Free Instant Family by Elisabeth Rose

casually as he sauntered from the shop.
    Chloe bit her lip, frowning in dismay and unexpected disappointment. Taking Katy to the orthodontist-that was the appointment.
Alex couldn't have been very interested in her company; he hadn't
waited for an explanation. He wouldn't care anyway. He was just being friendly, now that they had a kind of bond through Seb. Filling
in time. And there was a wife. What would she think of her husband
idly inviting a woman out for lunch?
    "Alex is a finalist for some award," announced Seb at dinner on
Friday.
    "What award?" asked Chloe. He must be very talented. No wonder he was so focused on his work.
    Seb said dismissively, "Some architecture thing. He wants me to
help him build a frame for an awning over his back terrace this
weekend. He's only got an umbrella at the moment. There are other
projects he wants me to help him with too."
    "You'll do your time in no time," observed Julian. He wound
spaghetti onto his fork in a large untidy bundle.
    "You've done twenty-three hours," said Katy. "I've kept count."
    "Do you want to spend your weekend there?" asked Chloe. "It's
your last one before school starts"
    A chorus of groans greeted that remark.
    "Alex is cool." Seb put down his fork and pushed his empty plate
away.

    "Can I come?" asked Julian.
    "This is supposed to be punishment for Seb, not fun," protested
Chloe.
    "I guess," said Seb, ignoring her and speaking directly to his
brother. "I'll ask him."
    "Sweet." Julian chewed another large mouthful, trailing pasta
strands from his mouth. Red sauce dripped down his chin.
    Chloe tried again. "He won't want a whole tribe of you invading."
    What was happening over there each day? Seb stayed longer and
longer and came home as cheerful as could be. Not the punishment
she'd envisioned.
    "Alex won't mind," said Seb with supreme teenage confidence.
    "His wife might," Chloe replied tartly.
    "He hasn't got a wife."
    "But he has a daughter. Stephanie. I've met her, and she was there
when you tried to break in!" Chloe cried.
    "I didn't try to break in." Seb rolled his eyes. "His wife is married
to someone else," he explained as though Chloe were a complete
idiot. "I haven't seen any little kid."
    Katy giggled. "That's silly."
    "What?" Seb glared at her.
    "You said Alex's wife is married to someone else. She can't be
his wife if she's married to someone else."
    "They're divorced, dopey," put in Julian.
    "Then she's still not his wife, is she?" insisted Katy.
    "No," interrupted Chloe before the row escalated and food was
thrown. "She's his ex-wife. How do you know, Seb?"
    "He told me."
    "Do you two talk a lot?" Chloe fingered her water glass casually.
    "Course we do. He doesn't treat me like a criminal. He likes me."
    "What do you talk about?"
    He shrugged. "Stuff. Cricket. He said he'd come to watch one of
my games when we play at the local oval. "
    Chloe frowned. What did the man think he was doing by befriending Seb? Making rash promises. Playing at being a big brother?
How long would that last before Seb became a nuisance? It wouldn't
cost him anything at the moment, this emotional largesse, but when
Seb had worked off his debt, what would happen?

    "Don't get too attached to him," she murmured.
    "What does that mean? `Attached to him'?" demanded Seb. Two
red spots fired in his cheeks. His Bolognese-stained mouth took on
an angry tightness.
    "He might not want to be your friend after you've finished your
time." The explanation sounded far crueler spoken out loud than muddling around in her head.
    Seb flung his chair away from the table and leaped to his feet,
knocking over Katy's glass of water as he did. "You always say things
like that, Chloe. You're such a cow sometimes." He crashed from the
room.
    "Look what he did!" Katy shrieked.
    Julian began clearing the dirty plates. "Get over it, Katy."
    Chloe righted the glass. "Get a sponge and mop it up." Just what
she needed-two outraged, screaming children.
    "Seb should. It's