Page 24 of Embattled Return

Logan clenched his jaw and fought the trepidation in his gut. “Not really.”

She seemed to sense that there was more to what he was saying, but he wasn’t going to fill her in. “I’m sorry.”

“Nothing to be sorry about,” he told her softly.

“You know,” she said softly, leaning forward to park her elbows on the table. “A couple years after my dad was killed, we had a guy come to our door. I was old enough to remember my mom crying when he left. When I asked about it, she just said he had been one of my dad’s friends from the Marines. I never found out exactly what he said, just that he made my mother feel better. She’d been in a fog for months, kind of drifting through. I made us dinner most of the time, and I was only six or seven. But I remember her changing after that. She started to be more like my mom again.”

A chill went through him as she related her story. How had she known that was why he was here?

She smiled softly, twisting a silver ring around her pinky finger. “I can admire what you’re doing, looking for the family. It might really make a difference in their grief.”

Again, he was fighting emotion. He never told her he was looking for a family. This woman understood him in a way he never expected. “Thank you for telling me your story,” he said. “Did you ever find out who it was?”

Marigold looked up at him and grinned. “Yup. Can you keep a secret? It was a young Marine by the name of John Palmer.”

Logan barked out a laugh. “Seriously?”

Marigold nodded. “It had been his first command and my father had been the first man he’d lost, so he felt he needed to come talk to the family. He doesn’t know who I am, so don’t say anything, okay?”

He nodded, feeling bemused, and thoroughly curious. “So, where are you from? And how did you come to be here?”

Grinning, Marigold rocked back in her chair. “I’m from Arizona, originally. Tucson. My mom died a few years ago and I wasn’t sure what to do with my life. I’d taken care of her for so long, I was a little lost. We’d done everything together. She never married again and never seemed completely happy after my dad died. It was sad, really. It was like I was the only reason she was living and once I started looking at colleges out of state, it was like she gave up.”

“Did she commit suicide?” he asked, horrified for her yet morbidly curious at the same time.

Marigold frowned, her eyes going dark. “I don’t want to think that, but I do, yes. She was a diabetic, so it was very important that she monitor her sugar. I think she just let herself go. I know she was drinking; I could hear it in her voice when she talked to me.”

She turned her face away, but not before he saw tears glimmering in her eyes. Logan knew she had to be feeling incredibly guilty. He could see and understand the emotion because he lived with it every day of his wretched life.

“You know it wasn’t your fault,” he said, leaning forward. Surprising even himself, he reached forward and touched her hand, lightly, before drawing back. Marigold caught his scarred fingers before he could pull away completely.

“I think we’re both carrying a lot of needless guilt,” she murmured, her gaze hitting his for a long, timeless moment. Squeezing his fingers, she let him go.

Yes, they probably were, but he didn’t know how to release the albatross. Reaching blindly for his glass he tipped the remainder of the liquid into his mouth, relishing in the coolness.

Marigold watched him for a long moment and some understanding passed between them. Logan suddenly felt more connected to this young woman than he had anyone else in the past year. And it scared him. Once he found Miller’s family, his list would be complete and he would be free to do as he liked. That didn’t include tying himself to another person who would have to eventually take care of him.

Looking away, he flagged down the waiter for another beer. One was usually his limit, but he didn’t know what else to do with himself while she sat there.

As if in answer to an unspoken prayer, Duncan drew everyone’s attention.

“I want to thank you all for being here. I know we don’t really need a reason to get together and drink, but I think this is an especially good one. Parker and Andromeda,” Duncan raised a glass of beer to the beautiful couple, “welcome to the Lost and Found family. Again. I look forward to doing business with you.”

Parker pushed to his feet and limped close enough to shake Duncan’s hand, then they did a shoulder press and back slap. Both men were grinning, and Logan had a feeling they liked each other a lot. Duncan had to be a stand-up guy to run a business like this, so Logan assumed Parker was a good guy as well. And his fiancée or wife was stunning, beaming proudly as she watched.

The solidarity in this place, with these people, was really something. If he didn’t have a different objective in mind, he would like to be a part of this group as well. Who wouldn’t?

Several waiters came through in a wave to take food orders, and Logan realized he would be dining with Marigold. That was fine. He could do it. He just had to remember to keep his emotional distance.

* * *

Marigold feltit was fortuitous that she was still sitting at Logan’s secluded table when they started to order food. “We can join the group if you’d prefer...”

Logan shook his head. “I’m good here. I don’t know anyone enough to be good company.”

“I disagree. I think you’re fine company.”

He grimaced. “Then you’d better stay here.”

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