22. Leave To Cool

"Hey, Delilah," Logan began quietly as he paced up and down the expanse of his kitchen, glancing over at his brother who lay asleep on the couch, "Juno's not at his house right now, he's at my apartment. Can you come get him from here?"

Delilah agreed and said she would be there in about twenty minutes. Logan placed his phone back in his pocket and walked into the living room, sitting on the floor in front of the couch. Juno shifted a little and rustled the blankets a little before settling back down.

Nick came from the hallway, his face morphed into a yawn and his arms high above his head. His eyes softened as he looked at Juno before heading into the kitchen. The sounds of bowls clashing together and utensils being dropped on the floor sharply cut through the silence of the room. Logan winced when Juno's eyes popped open and sighed.

"Hey," Logan patted Juno's leg. "You want me to get you some breakfast?"

Juno nodded sleepily and Logan stood up slowly.

"Oh, and Delilah will be here in a little bit to pick you up," Logan said.

"I'm not staying with you?" Juno asked.

"Not today," Logan said. "I've got to head to the bakery."

Nick slid into the room at that point, a piece of bread between his fingers and a knife in the other.

"Delilah's coming over?" he asked casually.

Logan raised an eyebrow at him and walked into the kitchen. "Yes, she is."

Nick nodded and put the bread in the toaster. "Is she staying long?"

"She's here for Juno, not you, horny animal," Logan said and Nick snapped his head towards him. "I'm not horny!" Nick gasped.

Logan smirked at him and grabbed a glass of water.

"If anyone's horny it's you and the happy-pappy bakery bumpkin," Nick grinned.

"We're not..." Logan started but was at a loss of words.

"You think I didn't see you running out of the burrito place with her stuck to your hip?" Nick asked.

Logan sighed. "I didn't think anyone was paying attention."

"You sly fox," Nick said. "Getting with the boss."

"She's not the boss," Logan grumbled and Nick hid his smile as the toast popped.

After Nick had wolfed back his breakfast and Juno had run around the bathroom, trying to make himself presentable, Logan had managed to get his little brother calm enough to sit still in front of the television. Delilah came a few minutes later, crashing through the front door with her hands full of bags.

Logan rushed forward to help her but Nick was already there, grabbing the bags out of her hands. Logan gave him a look as he walked forward.

"Hey," he greeted the babysitter with a smile.

Delilah blew a stray curl out of her face and smiled back. "Hey, good to see you. I assume he wasn't too bad," she nodded to the boy on the couch who had yet to look up.

Logan shook his head. "He was just fine."

"What are all these bags for?" Nick asked. "You go on a shopping spree before getting here?"

Delilah rolled her eyes at him. "No, these clothes, perfumes, soaps and some groceries for-"

"My mother," Logan finished. "You're Juno's babysitter, not her maid."

Delilah shrugged. "If I get paid then I don't care."

"Still not right," Nick said. "You're doing more than any other family would ask you to do."

Delilah dropped the rest of the bags down on the ground and looked at Nick. "It's fine, honestly. If it becomes too much then I'll say something or start looking for a new job," her eyes slid to Juno. "He won't need me forever anyway."

Logan walked over and switched the TV off, hauling his brother off the couch and into his arms. "Alright, sleepover is officially over, time to go back home. You know what to do if this happens again, yeah?"

"Call you, Nicky, Andy or Keith," Juno recited and Logan ruffled his hair.

"That's right, one of us will always answer," Logan said and put Juno down beside Delilah.

Nick helped her pick all the bags up and grabbed half of them himself. When Delilah protested, he shot her a look.

"Let me take the fucking bags," Nick said. "You ain't got the arm muscle to carry them all."

"Neither do you," Delilah said and Nick glared at her.

"Then I guess it's good we're both going halfies isn't it, smartass?" Nick shot back.

"Bite me, bitch," Delilah huffed.

"Tell me the time and the place."

"Oh," Delilah smirked. "But we both know that's never gonna happen. Come on Juno."

She grabbed the bags out of Nick's hands suddenly and waved goodbye as she slid out of the door with Juno. Logan chuckled at Nick's shocked face and clapped him on the shoulder.

"You've got it bad."

***

Logan left Nick in the apartment and sent a quick text to Maisie to say that he'll be heading over. He drove down the street until coming to a stop on the way to Maisie's home. The bakery was surrounded by flashing lights.

Logan cut the engine and quickly hopped out of his car. He raced over to the bakery that had two police cars sitting outside of it, lights flashing and doors open. He noticed Sheriff Small talking on the phone beside the open door to the store. Heading over, Logan was about to get his attention when someone came out of the bakery and caught his attention.

Maisie smiled tightly at him, face tired and eyes a little red.

"Robbery," she whispered.

Logan's heart sank. He stepped forward when Maisie moved to the side and walked inside her bakery. All the lights were off, two of them smashed. Chairs had fallen over and lay across the floor limply. The glass display case beside the cashier counter was smashed to pieces and littered the floor with little diamonds. The walls were covered with spray paint, running in random lines and circles. It was then that Logan saw that the cash register was open.

"You shouldn't be in here," someone said from behind and Logan turned to see a police officer looking at him from the doorway.

He nodded and walked out of the bakery. He took in the man that came forward with a roll of police tape and moved out of the way, heading down the sidewalk until he stopped beside Maisie who was leaning against his car.

"Are you okay?" Logan asked. "Did you-"

"I wasn't there when it happened," Maisie said, wrapping her arms around herself. "They came some time between one and three in the morning Tony says."

"Tony will find the guys that did it. You know that."

"I don't care who did it," Maisie sighed. "I care that it happened. I care that all the money in the register, that had all the cash from Friday, is gone. I care that my grandma's bakery is a complete mess, everything is broken and destroyed. The kitchen is a disaster, the cupboards are broken, the supplies are wrecked. What am I supposed to do now?"

"Maisie-"

"Everything has gone wrong. Everything. This, this bakery was supposed to fix things. It was supposed to be the one thing that didn't fuck up right in front of me. First grandma dies, then college goes to shit and I stupidly thought that this couldn't possibly go wrong too. That three completely shit things couldn't happen in a row!"

Maisie continued to stare at the ground and Logan put a hand on her shoulder which slid up to her neck and he ran his thumb over her cheek. He couldn't say anything. Nothing would make this better for her. Instead he stepped forward and caught her when Maisie sagged forward and gripped onto him.

- Ellie x