Free Sticks and Stones by Ilsa Evans Page A

privacy.’
    â€˜Well, if the grass gets any longer he won’t have to worry!’ Maddie led the way inside and dropped her bag down on the kitchen table. She lit the gas underneath the kettle and then went to check the answering machine. The little green light was blinking so, without a second thought, she pressed play. Sam’s voice immediately filled the room.
    Hey Mum, I’m ringing early today coz we’re heading up to Yea in a minute to visit Gran and that lot. So I thought I’d ring now because . . . you know. Anyway, nothing much new. We cleaned out our rooms today and bagged all the old stuff up for charity. I found my old set of Yu-Gi-Oh cards! Remember those? Oh, and I passed on your message to Ashley, about you understanding and all that. I think she was relieved, but really she’s too busy taking all the credit for things turning out so good with Dad and all. Hey, how’s Guess? Is he missing us? Okay, that’s about it then. Um, except we probably won’t be back till Sunday afternoon now. Hope that’s okay. I’ll ring you tomorrow. Bye.
    Maddie gave herself a moment to absorb the message, feeling a bit gut-shot by the news they wouldn’t be back till Sunday, and then pushed it away as she turned around slowly to face Kim. They stared at each other silently for a little while before Kim finally spoke.
    â€˜This is why you were a bit off on the phone the other day, isn’t it?’
    â€˜Yes.’
    â€˜But I always thought your ex was out of the picture. Not interested.’
    Maddie dropped her gaze and then crossed the room without answering and went over to the stove. Sunday was still four days away. The kettle was boiling now, hissing steam in short bursts towards the ceiling. She made two cups of coffee and brought them over to the table.
    â€˜Maddie? What’s going on?’
    â€˜I may have left out a few details,’ replied Maddie slowly, sitting down and wrapping her hands around her mug for warmth. ‘Like he
was
interested. Very interested.’
    â€˜But then why didn’t he contact you? Why didn’t he ever see the kids?’
    Maddie rotated her mug and then stared down at the expanding ripples. ‘Because he didn’t know where they were.’
    â€˜How can he not know where they were? Why didn’t he just ring or something?’
    â€˜Because he didn’t have a phone number. Or an address. Or even –’ Maddie looked up and held Kim’s gaze. ‘Or even the names we were using now.’
    Kim frowned but stayed silent as she registered the implications. Her eyes widened. ‘Hang on, you mean you . . .’
    â€˜Yes.’ Maddie leant forward, continuing rapidly. ‘But I had my reasons, you know. It’s not like I just took them on a whim. I had no choice. None at all.’
    â€˜Okay.’ Kim paused and then took a deep breath, releasing it in a whoosh of air. ‘Wow.’ She shook her head slowly. ‘But why? Not that I don’t believe you had good reason, so I’ll understand if you don’t want to tell me but, well . . . Wow.’
    â€˜Do you really mean that? That you don’t need to know to believe me?’
    â€˜Of course. God, Maddie, I’ve known you for what? Five years? Long enough to know that you’re a pretty level-headed, sane sort of person. Certainly not the type to do a runner with the kids just because you happen to have nothing else on that weekend!’
    Maddie gave a short bark of laughter. ‘Is there actually a type that does that?’
    â€˜Probably not,’ Kim smiled, stretching the moment until it bounced back looser. More relaxed.
    â€˜His name is Jake,’ said Maddie suddenly. ‘We separated just after our tenth anniversary and I moved into this little unit with the kids. Actually we had shared care. But that was when the problems really started. I mean, it