Second Time Around Read Free Page A

she doubted she would ever refuse to have Em over when the alternative was to leave her in the indifferent care of Mrs Rice. Perhaps the best thing to do would be to have a word to Em’s father after the children were settled for the night.
    “Aunty Halley can we make cupcakes?”
    Corey’s question snapped her thoughts away from her plan. Halley looked out at the rain pounding against the window and decided it was a good activity for the three children to do.
    “What a great idea,” she said, grabbing Krystal’s recipe book from the shelf at the end of the kitchen island. “What sort do you want?”
    That evening Halley was glad she hadn’t gone to the effort of making a proper meal after noticing all the unauthorised cupcake sampling going on. Despite their claims of being hungry the boys hadn’t been able to finish their single soft boiled egg and buttered soldiers.
    Taking the bottle of formula from the jug where it had been warming she tested the temperature on the inside of her wrist and smiled at Cassie who was grinning gummily at her from the bouncinette.
    “Your dinner’s ready,” Halley cooed as she set the bottle on the bench and retrieved her niece.
    No sooner had she settled on the couch and Cassie started feeding in her arms there was a knock at the door.
    “Now who could that be?” she asked, in a soft voice, belying her irritation. It was the first time she had sat down since she had brought the kids home from school.
    Cassie just looked at her wide eyed beyond the bottle as she waved her arms around and kept sucking.
    Grumbling, Halley carefully held her as she got up from the couch, wishing she hadn’t sent the boys upstairs to have their bath so one of them could have answered the door for her. She interrupted the next series of knocks by pulling the front door open. On the other side of the insect screen stood Em’s father and he did not look happy.
    Her first thought was that he looked better close up. His eyes were like Em’s, a brilliant blue and she had been mistaken about his hair. The blonde highlights blended into the brown without any sign of darker roots. He must spend a lot of his spare time outdoors, Halley decided. When he scowled she realised there must be a purpose behind his visit.
    “Can I help you?” she asked.
    Alec noticed the bottle of formula sticking out of the infant’s mouth and was inexplicably disappointed. Even his ex-wife who was a drama queen had managed to breastfeed Em until she had cut her first tooth. Maybe he should let her know that breastfeeding had helped his wife to lose the extra weight she had gained while pregnant. His neighbour’s stomach looked to have grown during the last month or so since he had last seen her.
    Alec raised his gaze to her deep brown eyes which were assessing him. She seemed incredibly familiar even though he was certain he had never met her. With a sense of self-preservation he decided not to mention her weight. Women were touchy about that.
    “I’m Alec Barrington from next door and I just want to let you know that your dog’s dug a hole in my backyard,” he said tersely, recalling his reason for turning up.
    Halley inwardly winced. Buddy had been slipped several cupcake samples and had probably taken one through the gap in the fence to bury for later when she had let him outside to relieve himself. She was just about to apologise when Alec continued.
    “And I also want to ask you not to feed my daughter. She wouldn’t eat her dinner tonight because she had consumed so much over here earlier,” he said with annoyance, thinking of the dinner he had gone to the trouble of making instead of buying takeaways as usual.
    Halley pushed the screen door open with her elbow. Seeing what she was doing, Alec took it from her and pressed it against the side wall of the porch.
    “I’ll grant you that Em probably had more today than she should have but how can you deny her food when she barely gets given enough for school to get