sure it wasn't just a random burglary that went badly?"
Veronica nodded slightly. "We're just trying to check into all possible options, and a burglary is certainly one we've considered. Nothing seemed to be missing from her house, but Logan may also have come right after and could have scared the person away before they were able to steal anything. She didn't mention anything that seemed odd to you last weekend when you stayed with her?"
Vanessa let out a sad sigh and shook her head again. "I still can't believe this even happened." Tyler hugged her a bit tighter and kissed her forehead.
"I really am sorry," Veronica said again, to which Vanessa gave her a grim smile and nodded. "If you do happen to think of anything later, please let me know."
Vanessa nodded and leaned more into Tyler. Veronica gave Logan a quick glance. "We should probably be going and let you get a bit more rest," Logan said as he stood up and took Veronica's hand. "I'll see you later okay?" Vanessa nodded and gave him an understanding look. "We'll just let ourselves out." Logan said as he led Veronica toward the door.
They went back to their suite and grabbed their bags to check out. Veronica gave him a warm smile. "Thanks for suggesting we crash here last night," she said in a loving tone. "It was a really good idea. We should be sure to do it again sometime."
He smirked slightly at her. "I'm glad you're willing to let me splurge a bit on occasion at least."
She gave him a little wink and smiled. "I guess I am willing to let you spoil me once in a while."
"Mmhmm…" he said thoughtfully. "Did that help me with any reduction in my sentence?"
She smiled at his question. "We'll see," she replied as she cocked her eyebrows up playfully.
They headed down to the valet together and spent a few minutes in a passionate goodbye kiss before he headed off to the hospital again and she headed back to the police station. He'd told her before they'd left the suite that he thought he'd spend some time in the morning at the hospital, and then go and get Abby for a while so she didn't feel like she was getting neglected by him. They agreed to touch base later and make plans for dinner at that time.
Norris was at the station when Veronica arrived. He'd already called Mrs. Branford and informed her that they would be stopping by to talk with her. He updated her on the case as they drove over to the Branford's house. They hadn't been able to find any proof yet that Gavin was anywhere else before the attack happened. He certainly wasn't at the gym or The Clover with Tommy since they'd been able to get the security footage for those locations already.
"I ran over and talked with his mom too," Norris mentioned. Veronica raised her eyebrow in interest at that. She sort of wanted to meet Stella Sorokin herself so was a little disappointed she missed it. "She was a bit upset I think that I was there to ask about Gavin. She hadn't seen him at all that afternoon, but said he did come home around 6pm."
Veronica nodded. "If he was with Kennedy and her shift started at 6pm, then that would seem to help support that he probably went home when she went to work." Veronica looked out the window for a moment before continuing. "I talked with Alexis's sister this morning and she didn't have any new suggestions for anyone who would want to hurt her either."
Norris nodded as he pulled up in front of the Branford residence. They climbed out of his car and walked up to the front door. The door was answered by Elise, who escorted them toward the kitchen. Mrs. Branford was sitting at a table in a nook off the kitchen drinking her coffee and reading a newspaper.
After a quick greeting she asked them if they were there about the jewelry case. "Actually we aren't," Veronica answered with a polite smile on her face. "You may have heard about the attack on Alexis Calloway two days ago?" Mrs. Branford narrowed her eyes slightly and nodded. "I'm sure you're aware that your husband is close friends with Alexis and routinely plays racquetball with her."
Mrs. Branford rolled her eyes slightly and nodded. "Yes, I'm quite aware of that." Veronica couldn't help notice that it was more of a disgusted response than a jealous one.
"We're trying to check into anyone who could possibly hold a grudge against her and would have wanted to attack her." Veronica explained.
"Well that must be quite a long list you've got there," Mrs. Branford replied in an icy tone.
Veronica kept the polite smile and continued on without answering that. "Given your husband spends a fair amount of time with her, we wanted to check on your whereabouts as well. She was attacked between 4:00 and 5:30pm on Tuesday."
"I can assure you, I wasn't anywhere near her." Mrs. Branford quickly replied.
"Because you were where instead?" Veronica asked.
"I had a massage appointment at Still Waters Spa at 4:00 pm which lasted 30 minutes and then I spent a little time relaxing at the Spa café before I came back here for dinner with Elise and the girls."
"And what time was dinner?" Veronica asked turning to look at Elise.
"We always eat dinner at 5:30," Mrs. Branford answered. Elise nodded, but didn't reply.
"Is there anyone who could verify that you were at the café for that long?" Veronica asked, realizing that she still had an hour window, and it wouldn't have taken that long to attack Alexis and get back home.
Mrs. Branford narrowed her eyes at Veronica. "Maybe one of the servers, but I certainly don't know them by name."
"Do you recall what any of the servers looked like when you were there on Tuesday?" Veronica asked next.
Mrs. Branford let out a frustrated sigh, "No, I'm afraid I don't pay that much attention to the servers at the café." Veronica heard 'minimum wage workers' instead.
"Well thank you for your time. We'll check in at the Spa and verify your alibi of course and see if any of the servers can verify that you were there as well."
Mrs. Branford gave her a disinterested look and nodded. "Elise, please see them back out," she instructed the young woman.
Elise led the way to the front door again. Veronica turned quickly to her before she walked out the door. "What did you happen to have for dinner on Tuesday?" She asked, receiving a very surprised look from Elise.
"Um… pork chops and asparagus," Elise answered a bit nervously.
"And Mrs. Branford was here by 5:30?"
Elise looked a bit nervous and stared down at the floor before looking back up at Veronica. "She um… she may have been a few minutes late, but not more than 15 minutes after we sat down to eat."
"Thank you," Veronica replied with a friendly smile. She continued out the door followed by Norris.
"So you think Mrs. Branford could have done it?" Norris asked as they climbed into his car.
Veronica shrugged. "There's certainly a chance if we can't validate that she was really in the café very long. Plus we just got another 15 minutes that would make the window even more likely to overlap."
Norris nodded as he started the car. "So Still Waters Spa next?" Veronica smiled and nodded in reply.
They were about half way to the spa when Veronica's phone rang. She saw Mac's name on the caller ID. "Hey Mac," she said as she answered the call.
"Hey, I'm sorry to bother you Veronica, but I couldn't reach Logan." Mac said quickly into the phone.
"Is everything okay?" Veronica asked, sensing a little bit of anxiety in her tone.
"Well no… I mean yes… I mean everything is fine with Abby, but one of my clients has a horrible computer virus and desperately needs me to come and fix it and Dick had to go work at the surf shop this morning because the regular guy is sick, so I need to figure out something to do with Abby."
"Oh," Veronica said processing everything Mac had just quickly blurted out. "Logan's probably in the ICU and I think they have cell phone blockers back there. Um… I can come and get her until we can sort something else out."
"I'm sorry Veronica." Mac quickly replied.
"It's not a problem at all Mac. Don't worry about it." Veronica quickly said goodbye and let Norris know about the change in plans. He said he'd still go to the spa and do some checking while she took care of Abigail.
"I can get a hold of my dad for this afternoon if nothing else. I definitely still want to go to Stephanie Whitman's house later with you."
Norris dropped her off at the station and then she headed over to Mac's house. She'd been thinking again about the prior night with Logan and how perfect it had been and of course about the almost proposal again. When she walked into Mac's house she must have had a slightly blissful expression on her face because she got a curious look from Mac.
"So did you have a nice child free night last night?" Mac asked a bit suspiciously. "There's something different about you today?"
Abigail was in the media room watching cartoons still and hadn't come out to leave yet. Veronica bit nervously on her lip for a moment, which only made Mac even more suspicious.
"You'd better spill missy!" she said in a warning tone. "You don't want to anger a hormonal pregnant woman who could hack into your accounts and make your life miserable do you?"
Veronica looked a bit shocked at the threat that she wasn't expecting from Mac. Mac laughed when she saw her expression. "You know I'm only kidding… well about the hacking… the hormonal…" she shook her head and let out a sigh.
Veronica leaned in closer and gave her a squeeze around her shoulders. "Okay, I'll share if it will make you feel better."
Mac looked up at her with big pleading eyes and a small pout on her lips and nodded.
"Logan almost proposed to me last night," Veronica said with a shy smile on her lips.
Mac's eyes got large and her mouth opened slightly, but she didn't say anything at first. "Wait… how do you almost propose?" she finally asked with a confused look on her face.
Veronica gave her a quick summary of what had happened, with Mac smiling bigger the more she shared. When Veronica was finished Mac reached over and gave her a big hug. "I told you… anytime, anywhere…" Mac said with a mischievous gleam in her eye.
Veronica laughed and shook her head. "We will not be eloping to Mexico and having Dick marry us there!"
"Sure, you say that now..." Mac said with the mischievous grin still in place.
Veronica shook her head. "Don't you have some computer virus you need to go defeat?"
Mac nodded and went to grab the overnight bag that Logan had sent for Abigail. "Here's her stuff." She yelled for Abigail, who appeared a minute later and ran over and gave Veronica a big hug.
Veronica was actually a little surprised at the affection given the limited time the two of them had actually spent together. She hugged her back though and gave her a big smile when she took a step back.
"How about we go home and I'll teach you how to make snicker doodles?" Veronica said with a big smile on her face. Abigail matched her smile with maybe even more enthusiasm and the two of them headed toward the door after saying a quick goodbye to Mac.
"Anytime… anywhere…" Mac whispered as the two of them headed out the door.
Veronica glanced back over her shoulder and gave her an evil glare before the door closed behind her. I will not be married by Dick Casablancas! She could just imagine what sort of nightmare she was likely to have when she went to sleep that night and silently cursed Mac for that.