“Nope.”
“Then why... ?” Nathan started crying again, a halfhearted attempt that told Rachel he was either exhausted or knew it wouldn’t get him anywhere. Probably both.
“I’m going out.” Meghan nudged Nathan with her foot. “Oy. A little quieter.”
“Going out? And I’m babysitting Nathan, I suppose?”
Meghan flicked her gaze from her reflection to Rachel. “I’ll put Nathan to sleep first, if you can’t be arsed.”
“He’s your son,” Rachel snapped, then took a deep breath. This wasn’t Nathan’s fault. “Sorry.”
“You should be.”
Meghan hauled Nathan up onto her hip, and he hooked one hand around the neckline of her top so Rachel could see the strap of a cherry-red bra underneath. It looked new.
“Are you going out on a date?”
“Maybe.”
Meghan had always been tight-lipped about her love life. No one even knew who Nathan’s father was, only that he wasn’t in the picture and never had been. One day she’d announced she was pregnant, she was keeping the baby, and no one was to question or even discuss it. Rachel had been overwhelmed at the thought of coping with a newborn along with their mother and Lily, but she could hardly demand Meghan not have the baby. And she loved Nathan, even if she felt as if her maternal affection had been spent on Lily.
Since Nathan’s birth Meghan went out on the occasional Saturday night with some girlfriends, but never on a Wednesdayand never looking like... that. “You’re not dressed like a maybe,” Rachel said, and Meghan smiled smugly.
“Just because you haven’t been able to get it on with Rob Telford doesn’t mean I can’t try.”
“You’re going on a date with Rob Telford?”
“No, but then neither are you.”
Rachel shook her head, exasperated. “So who, then?”
“Never you mind. Come on, Nath.” Meghan yanked a pair of Thomas the Tank Engine pajamas from the top drawer of the bureau she shared with her son. “Time to get ready for bed.”
“I haven’t even started tea yet—”
“Nathan and I had toasties down at the beach café.”
“In this weather?” It was still raining outside, the drops hitting the windows like bullets.
Meghan shrugged. “It gave us something to do, and Nathan likes to play with Noah.” She picked Nathan up and plopped him on the bed, stripping the clothes from his toddler-belly body with practiced speed.
“If you need something to do, how about cleaning the house? Or making tea? Or getting Mum’s prescription refilled?”
For a second Meghan’s eyes flashed with ire. “I took care of my own tea, and you’ll find the sitting room is actually decent.”
“And Mum’s prescription—”
“I forgot. I’m sorry, okay?” Her voice rose, and alarmed, Nathan let out an experimental cry they both ignored. Meghan took a deep breath and flipped her hair over her shoulders. “Look, I told you I’ll put Nathan to bed before I go out. What’s the big deal?”
The big deal was Rachel wanted to go out. She wanted to escape the confines of her life for an evening, flirt with Rob Telford or anyone, forget for a few minutes. She stared at Meghan for a few seconds and then sighed. “There’s no big deal.Come on, Nathan.” She scooped the little boy up into her arms. “How about we do some coloring?”
“He could use some Calpol before bed,” Meghan said as she grabbed her jacket, a red scrap of cotton that looked as skimpy as her top. “He’s still teething.”
“I believe you,” Rachel said, and started for the hallway.
“Rachel?” Meghan called, and for once her voice sounded uncertain. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” Rachel set Nathan up with a coloring book and crayons while she tidied the kitchen; the sitting room might have been decent, but the kitchen was not. Then she put some sausages in the oven for dinner and went back upstairs to confront Lily. Meghan had already left, banging the front door behind her.
