Instant Family (5 page)

Chloe must be exhausted, working all day from presumably nine
this morning and having spent most of the night at the police station.
Her face had showed the signs of strain-pale cheeks with dark
smudges under her eyes, accentuated because she'd pulled her hair
back, held somehow with a tortoiseshell clasp. Pretty eyes. Deep green with brown flecks. Emphasized by the hairstyle and the white blouse.
The fine bone structure made her appear waiflike. An orphan. He
hadn't noticed that last night. Too busy being an angry and abusive
victim.

That boy Sebastian had better get his act together. He should be
helping his sister, not causing trouble. Perhaps he should press the
charges of trespassing and give him a taste of court. But that was excessive. The kid needed a chance to straighten himself out.

"Who was he?" demanded Simone as soon as Chloe set foot inside
the house after work that evening. "Did he call you at the shop?"

"Is Seb at home?" countered Chloe as she dumped her handbag
on the hall table and headed for the kitchen with her green bag of
groceries.

"Of course. They're all in the pool, plus a few extras."

"Which extras?" Seb wasn't to have his mates around for about
fifty years, and he knew it.

"Matty and Andrew." Julian's friends.

Simone peered into the shopping bag. "You shouldn't buy butter,
Chloe. You'll clog their arteries."

Chloe took the offending article and opened the fridge. Mum
had been brought up on a dairy farm and couldn't abide the taste
of margarine. Buying butter was one small, private gesture in her
memory. Simone handed her the groceries. Chloe stacked without
comment. There was no point.

"Who was he? Did you meet him at work? No, you couldn't have,
because he didn't know where you worked. Grab the lemon squash
while you're in there, lovey. And some ice."

"Didn't give him the third degree?" Chloe removed the lemon
squash bottle, which Simone must have brought with her, knowing
Chloe didn't buy soft drinks took the ice tray from the freezer and shut
the fridge.

Simone unscrewed the cap. Her nails were purple today. Chunky
slip-on sandals revealed matching purple toenails.

"What do you take me for?" she retorted. "You look exhausted.
Sit down, and I'll fix this."

Chloe peered through the kitchen window and counted heads bobbing in the blue water. Four, plus she could just see Katy's feet as she lay on the recliner in the shade. The water beckoned. Might wake her
up and give her the energy to cook dinner.

"Thanks." She took the tall glass from Simone and drained half in
one long swallow.

"Lovey, don't blame yourself for what young Seb got up to. Boys
will be boys. I gave him a good talking to when he woke up." Simone
nodded firmly with fuchsia lips pursed. "He's very sorry about the
whole thing. I made sure of that!"

"Constable Burrows told me that the police wanted to give him a
fright. They didn't think he was a bad kid. I hope-" Chloe swallowed.
An image of Alex Bergman's furious face flashed through her mind.

"What?"

"That man who rang. He was the one who caught Seb. The man
whose place they were caught trashing."

Purple-tipped fingers flew to Simone's mouth in horror. "Did he
cause trouble? Why didn't you tell me?"

"Tell you what? I didn't know his name." Chloe finished her drink.
"It was odd. He came into the shop with his daughter. I thought he
was going to be angry again, and I was ready to call the police, but
he came to apologize for what he said this morning."

"And so he should!" Five feet four of outraged grandma had bristled with righteous, protective indignation when Chloe recounted
the incident before she left for work.

Chloe smiled and stepped forward to hug her tightly. "Thank you,
Simone. Thanks for coming over and ... everything."

"And what else would you expect?" The fingers stopped patting
her back and gave her a little shake.

Chloe said nothing. What she had expected was a round of "I told
you so's," but she'd been wrong. Maybe she was too inflexible, had
assessed Simone years ago and never bothered to form a second opinion. Maybe the strain of bringing up the kids had made her difficult,
narrow-minded, and too quick to make assumptions. Like that man,
Alex Bergman. She'd done it with him too.

He'd done it with her, and it had been extremely unpleasant.

Chloe took Sebastian to the police station on Sunday to check in
as ordered. The officer on duty said, "Constable Fields will be down
shortly."

Nice Constable Burrows would be the night shift.

Constable Fields, when she appeared, towered over both Chloe
and Seb, and she was almost wider than both of them put together.
Dark hair so short it must have had a shave recently added to the imposing presence.

She sat them opposite her in one of the interrogation rooms. "I've
good news and bad news." Chloe caught Seb's fearful eye. "Good
news is Mr. Bergman has accepted that Sebastian undergo an official Police Caution. Be here at ten tomorrow."

She glared at Seb, who quailed under the flinty stare.

"Is that family conferencing?" asked Chloe. "Constable Burrows
mentioned it could be an option."

"No, a Caution is our first step with cases such as this. We prefer
the deterrent effect to locking young people away." Again the chilly
gaze lighted on Seb, who shrank farther into his chair. "Bad news is
the owner of the car you stole isn't so accommodating."

"But I didn't steal it," cried Seb.

"The judge will decide that, but given your cooperation and the
fact that the others have been in trouble with us before, you'll probably get off with a suspended sentence and good behavior."

"When will he go to court?" asked Chloe. "Do we need a lawyer?
I can't afford..." She stopped, biting her lower lip. She couldn't afford anything much at all.

"Here's the Legal Aid number. He'll have to appear in court tomorrow for a trial date to be set."

She handed Chloe a card and stood up. The steely-dagger gaze
pinioned Seb once more. "I hope I don't see you in here again, young
man"

He sprang to his feet, shaking his head.

"I'd suggest you get hold of a lawyer quickly and ask for Sebastian to be tried separately from those others. They're a bad bunch."

"Thank you," said Chloe, gratified and surprised to see a glimmer
of sympathetic warmth in the private look Constable Fields gave her
as she opened the door.

"Thanks," muttered Seb as he scuttled out ahead of them.

Alex picked up the phone on Monday afternoon, the third interruption since he'd sat down to work. If it was another telemarketer, the phone at the other end would melt when his language hit the
wires.

"Bergman Design," he barked.

"Hello, may I speak to Alex Bergman, please?"

He recognized the voice. A slight hesitancy in the tone betrayed
nervousness, as if she'd screwed up all her courage to make the
call but now found that resolve failing her. He swiftly moderated
his tone.

"Alex speaking." Chloe Gardiner deserved gentle treatment. Especially from him.

"Oh, hello," she said again. "I'm sorry to bother you at work. I'll
call later if you'd rather."

"No, it's fine. I work from home, so I'm my own boss." He added
a chuckle to show he truly wasn't annoyed.

"I'm Chloe Gardiner."

"I know." Alex waited.

"How are..." he began as she said, "I wanted to..

Silence again.

"Sorry," she said.

More silence.

"Thank you The words erupted into his ear. "For not pressing
charges against Seb."

"I thought he needed a chance."

"He does. I just hope the judge sees it that way."

"Judge?" Surely he'd prevented that, hadn't he?

"The owner of the stolen car is taking them to court. The trial date
was set this afternoon. It's in March." Her voice trailed away, and he
heard the anxiety, but she added briskly, "But that's not your problem.
I was wondering-his grandmother suggested-insisted, actuallyshe's very persuasive and very angry with Sebastian ... Anyway,
Simone wants him to apologize to you in person, and she thinks he
should repair the damage. Maybe work off the cost of the lights and
whatever else needs replacing."

Giving the boy a chance was one thing, but did he want him hanging around? How did he know he wouldn't case the place for another
nocturnal visit? And he'd have to come into the house to use the bathroom. Not a desirable state of affairs.

"I'm not too sure"

"Seb won't cause any more trouble. He's not allowed to see those
boys again. He's grounded for the rest of the holidays, and he doesn't
go to the same school as they do." The words tumbled into his ear, a
little breathless, very worried, anxious to convince.

"I'd need to give it some thought." Alex pulled a face as he considered how to extricate himself from this very awkward situation.

"I understand." Chloe's voice was formal now, formal and reserved.
"I'd like to bring him over to apologize, though."

"Of course. When?" He heard himself almost gushing in the effort
to appear reasonable in making this small concession.

No trace of nervousness now when she said, "Whenever suits you.
I'd like to do it as soon as possible. We won't bother you again."

"This evening?" How did she manage to make him feel guilty?

"Is six-thirty all right?"

"That's fine. Do you have the address?"

"Seb knows where you live," she said dryly. "Thank you. Goodbye." The line clicked.

Alex replaced the phone with precise care. He sucked in air between pursed lips. An apology. He could accept that. Shake hands
with the kid.

He stood up and immediately sat down again. He had to finish the
kitchen plan. Almost done. He picked up his pencil, twiddling it between thumb and forefinger. Chloe's voice was sweet. Very unexpected in his ear. He frightened her. He must try hard not to when
she brought her brother over this evening.

Alex glanced at his watch. He dropped the pencil and stood up.
He went to the small kitchen area he'd installed in his office and
filled the electric kettle. Six-thirty, she'd said. About two and a half
hours. He leaned against the counter, waiting for the kettle to boil. It
must have taken a lot of courage for Chloe to call. He could hear
it in her voice. She was a very courageous girl-had to be to take on
what she had. All by herself. Except for the grandmother.

He dumped a green-tea teabag into a mug. She'd have a boyfriend
for sure, Chloe. A girl as pretty as she was. An image of her face
floated into his mind. Beautiful eyes with delicately arched brows
framing them. A mouth with soft, full lips. Hardly any makeup. Didn't
need it. Her skin was perfect.

She gave the impression of extreme fragility, but he suspected that was quite wrong. Interesting to discover whether he was right.
A thrill of anticipation rippled through him. She'd be here in a few
hours.

The steaming kettle clicked itself off. Alex poured water into his
mug and wandered back to his desk in a pleasant state of daydream.
Then he remembered why Chloe was coming. And he had yet to decide what to say to her about Sebastian.

it's best if just Seb and I go," Chloe said for the third time.

"But he won't be able to get violent if I'm there." Simone took a
bite from one of the few remaining chocolate chip muffins she and
Katy had made.

"A grandma bodyguard, you mean?" Chloe brushed crumbs from
Simone's blouse. "He won't be violent. Seb's apologizing to him, remember? Anyway, he has a wife and child."

"He might be a wife beater." Simone pressed a fingertip onto a
crumb and transported it to her mouth.

"Doubt it. He sounded quite-"

"What?" The gray eyes flashed to Chloe's face.

"Subdued." Chloe thought for a moment. "Normal." He probably
was a normal man. People under extremes of emotional stress reacted in all sorts of unpredictable ways.

Simone popped the last of the muffin into her mouth, chewed,
and swallowed. "He had a lovely voice on the phone. Very sexy." She
smiled, but her expression suddenly became serious, and she took
Chloe's hand in hers. "I worry about you, lovey. You're too serious,
and your pretty face is always worried. You've missed your youth, my
pet. Old before your time."

"I didn't have any choice," Chloe managed to say through the
choking in her throat. Simone was right. Too serious, too stressed,
her life and her focus too narrow. But she had responsibilities, and
they weren't going away anytime soon. Katy was only eleven.
Anyway, Chloe loved her half siblings dearly-they were all she
had.

Simone sighed. "All I mean is, you don't give yourself much of a chance to fall in love. Katy told me you haven't been out on a date in
years. Not since that Lachlan-"

"I'm only twenty-six," interrupted Chloe before Simone could get
started on Lachlan's failings. Lachlan, who'd found dealing with a
grief-stricken girlfriend completely beyond his capabilities or his
love. But her protest was a weak effort, and they both knew it.