CHAPTER ONE

"Duncan?" Almost thirteen years and he still looked the same. There was a wariness in his blue eyes that was new and they were framed by some new lines. His hair was lighter, closer to blond, as were the mustache and closely-trimmed beard, but overall, the same.

"Veronica." He pulled her into a tight hug before she could stop him. She remained stiff in his arms not returning the embrace. This was a homecoming she was never planning on having and she didn't quite know what to say to him or how to react.

The sound of little feet running across the floor was followed by peals of laughter and a squealed, "Daddeeee." Whenever she was overly excited or happy, Wyatt stretched out the word to add the extra vowel sounds.

"Let's see who Mommy's talking to Jellybean." His sentence grew louder as he got closer to the door and then he was behind her. "You can let go of my wife now."

Duncan released her immediately. "Sorry, I….Logan?" He made a move to hug him too, but stopped when he saw Logan's stony expression.

They faced off and the air around them grew tense. Logan moved out from behind her and took a step toward the door effectively putting his body between her and Duncan. This had the potential to get very bad, very fast. She knew this reaction from Logan wasn't jealousy and it wasn't about Aaron, it was because of her. If Wyatt wasn't here...

She looked at their daughter; there was a slight frown on Wyatt's face. Aware of the change in Daddy's mood, she'd grown pensive and quiet. Pressing her tiny palms against Logan's cheeks, she turned his face toward hers to reclaim his attention and said, "Pool Daddy?"

Her normal exuberance was subdued and, realizing it was because of him, Logan forced himself to relax. He smiled. "Just as demanding as your mama" —he planted a soft kiss on her nose— "Okay let's go swimming." Wyatt clapped her approval.

"You are so wrapped Echolls," Veronica admonished with a smile.

"Yep." —he snagged Wyatt's pinkie and wiggled it— "Around this one, right here." His gaze moved to her, unsure and questioning. Veronica put a reassuring hand on his arm and he gave an almost imperceptible nod before looking at Duncan. "You should probably come in."

To say Duncan looked shocked would be utilizing her gift for understatement. Veronica wasn't sure if it was the married with child or if it was the addition of Logan to the equation that had him so stunned. She pulled the door a little wider. "We can talk by the pool." There was no way Logan would take Wyatt swimming and leave them alone in the house. It took a second for Duncan to cross the threshold. "Do you want something to drink? Lemonade?"

"Sure, okay," Duncan mumbled while his eyes roamed over the living room and settled at a point on the far wall. Veronica followed his gaze to their wedding photos; Logan in his service dress blues, her in a simple gown and Wyatt in pink. Not just your imagination running away with you.

Logan frowned. "I'll get the lemonade. You go sit." She waited until his back was turned before rolling her eyes. If it was up to him, the heaviest thing she'd be allowed to lift would be her own body and only to go to the bathroom. Five more months Veronica, five more months. He put Wyatt down. "Go outside with Mommy and I'll be out in a little bit."

Once he was in the kitchen, she turned to Duncan. This was beyond strange. There was so much history between them; first boyfriend to potential brother and back to boyfriend, yet she didn't know anything about him now and she didn't know what to say. Veronica settled for, "How's Lilly?"

"Laurel. We had to" —he started to say run and changed course— "Move when she was four and it meant changing her name. She doesn't want…she's been Laurel a long time."

"Thirteen this year, right?" He nodded. Lilly…Laurel was twelve now; the same age Veronica was when she met Logan. "That makes me feel really old."
"Imagine how I feel."

Wyatt was waiting impatiently at the French doors leading to the yard. House rule was no backyard without Mommy or Daddy. "Me go 'wimming Mama."

"We're coming sweet pea." She pushed open the door and Wyatt raced onto the deck. There were only two speeds for her; incredibly fast or unbelievably slow. Of course the slow setting was only for things she didn't want to do like go to bed. "Wyatt will be two in April."

"She talks really well."

Veronica grinned. "She inherited Logan's gift for gab. First sentence at fifteen months and" —she flapped her fingers and thumb together in the blah-blah hand gesture— "She even talks in her sleep." Wyatt was standing at the edge of the deck, staring at the pool and bouncing on her feet. "Logan's teaching her to swim."

They moved from the deck toward the chairs by the pool. "So…you and Logan. I'm guessing you got back together after I left?" Putting their dating history into an explanation would require charts and graphs.

Wyatt was getting even more impatient; she ran back in the house to check on Logan's progress. Waiting was not her strong suit; wonder where she gets that from. Veronica watched her until she was safely inside and heard Logan call got her. Turning back to Duncan, she picked up the thread of their conversation. "We started dating after graduation and then through our first year of college. After that, we, um, split up and reconnected at the reunion." Wow when you put it that way Veronica it sounds like the plot of a romantic comedy. "I heard you cut a deal."

"Not really a deal per se; custodial interference instead of kidnapping and the statute…" He shook his head as if it was all beyond him. Veronica understood his confusion. Custodial interference was extremely complicated based on jurisdictions. In some states it wasn't even considered a crime.

"It must feel good to be home."

Before he could answer, Wyatt raced back to them with Logan following at a slower pace. He held a tray with a pitcher of lemonade, plastic tumblers and a huge BLT. "Your mid-morning snack."

"Ha-ha." She bit her lip; trying to resist the sandwich, but it was calling to her and she was a little peckish. Veronica relented, took a bite and groaned the minute it hit her tongue; bacon, lettuce, tomato and avocado with garlic mayo on a toasted sourdough boule. She shoved the sandwich back in her mouth for another bite and spoke around it. "This is amazing."

Logan smirked. "That's what I thought." He turned to Duncan. "Pregnant Veronica is a veritable eating machine." She frowned at him and he gave her his most innocent smile, which she was not buying no matter how hard he tried to sell it. His pronouncement made her rethink his earlier reaction; maybe it was slightly about jealousy. Why don't you just stick a flag in my navel and claim me as yours? As if he could read her thoughts, Logan gave her another grin; this one a little less innocent. "I better get in the pool before princess jellybean has me sentenced to the stockades."

He tugged off his shirt and scooped up Wyatt. Pool time was their thing. Sometimes she'd swim with them, but mostly she liked to sit and watch them play together. He'd been taking Wyatt 'swimming' since she was six months old; first to get her comfortable in and around the water and then to teach her to float. She was now able to swim from him to the side of the pool. It was really more leap from Daddy's arms, doggie paddle, grab the edge and pull herself to the side, but Logan thought she was ready for the Olympics. Veronica grinned.

"Pregnant?"

To delay answering, she took another bite of her sandwich. This pregnancy was different than her first. Morning sickness was a misnomer; she'd been sick almost all day, every day, since around week five and her appetite was just now returning to…veritable eating machine. "I'm due in August."

Wyatt was sitting on the steps and Logan was swimming underwater toward her. As he grew closer she started to shriek with laughter because she knew what was coming in their little game of shark; Daddy would eat her toes, pop out of the water and she would splash him, which would make him swim away only to do it again.

Veronica wanted to be in the pool with them instead of talking to Duncan. It was unseasonably warm and she was hot. She stripped off her coverall, waited for Logan to pop out of the water and tossed it on his head. Pulling it off, his head whipped around and a slow smile crossed his face as his eyes skimmed over her body. Definitely a hot day.

He sat on the steps next to Wyatt, bent his head and whispered something in her ear. Her tiny head bobbed up and down and she grinned. Uh-oh. The now soaking wet coverall flew through the air and landed across her legs with a splat. Veronica stuck her tongue out at them, which made Wyatt erupt in a fit of giggles.

Duncan was watching the entire exchange with an expression that was both astonished and a little sad. When he caught her staring at him, he smiled. "I just never figured you…and with Logan."

The implication of his comment made her angry. Veronica frowned. "You don't know anything about me. I'm not eighteen anymore."

"I didn't mean to imply…I'm sure you're a…" his voice trailed off. She didn't know if he stopped talking because he was afraid to make it worse or if he didn't believe what he was about to say. Either way it only served to make her angrier. Realizing he stuck his foot in his mouth, he gave her a sheepish grin. "Can we start over? I'm…it's just really good to see you."

Veronica was surprised to find the feeling wasn't mutual. She wondered if it would be different had he returned to her life when she was in New York before Logan. It was possible, but she didn't think so. She'd worked through her feelings about him and for him a long time ago, relegating him to the past where he belonged. Having him here in her home, interrupting her new life, made her irritable. Maybe that's just pregnancy hormones. "Where are you and Lil…Laurel staying?"

"At the Grand for now; I'm going to start looking for a house as soon as possible. I want to get her settled; moving here has been…an adjustment for her."

"Did you have to move a lot?"

His response was a humorless laugh. "Define a lot." He shook his head. "We went to Australia right after Mexico, but one of my dad's business rivals saw us when he was there on vacation."

"Is that when you changed her name?"

Duncan nodded. "After that we moved to places with no extradition treaty with the U.S.; an island in Croatia and then for the past few years, Hong Kong."

Wyatt was chewing Logan's ear off with tales of Grandpa's new dog, Partner, and asking why they didn't have a dog, but Veronica knew he was listening to both conversations just like she was. It's probably good he's distracted or princess jellybean would have a puppy by tomorrow. "What made you decide to come home now?"

"When my dad…" Tried to kill me and was shot by Clarence Wiedman. "I needed to come home to run the company." Briefly she wondered what her abnormal psych professor would have to say about the fathers of both her high school boyfriends trying to kill her. "The Mannings didn't protest, they…they just really wanted to see their granddaughter."

"And have they? Seen her?" My curiosity is almost as insatiable as my appetite. She finished her sandwich and put the plate back on the tray. Still hungry. Veronica frowned at the empty plate and Logan laughed. Shooting him a nasty look, she turned her body away from the pool. She felt him behind her seconds before his arms wrapped themselves around her shoulders. "You're getting me wet." As soon as the words were out of her mouth she realized her mistake.

"We have company dear, but I'll be more than happy to take care of that later." Her face flushed and Duncan gave an uncomfortable chuckle. "Do you want another sandwich?"

She tilted her head back to see him. "Cookies?"

"Cookie!" Wyatt squealed with delight and started for the house.

"You really need to watch what you say Veronica." He removed his arms and draped his dry towel around her. "Wyatt wait for me." She paused on the steps to the deck. Logan crossed the lawn, wrapped Wyatt in her Tinkerbelle towel and hoisted her onto his shoulders. As they approached the door, he told her to duck and instead she leaned over him, squeezed his face between her palms and kissed his forehead. Wyatt was a big fan of forehead and nose kisses; just like Daddy.

"It's like he's Logan, but at the same time…not Logan." She knew exactly what he meant. The wit and charm were still there…and the inappropriate comments, don't forget those Veronica, but he was also softer. "How is he with…" Her eyes narrowed in an unspoken warning: watch what you say about him and Duncan abruptly stopped talking. Instead of finishing his original question, he asked, "Does he like being a dad?"

She smiled. "He loves it." They were inseparable since Logan got his discharge four months ago. He seemed perfectly happy playing house husband for now, but she couldn't silence the small voice in her head that was afraid he would regret his decision to leave the Navy. "What about you; looking forward to being the dad of a teenager?"

He shook his head. "Not if she's anything like…" Lilly. The name blossomed in the air and a long moment of silence passed between them. "I saw the movie."

Trina used the insurance proceeds to pay off some of her debt and Logan took care of the rest. After making him a silent partner in Echo Films, they took the original script back to the studio. Justin Smith was hired to do some rewrites; they got an actual director to helm the film and Charlene Lawrence rejoined the project. It was both a commercial and critical success. Charlene won her best actress Oscar and Echo Films was flush. There was no more acting or directing for Trina, but she was enjoying her new roles as producer and Aunt Rina. "What did you think?"

"It was good; Lilly would've loved it."

Veronica nodded. That's what made them decide to go ahead with it; a tribute to Lilly, but there was no alternate ending and a few names were changed, specifically hers. Logan chose then to return with a plate of cookies. "Where's Wyatt?"

"I left her with the cookie jar and told her to have at it so she's probably passed out on the kitchen floor in sugar shock." His tone was serious enough to cause Duncan to frown his disapproval.

"Good plan; now I won't have to worry about feeding her for the rest of the day."

Logan nodded. "Totally solved the nap problem too."

"Just another thing I love about you Echolls, your efficiency." They grinned at each other and Duncan finally clued in to the fact that they were joking.

He held up his cell phone; a view of Wyatt lying on the couch watching television filled the screen. They didn't let her watch regular television ever, but they'd just introduced her to Disney movies and she adored them. "The Little Mermaid; I almost slipped and put on Dumbo."

Veronica groaned. That would've been a nightmare; literally. The first time she saw the scene of Mrs. Jumbo in her cage singing Baby of Mine to Dumbo, Wyatt's eyes rounded in horror, her bottom lip quivered and she started to bawl. She was inconsolable and plastered to Veronica for the rest of the night. "We should throw that out."

"Already done." He joined them at the table, propped his phone against the umbrella pole so he could keep an eye on Wyatt and turned to Duncan. "So why are you here?"

She didn't know if he meant here as in Neptune or here as in their house and neither did Duncan. "I thought about staying away, but my mom really pushed for me to come home; she was the one who worked things out with the Mannings. I think she's lonely."

Logan smirked. "Hmm, I don't remember Cruella being lonely; are you sure she just didn't need help making her coat?"

The three of them shared a smile at the time-honored tradition of Celeste-bashing and for a minute they were teenagers again. Veronica's gaze drifted to the empty chair and she could almost hear Lilly, Dalmatians are so last season, Logan. She shook her head, refilled their glasses of lemonade and poured one for Logan. "Why aren't you staying with her?"

Duncan snorted. "You're not serious right?"

Veronica conceded the point. She would rather live in Logan's old dump above the liquor store than live with Celeste Kane. "And you're running Kane Software now?"

"Sort of." He took a long sip of his lemonade. "Clarence provided me with a high school diploma under my new name. It was enough to enroll at the University of Melbourne- business major, but I didn't get to finish."

Living on the run to save his daughter was the most admirable thing Duncan ever did. For once, he didn't stand idly by and just let the Mannings take custody, but the sacrifices were plenty. When she helped him run, part of her thought he was crazy even though there was no other way. Now that she had Wyatt she better understood that there were no sacrifices you wouldn't make to protect your child. Logan looked at her and she knew he was thinking the same thing. A bit of the uneasiness surrounding this reunion ebbed.

"The Chief Operating Officer, Charles Shepherd is in charge of day-to-day operations and he's been acting as CEO since my dad… Now that I'm back, I've taken over, but there's a lot to learn."

Veronica glanced at the cell phone, "I should probably feed her lunch before she falls asleep." It was a hint that it was time for him to go, but he didn't take it. She sighed and started to gather up the glasses.

"The thing is, Kane Software is in the middle of developing a piece of cutting-edge technology and I think someone's trying to steal it." Her hands stilled as a sense of dread descended over her. She was positive she knew why he was here and his next words confirmed her suspicions. "I really need your help Veronica."