Chapter 108
When I opened the door to the hallway, Frank was standing there, ready to come in.
"What the hell are you doing here?" I asked, standing my ground.
He shrugged. "I was about to ask you the same thing," he replied, serious.
"How did you know I was here?"
"Alanna called me," he replied. "What's going on?"
I let out a deep breath, and then looked into his eyes. "Craig knew that Logan was alive. He's known for quite a while. In fact, Logan was
led to believe that I was dead, too."
"What the fuck?"
I smirked. "Yeah. That's what I said."
"Wait here. I'll be right back."
Frank walked into Craig's office, and there was a struggle and something hit the wall. "Stay away from Alyssa and Logan! If I ever see you near them again, I'll kill you myself!"
He walked out of his office.
Behind him, Craig staggered to the doorway with a bloody lip, holding on to the door facing. "That may be a little hard to do since she's my lawyer!"
I smirked as my eyes narrowed. "Find another."
"Come on," Frank said as he placed his hand on the small of my back. "Let's go."
When we were outside, I asked, "What did you do to him?"
He smiled mischievously. "Something I've wanted to do for a long time." Then, he looked down at me. "Come on."
I nodded, and then let him walk me to my car. "Frank, I need to take a break."
"What are you saying?" he asked as he opened my car door for me. "Here. Sit down."
"That's not what I meant." I took a deep breath as I shook my head. "Christmas is coming up, and I haven't seen my family in a while," I said as I leaned onto my car and he shut the door. "I think I might take a week off to visit them."
He pulled me to him and kissed my forehead. Then, he pulled back to look into my eyes. "Take two or as long as you need. I'm sure Alanna can hold down the fort."
I nodded, and then pulled him in for a hug. Then, I pulled back and placed my hand on the side of his cheek. "Roxanne is a very lucky woman."
Frank smiled. "I'll tell her that you said that."
"Please do," I said as I climbed into the car and waved goodbye as I drove away.
***
After getting things settled with Alanna about the business, I left for Colorado the next day. When I landed, there was snow on the mountains and it was cold! The whole way there, I thought of Logan and Curt. My life was a mess, and I had no idea what I was going to do to fix it.
"There she is! See Auntie Alyssa?" Greer asked, carrying Jasmine on her hip and holding Gray's hand as I walked up the jetway. As soon as I reached the top, she held out her arms and gave me a huge hug. "It's so good to see you!"
As I hugged her, tears came to my eyes and I didn't want to let go. "I've missed you so much."
"I've missed you, too," she said, and then pulled back. "Come on! Let's go! Mom and Dad can hardly wait to see you!"
"Sorry for the short notice, but I wanted to see all of you," I said as we walked to baggage claim. I reached for Jasmine, and she came to me willingly.
Greer wrapped her arm around me and hugged my shoulders. "Come and visit any time! You don't even need to call." Then, she thought for a minute and added, "Well, if you want me to pick you up from the airport, then you'd better call."
We both laughed, catching up on old times as we walked. When we arrived at the baggage claim department, I picked up my bag and we were on our way. Even though I had just arrived, it was so good to see Greer and the kids again.
As we drove through the Aspen landscape, snow-covered mountains rose in the distance. Three-foot snow drifts were on the side of the roads where the snow plows had come through, but the roads were clear. Aspen was gorgeous, but one thing I didn't miss about Colorado was the heavy snow in the winter.
"So, do you want to go skiing while you're here?" Greer asked, watching the road carefully.
"I'm not sure," I said, and then laughed. "It's been a while since I've been on skis."
"Good! Then, I'll be able to beat you!" Greer teased.
I shook my head as I laughed. "Now, I don't know anything about racing! I'll be doing good to get down the mountain without breaking something like my head!"
She laughed as she reached over and squeezed my hand. "I'm just glad you're here."
We enjoyed friendly banter as we drove through the mountains toward her house. We drove through the forest past giant cedars and spruce, oak, pine, willow just about every kind of tree imaginable.
"This is beautiful!" I gasped at the view.
Greer smiled as obvious pride shone on her face. "See? You need to come to visit more often!"
Sudden guilt spread through my chest. "I know. I've been thinking that, too. I'm sorry I haven't been here before now." Greer had just moved to Colorado not long ago and I hadn't found the time to visit yet. I guess I'd been secluding myself more than I realized. I looked over my shoulder to the kids in their car seats in the back of the Jeep Cherokee-perfect for life in Colorado. "So, do you think you might ever move to Nashville for Brett?"
Greer shook her head. "No, Brett wants us to stay out of the limelight, and I agree." She took a deep breath as she watched the road. "We want the kids to have as normal a life as possible."
I nodded, understanding. Yeah. I wanted that, too. A normal life. "But what is normal, right?"
She laughed as her eyes grew wide. "I sure wouldn't know!"
