Chapter 9

Chapter

Nine

" Y ou need to go get him, Jake."

"No." The word fell out without any effort on his part.

Logan glanced over at him, sighing. They were on their way to flame the parking lot at city hall so the elders didn't slip on the snow. "Buddy, if you gave him a couple of rooms, it could save you so much time. He could watch Grant, and you could get so much more done."

"No." The thought of Samuel in his house, getting under his skin even more than he did already made Jake want to just…roar.

"Jake, people are talking."

"So?"

"So what the hell is wrong? He's done everything right, but this kid needs you to accept him so the wing can."

Jake blew out a breath. "He hates me, Logan."

"How do you know he hates you? Hate is a very strong word. He's just a little guy. Harmless."

Harmless? He didn't think so. Not even close.

He'd seen the lightning hit the ground more than once when he'd said something that hurt Samuel's feelings or pissed him off or whatever. "He has an apartment. He can stay there. He doesn't even have a job."

"It's supposed to be watching Grant. You have a job." Logan snapped back. "A full-time job. An important job."

Jake knew that, but he wasn't having that silly little skinny dragon in his house. It was unthinkable. It just made him itch to think about it.

"I just don't get it, man. He's given his word that he'll stay. He's told his people. We've even had discussions with Susan's family acknowledging that Grant's time with their clan is being fulfilled. He gave up everything to come here and take care of Grant."

"Have you asked yourself why, even once? Have you wondered why he would give everything up to come here and be a babysitter? What did he give up if it was so easy to do it?" Jake could hear himself. He knew how mean he sounded, and he didn't understand it, but he did know that he didn't want Samuel to get too close. He knew that.

He shook his head. He knew that it meant drastic change.

"Well." Logan's voice held more than a touch of heat to it now. "I can tell you, without question, that he left his hoard behind. That they sent four boxes of clothing and two chairs, along with a couple of pieces of art. Now you tell me, if you are a librarian and you hoard books, how is it that you don't get a single book from your family? From your hoard." Logan slapped his hands together, the resulting sound sharp and loud. "Damn it, you have got to have more sense than this. You're not an asshole, naturally. Why have you chosen this man to vent your spleen on?"

"Why do you care?" Jake snapped, then his shoulders slumped. That was part of it, wasn't it? He just wanted someone to care as much about him as they did this stranger.

But it was more than that. He could hear Samuel in his head. That was—momentous, and no one knew.

"Because I care about you and Grant, Jake. This is so unlike you. You're generous to a fault. You're kind and caring. You take people in. Why not him?"

"Because he'll completely change my life, and I'm not ready for that again."

Logan's gaze sharpened. "Well, now we're getting somewhere."

"I've had enough change for right now." At least Logan was listening to him, he thought. That was what it felt like, at any rate.

"All right, that's fair." Logan's brow furrowed, the big dragon obviously deep in thought. "So, what disturbs your current pattern the least right now? With the knowledge that you have to share time with Samuel. There's no way around that."

This invitation to snap, to say "just tell him to go away" was huge, but he didn't, because Logan was trying to be fair, and so should he. "What are our options?"

"You could do every other day. You could do twelve hours every day. You could do a week at a time."

"No. No, a week at a time is too much! Besides, he obviously isn't equipped to take care of a child. Not to mention, he is going to have to go to work as well." Jake frowned. "Why on earth did they not send him his things?"

"If I had to guess, I'd say to punish him, because he didn't just take the baby and leave. He could have said that you'd had him for a year, they got him for a year."

"Oh. Well, that doesn't have anything to do with me." Who was he? He wasn't this way. Logan was right. This was so…fucking mean.

"Who else would it have to do with exactly? Besides you and Grant, I mean. He'd be better off going home where his things are, where his job is, where his life was. Obviously, he didn't want to take Grant away from you."

"Okay. That's—" He sighed, then stopped pacing his kitchen and sat. "I don't know what to do. I'm not… I feel totally out of whack. I itch. I ache in my chest. I miss Jolie. She would be able to tell me what to do."

Logan stared at him for a long moment. Then he nodded. "I get that. What happened was awful. But don't make it worse. Don't take it out on Samuel. And Grant, really, who adores him."

Jake took a deep breath and thought of Susan, of how she smiled at his sister. At how she'd accepted him wholeheartedly. And he growled. "Fine. I'll fix it."

Logan raised an eyebrow. "You will, huh?"

"Yes." He would make it right. He didn't want to be this guy. He wasn't this guy, dammit, and just because Samuel made him nuts for some reason, that didn't negate that he'd loved his sister, had adored his sister-in-law, and he wanted Grant to know that, if nothing else.

"Okay, cool. I'll let you. And if you need me, you holler, okay? I'm on both your sides. Not one or the other."

"Sure but Lars is on his side."

Logan broke out laughing. "I imagine so."

Jake actually cracked a grin. "Well, he's always been a jerk."

"Yes. Yes, he has." Logan stood, then clapped him on the back. "Go forth and deal."

"Yep." He had a plan. It might not be a good one. But it was all he had.