Hope and warmth and joy.
It grew thicker and thicker with each minute that passed.
It was funny that I’d all but forgotten that Christmas was less than a month away, that it hadn’t mattered, not any of it, not until right then.
“Sweet, isn’t it?” he murmured, though it was tinged in sadness, and his hand slipped free of my shoulder only to thread with my fingers on my lap. He squeezed so hard I had to wonder if he needed to make sure I was real. “That right there, Aster. That’s what I was talking about. That’s what matters.”
He glanced at me.
I got stuck there.
In the man who right then looked so familiar.
My heart panged, and by the time the children piled out onto the stage with their teachers, Eden and her father in the middle, all of them taking a bow, tears clouded my eyes.
The crowd was on their feet for a standing ovation.
I was on mine, too.
Luckily it was expected because there was no chance I could remain sitting. I doubted I could remain standing there, either, not when the overhead lights flipped on, and I suddenly felt as if it were me who was standing in a spotlight.
Once the applause wore off, Trent and Jud both looked between me and Logan.
What did Logan expect me to do now?
Play along that we were old friends?
That we’d kept in touch?
What did they even know about us?
Discomfort shifted my feet as I stood under the force of Trent’s glare and the uneasiness of Jud’s watch.
Logan wrapped his arm around my waist and cinched me close, his smile all easy cockiness and no shits to give, as if the man had stepped into a different persona in front of his brothers.
But I felt the undercurrent of severity in his hold.
“All I’ve got to say is my niece and nephew are superstars. I mean, we know they get it from me, but still, superstars. Both of them are going to grow up to be just like their uncle Logan. Awesome knows awesome.” Logan grinned wide as his ridiculous claim flooded out.
Trent gently bounced the infant against his chest, kissing the top of her head as he sent a grunt at his youngest brother. “In my worst nightmare,” he grumbled.
Logan cracked up, pulling me tighter like I was his lover and not his enemy. “Hey now, that’s just rude. Why you gotta be so mean? I’ve obviously rubbed off on your kid. Did you see him up there? You know he didn’t get that shit from you.”
He pressed a kiss to my temple right after he said it.
My knees knocked. Clammy discomfort clashed with the warmth.
What the hell did he think he was doing?
Trent’s gaze followed Logan’s attentions, his eyes narrowing in speculation. “Aster Costa. Have to say, I’m surprised to see you.”
We weren’t friends.
We weren’t even acquaintances, really. I’d known him from a distance and his reputation and the love Logan had for him.
That was true for all Logan’s brothers.
Both the two still living and standing in front of me and the one they’d lost.