Megan's PICTURE

No matter how hard Annie tried, it seemed her new stepdaughter was set on keeping her at arm’s length…

- Elizabeth Dale

Annie lay back on her lounger by the blue swimming pool and smiled at Tom, her new husband, as he got up. ‘I couldn’t be happier!’ she told him, wishing with all her heart that it was true. She should be happy; she’d just married the man of her dreams, after all. They’d had the most beautiful wedding surrounded by family and friends and now they were having a week in the sun at a perfect hotel in Majorca. Her, Tom and his seven-year-old daughter, Megan.

‘Can you keep an eye on her while I go to the bar?’ he asked.

‘Of course!’ Annie smiled and her eyes wandered back to her stepdaughter who was just getting out of the paddling pool. Megan had seen her father go and started to run after him… then promptly tripped over. In an instant, Annie was on her feet.

‘Are you all right, darling?’ she asked, bending down. Megan’s face crumpled into tears. ‘Go away! I don’t want you, I want Daddy!’ she cried, pushing her away.

Tom was there a moment later. He picked up his daughter and immediately consoled her the way Annie feared she never could. She went back to the lounger and sat down, feeling deflated, and wished with all her heart there was a foolproof guide to being a stepmother.

Megan soon recovered and went into the bigger pool, with Tom this time, then they all went in for dinner. Annie looked around the crowded room. To an outsider, they probably looked like any other happy family. If only they were!

‘I don’t want this holiday ever to be over,’ Megan said as she ate her omelette. Annie smiled at her and her hopes rose. Well, that was a good sign.

‘Neither do I,’ she said. ‘It’s been lovely, hasn’t it?’ She went to smooth a hair away from Megan’s face, but she pulled away sharply. Annie’s heart sank.