A lesser woman would have ditched the cacti. She hated cacti.
She’d boxed them up and taken them halfway across London to a batty cactus lover she’d found on the internet.
Even Mike…He hadn’t had anywhere to stay, and he’d been such a promising artist. Had she mistaken sympathy for love?
So don’t you dare feel sorry for this family, she told herself. Leave. Now.
But Wendy was watching her, her small face closed. She wasn’t expecting help. And then she stopped looking at Shanni-decision made.
‘It doesn’t matter what Dad said,’ she told her little sister. ‘I’ll take you inside.’ She hugged her little sister in a gesture that was pure protection, turning her back on Shanni. ‘You’ve scraped your fingers. We’ll find a plaster.’
Oh, heck.
‘What did you say your names were?’ Shanni called.
‘Bryce,’ the oldest boy called. ‘Bryce and Wendy and Donald and Abby. And Bessy at the doctor.’
‘Okay, Bryce,’ Shanni said wearily. ‘Where do I park?’
‘Definitely chicken pox,’ the doctor told Pierce in a tone of deep disapproval. ‘That makes the whole family. The older children should have been immunized. We do standard immunization at twelve months. Bessy will be paying the price of your failure to get that done.’
If he was less tired he’d slug him, Pierce thought wearily, but slugging would involve energy, and energy was something that was in short supply.
‘Here’s a prescription,’ the doctor said, still cool. ‘Twice a day, just like the older children. Can I rely on you to give it?’
‘Yes,’ Pierce snapped. Maybe he did have enough energy. But Bessy was clinging to his neck. It was pretty difficult to slug when holding a whimpering baby.
‘The child welfare officer says you seem to be struggling,’ the doctor said. He peered at Pierce as if he wasn’t too sure. ‘I can call them in, if you want. I told you that when their mother died.’
‘I don’t want. And I have help coming.’
‘Excellent. I hope it’s somebody competent. These children have suffered enough.’ The doctor closed Bessy’s patient file with a snap. Consultation over. ‘Let me know if you change your mind. I can get Welfare in tomorrow.’
The house was a tip.
Shanni walked into the kitchen and nearly walked out again.
It was a vast farmhouse kitchen, one wall almost taken up by a huge green Aga. The cupboards and benches were made of a deep, rich wood, and the floor was planked with something that looked like oak. An enormous wooden table dominated the room-a table big enough to…
To hold every eating utensil in the house, Shanni thought incredulously. When had they ever washed up?
‘It’s…it’s a bit messy,’ Wendy said, following Shanni in. She hadn’t put Abby down. She was still staggering under her weight. ‘Bessy was really sick yesterday.’
The two little boys were bringing up the rear. They at least looked like brothers-curly black hair, matching freckles, matching expressions of distrust.
The kitchen was cold. It was a glorious spring day but the place felt damp.
‘We ran out of wood last night,’ Wendy admitted, as she touched the cold stove. ‘Dad ran out of time to chop it. But Dad said just as well, cos he wouldn’t have gone to the doctor’s and left the fire burning. We had cereal and orange juice for breakfast, so we didn’t need the stove.’
‘I see,’ Shanni said. She didn’t see.
Wendy staggered forward and plonked her little sister on a kitchen chair. ‘I’ll find a plaster.’
This at least was a place to start. Abby’s finger was grazed. ‘We need to clean it,’ she told Wendy. ‘Can you find me a face cloth and some soap?’
‘I think so,’ Wendy said cautiously. ‘Are you going to look after us?’
‘I have no idea,’ Shanni told her. ‘Or, not in the long term. But for now it looks like I need to look after you at least until your father gets home. Let’s start with one sore finger.’
Bessy went to sleep somewhere between the doctor’s surgery and the pharmacy. Finally. She’d sobbed practically all the previous night. She’d sobbed in the doctor’s waiting room and in the surgery. The silence as she slid into sleep was almost deafening.
Pierce was lucky enough to find a parking space just outside the pharmacy. Yes! There was no way he was going to wake her.
But here was another occasion where he could be censured by child welfare-never leave your child alone in a car.
It wasn’t like this was a closed-in car. His cute little sports coupé-a bright yellow MX5 he loved almost more than life itself-was open to the sun. It was a gorgeous spring day. He’d be able to watch Bessy though the window of the pharmacy as he dived in and grabbed the prescription.
But there were ten prescriptions before him.
‘It’ll be twenty minutes,’ the pharmacist said, and Pierce almost groaned.
‘I’ve got kids at home and the baby in the car.’
‘Don’t leave your child in the car.’
‘Look, can you fast track…?’
‘Twenty minutes.’
‘Fine.’ He sighed. He couldn’t slug everyone in this town even if it was starting to feel like everyone was conspiring against him. ‘I’ll sit in the car and wait.’
He tried to stalk out, but his legs were too tired to stalk. As he walked past the window on the way out he caught a look at himself in its reflective glass.
He hadn’t shaved for two days. He’d slept in these clothes.
He looked like death. A little old lady entering the pharmacy gave him a wide berth, and he didn’t blame her.
He slid into the driver’s seat of his cool little car. Beside him, Bessy was still soundly asleep.
‘Twenty minutes, Bess,’ he said, but she didn’t stir.
He empathized. He sighed. He closed his eyes.
The warm spring sun was a balm all by itself. It was quiet. So quiet.
Twenty minutes.
He could just fold his arms on his steering wheel and let his head droop.
It was so warm…
‘How long did you say your dad would be?’
‘He said an hour. The appointment was for half past ten.’
‘It’s now well after eleven. Shouldn’t he be back by now?’ Shanni said cautiously.
‘Yes,’ Wendy said, and her bottom lip trembled. Just a bit. She caught herself almost before the telltale quiver happened, but Shanni had seen.
She felt like quivering herself.
Uh-oh.
She was only staying here until Pierce got home, she told herself. Then she was out of here fast. But these kids were starting to look more scared than she was. She couldn’t leave them. Nor could she sit round in this appalling mess worrying about where Pierce was.
They were all staring at her, and Wendy’s poorly disguised quiver was reflected on each of their faces.
They’d lost their mum. Pierce was late.
Their world wasn’t as stable as they might like.
‘Right,’ she said. ‘I’ll ring the doctor’s surgery, shall I?’
‘Yes,’ said Wendy, sounding relieved.
So she rang. Yes, he’d been at the doctor’s surgery.
‘He has to collect a prescription before he goes home,’ the receptionist told her. ‘And he’s probably taken the opportunity to go shopping. Has he left those poor children by themselves?’
There was enough censure in her tone to make Shanni back off.
‘No. They’re with me.’
‘If there’s a problem…’
‘Why would there be a problem?’
‘The child welfare people aren’t all that happy about the way he’s coping.’
Her voice was loud enough for Wendy, clinging to Shanni’s side, to hear.
‘Tell her we’re coping fine,’ Wendy said, her face flushing. ‘Yeah, Dad’ll just be shopping. We’re okay.’
‘We’re okay,’ Shanni said, a
nd put the phone down.
‘They want to take us away from Dad,’ Wendy said.
Maybe they, whoever they were, had grounds.
But meanwhile…She could hardly phone the police and report Pierce missing. Not yet. She’d give him a bit of leeway.
But there was still fear on four little faces.
‘There’s no earthly use looking like that,’ she told them, mentally rolling up her sleeves, girding her loins, doing whatever a girl had to do before launching into battle. ‘If you’re worried about child welfare, then we need to show them we’re coping.’
‘How are we coping?’ Wendy asked.
‘By cleaning.’ She stared at the mound of dishes. ‘First thing first. This is a big job, so we need a major battle plan. I’ll chop enough wood to light the fire and get some hot water. Lots of hot water. A sink isn’t going to cut it. Let’s fill the bath. Donald, can you find us a pile of clean towels? The rest of you carry every dirty dish-except the knives, we’ll leave the knives for me-into the bathroom. Boys wash and girls dry. I want the whole bathroom filled with clean plates, so clean they sparkle. I’ll clean in here, and then we’ll bring the clean things back in.’
‘We can’t,’ Donald said. ‘We’re not old enough to wash dishes. Only Wendy.’
‘Nonsense,’ Shanni said with a lot more briskness than she felt. ‘Big doesn’t mean clever. Take your boots and socks off so if you get wet it doesn’t matter. Washing in the bath is fun. Do you have a sound system-for music?’
‘P…Dad has one,’ Wendy said. ‘He’s got lots of CDs.’
‘Then let’s put on a bouncy work CD,’ she said. ‘Something like Abba. Do you know Dancing Queen?’
‘Yes,’ Abby said, her eyes lighting up. ‘Our Mummy liked Abba. That’s why she called me Abby.’
‘Then we’ll put on Abba.’
‘I don’t know whether Dad’s got Abba,’ said Wendy.
Huh?
No matter. Questions could wait.
‘Let’s look then, shall we?’ Shanni said, sounding a lot more decisive than she felt. ‘Cos this house looks like it needs about a hundred Abba CDs to lick it into shape.’
At four o’clock the sun slipped behind the Craggyburn Post Office clock tower and Pierce and Bessy lost their sunshine.
Bessy woke first. She wiggled in her car seat, reached across to Pierce, put her pudgy hand into his mess of unkempt brown curls and pulled.
Pierce woke like he’d been shot.
‘Mmmphf,’ Bessy said in deep satisfaction at the results of one small tug.
‘Bess,’ Pierce said, coming to and trying to stop his eyes watering. ‘Boy, you don’t know your own strength.’
He winced and rubbed his head. He stirred and he stretched.
He gazed sleepily up to the clock tower.
The world stilled.
Surely he hadn’t. Surely…
Oh, God, he had. He’d been away for over five hours. Almost six.
He reached for the ignition, his fingers fumbling in haste. A woman from the pharmacy was restocking shelves in the window. She saw him backing out of the parking space, and she waved to him frantically to stop.
He paused and she came to the door.
‘Your prescription’s filled,’ she called. ‘We wondered when you’d wake up. You should be more careful. Mr Connelly, the pharmacist, says the baby’ll probably be sunburned.’
Not bad at all.
Shanni stood back and surveyed the pencil sketch she’d just done with a tinge of admiration. Her very first cow. It even looked like a cow.
Its leg looked a bit funny.
She checked her line of kids. Four kids. Four boards with paint, four brushes, four makeshift easels. Intense concentration. Good.
Four o’clock. How long before she called someone in?
She looked across at Wendy who was working with almost desperate absorption.
Donald, Bryce and Abby were silent, too.
Damn him. What was he playing at?
She should call…
Wendy looked across at her, her eyes pleading.
Not yet.
Pierce was struggling to stay under the speed limit as he and Bessy flew homeward. Bessy was rested and cheerful, crowing in delight at the soothing feeling of wind against her increasingly itchy skin.
Pierce might have rested but he didn’t feel rested. He’d left them for an hour hoping the woman-who was it? Shannon? No, Shanni-would arrive.
Even if she had arrived, she’d be long gone by now. The kids would be terrified.
He turned the last curve-and there was a police car in the yard.
The police…
It’d be the pharmacist, he thought, remembering the prissy set to the man’s mouth as he’d handed over Bessy’s medicine. The whole town thought these kids would be better off in care. And now…
‘I’ve stuffed it big time,’ he told Bessy as he lifted her from the car. ‘I don’t deserve to have you guys.’
Where was everybody?
Two policemen appeared from behind the hayshed.
Accompanied by a redhead.
A woman. Small. Slim. Faded jeans. Bright red windcheater, splodged with green paint. A yellow bandana catching back shoulder-length flaming curls. Green paint smeared on a snubbed nose. Freckles.
Memory stirred. One of Ruby’s family weddings. A nightmare of being alone. A kid the same age as him, taunting, ‘He’s one of Aunty Ruby’s strays. He’s a bastard. Bastard, bastard, bastard.’
Then a skinny little girl, dressed in a scarlet party frock and with a huge pink bow in her flaming hair, marching up to her big cousin and stomping hard on his foot. So hard the kid had yelped.
‘Gee, I’m sorry, Mac,’ she’d said, and she hadn’t sounded sorry at all. Then she’d turned to him and smiled. ‘Hi. My name’s Shanni. What’s yours?’
He’d remembered. That tiny piece of kindness and bravado had stayed with him, to be used as an inward smile at need.
Could this really be her?
‘Pierce, dear, we’re over here,’ she said, smiling brightly and waving to him like he was her long-time cousin. ‘How’s our darling Bessy? Did you get the things I wanted from the store?’
‘Um…hi,’ he said weakly, and the memory of the stomping was suddenly crystal clear.
Amazingly the cops were smiling as well. Pierce recognized them-an older cop who had family in the town, and a younger guy whose stock in trade was aggression. They’d been here two weeks ago with the child welfare officers.
They’d left then looking grim. They weren’t looking grim now. The younger guy was smiling almost fatuously, and the older guy was looking on with benign amusement.
‘So, Friday night…’ the young cop said to Shanni.
‘Can I let you know?’ Shanni said. ‘I need to sort out rosters with my cousin. It wouldn’t do to leave the kids by themselves.’
Ouch.
‘We’ll see you round, then,’ the older cop said benignly. ‘Good luck with that cow, miss. I’m sure you’ll get that leg right in the end.’
‘I’ll ring you on Friday,’ the young cop said, waving a slip of paper. ‘Thanks for your number. I won’t lose it.’
They waved to Pierce in friendly salute. They climbed into the police car, and they were gone.
Leaving Pierce with Shanni.
CHAPTER TWO
‘UM…YOU’RE Shanni,’ he said, and he sounded dumb.
‘You think?’ Shanni said, arching her eyebrows. She’d stopped walking toward him the minute the police car left the yard. She didn’t come one inch closer. ‘You might want to check. After all, it’s important to be sure who you leave in charge of your children.’
‘Look, I…’
The bouncing smile and the charm were put carefully aside. ‘What the hell are you playing at? Wendy’s terrified. I came within an inch of telling those policemen that these kids would be better off in foster care. What sort of a father are you? Where the hell have you been?�
�
He focused on the one tiny thing he had control over. ‘Do you mind watching your mouth? I’m teaching them not to swear.’
She took a deep breath. ‘You are kidding?’ she said at last. ‘Abandoned, starving kids being taught not to swear.’
‘They’re not starving.’
‘So what did you leave them for lunch?’
‘I don’t know,’ he said, forcing his dazed brain to think. ‘There’s eggs, steak, sausages, frozen chips…’
‘All of which require a stove,’ she said dangerously.
‘We’ve got a stove.’
‘And the kids were going to light it how?’ Shanni was looking at him like he was something that had crawled out of cheese.
‘Look, I went to sleep.’
‘Really?’ She raised one quirky eyebrow. ‘You had a little nap. So your kids starved.’
‘Kids don’t starve from missing lunch.’
She glared.
‘Dad,’ said a small voice, and it was Wendy, approaching from behind Shanni.
She stayed behind Shanni. She didn’t come near. It was like she was using Shanni as a shield.
The weight around his heart grew heavier. He’d let Wendy down. This puny kid who had the weight of the world on her shoulders. He’d been gaining her trust. A little.
‘Hell, Wendy…’
‘Don’t swear in front of the children,’ Shanni said icily.
‘Look, I fell asleep,’ he said desperately. ‘I didn’t sleep at all last night. Wendy, tell her I didn’t sleep. I had to take Bessy to the doctor’s, and then I had to wait for the prescription to be filled. I sat in the car and waited because you can’t leave kids alone in the car, and I just slept.’ He spread his hands. He might never convince Shanni, he thought, but it was Wendy who was important.
There was a lengthy pause while Wendy considered. Shanni remained silent.
‘He really didn’t sleep last night,’ Wendy said at last, talking to Shanni. ‘Maybe he didn’t sleep the night before, either,’ she added. ‘I had a nightmare and woke up. He made me hot chocolate.’
His Miracle Bride Page 2
