Marion Lennox - Adopted - Twins!

And then she saw the mud on the floor, and her breath drew in horror. ‘What on earth has been going on?’

‘They’ve been cleaning Cecil,’ Erin told her, rising and crossing to the woman at the door. She kept her smile straight, took Charlotte’s hands in hers and kissed her lightly on the cheek before Charlotte could pull away. ‘I hear congratulations are in order. You’re engaged to be married! That’s lovely news, Charlotte. And you’re not to be disgusted with us. This is our second breakfast-and the mud is Cecil mud.’

‘Cecil…’ Charlotte thought this through and her face cleared. ‘Oh, the bull. Of course. You’ve been cleaning your wonderful bull for tomorrow’s show. But, Matt, you know you should have stripped at the door-or made the children do it at least.’

She regarded the twins as one might regard two interesting but slightly disgusting creatures from the sea, and it took an almost Herculean effort for Erin to keep her smile pinned on.

‘It’ll only take minutes to mop, but the troops were hungry,’ she told her.

‘Well, I guess it was in a good cause,’ Charlotte said reluctantly. ‘As long as you do intend mopping, Erin. I don’t see that Matt has the time. We’re leaving at the crack of dawn tomorrow.’

‘You’re leaving ?’ It was Henry, his eyes swivelling toward Matt. His face was horrified.

‘I’m taking Cecil to the show,’ Matt told him. ‘It’s a two-day affair so I’ll only be away for one night.’ His brow creased. ‘I didn’t think you were coming, Charlotte?’

‘I’ve managed to find a place at the hotel,’ she told him. ‘The Royal’s very expensive, but it still has places.’ She gave her tinkling laugh, the laugh that made Erin shudder. ‘I thought…now that we’re engaged we should do things together.’

Urk. The boys winced, and inwardly Erin winced along with them. Charlotte’s sweetness was almost repelling.

And it seemed Matt found it almost as distasteful. He dredged up a smile and rose, carrying his plate across to the sink.

‘Well, that’s great.’ Then he turned back to Erin, and his face was under control again. ‘Erin, now that Charlotte’s here, I want you to hop it. Go into town and do your shopping.’

‘But what for?’ Charlotte looked from Erin to Matt and back to Erin. ‘I did all the shopping you could possibly want yesterday.’

‘And it was wonderful,’ Erin told her, but Matt shook his head.

‘Charlotte, if everything you owned in the world was destroyed by fire, could you imagine another woman supplying you with everything you need on one shopping trip? Without even discussing it with you first? You don’t think that Erin might just want to buy a couple of things herself?’

‘I guess…’ Charlotte faltered at Matt’s logic, but she obviously didn’t. In her view, Erin was a charity case, and charity cases deserved what they got.

But Matt was no longer listening. ‘Go, Erin.’

‘I’ll just clean up-and the boys can come with me.’

‘No.’ Matt’s voice was implacable. He took her shoulders, steered her to the door and forcibly propelled her out. ‘Charlotte and the boys and I will clear up, and then we’ll take hay around the cattle. We’ll be so busy we’ll hardly miss you. I don’t expect you back here before four o’clock. So go.’

She cast one worried look at the twins, but Matt wasn’t taking no for an answer.

‘If you’re sure…’

‘I’m sure. And so’s Charlotte. Aren’t you, sweetheart?’

Charlotte was stumped. There was nothing for a well brought-up young woman to say to that but yes, and she rose to the occasion with fortitude.

‘Of course.’ Charlotte gave them all her very sweetest smile. ‘You go and do your shopping, Erin. I’ll look after your responsibilities.’

Drat the woman!

Erin’s hands clenched on the steering wheel all the way into town, and by the time she got there she was still having trouble calming down. What Matt saw in that cold-blooded barracuda… Couldn’t he see what she really was? She was so nice to Matt, but so darned nasty to those she didn’t consider important.

It was nothing to do with her, she told herself, as she drove into Bay Beach. Matt’s love life was Matt’s business, and that was that.

She was here to shop.

And then she saw Shanni emerge from the greengrocer. Her face brightened. Shanni was a really good friend. Like Erin, she was a local girl from a farm where money wasn’t in oversupply and so, like Erin, she’d been given the cold shoulder by Charlotte from a very early age. What Erin needed now was a coffee, a chat with her friend and a very long whinge.

‘Where are the kids?’ she called, and Shanni beamed as she dumped her shopping in her car and headed across the car-park to her friend.

‘They’re at Mum’s. Oh, great. I was just going to head out to see you. You want a coffee and a chat?’

‘Do I ever,’ Erin told her. ‘If you don’t mind a bit of bitchiness thrown into the gossip.’

‘That’s my very favourite kind of gossip,’ Shanni said, and tucked Erin’s arm into hers. ‘What gives?’

Back at the farm it was Matt’s temper that was giving. He’d loaded the trailer with hay, the twins had helped cheerfully enough but when they headed out to the paddocks Charlotte decided she was coming, too.

Then, as William heaved his first bale off the trailer-no mean feat for one so small-she told him how to do it right.

‘The cattle trample it if you put it down in full bales,’ she told William sharply. ‘Wait until Matt cuts the twine and then throw it off a quarter at a time.’

William’s small face fell, he dropped behind the trailer and Henry, after looking at his twin, decided to do likewise.

They stumped along unwillingly, waiting to go home. Charlotte scolded. Matt tried to make things right but the more that was said the more the twins turned stubborn and mute.

‘You’ll be glad to get away tomorrow,’ Charlotte told him. ‘Kids are okay in small doses-in very small doses.’

‘They’re good kids.’

‘If they were good kids they’d have been adopted long before this.’

‘Hush!’ Charlotte’s voice was carrying. Matt cast a glance behind him. He didn’t think the twins had heard, but… ‘Be a bit careful of what you’re saying.’

‘I’m only telling the truth,’ Charlotte said stubbornly. ‘For heaven’s sake, they actually burned down a whole house. They should be a bit grateful for what you’re doing instead of grumping along like two spoiled brats.’

Yeah. Right. But they didn’t look like spoiled brats, Matt thought as he tried to cheer them up. They just looked like kids who knew they were hopeless and expected to be told that at every available opportunity.

‘Come and help me brush Cecil,’ he told them as they finally fed out the last of the hay. ‘He’ll be dry by now, and he needs to be brushed like he’s never been brushed before if he’s to win.’

‘Oh, Matt, really…’ Charlotte again, unable to resist putting in her oar. ‘As if they know the right way to brush a bull. I’ll help.’

‘Boys…’

‘I want to watch TV,’ Henry said, and William chewed his bottom lip and said nothing.

‘I’d really appreciate it if you could help me.’

Silence.

Erin arrived back at the farm feeling very much better. There was nothing like venting a little spleen with a friend, she thought cheerfully as she turned into the gate. That, a couple of bolts of material, a really gorgeous ready-made dress, new shoes and a bottle of her favourite perfume supplied by Shanni had made her feel she was ready to face the world again.

Or ready to face Charlotte.

They were in the kitchen. Erin pushed wide the door and knew they’d been talking about her. The conversation stopped dead as she entered, and Matt bit his lip.