He just hadn’t known that he’d needed rescuing, too.
“I used to think that the last thing I would ever willingly do is risk hurting my mother by telling her what I’ve done, or take the chance that she might see me differently. I was wrong. The last thing I’d ever want to do is let you down. You’re right, Stella. You faced your past. Now it’s my turn.”
“Logan.” Stella laced her fingers with his. “You could never let me down. This isn’t about hurting your mother. This is about setting you both free.”
Epilogue
STELLA WAITED ANXIOUSLY on the back steps of Logan’s mother’s house. He’d insisted on coming straight over after he’d agreed to come clean and tell his mother what he’d done. Stella had offered to be there when he told her, but he said he needed to do it on his own. He’d been in there for almost an hour already, and Stella prayed she hadn’t pushed him in the wrong direction.
The kitchen door opened. Logan walked silently onto the porch and sat beside her. His damp eyes sent a spear through her heart.
“I’m sorry,” she said.
He shook his head and took her hand in his. She couldn’t read his pained expression as they sat in silence. Finally Logan unclenched his jaw and kissed the back of her hand.
“Thank you, darlin’.”
Her breath left her lungs in a rush. “It went okay?”
He nodded, though his brows knitted. “Yeah, it went okay. It was tough, reliving it all, talking about Dad. My mother would like to talk to you. Would you mind?”
A lump clogged Stella’s throat as she looked into his dark eyes. This amazing, loving man had not only turned his entire life upside down for her and saved her from a past that would have haunted her forever, if not killed her, but he’d also bared his soul to his mother, risking the love of the woman he’d spent years protecting—and he’d done it all for her. She needed to know that he was more than okay. That he was whole once again.
“No, of course not, but, Logan, are you okay?”
“Yes, darlin’. A little blown away, but I’m much better than I’ve been in a very long time.” He pulled her in close and kissed her. “Come. Let’s go talk to my mom. She’s been crying, so be prepared.”
THE WEIGHT LOGAN had been carrying around since he’d killed his father’s murderer while saving a woman and her child, had morphed into something else. It didn’t lift from his shoulders, as people always said happened when they revealed their worst demons. No, it wasn’t like that at all. As he led Stella through his mother’s kitchen and found her sitting on the couch exactly where he’d left her, red-eyed and clenching a handful of tissues, his heart ached in a way that felt both good and bad.
“Come in, sweetie,” his mother said, patting the cushions beside her.
He hated that he’d unearthed such a painful experience for his mother, and for himself. But in telling her what he’d done, in telling the woman who had loved him unconditionally his entire life, that he’d killed a man—he’d faced an even more powerful demon: the self-loathing and persecution that had been his constant companion ever since that terrible, awful night.
Logan and Stella sat on either side of Mary Lou.
“Hi, Mary Lou,” Stella said. “I’m sorry. For everything.”
His mother reached for Stella’s hand, then for Logan’s, and held them both tightly on her lap. Her gaze softened, and for the first time since Logan had begun telling her about what he’d done, his mother’s eyes were dry.
“Lovey, please don’t be sorry,” his mother said. “You followed your heart, and it’s that conviction in being true to the ones you love that drove Logan to do what he did in the first place. My Logan has needed you in his life for a very long time.”
Stella’s eyes filled with tears. Logan caught Stella’s gaze and mouthed, Thank you. I love you.
His mother looked at him and said, “You’re like your father, honey. You’ll show Stella how thankful you are, and how much you love her, every day of your life. You’re a good man, sweetheart, and your father would be proud of you.”
Logan’s heart lodged in his throat, and before he could form a response, his mother turned to Stella and said, “Our family lost someone very special to us for a very long time. Thank you for bringing him back.”
Tears slid down Logan’s cheeks. He’d cried more in the past hour than he had in years, but there was no shame in the emotions consuming him. He’d carried shame for too many years, hidden things from the people he loved most. Finally—Lord, finally—Logan found the name for what the weight that had nearly slain him had morphed into.
Forgiveness.
—The End—
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Please enjoy this sneak peek of
WILD BOYS ~HEATH~ (After Dark, Book 2)