CHAPTER TWO

      CRITICAL didn’t kick in until just before she was due to leave the office to collect the children. That was when she got word that the meeting with potentially her biggest ever clients had been brought up a few days, and she had a presentation that wasn’t even halfway done.

      The headache started then.

      At the daycare centre no amount of pleading or bribery would get the children booked in again. They were full to the gills as it was, and it was only because one family had been on holiday that they’d had space for one day.

      Her head was pounding by the time she got to the local supermarket.

      ‘I want fish fingers!’

      ‘No, chicken nuggets!

      ‘Fish fingers!’

      ‘Nuggets!’

      ‘If you two don’t stop this minute you’re both getting cauliflower and nothing else.’ She negotiated her way around an end-of-aisle display, missing toppling a pyramid of washing powder boxes by inches.

      She’d had dozens of trollies to pick from, and had still managed to pick the one with the dodgy wheel. Someone somewhere really had it in for her.

      Katie pulled a face. Teagan stopped the trolley at the top of the cereal aisle and raised an eyebrow at her. ‘You don’t love cauliflower, Katie?’

      The five-year-old held her arms around her waist and pretended to gag. Which made Teagan laugh. She was better laughing, she guessed. Otherwise she would have to stand and weep in public.

      ‘Fish fingers.’ Katie nodded furiously, then took a moment to think and added, ‘Please?’

      ‘Please certainly helps.’ Teagan began to push the trolley again. ‘Tell you what, let’s do cereal first, and then we can decide what we’re having for dinner.’

      It was after nearly fifteen minutes of debate on nutritional value versus free gift in box when Brendan appeared around the corner with a basket.

      ‘Aw, hell.’ Teagan looked down at Meghan’s smiling face.

      ‘You said a bad thing!’

      ‘I’m sorry, Katie.’ She pinned a smile on her face as Brendan approached. ‘Hello, again.’

      ‘I’m not stalking you, if that’s what you think.’

      The thought had occurred. ‘It’s the closest supermarket.’

      Katie tugged on his arm. ‘You fixed the wheel, didn’t you?’

      ‘Yes, that was me.’ He hunkered down and smiled broadly at her. ‘You getting cereal? I like those ones too.’

      ‘You get a book with them.’ Katie hugged the box.

      ‘And about a zillion preservatives,’ Teagan cut in.

      ‘They’ll help her live longer.’

      ‘No, they won’t.’ Teagan scowled down at him. ‘Something with bran in it would be much healthier.’

      Brendan made a similar gagging face to the one Katie had made during the cauliflower discussion and Katie giggled at him. ‘Yuck.’

      Leaning down towards his ear, Teagan snapped, ‘Not helping.’

      She stood up abruptly as he rose to his feet, felt herself get shy as he examined her face. ‘You look wrecked. Tough day?’

      ‘You have no idea.’ She caved on the cereal with the book, soothing her conscience by at least believing that reading was educational, and vowing to balance it up by adding in some porridge oats. She’d worry about negotiations later. ‘And it’s only getting worse.’

      Falling into step beside her, he reached a hand out and grabbed a box. ‘Worse how?’

      With no idea whatsoever why she was doing it, Teagan started to spill her problems. ‘The deal I’m working on has been moved up, and I have this huge presentation to do in two days.’

      Brendan nodded, adding more to his basket as they rounded the corner. ‘And you have the kids at the same time?’

      ‘Yes. And the daycare centre can’t take them.’

      ‘So, you’d say you were stuck, then?’

      She stopped her trolley by the low refrigerators and glared at him. ‘I have a list of childminders to call when I get home.’

      ‘And if they can’t take them at short notice?’

      Then she was in big trouble. Blinking at his calm face, she felt the headache thump harder at her temples. If it had been anyone else on the entire planet…

      ‘Then I’ll have to see if the meeting can be put back a couple of days.’ She just about managed to hide a grimace as she reached for frozen fish fingers and chicken nuggets.

      Brendan stood silently until she looked back at him. ‘Did your sister understand how busy you are in work right now?’

      She kept her face hidden as she examined the contents of the fridge. ‘She has some stuff that she has to deal with right now. It’s important.’

      He watched as she aimed a brief smile at him.

      ‘Not cauliflower, Auntie Teagan.’

      ‘It’s good for us, Katie.’

      ‘But it tastes yucky.’

      ‘We’ll put cheese sauce on it and it’ll be grand.’ She ruffled Katie’s hair and then glanced at Brendan from beneath her lashes. ‘I better go get this lot fed.’

      ‘Sure.’ He nodded, then waited to speak again as she started to force her wobbly trolley away from him. ‘But remember the offer of help is still there if you need it, Teagan. Really.’

      They couldn’t change the meeting. And none of the child-minders she’d been given numbers for had space for all three children. Which would mean splitting them up. Which Teagan couldn’t do. She had accepted responsibility for them and that was that.

      So she had no choice but to bite the bullet and ask for help. From Brendan. Just for one day.

      And he didn’t even take a second to be smug about it when he came to the house the next day. Which made her feel worse. She so didn’t want him to be around. Seriously.

      Then and there Teagan decided it was time to track her sister down. It wasn’t that she didn’t want her nephew and nieces to stay. She did. It would be nice to spend more time with them. Really.

      Just not right smack-bang in the middle of a big work deal.

      When she got home Brendan had the world under control. Nothing appeared to have got stained, smeared or smashed since she’d left. And that in itself was a miracle she hadn’t