‘Harry wants you,’ she said simply. ‘He cries to go to you. That’s why Shanni took him to lunch with you today.’ And then she paused as she heard a car pull up outside. There was a click of the gate, and then a low laugh as someone greeted one of the older children. ‘Speaking of which…here she is.’
The first thing she saw was his hair.
Shanni burst in the door and stopped dead. She’d never expected that Nick would come. She’d been expecting Wendy, and Wendy was there, but so was Nick and this was a very different Nick. So far she’d seen him groomed and immaculate and slick and smooth. Now…he was in casual trousers, a short-sleeved, open-necked shirt and his hair was tousled and thick and unruly.
She could see why he combed it down. Smoothed, it looked like the hairstyle of a barrister of the highest standing. Now it was a tousled mop, and he looked years younger. He didn’t look like a magistrate, she thought. He looked…nice.
Nick wasn’t nice, she told herself, strangely off-balance. He was a toad. All men were toads. John was toad number one but Nick was running a close second.
‘How was the movie?’ he asked mildly, and she wrinkled her nose in distaste.
‘Lousy.’
‘How come?’ Wendy smiled and rose to fetch more coffee. ‘Weren’t you seeing the one about the runaway bride?’
‘Yes-but it had a stupid ending. She didn’t keep running.’
Wendy choked on laughter, then crossed to give her friend a hug. They were obviously very close. ‘Hey, it’s okay. Maybe you and John can sort it out.’
‘No, we can’t,’ Shanni said darkly, hugging back. ‘He wants a den.’
‘What’s wrong with a man wanting a den?’ Nick asked, startled, and got a glower for his pains.
‘We did house plans last night,’ she explained-as if he was a simpleton. ‘John has it all worked out. Three bedrooms, living room, kitchen for me and a den for him. Isn’t that cosy?’
‘A man needs a den,’ Nick said, and found he now had two women glaring at him. Oh, help…
‘I have a den,’ said Wendy.
‘Why can’t I have a den?’ demanded Shanni. ‘Chauvinist twit. But when I said that, John just laughed-like I was being cute because what would the little woman want a den for? And then he told me to go and choose bathroom tiles. And then today…’
‘I know what happened today,’ Wendy said, and both of them stared at her.
‘Well, if you will have your domestics in full view of the pier… Half the retired folk of the town listened in.’
‘Oh, great.’ Nick groaned.
‘I don’t know why you’re complaining,’ Shanni said crossly. ‘You get to play magistrate for two years and then leave this place. I’m stuck here for ever.’ She helped herself from the coffee pot Wendy produced, sat down and stuck a thumb in the direction of Nick. ‘What’s he doing here?’
‘Refusing to play big brother.’
‘Hey, I’m signing an affidavit like Shanni wanted me to,’ Nick said, stung. ‘What else do you want?’
‘You to go in and hug Harry goodnight-and promise you’ll do the same tomorrow,’ Wendy said promptly.
Silence.
‘See,’ Shanni said morosely into her coffee. ‘They’re all useless.’
‘There’s reasons he’s like this,’ Wendy said kindly. ‘He’s got a past.’
‘Yeah, but if he had real courage…’
‘Are we talking about me, here,’ Nick said carefully. ‘If we are, then would you mind including me?’
‘You don’t include anyone else,’ Shanni retorted. ‘You go on being solitary and we’ll go on not communicating. That’s the way you like it.’
‘Shanni…’
‘If I communicate with him he accuses me of setting my cap at him,’ she told Wendy, ignoring him nicely. ‘As if I would. The heroine in my movie had the right idea-but to give in at the end and marry one of the species… No!’
‘I reckon you ought to try, though,’ Wendy said thoughtfully. ‘Communicating, I mean. Now he’s abandoned his smooth look he seems sort of cute.’
This was way out of hand. He was getting out of here-fast.
‘He is cute,’ Shanni admitted. ‘But ego…lawyer and judge and good looks combined. Phew!’
‘And aloof,’ Wendy said sadly. ‘Puts himself above everyone in this place. Bet he thinks he’s the greatest intellectual in town.’
‘Hey…’
‘Bet he never ever stays for weekends,’ Wendy said. ‘What’s the bet he’s getting in his cute little car tomorrow and heading back to Melbourne for the weekend just as fast as he can drive? Because this place threatens him.’
‘Mmm.’ Shanni nodded. ‘I can’t say I blame him.’
‘Shanni!’ Wendy stared. ‘Hey, keep your end of the conversation going here, girl. I can’t keep lawyer-bashing on my own.’
‘But it does get a bit claustrophobic.’ Shanni was no longer looking at Nick. She was staring into the dregs of her coffee, her mind on her own problems. ‘We’re having a family beach picnic on Sunday,’ she explained morosely. ‘Grandpa’s seventieth birthday. They’ll be so sympathetic-or secretly pleased, which is worse.’
‘Because of you and John.’
‘The whole town thought we were getting married. Including John.’
‘Including you?’ Wendy prodded, and Shanni shrugged.
‘Yeah, I guess…’
‘So take your new fella.’
‘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.’
‘What about you?’ Wendy said, wheeling to Nick and honing in like an arrow. ‘Interested?’
‘No!’
‘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…’
‘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.
‘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.’
‘No!’ they said in unison, and Wendy grinned at the twin sound of revulsion in their voices.
‘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…’
‘Wendy…’
‘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 eat your dinner and you don’t scream the place down, then Shanni and Nick will take you out on a picnic on Sunday…”’
‘I’m going back to Melbourne,’ Nick said faintly.
‘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…’
‘Wendy, we’re not promising anything long-term,’ Shanni said uneasily. ‘I mean, if he grows too attached…’
‘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?’
‘Maybe…’ Shanni was dubious.
