Winds of Change by Anna Jacobs Read Free Book Online Page B

with the baby?’
    Regina stared at her in horror. ‘You can’t mean that!’
    â€˜Can’t I? I wasn’t mad, though you’d think I was from the way I was treated. Post-natal depression, they call it today, and treat it as a temporary illness. I’d not have brought this up, only . . .’ She laid one hand on her sister’s arm. ‘Don’t force Nikki to get rid of her baby if she doesn’t want to. She’ll regret it every minute of her life if you do.’
    There was silence for a few moments, then Regina said, ‘Well, I still think she should have an abortion. It’s very quick and easy now, and she’s only six weeks along. But I can’t actually force her, can I?’
    â€˜I hope not.’
    â€˜And I wouldn’t do anything to hurt her.’
    Miranda smiled. ‘I can see that.’
    When her sister went to her bedroom to tidy her hair, Regina began to clear up the kitchen. But she kept stopping to wipe her eyes. She hadn’t realized exactly what her father had done – and she couldn’t have stopped him if she had known.
    Surely her sister was mistaken? Surely it had been necessary to have her committed to a mental hospital?
    Lou spent the morning thinking hard. He’d really enjoyed the evening spent with Miranda and now he was wondering if he’d done right by her in suggesting she live with him. She’d just spent years nursing her father, after all.
    He grimaced. She wouldn’t have years looking after him, only a few months, the cancer specialist said. The heart specialist said you could never tell, and he could live for years without doing anything about his condition, so the cancer would probably kill him first. But what would Minnie get for looking after him? Temporary asylum from her family then out on the streets again? Not good enough. He had to make it truly worth her while.
    He was disgusted at how she’d been treated by her family. Like a child, that’s what, and a stupid child at that. She wasn’t stupid at all, rather the contrary. From her conversation last night, she’d read widely, was up to date on current affairs and even though she’d been trapped with her manipulative father, she’d used her computer to explore the world. No, she wasn’t stupid, but she was amazingly timid where her family was concerned. The word ‘cowed’ kept creeping into his mind. What the hell had they done to her when she was younger?
    He went across to get himself a glass of orange juice – half a glass. If he poured out too much he would spill it as he moved jerkily across the room. His niece had bought him a plastic cup with a lid, a child’s cup, dammit. He’d thrown it straight in the rubbish bin. Nothing tasted nice out of plastic and he wasn’t going to be treated like a baby, not now nor at any stage in his final months.
    Thuds from above his head had him wincing. He was sick of noise echoing into his home, wanted some peace and quiet – and a better outlook than this. He could afford it. Why had he delayed making the changes?
    He was selfish enough to hope Miranda would come and help him through his last few months. If he’d met her earlier in his life, he’d have been attracted to her, might even have ended up marrying her. Now, he had to guard against her getting too attached to him, for her own sake. It didn’t matter how he felt. He could do nothing about it now except protect her.
    He put the empty glass down as that thought sank in. He’d talked about Miranda helping him slay his current dragon, which was his niece with her plans to have him safely locked away for these final months, instead of allowing him to fly free while he still could.
    But he wasn’t the only one with dragons. Miranda had at least one, that damned brother of hers. Perhaps her half-sister too. No. Though they didn’t seem close, she didn’t speak nervously of