CHAPTER THREE:UNFINISHED BUSINESS
1994 Words
Logan glanced at her. “She looks like you. But she has my eyes.”
Amelia nodded. “She does.”
They stood there in silence for a moment, watching Isla climb onto the slide.
“You should have told me,” Logan said quietly.
Amelia sighed. “Maybe. But I was scared.”
He turned to her. “Of what?”
“Of you not wanting her. Of you leaving.”
Logan’s expression hardened. “I wouldn’t have.”
She let out a soft, bitter laugh. “You say that now, but back then? You were already slipping away from me, Logan. I could feel it.”
Logan ran a hand over his face. “Things were complicated. I—” He exhaled. “I had my reasons.”
Amelia crossed her arms. “And I had mine.”
They stood there, years of unspoken words hanging between them.
Then, Isla’s voice broke the tension. “Come push me on the swing!”
Logan hesitated for a second before nodding. “I got it.”
Amelia watched as he walked over to Isla, lifting her onto the swing and giving her a gentle push. Isla giggled, her laughter echoing through the park.
For the first time in four years, Logan Black was part of their lives.
And Amelia wasn’t sure if she was ready for what that meant.
The afternoon sun bathed the park in golden light as Amelia sat on a nearby bench, watching Logan push Isla on the swing. Her daughter’s laughter echoed through the crisp air, blending with the soft rustling of pine trees.
Amelia should have been relieved that Isla was happy—but instead, unease sat heavy in her chest. Seeing Logan with her daughter felt… right. And that scared her.
Logan turned toward her, his dark eyes unreadable. “She’s fearless,” he said, a small smile playing on his lips.
Amelia nodded. “She gets that from you.”
Silence stretched between them before Logan cleared his throat. “We need to talk, Amelia.”
Her stomach clenched. She knew this was coming.
“Not here,” she said quietly, glancing at Isla.
Logan nodded in understanding. “Tonight?”
Amelia hesitated. “Fine.”
She wasn’t sure she was ready to open old wounds, but avoiding this conversation wouldn’t change the past—or the fact that Logan was now back in their lives.
That evening, after putting Isla to bed, Amelia made her way downstairs. Logan was already waiting in the living room, his expression tense as he stood by the fireplace. The flickering glow cast shadows on his face, making him look both familiar and like a stranger at the same time.
She took a deep breath. “Okay. Talk.”
Logan exhaled, rubbing the back of his neck. “I don’t even know where to start.”
“How about with why you left?”
Logan met her gaze. “I didn’t want to leave you, Amelia.”
A bitter chuckle escaped her lips. “But you did.”
Logan sighed. “You know I was trying to build a future for us. My father was pressuring me into taking over his business, and I thought if I proved myself, I could finally give us the life we deserved.”
Amelia’s eyes burned. “We never needed a ‘perfect’ life, Logan. We just needed you.”
Logan stepped closer, his voice thick with regret. “I was stupid. I thought I had time to figure it all out. And then, before I knew it… you were gone.”
Tears welled up in Amelia’s eyes, but she refused to let them fall. “Do you have any idea how hard it was? Finding out I was pregnant, alone? I waited, Logan. I waited for you to come back. But you never did.”
Logan’s jaw tightened. “I didn’t know.”
“Because you didn’t ask,” she whispered.
Regret flickered across his face. “I messed up, Amelia. I know that. But I swear, if I had known about Isla, I would have been here.”
Amelia wanted to believe him. But the scars of abandonment weren’t so easily erased.
I don’t know if I can trust you again,” she admitted.
Logan reached into his pocket and pulled out something small. When he opened his hand, Amelia gasped.
It was the amethyst ring he had given her all those years ago. The one her mother had returned to her.
“I never stopped loving you,” Logan said, his voice raw. “And I never will.”
Amelia stared at the ring, her heart hammering in her chest.
This was too much.
Too fast.
Too painful.
She stepped back, shaking her head. “I need time.”
Logan’s face fell, but he nodded. “I’ll wait. As long as it takes.”
As she turned away, Amelia wasn’t sure if time would ever be enough to mend the past.
But deep down, she wasn’t sure she wanted to let go of him either.
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Amelia sat on her bed, her fingers reminiscing the memories of her and Logan.The warm feel from Logan’s touch, carrying the weight of everything they had been and everything they had lost.
She squeezed her eyes shut, memories rushing back like a tidal wave.
Six years ago.
The snowfall was heavy that night, blanketing the town in white. Logan had pulled her close, their breath mingling in the crisp air.
“I have something for you,” he had whispered, reaching into his coat pocket.
She had laughed, swatting his arm. “If it’s another prank, I swear—”
But then he had opened his palm, revealing the delicate amethyst ring.
Her heart had stuttered. “Logan…”
He had slipped it onto her finger, his voice tender. “It’s a promise. That no matter what happens, I’ll always find my way back to you.”
She had believed him.
And then, just like that, he had disappeared from her life.
Now.
A knock on her door jolted Amelia from the past.
She opened it to find her mother, Evelyn, standing there, arms crossed.
“Logan told you, didn’t he?” Evelyn asked, her expression unreadable.
Amelia frowned. “Told me what?”
Evelyn sighed and stepped inside, shutting the door. “That he never stopped looking for you.”
Amelia’s breath caught. “What?”
Her mother sat on the edge of the bed. “After he left, he came back. A year later. He asked about you, but by then, you had already left Snowfall Ridge. He looked for you, Amelia. He even came to me. But I… I told him to stay away.”
Shock rippled through Amelia. “You… what?”
Evelyn’s face softened. “You were so broken when he left, sweetheart. I didn’t want him to hurt you again. So I told him it was too late.”
Anger and heartbreak twisted inside her. “You had no right.”
“I thought I was protecting you,” Evelyn said softly. “But I see now that I may have been wrong.”
Amelia stared heartbroken at her mother, emotions swirling inside her.
Logan had tried.
He had come back but she had married and moved on.
Her mother’s voice broke through her thoughts. “The question now is… do you still love him?”
Amelia swallowed hard. “I don’t know.”
Evelyn gave a sad smile. “Then maybe it’s time to find out.”
As her mother left the room, Amelia stared at the amethyst ring, her mind a whirlwind of emotions.
Maybe it was time to stop running.
Maybe it was time to let the past have its say.
Maybe… it was time to see if Logan still had a place in her heart.
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The next morning, Amelia stood in the attic, sifting through an old wooden chest. Dust floated in the sunlight as she pulled out a small, unopened envelope.
Her breath caught.
It had her name on it. And Logan’s handwriting.
With trembling hands, she opened it.
Amelia,
I don’t know if you’ll ever read this, but I need you to know—I never meant to leave you the way I did. I was scared, confused, and trying to be the man I thought you deserved. But I see now that I went about it all wrong.
I came back for you. I searched everywhere. But by the time I returned, you were gone. I don’t blame you. I just hope that, wherever you are, you’re happy.
I’ll always love you.
Logan
Tears blurred her vision as she clutched the letter to her chest.
He had come back.
And she had never known.
Maybe love wasn’t as lost as she thought.
Maybe it had been waiting for her all along.
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The wind howled outside as Amelia sat in the kitchen, staring at the letter in her hands. The words blurred as emotions swirled inside her—anger, regret, confusion. She had spent so many years resenting Logan for leaving, for never coming back. And now, to find out he had searched for her? That her own mother had kept him away?
The betrayal cut deep.
A sudden knock at the back door startled her. Heart pounding, she got up and pulled it open.
Logan stood there, his dark coat soaked from the sudden downpour, his hair dripping. He looked like a man on the edge, his expression raw.
“You found it,” he said, his eyes flickering to the letter in her hand.
She nodded, gripping the paper tightly. “You wrote this… years ago.”
He stepped inside, shaking off the rain. “I left it with your mom, hoping she’d give it to you if she ever saw you again. But she never did, did she?”
Amelia swallowed hard. “No.”
A flash of pain crossed his face, but he nodded as if he had expected that answer.
“Why didn’t you come back sooner?” she asked, voice barely above a whisper.
Logan exhaled heavily. “I tried. You don’t know how many times I tried, Amelia. But I didn’t know where you were. Your mom made it clear you had moved on, that you didn’t want to see me. I believed her.”
Anger surged through Amelia, not just at her mother but at the years of misunderstanding that had kept them apart. “She had no right.”
Logan took a step closer, his voice thick with emotion. “Would it have changed anything? If I had found you back then?”
Amelia opened her mouth but hesitated. Would it? She had been hurt, pregnant, alone. If he had shown up then, would she have been able to forgive him? To let him in?
She didn’t know.
“I don’t have an answer,” she admitted. “All I know is that I spent years hating you, and now… I don’t know what to feel anymore.”
Logan reached out hesitantly, as if afraid she would pull away. His fingers brushed her wrist, sending a shiver through her.
“Then let me prove to you that I’m not the same man who left,” he murmured.
Amelia searched his face, looking for deception, for hesitation. But all she saw was sincerity.
“I don’t know if I can trust you again,” she whispered.
Logan’s lips curved into a sad smile. “Then let me earn it.”
She should have pushed him away. She should have told him it was too late.
But as the storm raged outside, Amelia knew the real battle wasn’t the one outside—it was the one inside her.
And she wasn’t sure if she was ready to win or lose.
For now, she was stuck in between.
Not holding on.
But not letting go either.
- Writer
