Free No Child of Mine by Susan Lewis Page B

getting himself into a bit of a state up here.’
    ‘Oh dear, poor love. He’s been dreading this moment,’ she told Alex. ‘How’s Daniel bearing up?’ she asked Ron.
    ‘He’s in his room finishing off his packing.’
    Maggie turned back to Alex. ‘Would you like to come up?’ she invited.
    Not entirely sure Daniel would want her to, Alex tried to find an excuse, but Maggie Fenn was already leading the way.
    ‘We popped down the coast a way, yesterday,’ she was saying as she climbed the stairs. ‘Ron thought the boys would enjoy a spot of fresh air and they certainly seemed to.’
    ‘It sounds as though you’ve given them a fabulous time,’ Alex commented, admiring the family photographs that covered the walls. Most seemed to be of the Fenns’ son and daughter, but there were others that Alex guessed were various foster-children from down the years.
    ‘Anthony was a big hit with them while he was here,’ Maggie was telling her as they joined Ron on the landing. ‘They had a fine old time trying to beat him at table tennis, and they did, I might tell you. Ah, Daniel, there you are, dear. Here’s Alex come to take you home. Are you all washed up and ready to go?’
    Daniel’s pasty little face looked strained and cross as he avoided Alex’s eyes and grunted a reply.
    ‘It’s been lovely having you to stay, little soldier,’ Ron Fenn said, ruffling his hair. ‘You’ve brightened things up for us, especially Oliver.’
    Daniel’s head went down, but Alex could see how stiff he’d become. The effort to hold back his feelings was almost too much for him, and knowing he’d hate to lose control in front of everyone, she tried to bolster him with a reminder that his mother was at home looking forward to seeing him.
    Daniel swallowed and nodded.
    ‘Have you got your things up together?’
    He gave an awkward shrug of one shoulder, then suddenly he was pushing rudely past them all and thundering down the stairs.
    ‘I’ll go after him,’ Ron said. ‘You’d better check on Oliver,’ he reminded Maggie. To Alex he said, ‘Daniel’s bag is ready, if you can bring it down.’
    ‘We’ve given him a new one,’ Maggie told her quietly.‘We have so many, and it seemed a shame that he only had a pillowcase. I hope that’s all right.’
    ‘Of course,’ Alex assured her. ‘I’m sure he was chuffed to bits to receive it.’
    ‘Just go right in,’ Maggie insisted, as Alex hesitated at the door Daniel had come out of. ‘I imagine it’s in need of a bit of a tidy-up, but that’s boys for you, isn’t it?’
    As Maggie headed off along the landing, Alex let herself into the bedroom and almost laughed to see how chintzy it was. Not the kind of thing Daniel would be used to at all, and as for the great big bed, he must have thought he’d died and woken up a king.
    Spotting a Nike sports bag next to an old armoire she felt pleased for him that he had such a smart memento of his time here, and going to pick it up she was about to leave the room when it occurred to her that he might have helped himself to something he shouldn’t have. She wasn’t keen on the idea of checking to make sure all the bag’s contents were his, but she’d be failing in her duty if she didn’t unzip the top and have a quick rummage round. To her dismay, though alas not to her surprise, she found a silver-framed photograph of the Fenns on their wedding day wrapped up in a freshly laundered shirt.
    Setting it back amongst the other photos on the windowsill, she zipped the bag up again and carried it downstairs.
    Daniel was standing by the front door with Oliver and the Fenns, and as she drew closer she realised he was trying to comfort Oliver.
    ‘You’re gonna be a good bro now, OK?’ Daniel was saying. ‘You’re not going to take no messing from no one, because I’m gonna be looking out for you, right?’
    Oliver’s little head nodded up and down, but his shoulders were shaking he was crying so hard. ‘Can’t you