Sand & Snow (Sand & Clay #1.5) (5 page)

“Mom, come on, killing me here.”

“Oh sorry, I meant to say my tough, manly son has not been overly chatty lately about some gorgeous  brunette he whisked off to Greece.” Laura joked and both Logan and Caroline blushed, while everyone else burst out laughing. Her fears of being rejected by his family quickly diminished as she saw that Logan’s ex-girlfriend didn’t even seem to be on their minds.

“Come on, everyone, let’s get out of the entryway here. The living room is to your right or the kitchen is back this way.” Laura motioned to everyone as a maid came and began grabbing suitcases and carrying them up one side of the staircases that circled the foyer.

“I’m going to go wash up, its been a long day.” Dylan told them, helping the maid with the suitcases and following her upstairs.

“I’d love some water if you don’t mind.” Aralia spoke up.

“Of course, come on.” Laura motioned for them to follow her as she turned her wheelchair and headed back from the direction that they came. Caroline and Aralia tagged along after her, admiring the house as they went.

“Looks like it’s just you and me, son.” Mickey smacked Logan on the shoulder and grinned.

“You know what that means.” Logan raised his eyebrows.

“I’m going to kick you ass all over that pool table.” Mickey’s grin widened and the two walked off to the game room located toward the back of the house on the bottom level, looking out on the swimming pool and patio.

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“Dinner’s almost ready, baby.” Logan came up behind her and kissed the top of her head, placing his hands on her shoulders.

“Alright, I’m coming.”

“Did I ever tell you how talented you are?” He said, staring at her sketchbook that she was drawing in.

The sunset before them, coming down over the water and beginning to find its way beneath the cliff’s edge at the end of the property. Caroline had been penciling it into her sketchbook for a few minutes as she had gone out on the deck for a quiet moment. The house was loud with laughter and people talking, so even though she had need to bundle up in a coat, she was enjoying the moment on the balcony.

“You might have mentioned it a time or two.” She smiled.

“Good, because you are.” Logan came around and sat next to her on the bench, putting his arm around the back of her shoulders.

“I love your parents, Logan. They are amazing. Your mom is like an angel, and your dad is so full of life.” She looked at him, dreamily.

“They are wonderful, my mom has definitely always been sweet but my dad is like a different person now.” Logan nodded.

“How so?”

“When I was growing up, he was so tired all the time from working and taking care of me and my mom. We didn’t have nurses or help back then and her health was much worse before her kidney transplant. I think it just took everything out of him.”

“I don’t blame him, that’s a lot to juggle at one time.”

“It was, even when I started working during high school so he could work less, it still didn’t seem to help much. Her health was at its worst during those years and into my early twenties, he was running himself ragged with worry on top of all he did for her.”

“So now that you have hired nurses and her health is better, he has more time for himself?”

“Definitely. He doesn’t have to work, I pay for everything easily. I don’t want them working, they are both near retirement age anyway. They’ve done enough, they deserve the down time.” He told her, squeezing her shoulders as his arm tightened around her and they watched the sun set.

She was quiet for a moment, looking at him with pride as he stared off into the sunset. Sometimes she couldn’t believe how wonderful this man was, it didn’t seem real. As if it was unbelievable that anyone could love so much or have a heart so big to do the things he did, all without trying to brag or sound arrogant. He didn’t care about what people thought, he just did what he thought was right. She loved him so much for that.

“They love each other a lot, that’s pretty clear.” She dipped her head down to rest on his shoulder.

“More than anyone I’ve ever seen. It’s been almost twenty five years since the accident and he stuck by her every moment. He always says how he fell in love with her the moment he saw her. I loved listening to him say that when I was a kid because it was him at his softest. He was normally so gruff and grouchy, but not when he talked about her. When he talks about Mom, his eyes get wet with emotion and he is always smiling.”

“Think we will be like that one day?” Caroline asked him, biting her lip.

“We already are.” He moved to face her and kissed her.

CHAPTER SIX
 

      Completely full and satiated from the large family dinner, Caroline walked back to her room and changed into some more comfortable clothes. She pulled on a pair of pink sweatpants and a black long sleeve shirt to stay warm since it was absolutely freezing out, despite being on the beach.

The bedroom she was staying in had a sliding glass door that opened onto the top level of the wraparound porches, like all of the other bedrooms did. Caroline couldn’t resist taking in the late night air for a minute, bundling herself up in a fleece jacket and walking out onto the wooden balcony.

The water was black against the night sky, speckled with the reflection of stars here and there. The moon was still rising, but cast enough light on the house to look around.  The only sound was the movement of the water as it rushed up onto the beach and then pulled back into the dark waters over and over again.

She leaned against the railing and breathed in the crisp smell of the water, gazing down the row of houses that lined the beach.  There was a good bit of space between each house, making them not seem crowded together at all. However, in the dark, with only the windows illuminated, she could see the lit houses for miles.

A sliding door opened somewhere below her and she tensed for a moment, as if her private moment had been interrupted. She listened for voices and quickly recognized Logan singing softly and strumming his acoustic guitar. She didn’t remember him packing one, but she figured he probably had an entire room of instruments here. He rarely went anywhere without a guitar.

Smiling, she walked to the end of the top porch where it began to wrap around to the other side. She leaned slightly over the railing to see if she could spot him on one of the porches below her. She found him sitting on the railing with one leg anchored to the ground on the level right beneath her. The guitar was in his lap as he gently stroked the strings and sang softly.

Bending over a little further, she realized that he wasn’t alone. His mother was sitting in front of him, her face turned up toward him but her eyes closed. She was seated in her wheelchair with a shawl wrapped around her shoulders and a thick blanket across her lap. The smile on her face was unmistakable, pure bliss as she listened to her son serenading her.

“Is he singing to Momma?” A quiet voice surprised her and she jumped back onto the porch.

“Whoa, careful there.” Dylan reached out a hand to steady her.

“Sorry,” Caroline blushed, feeling guilty for being caught eavesdropping.

Dylan glanced over the railing where she had been looking and smiled, nodding his head. Turning around to face Caroline, he leaned back and put his elbows on the railing. They were far enough away that he wouldn’t see them unless he happened to look up.

“You’ve got a good one there, you know.” He told her.

“I know,” Caroline smiled, talking about Logan.

“Before her transplant, her health was really bad but some days were worse than others. Logan would always be there and sing to her. Even after the transplant, he still does when he can find the time to come around. That’s how he started music and got me started in it too. We were neighbors when we met and I never thought once about being a drummer, or any type of musician.”

“Really? How did he get you into it?” She asked.

“My folks weren’t around much, and when they were, I tried not to be. So I spent most of my time at the Clay’s house. Laura is a better mom to me than I’ve ever had, so Logan and I would have done anything to help her. Music seemed to ease her pain, it was the only thing on some days that could get her to smile. So that’s what we did.”

“I’m so sorry, Dylan. That had to be difficult.” She frowned, crossing her arms.

“Don’t be. It’s made me who I am today, and brought me my best friend.” Dylan just shrugged and turned to look out over the water.

“He says the same about you. I wish he got to see all of you guys more often.” She sighed and joined him at the railing.

“Now that you two are an item, I think he will. He rarely visited before because of Gina. He didn’t want Momma knowing that the woman who gave her a kidney and saved her life was using that favor to practically enslave her son.” Dylan shook his head sadly.

“Really? Wow, he never told me it was that bad.” Caroline raised her eyebrows in surprise, glancing over at him.

“It was worse than bad. I came into New York one time a little after he really blew up and his career took off. Just to visit, you know? I missed my best friend.” He started.

“You are too, you know that right, Dylan? I’ve heard you play, you’re amazing.” Caroline interjected, having heard the wistfulness in his voice.

“We’ll see, but it’s okay.” He shrugged, then launched back into his story, clearly not wanting to talk about his music career anymore.

“She wouldn’t even let me see him, so he snuck out to meet me at some bar. I swear his phone rang every thirty seconds until he finally gave up and headed back.” Dylan continued.

“Why didn’t he just dump her a long time ago?” Caroline asked before she realized that she might have sounded a bit rude.

However, in all honesty, she had been dying to understand it better. Logan had told her in Greece all about his family, about why he stayed with Gina, but it still just confused her.

“Look at him, Caroline. That man would do anything to keep the people he loves happy. He didn’t want his Mom to ever feel guilty or to worry about him, because she definitely would have. He wanted her to be proud of him. He doesn’t think about the toll it would take on himself, just on how to help the ones he loves.” Dylan nodded, motioning toward where Logan was still with his mother.

“He’s one of the good ones.” She smiled at Dylan.

“That he is.” Dylan agreed, yawning slightly as the night was growing later.

“But so are you.” She put a hand on his shoulder and gave it a small squeeze before heading back inside to her room to wait for Logan to come to bed.
      Dylan smiled and nodded in her direction, but he wasn’t really paying attention as he stared off into the ocean. His expression looked sad, as if he wanted to believe what she had said about him, but couldn’t. 

CHAPTER SEVEN
 

      “Rudolph the red nosed reindeer, had a very rosy nose, and no one ever saw him, underneath the mistletoe-” Mickey was singing as he flipped pancakes on the stove top the next morning.

“Pops, you do know that no part of that is correct, right?” Logan chuckled, walking into the open kitchen that blended into a large living room and dining room, all seemingly part of one giant open floor plan divided only by some furniture and half-walls.

“Just because you’re a singer, boy, doesn’t mean you know anything about Christmas carols. I’ve been singing these songs since I was a kid.” His father fired back, bringing a finished stack of pancakes to the already set table where his wife was seated, watching the exchange.

“Actually, Logan is right, Mr. Clay.” Caroline chimed in, having followed Logan.

“Hey, I told you to call me Mickey.” He gave her a stern, but teasing look causing her to smile and blush in response.

“Sorry, Mickey. Still, Logan is right.”

“Hear that, Pops? It’s two against one.” Logan sat down next to his mother and started pulling pancakes onto his plate, while Caroline joined him and did the same.

“You wish. I’m your father. I count as ten votes.”

“Mickey, I think Logan is right.” Laura was laughing with them now.

Mickey put his hand over his heart, a pretend look of shock on his face, as he imitated staggering backwards for a moment. Then he stood up straight and pointed to his wife accusingly.       

“Betrayed by my own wife! These kids are a bad influence on you, beautiful.” Laura just laughed at his comment and waived him off.

“What did Momma do?” Dylan had just walked into the room and was behind in the conversation.

“She’s defending your sidekick over there.” Mickey turned back to the stove and started pulling off the second and last pile of pancakes onto another platter.

“Ooh, pancakes! I’m starving! Merry Christmas Eve, everyone!” Aralia waltzed into the room, her usual bubbly self grinning ear to ear.

“Come sit and get some before they are all gone,” Laura motioned to her to join them.

“Dylan, finish the verse in this song- ‘Rudolph, the red nosed reindeer...’” Logan started singing then paused and pointed to his friend.

“...had a very shiny nose, and if you ever saw it, you would even say it glows.” Dylan smiled and started singing.

“I didn’t know you could sing, Dylan.” Aralia raised her brows at him as she pulled out a chair next to him.

“Oh darling, there are a lot of things you haven’t seen me do yet.” He winked at her suggestively, but she just rolled her eyes and began eating her breakfast.

“That is not how the song goes! If you had a giant ass red nosed, no one would kiss you under the mistletoe. It’s just logic.” Mickey was seated now, cutting off a large bite from his food and stuffing it into his mouth as he argued.

Caroline joined in the laughter as the table burst into debate over the lyrics of the well known Christmas tune. She smiled as she looked around the table to see so many happy faces, everyone getting along and enjoying themselves.  Family meals growing up had always been so quiet. Their discussions were short and stayed on things like work and things that needed to be done, never about how a song is supposed to be sung or something nonsensical like that.