Read Online A Secret Shared... by Marion Lennox - Free Book Online

probably the most unattractive garments in the planet but she held them out like they were gold. ‘These mean you don’t need to use sunscreen.’
    ‘Are there stingers in the water?’ Jack asked, and then could have bitten his tongue. The last thing he wanted was to scare Harry.
    But Kate was grinning. ‘No. They’re like school uniform, meant to make everyone here equal. Socialists R Us.’ Then, at Harry’s look of confusion, she stooped to talk only to him. Her body language was obvious. Her client was Harry. Jack was just a bystander.
    ‘Later this morning I’d like to take you to meet the dolphins close up,’ she told him. ‘And dolphins don’t like sunscreen. Kids like you go into their pool every day. If everyone had sunscreen on, it’d float off and stick to the dolphins. Then none of them would get a tan and we’d have a whole pod of pure white dolphins. Maybe they’d get freckles, just like me. So we all wear blue suits to stop dolphin freckles.’
    Harry gazed at her in confusion. And then, very slowly, as if something was cracking inside, he managed a wavery smile.
    ‘That’s silly.’
    ‘Yep, I’m always silly,’ she admitted. ‘But, seriously, dolphins don’t like sunscreen; it’s not good for them. Harry, I have two little girls I need to see before I can spend time with you. Dianne and Ross, our play therapists, are playing with a beachball down by the waves. You can join in, or you and your Uncle Jack can build a sandcastle or paddle or swim or do whatever you want.’
    ‘He’s Jack,’ Harry whispered, and it was so low Jack could hardly hear. But he heard, for he was listening like it was the most important message he could hear. ‘He likes us calling him Jack.’
    ‘Of course,’ Kate said, and finally that smile was directed at him. ‘Okay, Jack and Harry, put your swimsuits on and go and have fun. And don’t let Maisie fool you again—Jack.’
    ‘No one’s fooling anyone,’ Jack said, and smiled back at her, and thought what the heck did he mean?
    He didn’t have a clue. All he knew was that he was off to build sandcastles.
    * * *
    On the beach Harry retreated again into silence. That was okay for Jack didn’t need to do anything about it. Maisie had things under control. The big dog sat by Harry’s side for a while, giving him time to get accustomed, and then suddenly she started digging. Harry looked astonished. Maisie dug some more, sand spraying everywhere, then sat on her haunches and looked at Harry. Harry looked back.
    Maisie dug again, sand sprayed everywhere, then she sat on her haunches again and looked at Harry. Harry resisted.
    Maisie dug even more, sand sprayed everywhere, then she sat on her haunches and looked at Harry some more.
    Enough.
    Harry dug.
    Jack hadn’t been aware he’d been holding his breath, but it came out now in a rush. He looked up and one of the therapists was giving him a discreet thumbs-up sign.
    How had they persuaded Maisie to do that? Who knew? But he was profoundly grateful.
    Pressure off, he sat back and watched the whole scene.
    The play beach was distant from the enclosed dolphin pool and Jack could see why. In the distance he could see Kate with a couple and a child. Therapy? He couldn’t tell; they were far enough away to ensure privacy.
    The two therapists on the beach, Dianne and Ross, were working hard but they were like big kids. Dianne was a woman in her forties, Ross was practically a teenager but dressed in their standard-issue blue suits they seemed of an age. They mixed happily with kids and parents, gently encouraging kids to mix and play, but they didn’t push. They made it seem like the most natural thing in the world to join in and have fun.
    But they didn’t push Harry. He was left to his digging. There were a couple of other kids who stayed back, and that was okay, too. A couple of times the beach ball just ‘happened’ to fly in their direction and the therapists swooped to retrieve it, thanking the