Page 90 of Just Me

I went into shock. Logan MacGowan entered the art scene about five years ago and blew the minds of everyone with his landscapes before he dropped from sight, but he was also David Cambre and, more shocking, he was Logan Dupree: the man I was here to study under. Yeah, I was in shock. When I was able to pull my head from that, I realized Saffron was still talking.

“...atthe time it seemed like the only option. He took my maiden name, Dupree, since MacGowan had a link to Cambre, but Dupree didn't. Now, I wonder if all that wasn't a bit drastic. But Logan felt he had to do this for our family’ssafety. There are many things I love about Logan, countless things, but his loyalty, his unwavering devotion to his family and friends, is on the top of the list. A finer man—with the exception of your lovely Bastian, you'll never find.”

Devotion to family, an interesting choice of words. More than likely, I was just being fanciful but was it possible that Logan really was my dad? I couldn't deny the family resemblance; we were both artists and he did send for me, in a way. Was it possible that he was my benefactor who successfully foiled the Rosses' plans? Had he been watching over me at a distance? Never had I thought the day would come that I'd be face-to-face with my dad. Bitterness warred with excitement—if he was my dad, why had he waited until now to reach out to me? The anger I normally felt at thinking about my father was there, but it was tempered by the fact that Logan wasn't a faceless stranger, but a genuinely nice person. I was tempted to ask Saffron point-blank who he was to me, but I just couldn't seem to say the words.

My thoughts turned to Logan as the full impact of his talent hit me.“He trained in sculpting work, but then he just picked up painting? He's one of the best I've ever seen. I can't believe I'm training with Logan David MacGowan. Do you think he would mind if I asked about his work as David?”

“Are you kidding? To be able to share the full range of his skill with you would thrill him.”

***

For the rest of the day my feet didn’ttouch the ground. I couldn't wait to tell Bastian and as soon as he got home, I didn't even let him put his keys down before I pulled him out the back door.

He chuckled, probably because of the look on my face. I felt like a kid in a candy store.“I'm guessing you have good news,”he asked as he brushed my hair from my cheek.

“Oh, I do. Have you seen the swordfish statue on Main Street?”

“Not sure how you can miss it.”

“It's a David Cambre.”

“Here, in Harrington, land of festivals, cars named Jaws and square dancing engagement parties?”

“Yep. You want to know something else?”

He had a twinkle in his eye when he asked, “What?”

“Logan Dupree is really Logan MacGowan, aka David Cambre.”

Bastian was silent for a minute before he clarified, “Logan is Cambre?”

“Yeah.”

He grabbed me and folded me into a hug. He was beaming.

“Why are you grinning like that?”

He dropped me back on my feet, but kept his arms around me. “My talented fiancée has David Cambre in awe of her work.”

“In awe may be stretching it a bit. I like hearing you say your fiancée, though.”

“I like saying it,”he countered. Saffron's story this afternoon had stirred up too much emotion for me to be distracted for long.

“Bastian, do you think it's possible that Logan's my dad?”

His response was not the one I expected. “So you've wondered too.” He wasn't surprised by the question at all.

“Yeah, I'm not just imagining things?” I couldn’timagine how life would change if he were officially my father, but I kind of wanted that new life to start as soon as possible.

“No. As soon as we met him I wondered. What I don't understand is why he hasn't come out and told you. I'm guessing he doesn't want to freak you out, but with how much you look alike, he must realize that you're wondering about it. And why did he wait so long?”

“My thoughts exactly. Not to mention Saffron and her words to me earlier. It was almost as if she was telling me without actually telling me.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Wait him out. He obviously has a plan and I'm still getting used to the idea that I may have found my father. It's funny, because I've thought about my dad so many times through the years and in every scenario I was livid that he abandoned me. Why I don't feel that emotion now surprises me, but I'm guessing that's because he isn't anonymous anymoreand I actually like him.”

“He really does seem to want you here, they all do.”

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