Page 23 of Embattled Return

“I can respect that.”

A soft smile spread her lips as she propped her chin on her hand and looked at him. Logan glanced away to shield his expression. If given the chance he had a feeling he could completely lose himself in her eyes.

“I’m not judging you on your scars, you know,” she said, startling him.

Immediately, his jaw clamped and he drew back. Why had he been leaning in toward her that way? “It doesn’t matter if you are,” he said softly. “I’m used to it.”

Frowning, she tilted her head at him. “I’m going to call you out on that one, buddy. You walk around like you have a swastika tattooed on your forehead and are trying to hide it. This isn’t the group to hide in.”

Logan frowned. “If you see the way most people react to my face, you would understand.”

“No one will react to you like that here. I’ve seen how the public reacts to Zeke,” she said, pointing to the huge man across the way. Even from across the room Logan could see the unevenness in his face, and the healed scars. But also, he was grinning like a mother at something John had said. “He works as a bartender with his fiancée. I’m sure he probably has the occasional issue but for the most part he just rolls with it. I think you have to own it and be above anyone else’s expectations.”

“Easy for you to say,” he snapped, angry now, probably because he knew she was right. “You’ve got the world on a platter. You’re beautiful and you have a great job, as well as a brilliant future. I have a feeling your home life was kittens and rainbows. I don’t need your patronizing attitude.”

Logan sat back in the chair. Marigold, conversely, propped both arms on the table as she leaned across toward him. “Yes, I had kittens and rainbows when I was a kid, thanks to my grandparents. I also had a suicidal mother and a father that was killed in action. No one here has treated you as if you’re lesser. Period. We all have issues, Logan.” Then she frowned. “You think I’m beautiful?”

Logan blinked, ready to lash out again, until he heard the uncertainty in her voice. Her eyes were hooded, like she didn’t want to be looking into his face when he tore her down.

“You have to know you’re beautiful,” he said, voice gruff. “How can you tell me to be secure in myself when you aren’t?”

She gave him an ironic look. “Yeah... what’s that saying about doctors being the worst patients?”

Narrowing his eyes, he stared at her. “What do you mean?”

She shook her head. “Nothing,” she murmured. Flagging down the waiter she ordered a rum and coke. “John have any more info about your family?”

Logan sighed, knowing that he needed to let go of his aggravation. “No, nothing really. The info I gave him is pretty slim.”

“Do you have brothers and sisters?”

He lifted a brow at her question and she shifted uncomfortably. “Sorry. I’m curious.”

“It was my dad’s family out here. My dad, my mom, my younger brother and older sister all left here back in the late nineties. I just know there was some kind of falling out, and we drove away in my dad’s craptastic car. We broke down in Indiana and stayed for a while, before finally making it to Virginia. I was like, six at the time, and I just remember being hungry and cold in the back of the car as we drove. And fighting over space with my sister.”

By the end of that trip, though, they’d been friends more than enemies. Jana had been just as scared, he was sure, but she’d cared for him like the lion he always thought her. Their mother had concentrated on taking care of the baby, leaving Logan with Jana.

“We settled around Bowling Green, Virginia. My dad was familiar with the area because he’d been on the Army base there years ago. I think even after he was discharged from the Army he hung around and worked for a while, before he went home. It was familiar to him.”

He played with his empty glass, wondering if Bowling Green still looked the same. There had been changes, he was sure, but he wasn’t curious enough to ever go back. Just talking about it was too much.

“So, what are your thoughts on finding your family?” she asked him softly. “Do you think you’ll want to reconnect with them?”

Logan had thought about this for a long time. “Assuming there is any family, and that’s a huge IF, I’d like to reconnect and find out what went wrong. My job was in intelligence, and I’ve looked for anything I can find about my family, but I just don’t have enough to go on. I’ve looked in all the obvious places, now I guess I need help looking for the un-obvious places.”

Marigold nodded her head. “John will help you with that. It’s impressive you came all the way out here for that. Where do you live now?”

“Virginia, just outside of Richmond. It was just a stop after I got out of the hospital. And I didn’t come out for John to work on my case. Shannon pretended to be a damsel in distress, but she helped me out at the airport and one thing led to another.”

Marigold grinned at him. “Yeah, things do that around here. My suggestion is to just enjoy the ride and be patient. John will find something.”

Must be nice to have someone have that kind of faith in you.

“So, you came all the way out here from Virginia tomaybefind your family?”

Logan blinked, not surprised that she realized there was more to it than that. “No, I have other business. Army business.”

Her dark brows lifted a little. “Ah. Fun.”

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