I reached into the bag. “Not necessary, keep your arm.”
I watched her take a bite and honestly, she looked like a woman in the midst of the most intense orgasm of her life. I looked down at my donut and wondered if we were eating the same thing.
“Since I got pregnant, I can't get enough of these guys. It really is no wonder that I'm as heavy as a small whale.”
“Not a small whale, maybe a large dolphin.” This earned me a look, so I lowered my head to keep her from seeing my grin.
“Are you heading somewhere?” She asked in between mouthfuls.
“No, just walking around.”
“Mind if I join you?”
“Not at all.”
We started from the bakery, when something caught my eye across the street. “Is that a statue of a swordfish?”
Saffron's bark of laughter confirmed it. “Yeah, Logan made it and dedicated it to the town.”
“I want to get a better look.” I crossed the street and stood in front of the life-sized swordfish carved from a dark-blue marble. As silly as the intent might have been, the statue was beautiful. The lines, the detail were flawlessly executed. The bag of donuts I held slipped from my numb fingers.
“Holy shit.”
“Lark?”
I couldn't even get a handle on my emotions because there were just too many burning through me, the strongest of those being joy. I leaned closer so I could whisper, “Logan is David Cambre?”
“How do you know that?”
“I've extensively studied David Cambre and this...” I pointed to the swordfish, “is a David Cambre. It even has the small crescent moon he carves into all of his works.”
“Jesus, you really do know David's work.”
“Why did he change his name?”
“Because he isn't one for being in the spotlight, so he used a different name to help keep some anonymity. He was a celebrity, but a reluctant one.”
I paled, thinking of my conversation with Logan yesterday.
“What's that look for?” Demanded Saffron.
“Yesterday, I told Logan how I always secretly wished David was my dad. He's probably packing up my stuff as we speak and calling the local asylum.”
Saffron grabbed my arms firmly. “Don’t even joke about that. He would never send you away, not ever.”
She was so adamant in her reaction that it fueled the suspicion that had taken root yesterday, that there was another reason for why I was brought here. Now wasn't the time to think on it, Bastian and I could hash it out later. “He faked his own death?”
“Yeah, after a stalker fan from hell made threats against me. It was the last straw for Logan and his alter ego. I suppose since you know that you should know the rest. Logan's full name is Logan David MacGowan.”
I went into shock. Logan MacGowan entered the art scene about five years ago and blew the minds of everyone with his landscapes before he dropped from sight, but he was also David Cambre and, more shocking, he was Logan Dupree: the man I was here to study under. Yeah, I was in shock. When I was able to pull my head from that, I realized Saffron was still talking.
“...at the time it seemed like the only option. He took my maiden name, Dupree, since MacGowan had a link to Cambre, but Dupree didn't. Now, I wonder if all that wasn't a bit drastic. But Logan felt he had to do this for our family’s safety. There are many things I love about Logan, countless things, but his loyalty, his unwavering devotion to his family and friends, is on the top of the list. A finer man—with the exception of your lovely Bastian, you'll never find.”
Devotion to family, an interesting choice of words. More than likely, I was just being fanciful but was it possible that Logan really was my dad? I couldn't deny the family resemblance; we were both artists and he did send for me, in a way. Was it possible that he was my benefactor who successfully foiled the Rosses' plans? Had he been watching over me at a distance? Never had I thought the day would come that I'd be face-to-face with my dad. Bitterness warred with excitement—if he was my dad, why had he waited until now to reach out to me? The anger I normally felt at thinking about my father was there, but it was tempered by the fact that Logan wasn't a faceless stranger, but a genuinely nice person. I was tempted to ask Saffron point-blank who he was to me, but I just couldn't seem to say the words.
My thoughts turned to Logan as the full impact of his talent hit me. “He trained in sculpting work, but then he just picked up painting? He's one of the best I've ever seen. I can't believe I'm training with Logan David MacGowan. Do you think he would mind if I asked about his work as David?”
“Are you kidding? To be able to share the full range of his skill with you would thrill him.”
***
For the rest of the day my feet didn’t touch the ground. I couldn't wait to tell Bastian and as soon as he got home, I didn't even let him put his keys down before I pulled him out the back door.
He chuckled, probably because of the look on my face. I felt like a kid in a candy store. “I'm guessing you have good news,” he asked as he brushed my hair from my cheek.
“Oh, I do. Have you seen the swordfish statue on Main Street?”
“Not sure how you can miss it.”
“It's a David Cambre.”
“Here, in Harrington, land of festivals, cars named Jaws and square dancing engagement parties?”
“Yep. You want to know something else?”
He had a twinkle in his eye when he asked, “What?”
“Logan Dupree is really Logan MacGowan, aka David Cambre.”
Bastian was silent for a minute before he clarified, “Logan is Cambre?”
“Yeah.”
He grabbed me and folded me into a hug. He was beaming.
“Why are you grinning like that?”
He dropped me back on my feet, but kept his arms around me. “My talented fiancée has David Cambre in awe of her work.”
“In awe may be stretching it a bit. I like hearing you say your fiancée, though.”
“I like saying it,” he countered. Saffron's story this afternoon had stirred up too much emotion for me to be distracted for long.
“Bastian, do you think it's possible that Logan's my dad?”
His response was not the one I expected. “So you've wondered too.” He wasn't surprised by the question at all.
“Yeah, I'm not just imagining things?” I couldn’t imagine how life would change if he were officially my father, but I kind of wanted that new life to start as soon as possible.
“No. As soon as we met him I wondered. What I don't understand is why he hasn't come out and told you. I'm guessing he doesn't want to freak you out, but with how much you look alike, he must realize that you're wondering about it. And why did he wait so long?”
“My thoughts exactly. Not to mention Saffron and her words to me earlier. It was almost as if she was telling me without actually telling me.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Wait him out. He obviously has a plan and I'm still getting used to the idea that I may have found my father. It's funny, because I've thought about my dad so many times through the years and in every scenario I was livid that he abandoned me. Why I don't feel that emotion now surprises me, but I'm guessing that's because he isn't anonymous anymore and I actually like him.”
“He really does seem to want you here, they all do.”
My focus turned to the waves crashing against the surf, the salty spray dampening my face even from our distance. “I can't see him with my mom. He's so together and she was so flighty.”
“Opposites attract or so I've heard.”
I should be freaking out. It was more than likely that my biological father set this whole thing up, a man who had kept his distance from me all of my life. I was definitely conflicted, but I wasn't freaking out. And as much as I liked Logan, the real reason I was so centered was because Bastian was here. Now, more than ever, I was so glad he had come with me to Harrington.
“I'm glad you're here.”
He dropped a kiss on my head in reply.