Shelter You (15 page)

Logan left early this morning and then called me in the early afternoon after he had already settled into his hotel. He promised to call me before I went to bed tonight. I snuck outside when he called, not wanting to take personal calls at work. Sarah was heading out for lunch and overheard us on the phone. She had a sour puss look on her face for the rest of the day. As grateful as I am to her for having helped me out and given me a job when I desperately needed one, her attitude toward me has changed dramatically. She makes it very uncomfortable to be around her and I find myself hiding in my classroom for the majority of the day. I don’t want to be her enemy, but she’s made it very difficult for me to be her friend.

When I leave work I get a phone call from Mandy inviting me out to dinner. I’m tired and really just want to go home and sleep, but she’s Logan sister and I really want her to like me so I agree. I meet her at a small little Italian restaurant not far from Logan’s house and in true Tate fashion, she snatches Lily away from me immediately. God this family loves babies. We’re seated at a two person table with Lily positioned in her car seat between the two of us.

“It’s only been about a week since I’ve seen her and she’s already gotten so big.” She says playing with Lily who’s kicking her little feet.

“Yeah, she’s growing so fast,” I agree. “She’s starting to hold her head up more now and she’s smiling, it’s really cool.”

“Logan told me he’d be out of town tonight. I hope you don’t mind that I invited you out. I just thought you might like some company.”

I take a sip of my soda and give her a smile. “That was really nice of you, Mandy.”

“So how is it working at the daycare center?” She probes and I wonder if she’s really asking about my job or if she’s wondering how things are with Sarah. What if she really invited me out tonight to warn me off from her brother, to clear the way for Sarah. She is her best friend after all. Why wouldn’t she want her to be with Logan?

“It’s great, I love working with the kids and the teachers are amazing. I’ve really learned a lot,” I reply giving her a muted version of the truth.

“What about Sarah, how do you like her?” She presses.

I give her a tight smile. “She’s fine,” I reply, not wanting to give her any more information, any ammunition to use against me.

She sighs and rolls her eyes at me. “She’s in love with Logan, Mia. She always has been and I know that you can see it. You don’t have to lie to me about it. I’ve told her countless times that he’ll never see her that way. They’re just too different and she’s not his type.”

I’m sure she can see the surprise on my face as I give her a questioning look. “How do you feel about that?”

“Who my brother chooses to love is none of my business. My loyalty is to him not to Sarah, so if he wants to be with you then I want that for him too. You make him happy and that’s all that matters to me.”

I can’t believe how the dynamic within this family works. It just reinforces the fact that my family is in fact the perfect picture of dysfunction. “Are you all this nice? I’m really not used to it. My family can be brutal, so being surrounded by kind loving people is kind of throwing me off here.”

“We just love each other and realize how important family is. We know that you should never take anything or anyone for granted. Don’t worry about Sarah. I love her but she’s misguided where Logan is concerned. She can’t do anything to hurt you.”

“Well, it helps to have all of your support. It really means a lot to me. I never knew having a family could be like this.” I say, shrugging my shoulders.

“I just wanted you to know where we stand. We’re all happy to have you and Lily around. Logan is really happy with you and that’s so good to see.”

“He makes me really happy too. I never knew I could be this happy, I keep waiting for something to go wrong.”

“Don’t think like that, Mia. Everything will be fine,” she says.

I want to believe her, but in my life happiness has always been a fleeting emotion.

Even after Logan called me last night I couldn’t sleep. He sounded distant, tired maybe, and I couldn’t help but to wonder what was wrong. Had the training not gone the way he anticipated? Was he just tired from the driving or maneuvering his way around the city all day? I think I’m starting to worry about him and his safety as much as he worries about mine. Over time I’ve been letting it sink into my brain exactly what it is that he does for a living. How he puts himself out on the streets all the time and puts his life in danger. I’d be lying if I said it didn’t scare the hell out of me. To make matters worse, the regular receptionist at the day care center is out again and of course I’m stuck manning the front desk. Sarah’s been in her office for most of the day and has thankfully stayed away from me but she makes an appearance just as I’m packing up for the day.

“Oh, hey Sarah. Have a good night,” I say, trying to maintain a cordial atmosphere.

“Mia, I didn’t see you there,” she replies, turning to face me. “Are you heading out?”

“Yeah, I’m just going back to get Lily.”

“Right.” She drawls out, and gives me the fake smile I’m becoming more and more accustomed to. “So how is the apartment hunt going?”

I hesitate, not really wanting to let on to how serious things are really getting with Logan but then I think that it might be better for her to know. Maybe it will encourage her to move on. “I think I’m staying put for right now. Logan’s made it pretty clear that he wants us to stay.”

She purses her lips into a tight line and drops her handbag on the front desk, just as she lets her true feelings go. “God Mia, your plan to find Lily a dad has worked.”

“Excuse me?” I ask incredulously. I’m thrown off by her completely untrue and inappropriate statement. I’m starting to see that Sarah is borderline delusional.

“I mean, how long were you even in town before you set your sights on Logan? And let me tell you he was the perfect mark. He took one look at poor pathetic Mia with her sad little life and just had to jump in and rescue you. You really should pat yourself on the back.”

My eyes go wide and I swear I can almost feel my blood start to boil over. “Are you actually suggesting that I planned to have my apartment burglarized, made it so that Logan would be the officer on duty that night, and then brainwashed him in to taking me and Lily in, all so that I could get him to play daddy?”

“Oh come on, Mia. You play the damsel in distress perfectly down to a tee.”

I place my hands on the desk and shake my head at her. “You don’t know me. You know nothing about me. You have no idea what I’ve been through, how dare you judge me.”

“I know your type and you know what? You can have your fun. Logan will see you for exactly who you are one way or another.”

Clearly she’s not holding back maybe it’s time that she understands that I know the truth about her feelings. “You’re just jealous that he wants me and not you. It kills you, doesn’t it? It burns you to see him with me, to see how he loves Lily.”

“You’re wrong.” She growls and points her bony little finger at me. “He is my friend.”

The finger in my face throws me over the edge. I’m done with her and her accusations. “A friend who you’ve been dying to notice you. The friend who you want to make your boyfriend so desperately that you would accuse me of the most absurd things. Everyone knows it, Sarah. Even Logan knows it, but guess what? He doesn’t want you. He wants me! And I want you to stay away from him and leave me the hell alone.”

“Well… Mia. I’ve never done anything but support your cause. I gave you a job when it could have cost me my business and as the owner here. I can’t tolerate anyone speaking to me the way that you just have,” she says with a smug look on her face.

“
What
? You started it.”

“I’m sorry, Mia but I have to let you go. Please collect your things and do not come back.”

“Oh my God,” I say, straightening my spine. “This is exactly what you wanted all along. Go to hell, Sarah.” I spit out, storming back to the infant room to get Lily. I pick her up and get the hell out there as quickly as I can. I pull over as soon as I get out of the daycare parking lot so that I can calm down before driving home. After a few deep breaths I get on the road and make it home safely. As I pull into the driveway the tension of the day starts to ease off of me when I see Logan’s truck in the driveway. I park and have Lily out of the car in the blink of an eye.

I unlock the front door and look around, no sign of him anywhere.

“Logan?” I call, looking around the lower level. When I don’t find him I make my way upstairs. I can hear the shower running from the hallway so I take Lily into her room and get her ready for bed. Once she’s fed and settled down in her crib I walk across the hall to mine and Logan’s bedroom. He’s tossing clothes into the laundry bin when I walk in. “Logan.”

He turns at the sound of my voice and when his smile hits me I know that I’m home. I don’t stop, don’t speak, words aren’t necessary, I walk straight into his arms and when they wrap around me my whole world clicks back into place.

“Hi baby.” He greets me as he kisses the top of my head.

“I missed you,” I whisper as I fight the urge to cry.

“I missed you too,” he says, pulling away slightly.

I grab on tighter holding on for dear life. “Don’t let go.”

“Are you okay?”

Instead of replying, I start to walk forward pushing him until we hit the bed, I crawl into the middle and pull him down with me. I place a gentle kiss on his lips and that’s all the motivation that he needs to take over. He slips his tongue in my mouth and I tighten my hold on him, letting myself get caught up in the moment.

“How was your trip?” I giggle after we break apart.

“Enlightening. I’m glad to be home though. How about you? How was it here without me?”

I let out a sigh. “It was okay up until tonight. I got fired.”

“What?” He questions, propping his head up on his hand “Why?”

“Sarah started with me and then she used the confrontation as a way to get rid of me,” I say plainly. I don’t know if I have it in me to get into detail.

“What did she say to you?”

I rub my face with the palms of my hands. “That I’m using you so that Lily can have a dad. She accused me of planning the whole thing, the robbery, everything.”

“What the hell is wrong with her?”

“It’s simple. She wants you.”

“God, I’m so sorry babe.” He strokes my cheek, soothing me with his touch. “I never thought she’d do something like this.”

“It’s not your fault. I just don’t know what I’m going to do now,” I say, snuggling into his side.

“Don’t worry about it, Mia. I know that you want to do everything on your own and you want to be independent but I’m here. I want to take care of you.”

“Logan...” I warn.

“No, just hold on. If I lost my job and you could help me, if you could take care of me would you?”

“That’s not fair. It’s not the same thing.” I argue.

“Yes it is.” He chuckles. “Answer the question.”

“Of course.”

“Then let me do the same for you. If you want to get another job fine but I don’t want you to rush into something that you don’t want, okay?”

“Okay,” I say with a huff.

He pulls me into a tight hug and nips at my shoulder. “My parents are taking Lily for the weekend.”

“What? Why?”

“Because I’m taking you to New York.”

“Really?” I squeal, unable to hide my excitement.

“Yeah. My parents have a small apartment in the city, they’re letting us use it for the weekend.”

We stay up for hours, making plans for the weekend—hugging, kissing and just enjoying each other’s company. I think about Sarah and her reaction to our relationship, I know that I should care, that I should be sorry that I lost my job. But I would do it all over again if it meant keeping Logan.

The Tate’s place in New York is beautiful. It’s a three-bedroom penthouse in the heart of Tribeca, one of the best neighborhoods in Manhattan. Everything is white, crisp, state of the art and modern with amazing views of the city. It’s everything I ever dreamed of when I imagined myself as a student at NYU.