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‘Why not?’

‘It’s a complication in his life that he wasn’t expecting.’

‘Has he said anything about the mother?’

‘She was a one-night stand.’ Laura pulled away as the traffic light changed to green. ‘He had trouble remembering her name. What is there to say?’

‘I’ll bet his girlfriend has had plenty to say about it all.’

‘Maxine?’ Laura tried to sound offhand. ‘She’s rung a few times but I’m not sure if Jase has told her why he’s so busy.’

‘He’s not the only one who’s too busy. You’ll wear yourself out, Laura, if this goes on much longer.’

‘The next couple of days will be easier, with Mrs Mack helping.’

‘You’ve still got to take her home after work. It must be like having two full-time jobs.’

* * *

It was.

Both Laura and Jason were tired at the end of the day shift. It would have been wonderful to sit down and have a beer or two and chill out. Jason was keen to talk about the job they had shared that morning and recapture the thrill of rescuing little Vicky. But Megan needed feeding and changing and bathing.

Laura did the nappy change by herself. She gave Jason a dirty look when he returned. ‘You arranged the timing of that phone call to perfection, didn’t you?’

‘Not my fault.’ Jason smiled winningly. ‘Tell you what. I’ll do the next two nappy changes.’ He tried a head tilt and beseeching eyebrow lift. ‘Three nappy changes?’

Laura tried not to laugh. ‘What do you want, Jase?’

‘Well, now you mention it, I kind of told Maxine I might be able to meet her for a quick drink later this evening.’

‘But we’ve got an appointment to take Megan to the GP and have her ears checked.’

‘Oh, no! I completely forgot about that.’ Jason chewed the inside of his cheek. ‘Does she really need to go? She’s obviously better, so she doesn’t need antibiotics.’

Laura just looked at him. Maybe Megan wasn’t in need of a trip to the doctor but, dammit, she wasn’t going to babysit while Jason went off to spend time with his girlfriend. She wasn’t that much of a masochist.

‘Oh, damn,’ Jason muttered. ‘Maxine thinks I’m trying to dump her.’

‘Why?’

‘Because I keep avoiding her and saying I’m busy.’

‘You mean you still haven’t told her why you’re busy?’

‘Hell, no. Maxine hates babies. One of the first things she said to me was that I’d better make sure I didn’t get her pregnant.’

‘Really?’ Laura’s tone was distinctly waspish. ‘Sounds like a wonderful beginning to a meaningful relationship.’

‘We don’t have a meaningful relationship. We have…’

‘Sex?’ The word was bitten out and Jason gave her a strange look. Laura tried to lighten up. ‘For heaven’s sake, Jase. If it’s that important to you. I’ll take Megan to the doctor by myself. You go out and have sex with Maxine.’

She received an even stranger look. ‘We were only planning on a drink, actually.’ He turned away. ‘Forget it. I’ll ring her back and say I can’t make it. We’ll both take Megan to the doctor.’

‘Maybe you should take her and I’ll go out with my boyfriend.’

Jason turned back with an astonished expression. ‘But you haven’t got a boyfriend.’