Moonlight on Nightingale Way

by Samantha Young

  Although he and I had spent quite some time together these last few days with Maia, the closeness we’d experienced in his car seemed like a distant memory. I got the feeling Logan was uncomfortable with what we had shared with each other. Perhaps he felt strange about letting me see him so vulnerable, or perhaps it was because I’d let him see me so vulnerable. I could go over and over it in my head, and I could let myself get embarrassed for giving him a piece of myself I hadn’t given to anyone, but I wasn’t going to let myself go through that. If Logan wanted to be macho and weird about the whole thing, then I’d let him. I wasn’t going to drive myself crazy overthinking it.

  The truth was Maia was a big distraction from the “car moment.” Her moods were all over the place. She’d go from being excited, happy¸ and filled with anticipation, to worried, anxious, and locking herself in her room to cry. I guessed it was partly caused by the fact that she was a teenager, a girl (and on her period), but I knew it was also hugely to do with the fact that her mother had given her away without a fight. She confided in me a little of what life was like with Maryanne. Maia had practically raised herself, from taking herself to the opticians when she realized her eyesight was worsening, to stealing money out of her mother’s purse to pay for school clothes, shoes, and food. The new transition was forcing her to deal with her memories, and thus her emotions were heightened.

  Maia’s moods were infectious, and so I was absolutely exhausted.

  As much as I enjoyed being a part of this new chapter in Maia’s life and getting to know her, I was looking forward to the normality of having a cup of coffee with friends and then catching up on my work. In fact, I was more than a little behind.

  I was in the middle of locking my door when I heard Logan’s door open behind me. He stood in his doorway wearing a black T-shirt with the logo from the nightclub he worked at etched across his chest. His dark blue jeans were worn and hung on his hips in a rather attractive way. I’d never really thought much about men in jeans, but in that moment I realized that certain men just sold them to you. Logan definitely sold those jeans.

  He had a bit of a short beard going on again, and I found I liked it. A lot. Despite the tiredness behind his eyes, he really was bloody gorgeous.

  When had he become my type?

  I looked down, dropping my keys in my bag, avoiding his gaze so he couldn’t see what I was thinking. “Hi.”

  “You going out?”

  I glanced up at him because he sounded agitated. “Are you okay?”

  “Maia’s bed was delivered an hour ago.”

  “That’s good.” I felt a little pang in my chest at the realization Maia would be moving out soon.

  “I… um…” He rubbed a hand over his hair. “I want her room to be, you know… I need paint. Things… stuff… that girls like.”

  He looked so adorably lost and confounded I couldn’t help but laugh a little. “Are you asking for my help?”

  “I can ask Shannon if you’re busy, but I just thought… you know Maia a little better.”

  Maia had spent more time with Shannon, and the two of them got on very well together. Over the weekend Logan had taken Maia to meet Shannon’s fiancé, Cole, and some of his family. She’d been flushed with excitement when Logan dropped her off at my flat afterward, and she filled my ears with descriptions of Cole’s gorgeous sister, Jo, and her husband, Cam, and their little girl, Belle. From what I could tell of Maia’s accounts, they’d all been extremely welcoming to her. I was thrilled for her. She’d never experienced anything like Logan’s friends and family.

  However, despite getting to know them all and loving it, Maia still clung to me. She wanted me to be included in everything and was disappointed when I insisted she go with just Logan to meet his friends and family. I tried my best to give them father-daughter time, and I knew Logan appreciated it. But the truth was, Maia was living with me, and so far I’d spent a great deal of time with her and I was the one she chose to show her vulnerable side to. It was my shoulder she chose to cry on when everything became too overwhelming.

  So yes, I probably did know her better than anyone.

  “She likes green. She’s not too girlie. She’s quite mature in her tastes actually. Stylish.” I sighed inwardly, knowing I was an idiot. I’m doing this for Maia, not Logan! “I’ll have a look at the bed and make a quick call while you get your shoes on.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “You’re sure?”

  “Yes, I’m sure.” I shooed him inside and followed him in, pulling my phone out of my bag.

  I called Chloe. She was not happy. Her screeching melted away for a second, and suddenly I heard Aidan say, “Do what you have to do, Grace. We’ll catch up with you later.”

  I smiled at his understanding. “Thanks. I’ll talk to you soon.”

  By the time I got off the phone, I was standing in Logan’s spare room. It was the same size as my guest room, and it was now dwarfed by the beautiful white Shaker-style bed frame and mattress that sat in the middle of the room.

  “What do you think?”

  I glanced over my shoulder and found him leaning in the doorway. “I think it’s lovely. I hope you have dust sheets to cover it so you don’t get paint on it.”

  “We’ll add those to the shopping list.”

  “I think this is going to be a very large shopping list,” I said wryly, following him out of the flat.

  We’d just hit the ground floor when Mr. Jenner’s door suddenly opened and he leaned outside. “I thought I heard your voice, Grace.” He smiled. “Logan.”

  “Mr. Jenner,” we said in unison.

  “I heard we have a new addition to the building.”

  “My daughter,” Logan said.

  I smiled up at him.

  “What?” He frowned.

  “Nothing.” I looked over at Mr. Jenner, still smiling. Already it seemed to be getting easier and easier for Logan to use the word “daughter.”

  “Oh, very good,” Mr. Jenner said, grinning at Logan. “Nice to have family around. Speaking of my lack thereof…” He threw me an apologetic smile. “I couldn’t ask you for a favor, Grace, could I? I’ve run out of a few things.”

  I held out my hand. “Of course. You know it’s no problem. Do you have your list?”

  He had it in his hand. I tried not to laugh as he passed it to me.

  “We’ll probably be a few hours. Is that all right?”

  “Oh, of course. That’s no problem. You’re an angel.”

  I smiled at him, Logan said good-bye, and we heard Mr. Jenner’s door close behind us just as we stepped out of the building.

  “Do you ever say no to anyone?” Logan said.

  It was my turn to raise an eyebrow at him. “And where would you be if I did?”

  He blinked at my response and then threw his head back in a bark of laughter.

  I couldn’t help grinning. And I did so, ignoring the swell of attraction I felt toward him.

  The man could probably heal the world with that laugh of his.

  We stared down into the boot of Logan’s car. It was packed with stuff, as was the backseat. It wasn’t just stuff for Grace’s room, either, but bits and pieces I’d picked out for the rest of his flat to give it some warmth. Right now it looked half-empty and unlived in. Logan needed to turn the place into a home.

  “Do you think we got enough?” he said dryly.

  I smirked. “I hope so, or you can say good-bye to your savings.”

  “On that note.” He shut the boot and gestured to the computer store. “Does Maia need a laptop? For her school stuff? I mean, she needs a phone, but does she need a laptop?”

  “Well, Logan, no one needs a laptop,” I said. “The question is can you afford a laptop?”

  He frowned at my nosy question.

  “You asked,” I huffed. “I’m just saying… Her birthday is in a few months. If you want to make up for unintentionally missing the last fifteen, a laptop would be a lovely way to do that. But not every birthday s
hould be of laptop magnitude,” I hurried to add.

  Logan looked undecided.

  “Maia’s just happy to have you right now. She doesn’t need a laptop.”

  He slanted me a look out of the corner of his eye. “Okay.”

  “Okay?”

  “Yeah.” He nodded and then spun around to look across at the other side of the giant retail park. “Fancy having some lunch before we hit the supermarket for Mr. Jenner?”

  I should probably have been getting back. I had work to do. “Sounds good.”

  We started walking toward the Tex-Mex restaurant.

  “So about a phone for Maia… Do I just buy one? Or should I let her pick it?”

  I grinned. He was trying very hard not to sound anxious, but I could hear it anyway. “Do what you think is best.”

  He made this little growling noise that a few weeks ago would have intimidated me. Now it just made me grin harder. “I can feel you laughing at me.”

  “Moi.” I stared up at him round-eyed and innocent. “I wouldn’t dream of it.”

  “Aye, right.” He held open the door to the restaurant, staring me down the whole time.

  I pretended to be cowed.

  After we ordered, the waitress moved away and Logan and I were left just staring across the booth at each other.

  He looked very serious all of a sudden.

  “What?” I said warily.

  “You haven’t mentioned your family at all, with the exception of that fucker who doesn’t even count as a brother.”

  Uncomfortable under his sudden intense scrutiny, I shrugged. “My friends – Aidan, Chloe, and Juno – are my family.”

  “What about your blood? Your parents?”

  “I don’t speak to them.”

  He cocked his head in curiosity. “Why?”

  Why did he suddenly want to know about me? I’d gotten the impression that he was avoiding any really personal discussions between us when he threw up a wall after our outpouring and hug in his car the other day. “Why do you want to know?”

  Logan shrugged and took a sip of water. When he placed the glass back on the table, he said, “You’re my friend.”

  That surprised me. “Yeah?”

  He gave me a lazy grin, and something rippled low in my belly in response to it. “Yes.”

  Shoving away that ludicrous reaction to him, I gave a huff of laughter. “Who would have thought?”

  “Certainly not me. I was pretty sure you were a shrew.”

  I narrowed my eyes. “You were no picnic either, Logan MacLeod.”

  He grinned again, and it occurred to me I’d seen him smile more in the last few days than I had the entire time I’d known him. “I’ve missed that,” he said.

  “What?”

  “You saying my full name in exasperation.”

  I giggled. “I don’t think you’ll have time to miss it. I’m pretty sure you’ll be hearing it again soon.”

  “Stop changing the subject.”

  “I didn’t!”

  “Someone did.”

  “It wasn’t me.”

  He gave me a low-lidded no-nonsense look. “Why don’t you talk to your family?”

  Trying for nonchalant when I felt anything but, I rolled my eyes. “My mother is cold and my father is distant. I didn’t like life in London with them, so I left them behind for a real family here in Edinburgh. End of story. Okay?”

  He was quiet a moment. I didn’t know if he was processing that information or gearing up for more questions… and then he surprised me again. “Thank you, Grace.”

  “For what?”

  It was his turn to give a huff of incredulous laughter. “For everything.”

  Just like that I found myself locked in his gaze. The air around us seemed to thicken until I was feeling a little breathless. My skin was flushed and I felt a shiver skate down my neck, following a tingling path around my back to my breasts.

  Logan’s eyes darkened with heat.

  “Unfortunately” – our waitress appeared at our booth, and I practically jumped out of my skin – “we don’t have any more of the…”

  I wasn’t listening to whatever she was saying to Logan. I was too busy wondering what the hell had just happened.

  The waitress broke the moment between Logan and me, and right away he jumped into asking me about my work, and if I’d spoken to the author who had tried to plagiarize Blade Runner. From there we chatted and joked about our work, about Maia, and avoided anything too personal.

  After our supermarket run, we dropped by Mr. Jenner’s to give him his shopping and then Logan disappeared into his flat to start work on decorating Maia’s room, and I darted into my flat to start my own work.

  I think I reread the same chapter ten times.

  Before I knew it, Maia was home from school.

  I immediately called Logan over.

  “What?” Maia stared at us as all three of us stood in the living room. She’d come in, dropped her book bag in the living room, sauntered into the kitchen, and then reappeared in the sitting room with a glass of orange juice in her hand. She looked very smart in her uniform – a black blazer with the Muirhead badge on the left chest pocket, a black shirt, a green and black striped tie, black skinny trousers, and black boots.

  “Well?” Logan said, sounding impatient. “How was it?”

  She shrugged. “It was fine.”

  I rolled my eyes. “You’ve got to give us more than that. How were classes? How were the teachers? Your peers?”

  “I’m taking mostly the same classes I was taking back in Glasgow, except for media, which they let me take here. The teachers were teachers, and everyone was fine. I think I made a friend. What’s for dinner?”

  I narrowed my eyes at how blasé Maia was being. I knew for a fact after our conversation about her friendless history that making a friend was a big deal. Why wasn’t she acting like it was?

  “That all sounds great.” Logan looked at me, pleased, and I didn’t want to burst his bubble by suggesting there was something fishy going on, so I grinned back.

  “Great.” Maia shrugged again. “What’s for dinner?”

  “My shift change to days starts tomorrow, so I’m not working tonight. I was thinking – but only if you’re up for it – in honor of your first day at school, you might want to eat out? Shannon and Cole invited us out to a restaurant with them and Cam and Jo. What do you think?”

  Her eyes lit up, and I saw that sparkle I’d been hoping to see when she was talking about school. “Okay. Sure. Grace, you’re coming, right?”

  I almost blushed, wondering if Logan was groaning inside at the thought. I was sure he’d seen enough of me for one day. “Oh no. You go and have dinner with your family.”

  “I want you to come,” she insisted with this mulish expression on her face. That was new.

  “Maia,” I began, “I’m s—”

  “You should come,” Logan interrupted me. “You should be there to celebrate with us.”

  “Yay!” Maia clapped happily, and Logan’s whole face brightened at the sight of her excitement. “We’ll get ready.”

  He chuckled. “Okay, then. I’ll be back at six o clock to pick you up.”

  As soon as the door closed behind him, I turned to Maia. “One, you can’t keep inviting me along to things with your father. Two, what really happened at school today?”

  “Oh my God, it was amazing!” She rushed toward me, her whole face glowing. “These two girls started talking to me right away in my first class. They’re so nice and we’re, like, into the same music and have the same taste in films and actors and everything. They don’t like all that stupid boy-band stuff, you know? They like real music. They’ve even been to live gigs. They’re so cool!”

  I was relieved that she’d met people she clicked with, but I was still confused as to why she hadn’t shared this with Logan. “Why on earth didn’t you say so when Logan was here?”

  Her smile died a little. “I don’t want him to
think I’m a silly wee girl who gets excited over stupid stuff like this. I don’t want him to be bored with me.”

  “Maia.” I shook my head in wonder at how muddled her mind was right now. “Logan wants to hear this stuff. He wants to know how happy you are. He doesn’t think it’s stupid girlie stuff. You don’t have to pretend to be someone you’re not because you think it will impress your father. He’s proud of you, especially when you’re being yourself.”

  She chewed her lower lip with her teeth for a bit and then cocked her head to the side and said, “Yeah?”

  “Yes. Now, you must promise to tell him all about…”

  “Leigh and Layla,” she supplied.

  “Leigh and Layla.” I grinned. “Well, those names will be easy to remember.”

  Maia had been right about Cole’s older sister, Jo. She was one of the most beautiful women I’d met in real life, and I’d lived in London and met lots of gorgeous women. From what I could tell, her beauty ran deep. As soon as she saw Maia again, she drew her in for a hug and started asking her about school immediately, seeming genuinely interested in anything she had to say.

  I was introduced to her husband, Cam, first. While Shannon and Cole were a few years younger than me, Cam was apparently nearly forty. The guy did not look it at all. Unlike Cole, who roughed up his classically handsome looks with scruff and tattoos, Cam was truly rugged. His tattoos and scruff just made him more so.

  “I’ve heard a lot about you from Shannon and Cole,” Cam said, shaking my hand. “You take being a good neighbor to the next level.”

  “You would know all about that,” Jo teased him as she pressed into his side. She smiled at me, and for a moment I was a little dazzled by her. “I’m Jo, Cole’s sister.”

  I shook her hand as I looked up at her. She was tall and even taller in her four-inch heels. “It’s really nice to meet you both.”

  I didn’t know what else to say. I felt a little intimidated by the gorgeous couple.

  Luckily, Cole saved me by coming over to shake my hand. “Nice to see you again, Grace.”