“Ready?” Logan folded the tea towel over the rail at the end of the counter.
“Yeah.” She kicked into her flip-flops and closed the door without locking it.
They started up the path that crossed in front of the garden. This track through the long grass had been worn into the hill back when Glenda and Janine had been running back and forth to borrow sugar and exchange gossip. Nowadays, it was well trampled by Sophie and Emma.
Sophie’s agreement with Logan to not speak about anything personal, and to only speak about work at work, left a gaping silence between them as they walked.
Trystan had become Sophie’s go-to for the inside scoop if Emma wasn’t being forthcoming, but he had left on his first tour in the Storm Ridge.
“Emma didn’t say much about what’s going on with Storm’s aunt,” Sophie said when she couldn’t stand the silence, or her concerned curiosity, any longer. “I don’t want to pry, but should I be worried? Are you?”
“When has worrying ever solved anything?” Logan asked dryly.
“Okay, I’m worried. I can’t help it. Emma is Storm’s mom. Can you reassure me that she won’t lose her?”
His profile hardened. “I’d like to.”
“But?” She stopped. Her breath rushed out as his aggrieved expression seemed to plunge a knife into her belly. “How could they even think of giving her to Tiffany’s sister? She’s a criminal or something, isn’t she?”
“That was our initial impression. We were told she was in police custody, but she’s actually in protective custody. Once she finishes testifying, she could potentially ask to be Storm’s guardian. At that point, it would be a matter of who can provide the best care. Right now, that’s weighted to Reid and Emma, especially with Trystan and me here to support them. Plus, this is Storm’s home. Those are all things, we’re told, that make a difference in our favor. But nothing’s guaranteed,” he added with aggravation.
“Poor Emma.” Sophie’s heart went out to her so hard it was a physical sensation of being stretched and pulled. “I’ve worried about a lot of things as a mom, but never whether someone would take my kid.”
“Yeah, this blows.” Logan was worried.
As he should be, but it was a small shock for Sophie to see how affected he was. All he’d done since he’d arrived was give off vibes about how inconvenienced he was by his little sister. He had learned to be a decent caregiver, capable of changing a diaper and being a quick-draw on a bottle of formula, but when Reid and Emma had married, he’d been chipper as hell, starting to talk about heading back to Florida and his life there.
“Biyen’s dad never fought you for custody?” he asked with curiosity.
“Not really.”
“What does that mean?” He sent her a side-eye of puzzlement.
She hesitated, conflicted about revealing anything to him, especially something so personal.
“I didn’t really intend to leave him,” she admitted. “I came to visit Gramps. It was supposed to be for a week. You know, check on him, put a few casseroles in the freezer. When I saw your dad, he asked me when I was going to come back and work for him. The guy who had replaced Gramps after he retired was ready to retire himself. I had dropped out of my apprenticeship once I had Biyen and was serving in a pub. The money was okay, but I wasn’t getting ahead.” She had been supporting her son and her son’s father and had been deeply unhappy, but she hadn’t seen a way out until Wilf made her that offer.
“There was a spot available in the daycare so I said I would try it for a week,” she continued. “Your dad kept offering me more money to stay another week. Biyen liked it here and Gramps wanted us to stay so, after a couple of months, Nolan called to ask when I was coming home. I said I wasn’t.”
She felt Logan’s full attention swing onto her.
She didn’t mention this had all happened shortly after she’d seen him at Glenda’s wedding four years ago, when she had recognized two things: that she didn’t love Nolan and that she still reacted strongly to Logan Fraser—fueled by dislike, she assured herself.
“He didn’t want to join you two here?”
“I didn’t ask him to. I sent him money for back rent, which was the reason for his call, and told him I already had a child to look after. If he wanted us to be a couple, I needed him to be an adult. He showed up a few weeks later, expecting to move in with us, but Gramps said his stuff had to stay on the lawn unless he started paying support and rent.”
“Art doesn’t mince words, does he?” Logan grinned.
“Where do you think I get it from? I wound up telling Nolan he didn’t have to pay support if he let me have primary custody. He loves Biyen. I’ve never doubted that, but having a child is more responsibility than he ever planned to shoulder. We have an arrangement that works for us. Once or twice a year, usually around Christmas and Easter, I go see your mom in Port Hardy. Nolan’s mom lives there so Biyen spends time with his family, and I get my Glenda fix. Through the rest of the year, Nolan comes here and either sleeps on a friend’s couch while he hangs out with Biyen during the day or he takes him camping, which they both love.” Sophie hated camping so it was a win-win all around.
“And he’s—” Logan cut himself off, mouth going flat.
“What?”
“I don’t want to piss you off as we’re going into the party.” He lifted his chin toward the house where the lively voices of the kids were already carrying from the back lawn.
She halted and so did he. The suspicion in his eyes told her what he wanted to ask. She sighed.
“Nolan is definitely Biyen’s father.” She tried not to be defensive or angry or wistful, even though she had hoped back then, with a heart-wrenching type of despair, that her baby had been conceived with Logan. “Nolan asked for a paternity test. Biyen is definitely his.” Why else would she let him have so much access?
Did Logan flinch? It was hard to tell. He turned away, nodding, carrying on to circle around the house, wordless.
She absently rubbed at the scored sensation between her breasts, already regretting saying as much as she had. Did he think her pathetic? Slutty? Even Nolan had doubted he was Biyen’s father, which said everything about how she had been behaving at the time.
Voices rose in greeting as they appeared. Sophie found a smile and did her best to shed whatever leftover desire she had for Logan Fraser’s good opinion of her. It had never served her well and she needed it even less now.
Chapter Four
“How are your drinks?” Logan checked in with Art and Emma’s mother, Delta. They were seated in lawn chairs, watching the children throw hoops at pegs.
“Would you put water in this for me, please, Logan?” Delta handed him her empty wine glass. “I’ll be asleep before dinner if I have more wine.”
She was an older version of Emma, a little plumper, a little more formally dressed, with a distinctively stronger New Zealander accent.
He filled her glass with ice water and fetched himself a beer from the downstairs fridge, bringing one for Sophie who was too busy playing with the children to take it. He brought it up to where Reid stood at the barbecue on the deck off the kitchen.
“Thanks.” Reid drained the one in his hand and cracked the new one.
