“You want to go see Posey?” Logan asks Maggie, and there’s something so incredibly endearing about the way he talks to her. Something so genuine. Maggie moos again, and he stands, her hand in his. “Well, come on, Olive. I think it’s time you met Posey.”
Maggie takes my hand with her free one and wraps her fingers around mine.
Guess I’m going to meet Posey, again.
“I did meet her the other night at dinner,” I remind Logan as we make our way along a stone path set in the grass.
“Doesn’t count. She was sleeping.” His lips curve, and I find mine doing the same.
“Well then, I guess we haven’t been formally introduced.”
“Logan—” Waverly yells from the house. “There’s an attorney here for you.”
I drop Maggie’s hand as reality crashes back down on me.
This isn’t my family.
She’s not my daughter, and this man is my husband in name only.
That doesn’t need to include intimate walks around the ranch, and I’d do well to remember that. There’s an expiration date for all of this.
Logan scoops Maggie up and turns toward me, his brow raised and his hand out. “Are you running this show?”
I guess it’s showtime.
With my hand in his, I look back up at the house. “Do you trust me?”
“You’re living in my house with my child, Olivia. I might not be great at expressing my feelings, but I’d say it’s safe to assume I trust you.”
There is so much in that sentence, I’ll have to wait until after Nina leaves to unpack it all, choosing instead to focus on our next moves. “Okay, good. Let me run with this, and remember, Nina can’t know the details of our arrangement. She’s an officer of the court.”
He squeezes my hand before dropping it and slipping his to the small of my back. “Then let’s get on with the show.”
Logan
Nina Adjepong looks between Liv and me like she knows we’re full of shit but refuses to call us on it. Listening intently, she takes notes, asks questions, and never quite convinces me she believes us. Probably not good. “And has Monica ever done anything to make you question her ability to parent Magnolia?”
“Other than be completely uninvolved in Maggie’s life for the past year? No, nothing really stands out. But honest to God, I don’t think Maggie even realizes what a mother is supposed to be or who hers is, she sees her own so infrequently. Monica was supposed to be seeing her on weekends, and that rarely happens. I doubt she even realized Maggie’s birthday was last month,” I bite out, fucking fuming over the fact I have to even do this. “She doesn’t know her favorite food, her favorite show, her sleep schedule or fucking bedtime routine. She doesn’t know she likes a nightlight or that she needs her stuffed cow to sleep. Or that we have backups stashed all over the house in case she loses one. Monica doesn’t know her, and she sure as hell doesn’t deserve her.”
Nina nods, making a few notes. “This is a start. If you think of anything else, please let me know.”
“Are you concerned?” Olivia asks her as Waverly walks by the dining room for the fifth time in the past thirty minutes, no doubt trying to hear what Nina has to say. “Should we be concerned?”
“Not yet,” Nina answers, but I’m not sure I believeherthis time. “But I’d like to have more to back our case up than she’s been uninvolved. They can argue that by simply petitioning the court for custody, she’s showing interest. They can say that Logan has refused her visitation.” I open my mouth to argue, but Nina holds her hand out. “Don’t worry. She’d need to prove that. And assuming that’s not the case, she wouldn’t be able to prove it.”
“I can’t lose her,” I tell the women in the room, my voice cracking.
“You won’t,” Olivia laces her fingers with mine. “We’ll make sure of it.”
“That,” Nina smiles conspiratorially. “I know you’re not exactly the touchy-feely type, Liv, but it will do you good to show a slightly softer side in this case.”
Olivia stiffens. “Do us good?”
“Yes. That’s good. Focus on theus. Focus on the stable family environment you both provide for Magnolia. So long as you’re living here, your entire family is going to need to be on board with this, if we’re going to win. And the two of you will have to put up a united front. And before you say anything, don’t. I don’t want to know what your history is, but I want you to realize that while being married should help you, it can also leave you vulnerable.”
“In what way?” I ask, not liking the sound of this.
“They can try to poke holes,” Olivia answers before Nina can. “Let them try. There’s no holes to poke,” she tells her. “I’vealways kept my private life just that. Private. Falling in love with Logan and Maggie was no different, and he honored my wishes to keep our relationship low-key. The idea of it being played out in front of the media makes me break out in hives. That doesn’t mean I love them less.”
