Now it was my turn to frown.
“Here we go,” Logan said as he came into the room carrying two mugs and a glass of water. He handed the water to Maia, giving her a kind smile.
It occurred to me what a sweet thing that was. This girl had just arrived on his doorstep, announced herself as his daughter; he was in shock, probably petrified, and yet still he was trying to reassure the girl.
Inwardly I grumbled as I took the coffee from him. He was such a complicated bugger. “Thank you,” I muttered.
Logan sat down on a large box across from us and sipped at his coffee. An awkward silence fell between us.
“Maia,” I said, “who is your mother?”
Logan tensed at the question as Maia turned to him to answer. “Maryanne Lewis.”
The way he jerked back at the news suggested he knew exactly who Maryanne Lewis was. “No,” he muttered, seeming to shake his head in disbelief. “Maryanne… Yeah, she got pregnant, but she told me she didn’t want to keep it, that I had no choice. She was getting an abortion. She disappeared. I never saw her again!”
Maia’s mouth trembled, and I instinctively reached for her hand. “How old are you, Maia?”
“Fifteen.”
“Logan?”
He nodded at me slowly, his eyes bleak. “It was almost sixteen years ago. We were only seventeen.” He stood up suddenly. “Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck!”
Maia leaned in to me, looking frightened, and I put an arm around her. “It’s okay. It’s just a shock for him.”
Logan glowered at the wall, and I watched him take slow, even breaths as he tried to calm himself. “How could she do that to me? How could anyone do that?”
“She told me she lied to you.” Maia pulled gently away from me, and Logan looked at her sharply. “We’ve been living in Glasgow all this time, but I can’t stay with her anymore.” Desperation suddenly bled into her words. “I can’t! She saw you in the paper, and that’s when she told me who you were. They said you were put in prison for attacking your sister’s boyfriend because he beat her up and tried to rape her.”
I sucked in a huge breath, and Logan’s eyes flew to me. We stared at each other as I processed this. Someone tried to rape Shannon? Attacked her? I was horrified.
“You were a hero. Protecting her like that. And you got punished for it. My mum puts me in harm’s way all the time, and no one gives a damn. You could look after me better than her.”
Logan’s attention was forced from me at this unwelcome information. He stared hard at Maia. “What do you mean ‘harm’s way’?”
Maia ducked her head, threading her fingers together anxiously. “Mum’s a junkie.”
I closed my eyes. This was getting more melodramatic by the second.
“What do you mean ‘a junkie’?” Logan asked quietly, danger in his words.
“Heroin.”
“Oh God.” I felt sick.
“I can’t live with it anymore.” Tears started to fall down her pretty cheeks, and I felt a coldness creep into my bones at the expression in her eyes. Such despair for such a young girl.
“Logan,” I whispered, looking up at him, pleading, though I didn’t know why.
He looked trapped. Terrified. I could tell he wanted to escape.
It was frightening to see. He was usually so together, so in control.
“What can I do?” he snapped at us. “I admit the eyes… You look like…”
“Shannon,” I offered helpfully. He glared at me. Clearly it was not helpful.
“Your sister?” Maia said, her eyes brightening with curiosity.