Stand-In Wife Read Online Free PDF Page B

BlackBerry. “I’ll phone Charlie while you’re changing Harry.” He considered asking Meredith to call—a woman might break the news more gently—but dismissed it.
    His brother was finally getting over his ex, although dating Harry’s day-care teacher was just plain dumb. God knows how Harry’s baby brain was making sense of it.
    But Ross had long since given up pointing out emotional minefields in favor of standing clear. Only once had he stepped over his self-imposed line—deterring his brother from starting a turf war over custody. Women rarely came first in Ross’s world but kids always did. He knew firsthand how an acrimonious divorce affected a child.
    He waited until she and Harry were out of earshot before punching in Charlie’s number. “The cell phone you have called is either turned off or outside the coverage area.” Damn it. Ross considered a moment, then snatched Meredith’s handbag from the sideboard and went upstairs, following the sound of her voice. She sounded fraught.
    “Sweetie, second time’s lucky, I promise.”
    “Meredith.”
    She jumped and turned guiltily from the change table. Two diapers lay discarded, one used, one fresh. “The tabs wouldn’t stick,” she said. “This one seems okay.” She finished fastening Harry’s diaper and stood back. “There.” Anyone would think she’d painted the Sistine Chapel.
    Impatiently, he lifted her handbag. “I need the number of the camp where Charlie and Tilly are staying.”
    Her eyes widened, she darted forward to grab it just as Harry dropped the cocktail shaker and started to roll. Ross dived forward and scooped him off the change table before he fell. “Oh, no, you don’t.” He turned to his sister-in-law. “Relax, I wasn’t going to open it.” Though now he wondered what she was trying to hide.
    She clutched the bag to her chest. “The zip’s faulty…. It splits open sometimes and spills everything.” She hadn’t even registered Harry’s near tumble. “The camp is called Findlay Park. You’ll have to look up the number.”
    He gave her the baby. “Where is it?”
    There was a long pause. “I’m sorry, my brain’s stopped working. I need to get out of this house.” She set Harry back on the change table and snapped the domes closed on his overalls. “All I can remember is that tonight they were doing some sort of wilderness camping thing…I’ve been worrying that Tilly’s sleeping bag won’t be warm enough.”
    Typical. She’d always been a helicopter mum. Ross did a search for Findlay Park on his BlackBerry. “Karapiro,” he said, “just over two hours’ drive away. Did Charlie take his car?”
    She had to think about it. “No, everyone met at the school and took the bus.”
    “I’ll drive down, break the news in person and bring them home. Are you ready to leave?”
    Meredith picked up Harry, who’d begun to fuss. “I need to call a cab…my vehicle’s getting serviced.”
    Ross looked at his grumpy nephew. “I’ll give you a lift.” He led the way downstairs. “Where’s Harry’s car seat?”
    “Umm.” She glanced around helplessly, clearly flustered.
    He tamped down his impatience. Meredith hadn’t likedLinda any more than he did but she had a soft heart. “I’ll check Linda’s car.”
    He found the car seat in the garage by the small door into the house, still holding half a cracker from an earlier journey. Picking off the fluff, Ross handed it to Harry, then strapped the happier toddler in the Range Rover while his mother went round the house collecting baby stuff.
    When he returned to the front door, she was standing in the hall, looking at the spot where Linda had fallen. “I feel we should say something,” she mumbled.
    It was a civilian preoccupation, wringing meaning from death, and in this case he had no patience for it. “She was a terrible woman,” he said bluntly. “You know it, I know it. We’re going to have to pretend otherwise for Charlie but between ourselves