Filed to story: Sedona Preston and Logan Hayes Book PDF Free
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “Maybe she caught something.”
“We should bring her soup,” Nick suggested. “You always bring me soup when I’m sick.”
Logan’s POV
The simple kindness in his voice made my chest tight with emotion because Nick emboldened the very core of goodness and compassion. Despite everything, that he had been through tonight, his mum apparently rejecting him out of childishness and to prove a point, he still wanted to take care of her.
“We’ll see,” I said noncommittally, knowing that going back now to Sedona would only make her push Nick even more, and I didn’t want him to experience rejection twice for his own mum. “First, let’s give her some space to calm down.”
We pulled into the driveway, and I killed the engine. The house loomed ahead of us, and for the first time, I noticed how empty it felt, how dark the house was. How quiet.
“Logan?” Catherine touched my arm gently, gaining my attention as I turned to look at her. She seemed hesitant of what she wanted to ask, nervously playing with her fingers.
“Katherine, what is wrong? You can talk to me.” I said prompting her as her eyes met her as she said.
“Would you like me to stay for a while? Make dinner for you and Nick? I don’t want to intrude especially when things are strained between you and your wife but you both seem like you could use some company and Nick should have something healthy to eat tonight, instead of leftovers.”
I should have said no. Should have maintained some boundaries, especially after Sedona’s accusations. But the thought of being alone in this house with just Nick, thinking about who that man was, and letting my mind go to places that I wouldn’t be able to pull myself out of, was more than enough reason to agree to her request. She was helping me, by being there.
“That would be nice,” I said. “Thank you, Catherine.”
Her smile was warm, understanding as she took off her seatbelt.
“Of course. What are friends for?”
Inside, Catherine took over the kitchen, with an efficiency that was both terrifying and slightly unsettling. She knew where everything was and had no [problems navigating her way around. I ha’d shown her around weeks ago when she’d first started spending time at the house. She moved through the space with comfort, pulling out ingredients, chatting with Nick about his day.
I sat at the kitchen island, ostensibly checking emails on my phone but really just watching them. Catherine was good with Nick, patient and playful in a way that came naturally to her. Nick responded to it, laughing at her jokes, helping her stir the pasta sauce.
This is what it should have been like, I thought. Easy. Comfortable. No tension, no walking on eggshells, no constant worry about setting off another one of Sedona’s moods.
But even as I thought it, something felt wrong. Off. Like I was trying to force a puzzle piece into the wrong spot.
“Is Mom really not coming back?” Nick asked Catherine, his voice uncertain.
Catherine glanced at me before answering. “I think your mom just needs some time to herself right now. But she loves you very much, Nick. I’m sure she’ll want to see you again soon.”
“She didn’t look like she loved me. She looked angry.”
“Sometimes people look angry when they’re really just sad or scared,” Catherine explained gently. “It’s confusing, I know. But your mom has always taken such good care of you. That doesn’t just stop.”
“I said mean things to her,” Nick admitted, his voice small as he stopped storing the pasta, looking down at his hands. “Before she left. I told her she was annoying. I said I hated her and she was being a nuisance because she didn’t want me to have fun at Disney world, like all my friends did.”
“Oh, sweetie.” Catherine put down the spoon and knelt beside Nick’s chair pulling him into her arms, as she pressed his head against her chest.. “I’m sure she knows you didn’t mean it. All kids say things like that to their parents sometimes, it’s a canon event.”
“But what if that’s why she left? What if she left because I was mean?”
The guilt in his voice made my own guilt stir uncomfortably. I’d been so focused on my anger at Sedona and her games that was affecting the stability of the family, I hadn’t considered that Nick might be blaming himself for her actions as well.
“She didn’t leave because of you,” I said firmly, walking over to ruffle his hair. “She left because of me. Because your mom and I were having problems. But that’s between adults, okay? Nothing you said or did caused this.”
“Are you sure?” He probed further, his eyes on his dad, searching for answers.
“Positive. Your mom loves you more than anything. She’s just… she’s being stubborn right now. But she’ll realize she made a mistake, and she’ll come back. I promise.”
It was a promise I had no right to make, but I believed it. I had to believe it. Because the alternative that Sedona was gone from our lives forever.
Dinner was quiet, although Catherine tried her best to make it lively by asking light questions but Nick was pushing his food around, eating small and giving monosyllabic responses. I wasn’t doing well on my end either.
I barely tasted the food, my mind still replaying the hospital confrontation, still seeing that protective arm around Sedona’s waist.
After dinner, I helped Nick get ready for bed while Catherine cleaned up the kitchen.
“Will you read to me?” Nick asked, holding up his favorite book-a worn copy of “Where the Wild Things Are” that Sedona had read to him countless times.
“Sure, buddy.”
I settled on the edge of his bed and opened the book, but the words blurred on the page. How many times had I walked past this room and heard Sedona’s voice, soft and melodic, reading to Sedona but thinking nothing of it, seeing it as one of those things that Sedona did, as her duties as a mother.
“Dad?” Nick interrupted my thoughts. “You’re not reading.”
“Sorry.” I focused on the page, forcing myself to focus on the words on the page. But my voice sounded wrong, nothing like what Sedona used to sound like.
When I finished, Nick was quiet for a moment before asking, “Does Mom have a new family now? With that man?”
LOGAN
The question felt like a punch to the gut as I tried not to show it. “What? No. Why would you think that?”
“Because he was with her at the hospital. And she said she was with him for days and nights. That’s what you did with Aunt Catherine. So I thought maybe Mom found her own Aunt Catherine.”
Jesus. Out of the mouths of babes. He had said what I had been avoiding.
“It’s not… that’s different,” I stammered, trying to think of a way out of this predicament.
“Aunt Catherine is just a friend. What your mom is doing is…” What? What was Sedona doing? I didn’t actually know. I’d assumed, accused, but I didn’t know what she was doing, all I had were assumptions.
“She’s just confused,” I said finally. “And that man is probably just helping her while she’s confused. But she’ll figure it out soon, and she’ll come home. I know she will.”
“How do you know?”
“Because she loves you too much to stay away. You’re her whole world, Nick. She gave up everything to take care of you. She wouldn’t just abandon that. She’s just… she’s testing me right now. Trying to make me jealous, trying to get a reaction. But once she realizes I’m not going to play her games, she’ll stop and come back home and she will apologize for hurting you with those words spoken at the hospital.”
Nick seemed satisfied with this explanation, though I wasn’t sure if I was trying to convince him or myself.
