‘Hello chicken,’ Cass crooned. ‘Are you hungry? Who gave you that dummy? Was it Nanna? She’s very naughty! She knows I don’t want you to have it.’
She picked up the baby and settled down into the rocking chair by the bed to give her a feed. She plucked the dummy out of the baby’s mouth and put it on a small side table.
Ed found them like that half an hour later.
‘Did she sleep through last night?’ he said, yawning.
‘I think she did. I came in and she was awake but not crying. She had her dummy.’
‘Maybe you should rethink the whole no-dummy thing.’
‘No, I don’t like them.’
‘That’s not what your mum tells me.’
‘And that’s exactly why I don’t want Ella to rely on one. I don’t want to go through what my mum went through with me. Mum must have given it to her during the night. Maybe she was fussing and Mum heard her. I’ll have to speak to her about it later.’
Cass lifted Ella up and handed her to Ed while she tucked herself back in. Ed stood there with the tiny baby over his shoulder, rubbing her back to bring up any wind. Cass felt a rush of affection for them both. She loved seeing Ed hold Ella, her tiny form clinging to his broad chest did funny things to her midsection.
‘You look very sexy with a baby on your shoulder,’ she said.
‘That’s just your hormones talking,’ he chuckled.
‘Hormones or not, why don’t you put her back in her cot for a little while now she’s fed and winded,’ Cass said, standing up and wrapping her arms around the two of them.
‘Sounds like a good offer to me,’ Ed said.
Cass let him go and he lowered Ella into the cot before turning back.
‘Do you think we should do this in front of her?’ he said.
‘I’m pretty sure she doesn’t know what ‘this’ is,’ Cass said, tipping her head up and grazing her lips against his.
‘Have I told you how much I love your new curves,’ Ed murmured.
‘My big boobs, you mean,’ Cass said wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him down.
Cass closed her eyes and was drowning in the moment when Ed suddenly went rigid and pulled his head back.
‘What?’ Cass said. She looked up into his face. His eyes were wide with shock.
‘I think you should turn around.’
Cass dropped her arms and spun around. Her mouth dropped open.
‘Oh my God,’ she said.
‘Yep,’ Ed said. ‘I think we know what her gift is going to be.’
‘But she’s too young for her gift to be working yet.’
‘Apparently not.’
They stood there, staring. Floating through the air was the pink dummy, making its way slowly and slightly haphazardly from the side table to the baby waiting in the cot. After another minute it reached its destination. Ella opened her mouth and the dummy settled into place, resuming its rhythmic jiggling.
‘What’s that called?’ Ed said.
‘Telekinesis I think. I don’t think anyone in our family has ever had that before. Do you realise what this means?’ Cass said.
‘I don’t know what you think it means, but I think the whole “no you can’t have that” thing is going to be very interesting around here.’
A sound behind them broke into their thoughts.
‘Morning, how are we all this morning?’ Anita walked over and beamed at her granddaughter. ‘Hello beautiful’.
Anita turned and smiled at her daughter. ‘I see you changed your mind about the dummy, Cass.’
‘Mum, we need to talk.’
‘About the dummy thing? I told you, it’s up to you what you want to do but she looks so happy with it in her mouth!’
Ed looked from one of them to the other. ‘I think I’d better go and put the kettle on.’
If you enjoyed
Missing
Look out for more books
in the Cass Lehman Series
beginning with Hindsight.
For more information, please visit:
www.PanteraPress.com
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Where to start is always the question when I sit down to write this part of the book. There are so many people to thank. My family, as always, were endlessly patient and encouraging when I descended into the various moods that I’m sure grip most writers during the storytelling process. These moods include antisocial obsession during the creative stage, cranky frustration at the editing stage and euphoria coupled with an inability to talk about anything else at any and every stage.
I’m sure it’s not an easy thing to live with a writer. So thank you to my husband Peter for your patience, love and support, and for putting up with all the moods listed above and more. I’d also like to thank my Dad, Rod, who taught me to be determined, persistent and to work hard at the things that are important to me.
Love and kisses to my children, Emma and Liam - a cuddle from you makes everything better. In our family of creative women, Emma is the next in line and early signs point to her taking after her beautiful Grandma, Elizabeth.
Mum, you’re in my thoughts every day.
Thank you also to my sister-in-law Marlene, who is never short of an idea to prod me along, and my brother-in-law Allan, who mercilessly promotes my books to all his students. My niece Kirsty also inspires me with her enthusiasm. She’s aiming to be the next writer in the family.
My friends have also been there for me, cheering and celebrating as I’ve passed each milestone along the way to finishing this book. Thank you, you know who you are. Thanks also to my friends at SA Crime Writers for your encouragement and feedback, and the current and former police officers who patiently answered my questions.
Now to the team at Pantera Press. It has been a big year for them, with some exciting changes in the team and with their new distribution partner, Bloomsbury. Many, many thanks to Ali, John and Martin Green. Your support and encouragement is invaluable and I thank my lucky stars that the fates brought us together. Thank you also to Susan Hando who promotes my work, Lucy Bell and James Read, the incredibly patient editorial team, Desanka Vukelich, who has the best eye in the business for typos, Graeme Jones for his clever typesetting and Luke Causby at Blue Cork for yet another brilliant cover design.
And last but not least, thanks to Cass, Ed, Phil, Dave, Gwen, Anita, Crackers and Sorenson for filling my waking (and non-waking) thoughts for the last five years. You’re like family to me and it’s with sadness that I say goodbye for now (but it’s time I started torturing a new group of characters).
With that in mind, I’ll finish with a quote that’s been attributed to the amazing Dr Seuss…
‘Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.’ Melanie Casey
MELANIE CASEY
Melanie Casey was born and lives in South Australia with her two young children and her husband.
After studying English Literature and Classical Studies, Melanie shifted to Law, and now works in government.
A chance meeting with a highschool English teacher in the supermarket made Melanie realise that she should be doing what she’d always loved, writing! Another period of study, this time at the Professional Writing School of Adelaide’s College of the Arts ensued, helping Melanie to acquire the skills she needed to put her plans into action.
Melanie Casey is author of Hindsight, Craven and Missing. All three are crime novels featuring reluctant psychic Cass Lehman and cynical Detective Ed Dyson.
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Missing (The Cass Lehman Series Book 3) Page 26