“And we’ve clicked?” Maia said, eyes now lightening a little with obvious hope.
I felt this painful little ache in my chest for her. “Yes, we have.” Something unsettling occurred to me. “Haven’t you clicked with a friend – friends – before? You haven’t spoken about anyone you might be leaving behind.”
Maia suddenly looked very weary. “Friends want to know everything about you, and I couldn’t tell them about Maryanne or bring them back to the flat to hang out. It was just easier to be a loner than to deal with the questions. It did me no good trying to hide it, though, because kids from the area know about Maryanne and they told everyone. There are very few people who want to hang out with the daughter of a junkie.”
The depth of Maia’s loneliness hit me.
It choked me.
It made me want to shake some bloody sense into her wretched mother.
More than anything, however, I was in awe of Maia. She’d had no support, no encouragement, from anyone, as far as I could tell, and yet somehow she had dug deep and found the courage to come here and confront Logan. She was only fifteen and she’d taken the reins of her destiny in hand. I didn’t have that courage at her age.
I felt tears prick my eyes, proud of her in a way I couldn’t explain. “You are a remarkable and very special person, Maia MacLeod. Do not let anyone tell you different. And whatever happens next, never ever be ashamed to let anyone know you. You are worth knowing.”
Maia gazed at me, eyes round with surprise. And just like that she burst into tears.
I got up and pulled her out of the chair, and I held her tight as she sobbed against me. It took everything within me not to cry along with her.
That’s when I realized that this kid had gotten deep under my skin in a very short time. My life had changed too. Because I knew that no matter what happened with Logan, I wouldn’t let my connection with Maia break. If she needed family, I wanted to be that for her, just like Chloe and Aidan had stepped up to be mine.
CHAPTER 9
“Maia, I’m your dad.” Logan stood in my sitting room, holding up a single piece of paper, staring down at Maia with a careful expression as he imparted his life-altering news.
It was the morning after Maia had cried in my arms, and I’d just made her a cup of tea after our breakfast together. Logan had let himself into my flat and without further ado announced the results of the paternity test.
Maia’s cup trembled in her hand, and I reached over to gently take it away from her. “What does this mean now?” she said. The color had risen in her cheeks, her whole face bright with expectation.
Logan didn’t keep her waiting. “It means that between this and the birth certificate, I have legal rights as your father. I’m going to enforce those rights. I’m going to your mum’s today to tell her you’re moving in with me. If she wants to discuss it, we will. If she wants to fight it, she can, but she will have a fight on her hands.”
“Really?” Maia whispered, almost as if she didn’t quite believe it.
“Maia, she kept you from me for fifteen years.” His eyes were hard with determination. “And as far as I can see, she’s not done right by you. It’s my turn to look after you. I can’t promise you I’ll be very good at it, but I can promise I’ll try my very best to make the next fifteen, thirty, fifty years better than the last fifteen.”
As I tried to blink back my tears at his speech, Maia launched herself out of her chair and straight at Logan. He stood stunned for a moment as she wrapped her arms around his waist and burrowed her face against his chest. Seconds later he slid his arms around her and held her tight.
I had to look away so I wouldn’t turn into a blubbering mess.
“Grace.”
I glanced up at them again to find Maia had stepped away from her dad, looking almost embarrassed by her outburst of affection. Logan noticed and put his arm around her shoulders and drew her in to his side. She smiled shyly up at him, but he’d turned to me so he didn’t notice the adoration he was receiving. “Are you okay to let Maia stay with you while I turn the second room into Maia’s room?”
“Of course,” I answered easily.
“Okay.” He blew out air between his lips and looked down at Maia. “I’ll need the details of your last school, sweetheart, so I can arrange a transfer to a school here.”
She nodded eagerly.
“You’ll need more clothes. If Grace can’t take you, I’ll get Shannon to. She’s dying to meet you.” He reached out with his other hand and stroked her cheek with his thumb. There was this dazed, tender light in his eyes, and I think it was just finally hitting him that Maia was his. She was his daughter. His voice was gruff with emotion when he spoke again. “I’d better go see your mum.”
“I’ll come with you,” I blurted out. I didn’t want him to go back out there alone. I didn’t want him to have to face it on his own after everything he’d already gone through.
“What about Maia?”
“I’m fifteen,” she piped up. “I can look after myself for a few hours. Believe me.”
Logan frowned. “How would you feel about spending a few hours with Shannon?”