‘I organized that at least,’ the cop said. ‘Before I rang your place I let her ring Shanni.’
Pierce was having trouble taking it all in. ‘You rang Shanni?’
‘If she’d gone to all that trouble, and we’d stopped her running away, the least I could do was let her phone.’
‘Did Shanni give you her number?’ Pierce asked Wendy, and Wendy shook her head and buried her face in Pierce’s shoulder again.
‘It was me,’ the cop said, a bit shamefaced. He motioned to a bit of art paper lying on the desk. ‘Shanni gave me her number a couple of weeks back. I was going to use it, too,’ he muttered. ‘But she was so caught up with all those kids. I’m not a family man.’
Pierce took Wendy home. She said little, huddled into the passenger seat as if still frightened, looking far younger than her years.
He couldn’t figure out the why, and she wouldn’t say.
‘I just had to ask her something,’ she whispered and that was all she’d say. ‘I’m sorry.’
‘Wendy, if you ever want to ask anyone anything-if you ever want to visit anyone-just ask me. I swear I’ll take you.’
‘I know. But I needed to talk to her by myself.’
Even at home she wouldn’t talk. Olga took one look and showed her true colours-born mum.
‘The rest of you leave her alone. She’s had a nasty shock-anyone can see that. And look at those feet…walking all that way in sandals. Even though they are pretty. Into the bath with you, sweetheart, and Abby you come and sit beside her while I wash her. You.’ She turned on Pierce. ‘You make her a lovely soft egg with toast soldiers. We’ll feed it to her in the bath.’
‘Toast soldiers,’ Pierce said blankly.
‘Hey, even I know that one,’ Nik said, grinning. They were all grinning. ‘Hell, bro, you have a way to go in the parenting stakes.’
Wendy soaked in her bath. She ate her toast fingers and then Olga popped her to sleep on the ancient divan in the corner of the kitchen.
‘For you don’t want to be alone upstairs,’ she said. ‘The rest of you, shoo outside while I do some baking.’
‘Abby,’ Wendy whispered.
‘I’ll lie down with her,’ Abby volunteered, and Pierce thought his heart would break all over again.
‘There’s naught for you to do here,’ Olga told him, the way her words softened on the order telling him she understood a little of what he must be going through. ‘Go round up some cows, or whatever you do with cows.’
‘Hey, teach us,’ Nik said.
‘Aren’t you two going back to wherever you come from?’ Pierce demanded.
‘Hell, no,’ Blake said. ‘We’re waiting for the next instalment.’
Which happened approximately two minutes after they’d cleared the main course of Olga’s delicious roast lunch, and just as she was cutting and serving the apple pie.
Wendy was deeply asleep in the corner. Bessy was tossing food indiscriminately round her high chair. Everyone else was at the table
Shanni walked in. She looked like Pierce had that morning-jeans and windcheater-and she hadn’t taken time to brush her hair.
Dazed.
‘Hi,’ she said.
There was an awed silence.
‘Shanni,’ Pierce said stupidly.
‘Shanni,’ Abby yelled, as if she hadn’t seen her for a year. ‘Shanni’s here. Wendy, wake up, Shanni’s here.’
‘Why are you here?’ Pierce asked, trying to get his voice to work.
‘I’m here to ask if you’ll marry me.’
Pierce had been spooning creamed apple into Bessy’s mouth. His hand had locked, spoon halfway to Bessy’s mouth.
Around the table everyone else stayed frozen. But they all recovered before Pierce did.
‘Goody, I want to be flower girl,’ Abby said in a voice of profound satisfaction. ‘Donald, you’re not allowed to take all the cream.’
‘Cool,’ said Nik, shifting along the bench seat to make room. ‘You want some lunch?’
‘I bet you haven’t eaten.’ Olga rose and moved ponderously to the stove. She was still in her curlers and an amazing oriental housecoat, purple and black shimmering silk with deep pink tassles. ‘There’s still some roast. Or do you want to move straight to apple pie?’
‘Let the boy answer first,’ Blake said, and they fell silent again.
‘I don’t…’ He stared at Shanni. ‘I don’t understand.’
‘Wendy said you want to marry me,’ Shanni said. She hadn’t moved into the room. She was standing in the doorway, looking only at Pierce.
In the corner Wendy was waking. She didn’t move, curled into a warm little ball under the feather eiderdown Olga had spread over her. But her eyes were suddenly wary.
‘Wendy says the only reason you won’t ask me to marry you is that you don’t think I want the children,’ Shanni said. ‘But Wendy says she’d look after the kids. She’s offered for them all to go into a care home-but please will we visit.’
There was an almost audible gasp. All eyes moved to Wendy.
‘It’s…it’s true,’ Wendy whispered from the sidelines. ‘The child welfare officers say there’s houses for families as big as ours. We get care workers. And I thought…maybe we could come here at weekends. Sometimes.’
‘How about you stay here?’ Shanni said, suddenly sounding fierce, and blinking a bit. ‘How about if I just move in and we keep on like it is now? Me and Pierce and Olga and Wendy and Donald and Bryce and Abby and Bessy. And anyone else we can think of.’
‘You can’t,’ Pierce managed.
‘Why can’t I?’
‘Your career.’
‘Stuff my career,’ she retorted. But then she grinned. ‘But, in case you hadn’t noticed, this is a tourist district. It’s very, very trendy to come for a Sunday drive and visit art galleries. There are gallery owners in Paddington or The Rocks in Sydney who are moving to the country because they get more clientele that way.’
‘It’s not so much of a tourist district,’ Nik said, thoughtful.
‘It will be,’ Shanni said, and tilted her chin. ‘When people hear about the fantastic art gallery I’m going to open.’
‘Dolphin Bay would be better,’ Blake said.
‘Sorry?’ Distracted from Pierce, Shanni looked to his brothers.
‘It’d be better at Dolphin Bay,’ Blake said. ‘It’s screaming for a bit of culture. Money’s not a problem. Nor is commuting for Pierce. There’s a train, and he mostly works from home anyway. But you’d get many more tourists in Dolphin Bay. You could buy a big home there and open the world’s best gallery while Pierce keeps on with his architecture. And you could use this place for holidays.’
‘Sorry?’
‘Hey, it could be more than that.’ Nik was putting in his oar again. ‘I was talking to Hamish at the opening of Loganaich Castle. And Ruby. They had this vision of there being a network of places that could be used for disadvantaged kids. Or more, for families in crisis. Single mothers who are having a dreadful time. We could set this farm up to do the same thing. Us guys. The seven of Ruby’s boys. We could put in enough to make it work. We could call it Ruby’s Farm. She’d love it.’
‘What the hell…?’ Pierce was having trouble getting a word in edgeways.
‘We’ll do it.’ Nik said enthusiastically. ‘We’ll get you out of here and then we’ll change a few things. We might have to shift Clyde further from the house and put in a few more kid-friendly animals. Ponies. A couple of nice cats and a fat old dog. And get some lovely kid-friendly housekeeper, and a couple of kid-friendly helpers.’
‘I could be that,’ Olga said breathlessly. But then she looked at Pierce. ‘But no. I want to stay with you in Dolphin Bay. I have a friend, Maybeline, and she could come here. She had a farm before her husband took off with
