by Claire Adams
“Okay, okay, just one second, sweet pea,” Emily said, shaking her head. She headed over to Juniper’s bed and rolled the table over it. She pulled out the bowl of soup, the tea, and the plastic spoon to place on the table.
“Thank you, Mr. Hawkins,” Juniper said. “The food here is bad. I hope your food tastes good.”
“Juniper Blue,” Emily said, her face reddening. “Be polite.” She then laughed. “Well, it is hospital food. I guess try the soup and tea. Just a little to see if you like them. Don’t want to be wasteful if you don’t, but it’s okay if you don’t like them.” She shot me a look that suggested she didn’t think Juniper was going to like it.
Juniper popped the lid from the soup and downed a spoonful, her face lighting up. “This is the best tomato soup I’ve ever had. Even better than Mama’s.”
I winced, but Emily laughed. “That’s impressive.”
“It’s the herbs,” I offered with a shrug. “Like I said, though, I didn’t make it. I’ll send your regards to Marino.”
Juniper then took a sip of the ginger tea. “Oh, this tastes good too.”
Emily’s eyebrows went up. “You like the ginger tea?”
Her daughter nodded quickly. “I love it.” She returned to attacking her soup with gusto.
“She’s not had much of an appetite,” Emily said. “Hard to say if it’s from the bad food or from being sick, but either way, I’m glad to see her eating so much again.”
“She’s looking a lot better.” I watched Juniper slurp down another spoonful of soup. “And she’s more full of life than I’ve seen in the last few days.”
Emily smiled warmly. “Yes, she’s feeling a lot better. The doctors say the new antibiotic is working even better than they expected. They’re talking about letting her out of here tomorrow as long as her test results look okay. They said it’ll be better for her to finish up her final recovery at home since she’s now past the worst of it, and she won’t need IV antibiotics anymore.”
Juniper let out a little cheer before returning to her tea and soup. “Yay. I’m tired of the hospital.”
“That’s great to hear,” I said, offering them both warm smiles.
Palpable relief washed through me. Both mother and daughter wouldn’t have to be uncomfortable for much longer.
A loud burp filled the room. Emily and I spun toward Juniper.
She looked down at the ground, her cheeks reddening, her hand over her mouth. “Sorry. It was really good,” she mumbled.
“Juniper Blue!” Emily said.
“I said sorry, Mama.”
I laughed. “If we get your bowl and cup cleared away, I have something else for you.” I held up the laptop. “A little entertainment.”
“Oh, thank you, Logan,” Emily said. “The TV is on the fritz.”
She cleaned off the table and deposited the bowl, cup, and spoon into the garbage.
I set the laptop and opened the laptop, facing me. I plugged it in into a nearby wall. The battery lasted a long time, but I didn’t want a sick little girl to have to worry about her movie stopping suddenly.
“I’ve already connected to the hospital network,” I said. I turned the computer around, having already set it up to play Moana.
Juniper clapped her hands together. “I love this movie.”
“I figured you would.” I glanced over at Emily. “If it’s all right with your mother.”
Emily nodded quickly, and I started the movie. Juniper cheered.
The difference from the day before was striking. She looked so miserable before, but now she was the hyper and friendly young girl I knew.
“Logan, may I speak with you in the hallway for a second?” Emily said.
“Sure.”
I followed her out into the hallway. She closed the door behind me and then glanced back and forth as if looking for someone.
My heart kicked up. I’d thought she’d be pleased with what I’d done, but maybe I’d overstepped my bounds, and she was about to let me have it. Of course, she wouldn’t risk yelling in front of her sick daughter and upsetting her.
There was no yelling. No slapping. Instead, she wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled my head toward her. She parted my lips with her tongue and invaded my mouth. It took me a second to get over the surprise before I started kissing her back.
Our tongues wrestled in our mouths. This was no sweet show of gratitude. This was distilled passion, which I was more than happy to return.
Her hands trailed down my sides, and suddenly her eyes widened, and she pulled away, her cheeks reddening enough to match her reddened and swollen lips.
I reached up and pulled her against me, not for another kiss, but a hug, something I figured she needed way more than a kiss.
When I pulled away, I grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze. Even if I enjoyed the kiss, I wasn’t about to read too much into it. Emily had been rubbed emotionally raw the last few days worrying about her daughter. My kind gesture had likely caught her by surprise. There was nothing more to it. Probably.
“If you want, I can spend the rest of the day here,” I said.
“What about work?”
“I’ve got everything important done already.”
“Okay, then. I’d like it if you stayed.” For the first time in days, Emily didn’t look totally exhausted. “Thank you so much for caring enough to come and for caring enough to stay.”
I couldn’t find any words, so I smiled instead. I only hoped she couldn’t tell how my heart was thumping.
She kept ahold of my hand as she opened the door.
* * *
Over the rest of the day, Juniper went through two Disney movies and several naps. She was sleeping again by the time I looked out the window at the now darkened Nashville skyline.
Emily had dozed off herself, her mouth open. The whole thing was cute, but I did appreciate that it also reflected the stress and suffering she’d dealt during Juniper’s time in the hospital.
I folded my hands behind my back as I stared at the moon in the distance. Things had been changing so quickly. I thought last week that I’d finally started a relationship with Emily, only to find she wanted that to stay in Tokyo. Then, a minor illness had turned into a potentially life-threatening one, and Emily was kissing me again.
Emily stirred in her seat, her eyes fluttering open. “Oh, I’m sorry.” She yawned.
“It’s okay. You need the rest. Will you be okay if I leave?” I shrugged. “Nowhere for me to sleep.”
“Oh, go home and get some rest yourself. You’ve already done far too much.”
I wanted to tell there was no such thing as far too much when it came to Juniper and her. Instead, I just forced a cheesy grin on my face.
“Glad to be of service.” I leaned over and gave her a chaste kiss on the cheek. “If you need anything else, call and let me know.” I nodded at the laptop. “You can keep it for now. I’ll pick it up some other time.”
Emily offered me a soft smile. “Thank you, Logan. Thank you.”
I turned and headed out of the room, closing the door quietly behind me.
Walking down the hall, I thought back to the earlier kiss. Did it mean something, or was it only what I’d thought before, an overreaction to kindness in a dark time?
I couldn’t tell her the truth. I’d fallen for Emily. I loved her.
It wasn’t the time to tell her, not when her daughter was still in the hospital, and I had no idea what she felt about me. The time had to be right.
As I moved toward the elevator, I began to wonder if the time would ever be right.
Chapter Twenty-nine
EMILY
“I didn’t think you’d be so mad, Lionel,” I said over the phone. “You just got back from Mexico last night. If anything, I thought you’d be happy.” I resisted the urge to snicker, but I couldn’t resist one more little addition. “I was trying to be less selfish, that being my main problem and all.”
Of course, Lionel was bound and
determined to make my Saturday unpleasant. It should have been a great day. Juniper had been discharged, and she was obviously on the mend. Instead, I had to argue, yet again, with my bastard ex-husband who seemed to enjoy nothing more than getting under my skin.
Lionel snorted. “You whined about me not rushing home, and now you’re complaining because I want to spend time with my daughter? It is my week after all. That’s what joint custody means. We share Juniper.”
I took several deep breaths. “This isn’t about you spending time with your daughter. I’m sure Juniper would love it if you came over to visit, but my little girl—our little girl—just got discharged this morning. I doubt you and your girlfriend really want to take care of a sick little girl. Do you want to risk getting sick?”
“What the hell, Emily? I thought she’d been discharged. What is it? Is she okay or not?”
I slapped a hand to my forehead and resisted a groan. I silently prayed to the Lord for strength. “Yes, she was discharged, but she’s still going to be sick for a few days. She just doesn’t need to be in the hospital. The doctors said she should be fully up and running around like a little manic in a few more days, but it doesn’t hurt to be careful, and they made it clear we shouldn’t do anything that will stress her body.”
Lionel chuckled. “You see? All that complaining, all that yelling at me, and I was right.”
“Huh? What in the devil are you talking about?”
“That I was right. I didn’t need to be there. I think you should admit I was right.”
I ground my teeth together. The only thing keeping me from yelling at him was worry that Juniper would overhear us. “Whatever.”
“I’m coming over to see her tonight. I have a gift from Mexico for her anyway.”
“Fine. I’ll tell her you’re coming. Is there anything else?”
“No. I’ll see you later tonight, maybe a little past six.”
“Okay.”
He hung up, and I thanked the Lord for ending my torture.
I stood there for a moment, glaring at my phone. Lionel couldn’t even do the right thing without being annoying.
My phone buzzed again, and I groaned. Had he called back just to taunt me?
I lifted it and let out a sigh of relief. It wasn’t Lionel. It was Logan.
“Hello,” I answered.
“Hello, Emily. I was in the neighborhood, and I was wondering if I could drop by.”
I laughed. “In the neighborhood? Seriously? That’s the line you’re going to go with?”
Logan chuckled. “It’s actually true. If I had planned to stop by, then I would have brought the boys with me for Juniper to play with.”
“Oh,” I said, my face heating. “Well, sure, we’re going to have dinner soon, but it’d be great if you can stop by. You were such a help this week. I really don’t know how I can begin to thank you.”
“Just the fact that Juniper is doing better is all the thanks I need. Okay, I’ll see you soon then.”
“Okay.”
After the call ended, I sat down in my chair and stared at my phone for a long while. The week had been hectic and filled with worry. Because of that, I hadn’t really had much time to think about what Logan and I actually shared together.
I’d thought after Tokyo that I knew what we had, a friendship that had been briefly interrupted by sex, but the week had changed all that. I’d kissed him in the hospital. I could try and chalk it up to stress, but that would be me lying to myself.
Logan obviously cared about me and my daughter. So, what was it that we had? A relationship? A friendship? All I really knew was that I was grateful for having him around all week instead of Lionel.
About ten minutes passed before my doorbell rang. When I opened it, I found Logan holding a container of some fancy chocolate ice cream.
He held it higher and smiled. “I thought it could help Juniper’s throat.”
I raised a brow. “But you were just in the area? With ice cream?”
“Well, I bought this before I called you.” He shrugged. “Worse-case scenario, I took it home and ate it by myself.”
I motioned inside. “Please come in.”
Just then, Juniper stepped into the living room. “Mr. Hawkins,” she all but shrieked. She peered at me. “And you brought me ice cream.”
“You can go ahead and call me Logan.” He glanced over at me. “If that’s okay with your mother.”
“Can I, Mama? Can I?”
It did seem a bit strange for my daughter to be so formal with a man who was quickly becoming a major part of my life. “It’s fine.”
“Okay, why don’t we get some bowls out and test out this ice cream?”
“Yay,” Juniper cheered. “Logan brought ice cream.”
* * *
After the ice cream, I heated up our dinner. Nothing fancy, only some frozen pizza. I hadn’t exactly had a lot of time to shop and prepare.
As a man with a housekeeper who also prepared his meals, Logan probably didn’t eat a lot of frozen pizza, but he didn’t seem to mind.
I was quiet during dinner, just watching him chat with Juniper about LEGOs, cartoons, and movies. I thought back to all his interactions with her, all the way back to his trip to Denmark. Even though he had been on a business trip that had nothing to do with us, he’d remembered and gone out of his way to bring her back LEGOs.
At the hospital, he thought to bring a laptop and a movie he thought she’d liked. Sure, Moana wasn’t exactly an obscure movie, but Logan was a thirty-nine-year-old billionaire who didn’t have any children. I doubted he spent a lot of time watching Disney movies, and I wouldn’t have been surprised if he had no clue about anything kid-related.
What it showed me, what every interaction he had with Juniper proved to me, was that he cared about her, that he paid attention to what her interests were. That he even valued her as a person and not just as my daughter.
“No, I haven’t seen most Disney movies made in the last… Well, a while,” he said to Juniper, a sheepish look on his face. “I don’t see a lot of movies, honestly.”
“You need to see Frozen and Zootopia,” Juniper said. “I think Zootopia is my favorite, but Frozen has better songs.”
Logan nodded, a serious look on his face. “I’ll make sure I watch them.”
I took a bite of my pizza, thinking about how the conversation had unfolded to follow my existing thoughts. The important thing, really, was that Logan just gave a damn. Lionel never did.
Sure, he would act nice to Juniper and seem happy to spend time with her, but he didn’t really pay attention to her or what she wanted.
His birthday and Christmas presents always seemed so random, like he’d gone to the store and picked out the first thing that caught his eye, and he didn’t get age appropriateness. For her last birthday, he’d gotten her a doll from some show aimed at young teens she didn’t even watch. The year before, he’d gotten her a baby toy. It even had a teething ring on it.
It’s one thing to guess wrong, but it’s not like Lionel didn’t know his daughter wasn’t a baby. I sighed.
Logan glanced over at me, concern on his face. “Something wrong?”
Juniper looked at me, too, her face scrunched in an attempt at what I think was supposed to be seriousness.
“Just been a tiring week,” I said. “Don’t worry about it. Everything’s better now.”
Logan glanced down at his watch. “As much as I love spending time with you two lovely ladies, I need to get going.”
Juniper crossed her arms over her chest and stuck out her lip. “No fair.”
“Juniper Blue,” I said. “You do not talk that way to our guest.”
“I’m sorry, Logan,” she said, hanging her head.
He ruffled her hair. “I’m sure I can visit again soon.”
Juniper lifted her head, a bright smile on her face. “Good. Maybe I can be the foreman, and you can be the worker.”
I looked over at Logan, and he shrugged. “S
he learned a little about the construction business in the hospital,” he said with a grin.
“Juniper,” I said. “Why don’t you go wash up and get ready for your bath?”
“Yes, Mama.” She smiled once more at Logan before scurrying off.
“Let me see you out, Logan,” I said.
We headed toward the door, and I opened it. “Thank you again for this week and for tonight. You…really helped me during a tough time, and I appreciate it. I can’t say it enough.”
Logan stared at me for a moment as if he were trying to figure something out. “I’m glad I could be there for you.” His gaze lingered for a moment, and I wondered if he was going to kiss me.
Should I tell him no? Or should I kiss him back?
I didn’t know how I would react, or even what I wanted, but the idea of him kissing me seemed mighty appealing. I half wondered if that was the reason I’d sent Juniper away.
Then Lionel ruined everything. His car pulled into my driveway.
I sighed, and Logan looked over his shoulder.
“I told him he could see Juniper today,” I said.
He looked at me with concern. “Do you need me to stay?”
“No, it’s fine.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yes, but it’s best if you probably leave now, though. I don’t want any arguing around Juniper.”
Logan nodded slowly. “Okay, give me a call.”
“I will.”
He gave me a quick hug instead of a kiss and headed toward his car as Lionel stepped out of his. My ex glared at Logan and then at me as if we’d done something wrong. At least he didn’t have his twenty-one-year-old girlfriend with him.
Lionel stomped up to my door. “May I see my daughter now?” He shot one last dirty look in Logan’s direction. “Or do I need his permission?”
“I’m sure she’ll be happy to see you,” I muttered.
Oh, why couldn’t he have stayed in Mexico?
Chapter Thirty
LOGAN
Monday late afternoon, I was finishing up reviewing some documents when my phone rang. I looked down at the piece of technology as it vibrated on my glass desk. My mother was calling.