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Back A Change of Circumstance
Chapters (67)
  1. Cover
  2. One
  3. Two
  4. Three
  5. Four
  6. Five
  7. Six
  8. Seven
  9. Eight
  10. Nine
  11. Ten
  12. Eleven
  13. Twelve
  14. Thirteen
  15. Fourteen
  16. Fifteen
  17. Sixteen
  18. Seventeen
  19. Eighteen
  20. Nineteen
  21. Twenty
  22. Twenty-One
  23. Twenty-Two
  24. Twenty-Three
  25. Twenty-Four
  26. Twenty-Five
  27. Twenty-Six
  28. Twenty-Seven
  29. Twenty-Eight
  30. Twenty-Nine
  31. Thirty
  32. Thirty-One
  33. Thirty-Two
  34. Thirty-Three
  35. Thirty-Four
  36. Thirty-Five
  37. Thirty-Six
  38. Thirty-Seven
  39. Thirty-Eight
  40. Thirty-Nine
  41. Forty
  42. Forty-One
  43. Forty-Two
  44. Forty-Three
  45. Forty-Four
  46. Forty-Five
  47. Forty-Six
  48. Forty-Seven
  49. Forty-Eight
  50. Forty-Nine
  51. Fifty
  52. Fifty-One
  53. Fifty-Two
  54. Fifty-Three
  55. Fifty-Four
  56. Fifty-Five
  57. Fifty-Six
  58. Fifty-Seven
  59. Fifty-Eight
  60. Fifty-Nine
  61. Sixty
  62. Sixty-One
  63. Sixty-Two
  64. Sixty-Three
  65. Sixty-Four
  66. Sixty-Five
  67. Sixty-Six

Greta stood quietly, sipping her coffee, expecting to feel something . . . a wave of grief, jealousy, pain. But it was laughter, gloating laughter, without a trace of rancour or envy in it, laughter that he was fifty-five and married to a girl thirty years younger, with newborn twins boys. Olivia had not been a difficult baby, but still Jeff had not found life with an infant at all easy, he had moved into the spare room because he couldn’t deal with the loss of sleep, he had found ways of escaping from the house when Liv had cried and been irritable and demanding. And now, here he was again times two, and the future held rowdy, energetic, space-filling toddlers and small boys and then lumping great older boys, on and on as far as the eye could see. Greta smiled and went on smiling, as she put her empty mug in the sink and went through to the office to start work. It was gone ten. Olivia had her dance class this afternoon, after which she went into town for a pizza or a shake with one or two of the other girls, then they would wander in and out of the shops, happily browsing and trying on things they would never buy. Nice girls. Mia. Naeve. Amelie. Sometimes they were picked up in town by someone’s parent, but mostly they got the bus. None of them lived far out. Yes, nice girls. Olivia was the talented one, the best dancer. She only lacked a bit of confidence but that would come. She was middle of the road academically, and thought she wanted to do nursing, but that could change. Greta tried never to push her, but privately she thought her dancing would take Liv into the future, one way or another.

Her hands froze on the keyboard. Olivia. She had not wanted anything to do with her father for over a year but then there had been Christmas and he had wanted to take her for a special dinner, have an early celebration and her presents, and Madison had sent a bracelet and a flowery little card, saying how she really really wanted them to be friends.

And Greta had minded, not because of Jeff himself, let alone the young woman, but for fear that Olivia would be bribed and made up to. Changed.

So what would she think about the twins, her two half-brothers? New babies were a draw, Olivia liked children, she was fourteen, almost of an age to babysit or help out, to love them, because they would be lovable and they would make up for the siblings she had not had.