Moonlight on Nightingale Way (On Dublin Street 6)

“And it’s clean,” Maia added. Fresh tears pooled in her eyes. “This is how other people live. With books and nice things and clean. Why didn’t she give me that?” she begged. “I loved her. She should have loved me and given me that.” Her tears broke free, but before I got to her Logan did. He was across the room and pulling her into his arms in under a few seconds.

He let her cry it all out as I stood there crying for her too.

But I was also hopeful for her, because only ten minutes ago Logan MacLeod had been a scared-shitless ex-con, and now he was stepping up for Maia, comforting her without even having to be asked.

There was a possibility Logan was a natural at this stuff. His sister certainly seemed to think so.

For Maia’s sake, I hoped so.

“Is this all right?” I said, pulling back the duvet on my guest room bed.

Maia was looking a little shell-shocked again. “It’s really nice.”

The guest room was decked out with a mahogany sleigh bed and matching furniture. The walls were a soft lilac, and the accent colors for the furnishings were black and silver. I loved my guest room and was more than thankful I had it set up and ready to go.

Dinner had been awkward. I had had no grand expectations of anything else. It was going to take time for Maia and Logan to get used to each other. Logan asked questions about school and her hobbies. She muttered more stuff about maths and physics and something about a choir, but it was like pulling teeth to get information from her. I think it had all just hit her.

Plus, she and Logan were both exhausted, and Logan had to leave early to get ready for work. It was only eight o’ clock, but Maia’s lids were drooping, so I’d insisted she get ready for bed.

We had a lot to do the next day and we all needed rest.

She dumped her book bag on the floor as I handed her a pair of clean pajamas.

“You can borrow those for now. Tomorrow we’ll need to do some shopping. We’ll just get you a few things until…” I trailed off, not knowing how to complete that sentence without sounding insensitive.

“Until Logan gets the paternity results back,” Maia finished for me. “It’s okay. I’m not stupid. I know it would be insane of either of you to spend too much money on me for it to come back that I’m not his kid.”

“I think we both know that with those eyes of yours and that face that is scarily similar to his sister’s, the chances are you’re Logan’s. But that doesn’t mean this will all work out legally. We’re being cautious because you might not get to stay with him, and I just want you to be prepared for that.”

Her lower lip trembled, but she nodded and slumped down on the bed. “Why are you helping, Grace? I mean, you and Logan aren’t together, and from the questions he was asking you at dinner, it doesn’t even seem like you know each other that well.”

I sighed and sat down next to her. “Honestly?”

“The answer to that is always yes.”

I smiled at her response. “Okay. Noted. The truth is, Logan moved in here only a few months ago, and we’ve been at loggerheads for most of it. But I don’t think he’s a bad guy. In fact, I’m fairly certain that he’s one of the good ones.” I thought of all his women. Well, for the most part. “But mostly I’m doing this for you.”

“Why? You don’t even know me.”

“Because I’ve been where you are – looking for family because the one I was born with let me down in a way you can’t forgive.”

She stared up at me with those wise violet eyes. “They hurt you too.”

I nodded. “I made a new family here with my friends. I just want the same for you.”

Silence enveloped us, but this time it was the sweet kind, made even more so when Maia reached across the bedspread and slipped her hand into mine.

CHAPTER 7

“I don’t really need this.” Maia stared at me with those big woeful eyes of hers as she stood in a changing room.

“It’s cute.” I gestured to the dress she’d tried on. It looked particularly cute with her grungy biker boots. “We should get it.” I patted my purse and reminded her, “Logan’s credit card.”

She looked down at the ground. “I just don’t want him to be mad at me for spending too much money.”

I’d been having so much fun with Maia that morning, making her breakfast, taking her shopping, that I’d temporarily forgotten how scary and confusing this must all be for her. Just because she initiated the whole thing didn’t mean she wasn’t terrified it could all blow up in her face. “Logan won’t be mad. We’ve barely bought anything. He knows you need at least a week’s wardrobe. That’s what we’re doing.”

The nod she gave me was reluctant, but we ended up buying the dress along with a pair of jeans and a few shirts. She changed out of her uniform and into a set of her new clothes. Afterward I led Maia away from Princes Street and up onto the path that ran along the outskirts of Calton Hill, where we would have privacy.

I had woken up that morning to the sound of my kettle boiling at five a.m. Maia was in my kitchen, making herself a cup of tea, moving from one foot to the other with nervous energy. Her eyes were bloodshot, and that, along with how early it was, told me the girl had gotten hardly any sleep. I thought the best thing to do was get her out of the flat. Logan had given me his credit card before he left the previous night for work, and I’d thought Maia would be like most teenage girls, and that shopping would take her mind off things.