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‘For you, maybe. I think it was more than that. I’ve never forgotten that night, and I’ve never forgotten you.’

Laura could understand that, even if she still wasn’t at all convinced of this woman’s sincerity. If she’d only ever had a single night with Jason, it would be burned into her memory banks forever as well.

‘I want my baby to have a father,’ Shelley whispered. ‘I want her to have her father.’

‘I have no intention of abandoning my daughter.’

‘But I want her to have a real father. Not someone on the other side of the world.’

‘I’m not planning to shift to Britain,’ Jason said firmly. ‘But Megan can stay here. I’m sure she’ll be allowed to stay in the country on a permanent basis once I’m legally registered as her father.’

‘But I wouldn’t be allowed to stay,’ Shelley said softly. ‘And my daughter is staying with me.’

Stick had hit the nail right on the head, Laura realised. Shelley Bates was out to emigrate and Megan was the ace she hadn’t bothered to keep up her sleeve. If Jason wanted to keep Megan in his life, he was going to have to marry her mother. And that wouldn’t be too much of a hardship, would it?

Shelley was obviously too clever to push the point right now. Instead, she stood up, walked towards Jason and held out her arms.

‘I think it’s time I got to hold my baby, isn’t it?’

For a long second, time seemed to stop. Don’t give her Megan, Laura pleaded silently. If you hand her over then she’s already won.

But then Shelley wiped away a tear that was trickling slowly down the side of her nose.

‘Please, Jason?’

The lone tear had done the trick. Laura watched the conflict play across Jason’s face. Should he do what he wanted to do and hold on to his child or create further suffering for the woman who was, in all fairness, Megan’s mother? Slowly, grudgingly, he transferred his bundle.

To Laura’s immense satisfaction, Megan took one look at her mother and started howling.

‘Oh, I know, darling.’ Shelley clutched the baby and rocked her back and forth. ‘Mummy’s sorry she left you. But I’m back now. Everything’s going to be fine.’

Laura looked at her. She looked at the overnight bag beside the couch. She looked at Megan. And she looked at Jason, who wasn’t looking back at her.

Everything was not going to be fine but there was very little Laura could do about it. She had competition now for what she wanted most in her life and while she would be prepared to fight if she knew she had any chance of winning, the odds were rapidly stacking against her.

Even Megan seemed to be letting her down as her cries died away. Shelley continued rocking her and another tear rolled down her cheek.

‘I don’t know how I’ve lasted this long without her,’ she sighed. ‘She was all I had left that really mattered.’ She looked up through dewy lashes to smile brokenly at Jason. ‘I have a lot to thank you for.’

He simply raised an eyebrow. An unwanted pregnancy for a teenager wasn’t usually a cause for celebration.

‘When Sharon died I felt so terribly alone,’ Shelley continued softly. ‘To lose a sister is bad enough but being a twin made it unbearable.’

‘What happened to Sharon?’ Jason sounded disconcerted.

‘She had a blood clot that they said was caused by her being on the Pill. It caused a massive pull… pum… Something that wrecked her lungs.’

‘Pulmonary embolism?’ Laura suggested.

‘That’s it.’ Shelley didn’t bother to look at Laura. Her gaze was still fixed on Jason. ‘She was put on the waiting list for a heart-lung transplant but it didn’t come in time.’

Jason’s face softened noticeably. ‘That must have been rough.’

Shelley nodded and Laura closed her eyes. Jason was starting to feel sorry for Megan’s mother. Any judgemental attitude was undergoing reconsideration. She could almost feel another chunk of the fantasy future she’d been building being ripped away.

‘When did it happen?’

‘She lived just long enough to see Megan. To… hold her.’ Shelley’s lip quivered and she struggled to maintain control. ‘It was Sharon who chose her name. And she made me promise that I would try to find you and give her a real family. She said my life… and my baby’s had to go on, and what better way to make a new start than in a new country?’