Filed to story: Sedona Preston and Logan Hayes Book PDF Free
Without her, I’d completely forgotten about it until my assistant reminded me that morning.
“Should I call Mrs. Hayes and see if she needs help with arrangements?” she’d asked innocently.
“No. She won’t be attending.”
My assistant had looked surprised at my answer but didn’t press. Within an hour, she’d filled the table with business associates and their spouses, had arranged for a car service, had handled everything efficiently.
But it wasn’t the same.
I arrived at the gala alone, feeling very single among the coupled attendees. I’d considered asking Catherine to join me, it would have been practical, to have her nby my side, but Marcus’s words from the last gala stopped me.
Let them talk, part of me thought defiantly. Sedona was the one who’d left me and our child and ran away with a man, possibly cheating on me while I waited like a fucking dog. Sedona was the one who’d abandoned her family. If people wanted to judge my friendship with Catherine, that was their problem, not mine.
But I didn’t call Catherine. Instead, I showed up alone, took my seat at a table full of near-strangers I’d invited at the last minute, and tried to pretend I gave a damn about what was happening.
“Logan!” A familiar voice pulled me from my brooding. I looked up to find Marcus Ashford approaching, his wife Amy on his arm. “Good to see you again. Mind if we join you?”
I gestured to the empty seats. “Please.”
They settled in, and Amy immediately scanned the table. “No Sedona again tonight? I hope she’s feeling better?”
“She’s still under the weather,” I lied smoothly. The excuse was wearing thin, but what else could I say? My wife left me and I don’t know where she is?
Logan’s POV
“That’s too bad. I was hoping to catch up with her.” Amy’s expression was genuinely disappointed.
“You know, Logan, I don’t think I’ve ever told you this, but Sedona and I became quite close over the past year. We’ve had lunch several times, just the two of us.”
This was news to me as I had not known that she kept friends. “You have?”
“Oh yes. Usually after our husbands had their business meetings.” She smiled fondly.
“She talked about you quite a bit,” Amy continued, and something’in her tone made me tense. “She was always so proud of your accomplishments, so supportive of your work. Even when…” She trailed off, glancing at Marcus.
“Even when what?” I pressed.
Amy hesitated, clearly weighing her words wondering if she should say it. “Even when it was clear she was struggling. She never complained to me directly or anymore but there were signs and it was noticeable, way too much, but I could tell. The way she’d change the subject when I asked how she was doing. The way she’d get this distant look in her eyes sometimes, this pain in her eyes before she would deflect.”
“When was this?”
“The past few months, mostly. Since that tennis player came back to town-what’s her name? Katherine?”
My jaw clenched. “Catherine.”
“Right, Catherine.” Amy’s expression was neutral but I could see the judgement in her eyes.
“Sedona mentioned her a few times. Said you two had history. Sounds intense, since you were swept up in her life once she returned”
“We dated years ago. We’re just friends now.”
“I’m sure you are.” The words were diplomatic, but the subtext was clear: You might believe that, but no one else does. But nobody is saying it straight to your face.
“It’s just… Logan, I hope you don’t mind me being direct, but as someone who genuinely cares about Sedona, I have to ask, do you have any idea how much she is struggling? The weight she carries on her all the time?”
The question irritated me. “Sedona is fine. She’s just been stressed lately, overreacting to-“
“She told me she felt invisible.Like she would be gone and you wouldn’t notice any difference.”
The words hit harder than they should have. “She said that?”
“About two months ago, at our last lunch. I tried to get her to talk more about it, but she shut down.”
This was right around the time when Katherine had started spending more time at the house, when I skipped coming home and Nick started prfering Catherine’s company.
“If she was struggling, she should have talked to me,” I said defensively.
Amy and Marcus exchanged a look, and it was Marcus who spoke next. “Logan, I’m going to be blunt with you because I consider you a friend, but you do not care about your wife or her feelings.”
“That’s not fair-“
“Isn’t it? When was the last time you had dinner at home with just your wife? When was the last time you prioritized her over your work, your friends, your ex-girlfriend?”
The accusation stung because it was true.
“Look,” Marcus continued, his tone gentler now. “I’m not trying to attack you. I’m trying to help you see what everyone else can see, your marriage is falling apart and you have been too blind to notice.”
“Sedona should have said something-“
“Did she?” Amy interrupted. “Did she try to tell you, and you dismissed her concerns as jealousy or insecurity? Did she ask for your time, and you told her she was overreacting?”
I opened my mouth to deny it, but the words wouldn’t come. Because she had. She had called me, when I was in Disneyland and I had ended the call on her, because she was inconveniencing me.
“I need some air,” I muttered, pushing back from the table.
I made my way out to the terrace, trying to clear my head.
My phone was in my hand before I realized what I was doing. I pulled up Sedona’s contact and typed out a message again, hoping she would stop with the silent treatment and respond.
“Please talk to me. I know you’re angry, but we can work through this. Just tell me what you want. Tell me what I need to do to fix this.”
I hit send and waited, my heart pounding in a way that had nothing to do with the alcohol.
The message was delivered. Read. And then, nothing.
