Page 1 of Beyond Repair
Chapter 1
Don’t worry about it; I’ll order curry
‘Auntie Katie?’
‘Yes, honey.’
‘What’s the point of this?’
Katie sighed. ‘The point is that thereisno point,’ she replied, feeling the cold seeping through her coat into her back.
‘You’re weird,’ Jack said, his tone that of a patient but exasperated parent (a little insulting, seeing as he was in fact only eight years old).
‘You’re the weird one. You’re a kid for Christ’s sake; you’re supposed tolovedoing stupid stuff. Anyway it’ll be worth it when Benji freaks out.’
‘Auntie Katie, I don’t think you’re supposed to say “Christ” in front of us when you’re babysitting, and you’re definitely not supposed to be trying to freak us out.’
‘Oh come on,’ she scoffed, ‘youcan’t wait to see the look on his face either.’
‘Flap flap. Flap flap,’ squealed Baby Thomas, who was lying sprawled on his back on top of Katie’s stomach and chest, his arms and legs spread wide inside his snowsuit like a cute, chubby starfish. The title ‘Baby Thomas’ was slightly misleading seeing as he was actually a very well built two-year-old; but until the next Davis child was born he was stuck with it.
‘Okay, gorgeous,’ Katie said, kissing the top of his bobble hat as she resumed flapping her arms and legs up and down through the snow.
Three-year-old Finlay giggled from her other side. ‘Auntie Waitie funny,’ he said, squirming up to a half-sitting position so he could plant a snotty kiss on her mouth, then flopping back into the snow. Before she could recover from that particular assault, a handful of snow was dumped onto her face, covering her eyes and nose. With a snot-filled mouth and an ice-filled nose, breathing became an issue and she was forced to struggle up to a sitting position (tricky, as Baby Thomas was fairly solid) so she could wipe off her face, spit out the snow and snot, and take in some much needed oxygen.
‘What on earth?’ A woman’s voice cut through Katie’s splutters.
When she managed to clear the snow from her eyes she was confronted by a very large pair of black boots planted in the deep snow directly in front of her. Katie blinked in confusion; the owner of the boots was quite obviously not the owner of the voice. Her eyes travelled up the long, jeans-covered legs and over the bulky torso clad in only a black jumper. When they finally came to rest on his face, she took in a deep breath of exasperation. Dark eyes were staring down at her like she was a particularly nasty strain of Ebola just waiting to strike. His strong, stubble-covered jawline was clenched tight, and Katie could almost feel the disgust radiating off him at being this close to her. The height difference between them had always made her feel intimidated, but now, with her sprawled on the floor at his feet, she felt at even more of a disadvantage.
‘Katie,’ he forced out, managing a semi-polite nod in her direction. His expression softened as he looked down at the children, the side of his mouth pulling up into a small smile. ‘Boys.’
‘Uncle Sam!’ Jack shouted, scrambling up from his position lying in the snow to greet his hero. Finlay wasn’t far behind and they both flew upright, rushing over to Sam’s legs and colliding with them head on. Only Baby Thomas remained loyal, and that was simply due to the fact Katie still had him hugged against her chest, despite his squirming.
‘Sam?’ Katie heard the woman’s voice from before ask, and now looked over to see a tall blonde standing next to him in the snow. She was everything Katie would expect to see next to Sam: perfectly made-up face; sleek, immaculately styled hair; and at least five-foot-eleven in her heels. Of course that was still no match for his height, but they looked ridiculously suited nevertheless. There was something familiar about her face and Katie racked her brain to think where she’d seen her before. Realizing she was still sprawled at their feet, she pushed herself up to standing rather awkwardly, whilst attempting to brush the remaining snow and snot off her face and keep hold of a wriggling Baby Thomas. Uncharacteristically, Sam steadied her with his hand on her elbow, but when it was clear that she was on stable ground and that Baby Thomas was secure on her hip, he pulled back so quickly it was as if it had burned him to touch her.
‘Sam, aren’t you going to introduce me to this … person and her delightful children?’ The woman’s posh accent cut through the air again and Katie looked up at her. The way she’d said ‘delightful’ was belied by the revulsion in her eyes as she looked down at Katie and the boys. Katie sighed. Unfortunately this was not an unfamiliar scenario for her: being looked down on by Sam’s numerous Amazonian, cold women had been a regular occurrence over the six years she had known him. If she was honest though, she actually preferred to be sneered at by these supermodel types than have to have a conversation alone with Sam, as that always seemed to be worse.
‘They’re not her boys,’ Sam said without even glancing in the woman’s direction.
Finlay started shouting ‘Up! Up!’ stretching his chubby arms in the air, and Sam gave him a big smile, before sweeping him up into his arms and turning him upside down.
‘Where are they?’ he asked, turning back to Katie as he swung a delighted Finlay like a pendulum.
‘Rob’s popped out to pick up the wine and Sarah’s having a sleep,’ she explained, dusting the snow off the back of the boys’ coats and trousers.
‘They said seven,’ he muttered through gritted teeth, turning Finlay the right way up and setting him on his feet.
‘Oh no, the party’s not till eight,’ she told him. ‘I volunteered to cook, see. That’s why I’m here this early. Then Sarah was flagging so I said I’d look after the maniacs so she could lie down.’
‘Lying bastard,’ Katie just about heard him say under his breath, and she took a small step back in response to the fury pouring off him in waves. Amazonian Supermodel Lady seemed oblivious to Sam’s murderous mood and took a step closer to him, curving her hand through the crook of his arm.
‘Sam, darling,’ she purred up at him, and he gave a small start, like he’d forgotten she was even there. ‘It’s freezing out here and you still haven’t introduced me.’ Judging by the tension in Sam’s broad frame, Katie guessed that an intro was not top of his agenda and decided to forge into the breach.
‘Hi,’ she said, smiling up at the tall woman and sticking out her hand awkwardly, as it was the one holding Baby Thomas on her hip. ‘I’m Katie.’
Amazonian Supermodel gave Katie a tight smile and took her hand for the briefest possible moment, saying, ‘Lydia,’ before leaning back into Sam and eyeing a very obviously snotty Baby Thomas, who had reached up to touch her hair.
Sam looked between Katie and Lydia, then down at the snow-angel imprints in the snow, his face completely blank. He then turned on his heel, taking the boys with him, and stalked up towards the front door of the house. Amazonian Supermodel, a.k.a. Lydia, valiantly kept hold of his arm throughout this manoeuvre (she was pretty nippy for a girl in four-inch-heeled boots). Katie followed along after them feeling like a small yapper-type mongrel following two gorgeous, purebred Alsatians. She nearly ran into Sam’s back as he stopped suddenly in front of the door when he realized he had no way of getting in. Stepping around Sam and the boys, who were still bouncing around his legs, she put the key in the door.
