Page 33 of Unbreak My Heart

Simon looked up at a distraught Eva. The look on her face was enough to make him feel ill. He tried to smile, to show her that it really was okay.

Mostly.

Sort of.

The somersaulting of his gut was difficult to think around. He knew she’d be horrified her kid had jumped on him like this, the expression on her face said enough about that—but he didn’t have the heart to push the kid away.

If he was honest, it was kind of nice that the boy wasn’t scared of him. The kid was friendly. Much like his mother.

“Matty, give Simon some room, okay? You’re squishing him.”

A happy giggle and Matty fell back, then ran full pelt toward the other side of the room, grabbing something off the lounge.

Eva held out her hand, her bottom lip bitten hard between her teeth, worry making a furrow between her brows. He reached for her hand as Matty barrelled back in between them and held out a stuffed toy. Both Eva and her mother gasped.

A hand-knitted Bananas in Pyjamas, complete with blue-and-white-striped legs and matching jacket.

Simon took it gently, the look of expectation on the kid’s face a little unnerving.

“What’s his name? He’s pretty cool.”

“Narnas.”

Simon’s face erupted in a huge grin. This kid was as original as Finn when it came to naming his toys, his favourite beingBear. It was one of the few words he could say clearly. For some reason that curled happiness deep in his gut.

“That’s a very good name for a banana,” he managed to say with a straight face.

He handed it back and Matty hugged it tight to his overall-covered chest. Simon pushed to his feet as Eva picked Matty up and carried him through the living room to sit on the dining table, then pressed a forehead thermometer to his head.

Simon followed at a distance, his hands winding deep into his pockets, as Eva’s mother looked between them.

“Mum? This is Simon Jameson. Simon, my mother Emilia Adams.” She kissed the top of the little boy’s head. “This little ratbag you’ve already met is Matty. Matthew Michael Adams.”

For some reason relief thundered through his veins that she hadn’t lumbered the kid with Vance’s last name, whatever it was.

And Matthew. He almost laughed—or groaned.

His own middle name was Matthew.

Could the universe be any more bloody obvious?

He held out a hand and smiled at Emilia. “Nice to meet you. Sorry to bust in unannounced like this.”

Emilia’s face broke into a big smile of her own. “And you.” She waved a hand. “Nonsense! It’s not like you arrived as we were sitting down for dinner.” She tilted her head. “Are you?”

Simon frowned, confused. The thermometer beeped and Eva scruffed Matty’s hair. “Am I what?”

“Coming for dinner?”

“Mum.”

That pesky heat was back in his face. “Ah, no. I’m Max’s brother,” he blurted.

At Emilia’s blank look, he expanded. “Max Jameson? The Spotted Cow rebuild Eva’s doing in the Crossing.”

Realisation flashed across her face. “Oh! Of course. I thought the name sounded familiar, but couldn’t place it. You’re his brother?”

Simon nodded again. “Yes. I work with him. For him,” he clarified.

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