“Oh…” Harper breathed. “She’s so precious.”
“She’s Sky’s partner in crime,” Eiley replied, smoothing Saffron’s hair down. “She’s getting big now. She’ll be one in spring.”
She smiled down at Saffron, holding her attention with silly faces and whispered words.
“She likes you,” Eiley said. “Her eyes are usually wandering all over the place, desperate to take everything in.”
“Well, I like her, too,” Harper said. “I might keep her.”
“I might let you. She keeps me up all night long. And my poor mum.”
“I bet that’s tiring. If you ever need a babysitter, I’m more than happy to steal them away. Did you say you had another?”
She nodded. “Brook is in primary school.” She waved someone over, calling, “Sorcha!”
A dark-haired, plump lady who looked not much older than Harper appeared. Her loose jumper was slightly patchy with what Harper feared was regurgitated milk from the heavy baby she burped in her arms.
“All right? You must be Harper!” Sorcha greeted, her inky eyes brimming with warmth. “My Cam’s been telling me all about you and Fraser.” She cast Harper a knowing look. “How’s her matchmaking going?”
Harper’s cheeks warmed.Better than planned, she wanted to say, but thought it wise not to mention their…casualactivities in the middle of a preschool gathering.
Still, Sorcha grinned. “Ah, that well, eh?” Her accent was both thicker and huskier than Fraser’s and his family’s – Glaswegian, Harper suspected. She wore a golden nose ring that twinkled when it hit the light, and her smile was the kind that made Harper want to smile, too, all apple cheeks and crooked lines. She wondered which of them had fallen first: Cam or Sorcha. They were both easy to adore.
“It’s… erm, we’re just friends.”
“Ah, okay.” Sorcha’s nod was drenched in sarcasm, but she was kind enough to change the subject. “Either way, it’s nice to meet you. And this here is Archie.”
Archie was much bigger than Eiley’s daughter, with chubby arms and legs and bubbles blowing out of his small mouth. Like Cam, his hair was a tuft of auburn curls. It wasn’t fair to be surrounded by so many cute babies. Harper was going to melt.
“And over there” – Sorcha continued as Harper shook her hand, and then feared she might never get her index finger back when Archie’s fist curled around it – “is his big sister, Isla.”
Isla was playing with Sky, kindly passing him toys when he reached for them and showing him how to use them.She must have been one of the oldest children here, with a long black plait down her back, and calmness radiating from her cross-legged position. She was all joy, just like her mothers, and bore more of Sorcha’s dark features.
“So,” Harper asked, “how can I make myself useful?”
Eiley grinned, and beckoned. “If you’re up for some reading, we have the perfect audience for story time. Come with me.”
On his lunch break, Fraser found Eiley pacing outside St. Margaret’s. Her phone was pressed to her ear, and she murmured responses to whoever was on the other side.
Fraser had a feeling he already knew, and he didn’t like it.
She toed the overgrown grass creeping over the footpath, one arm around her middle as though she was trying to hold herself together.
He didn’t make himself known until she put the phone away, and then she turned and her shoulders sagged when she saw him waiting. Ready. Her eyes were watery. Only one person could break her resolve like that. He wanted to block Finlay’s bloody number from her phone and never let her think about the radge bastard again.
“What was it this time?” he asked quietly. “Did you tell him I have a chainsaw?”
She scoffed at that, but her bottom lip wobbled. “It’s fine. It was nothing. Aren’t you supposed to be working?”
He shrugged. “I’m on lunch. Jack and I are working at Flockhart’s today. Andy went a bit mad with their renovation ideas, so I’ll be there for a few weeks.” Even with the short notice, he was glad Andy had enrolled him. Jobs grew scarcer this time of year, even with Jack sometimes calling him in to help with carpentry jobs. “But never mind that. What did the bawbag say?”
Eiley massaged her temples wearily, looking out onto the high street. He knew that meant it was nothing good. She didn’t look at him when she didn’t want to tell him something – because she knew he’d get angrier about it than her. Where she took blow after blow, he was ready to ruin Finlay’s life for hurting his sister. It had been years since the problems had started, just after Sky was born, and he hated it. Their mum hated it. Cam hated it, though she was much better at hiding it. They could all do nothing but worry that Eiley wouldn’t be able to manage on her own with three kids forever, not when Finlay was still causing problems. Calling her drunk in the middle of the night, claiming that he wanted to see the kids and then not showing up when she allowed him. Somehow, Fraser thought it was worse than what their own dad had done. At least he hadn’t bothered to come back and keep upsetting them.
“We’ve been trying to organise a time for him to see the kids,” she said finally, gnawing on her thumbnail.
“Again,” Fraser muttered.
“He was supposed to come this afternoon, but he’s finding it hard to make time in his busy schedule to get down here.”
