A Child in Need by Marion Lennox Page B

pleased, which is worse.’
    â€˜Because of you and John.’
    â€˜The whole town thought we were getting married. Including John.’
    â€˜Including you?’ Wendy prodded, and Shanni shrugged.
    â€˜Yeah, I guess…’
    â€˜So take your new fella.’
    â€˜I don’t have a new fella.’ Shanni thumped her mug on the table. ‘Wendy, will you stop it? Everyone thinks Nick and I ran straight into each other’s arms, and the last thing I need is yet another man.’
    â€˜What about you?’ Wendy said, wheeling to Nick and honing in like an arrow. ‘Interested?’
    â€˜No!’
    â€˜There you go, then,’ she said, and sat back smugly, arms folded. ‘So neither of you are interested in any sort of relationship, but both of you are interested in saving Harry. So therefore…’
    â€˜Therefore…’ Nick was being swept away here. This woman was too much for him. He was glad she didn’t have a legal degree, he thought. She’d wipe the floor with him at the bar.
    â€˜So therefore I can tell the assessor tomorrow that Harry’s developing relationships all over the place, and I can tell Harry that the two of you are taking him out on Sunday to Shanni’s family picnic.’
    â€˜No!’ they said in unison, and Wendy grinned at the twin sound of revulsion in their voices.
    â€˜Why not? It means I have a promise I can use to put Harry to sleep at night. It’ll give me breathing space. If I can use the two of you ’til he relaxes with me…’
    â€˜Wendy…’
    â€˜Look!’ She was all earnestness now, fighting for one of her kids, and Nick knew his first assessment of her had been right. She’d give her all to make sure the kids she cared for had a chance. ‘I can’t cope with Harry, now,’ she admitted. ‘He screams and he won’t let me near. I beg, cajole, hug, threaten, but nothing I say makes any difference. But if I say, “You go to bed on time and you eatyour dinner and you don’t scream the place down, then Shanni and Nick will take you out on a picnic on Sunday…”’
    â€˜I’m going back to Melbourne,’ Nick said faintly.
    â€˜So what’s more important?’ Wendy was fighting every way she knew how. ‘Your weekend in Melbourne? Or a little boy’s future? If I can settle him here, make the psychologist see that there’s a chance he might settle…’
    â€˜Wendy, we’re not promising anything long-term,’ Shanni said uneasily. ‘I mean, if he grows too attached…’
    â€˜You tried to talk Nick into being big brother to him,’ Wendy said sternly. ‘Anyone can see Nick won’t buy that sort of responsibility on his own—he’s running scared—so maybe you can convince him to share. Instead of a big brother—why not brother and sister? What could be simpler than that?’
    â€˜Maybe…’ Shanni was dubious.
    â€˜And it’s even neutral,’ Wendy said triumphantly. ‘No sex at all.’
    â€˜Or not in front of the children.’ Shanni’s irrepressible twinkle peeped out, and Nick groaned. Heck, this was his weekend they were talking about. This was stupid. There was no chance he was staying.
    And then the door opened and a small face appeared, peering around as if he expected to be knocked back again. Harry was wearing pyjamas a couple of sizes too big for him, his fibreglass cast made them look ungainly and awkward, and his eyes were way too big for his face.
    â€˜My Nick’s here,’ he whispered, unbelieving, and Nick’s heart jerked with pain.
    â€˜You should be in bed, young man,’ Wendy said, crossing to scoop him up in her arms. He held himself rigid, arching back in a pose of rejection that Nick was starting to know.
    â€˜Why is Nick here?’ he whispered.
    â€˜He came to invite you to lunch on Sunday. Would you