Broke by Mandasue Heller Page B

her head back and gave him an incredulous look. ‘I didn’t think you knew where the shops were. Well, not the ones that sell food, anyhow. You only ever go for booze and cigs.’
    ‘That was the old me,’ Mark said softly, moving closer. ‘I just told you, I’m gonna change. Whatever it takes to get you back, I’ll do it. ’Cos I love you. And you love me – don’t you?’
    He was so close by now that Amy could smell the scent of his skin, and she couldn’t keep up the act any longer.
    ‘You know I do,’ she murmured, falling into his arms and burying her face in his shoulder. ‘But this is your last chance,’ she whispered. ‘I can’t keep doing this on my own.’
    ‘I know,’ Mark crooned, stroking her hair and kissing her neck. ‘But we’re gonna be all right, you’ll see. We’ve got money now, so you don’t have to worry about anything.’
    ‘Did the benefits come through?’ Amy gazed up at him. ‘How much?’
    ‘Three hundred,’ Mark lied. ‘And there’s more to come. But let’s not talk about that now. I just want to get you home.’
    ‘No kidding,’ Amy teased, pressing her hips against his when she felt his erection.
    ‘Get the kids,’ Mark growled. ‘I’ll call a taxi.’
    Sonia was confused when she and John returned from their hospital visit to find the house in darkness. It was only nine, and that was far too early for Amy to have gone to bed. Concerned when she checked Amy’s room and saw that the bed was empty, she rushed to the spare room to check on the kids. If Amy had gone out and left them on their own, she would bloody kill her.
    The kids weren’t there but, unlike Amy’s bed which was still neat from Sonia having made it that morning, their beds had obviously only recently been vacated – and they were a right mess: chocolate smeared on the sheets and pillowcases, and a big wet patch in the middle of Bobby’s.
    ‘They’ve gone!’ she yelled down to her husband as she came back out onto the landing.
    ‘I know,’ John called back from the bottom of the stairs. ‘She left a note on the kitchen table.’
    Sonia marched down and snatched the note out of his hand.
    Gone home, call you tomorrow X
    ‘Ungrateful little mare,’ she hissed, pushing John out of the way and going into the living room.
    ‘Leave her be, she knows her own mind,’ John said placidly as he followed her. Shaking his head when she snatched up the phone, he switched the TV on, then sat down and kicked off his shoes.
    ‘Don’t get too comfortable,’ snapped Sonia, tapping in Amy’s number. ‘If he’s forced her to go back, we’ll be going right round there to pick them up again. And that no-good swine will know about it if he tries to get in my way.’
    ‘Don’t interfere,’ John warned, shifting to one side to let out a fart. Straightening up, he reached for the TV remote with one hand and picked his nose with the other.
    ‘Get a tissue,’ Sonia ordered, pulling a face as she waited for Amy to answer.
    John ignored her and wiped his snot on the underside of the chair arm.
    Amy took a long time to answer the call, but when she did Sonia launched into her.
    ‘What the bloody hell do you think you’re playing at, dragging those kids out of bed in the middle of the night? And you’d better not tell me he made you do it, or I’ll have his bloody head on a plate!’
    Amy pulled the quilt up over her breasts and rolled her eyes at Mark.
    ‘The kids are absolutely fine,’ she replied evenly. ‘And Mark didn’t make me do anything. I’d already decided I wanted to come home.’
    Amy winced when her mother started shouting and held the phone away from her ear. Giggling when Mark licked her neck, she tried to wriggle away. But he held her down and started tickling her.
    ‘Amy, are you listening to me?’ Sonia’s shrill voice blared out of the receiver. ‘AMY . . .? AMY! ’
    ‘Mum, I’ve got to go,’ Amy gasped when Mark dived under the quilt and forced his head between