Page 10 of Unbreak My Heart

Then she ran for the door.

Chapter Two

December

“Ican’t believewe’re breaking ground today.”

Max’s excited voice cut into Simon’s thoughts. He sent him a quick smile and grabbed the large tray of coffees that Cat handed him, Max taking the cupcakes, and nodded his thanks.

“It’s about time, right?” he said as they pushed out the door and hurried up the mall toward where Max’s pub, the Spotted Cow, was being rebuilt. The morning sun still had that early summer bite to it. The warmth would come soon when it climbed a little higher in the sky.

He glanced at the coffees in his hands and raised a brow. “I can’t believe you made me order a double-shot vanilla latte, the vanilla being the double. That’s not coffee, man. That’s lolly water.”

Max’s smile grew. “The architect likes them, so that’s what I’m giving her. Gotta keep her happy. Otherwise, she might accidentally on purpose put the taps for the kegs in the men’s room.”

Simon’s laugh rang out, echoing off the buildings to their right. “That could be a problem.” He nodded as they rounded the corner. “You’re right. Best to keep the architect happy.”

Huge amounts of timber and metal lay in organised stacks at the back and side of the large lot where the Cow once stood, before it was razed by fire. He’d finally meet the architect today. Max had done all the work with the firm so far, one recommended by Millie and Trey, who had their office in Bialga.He’d met Isaac, the owner, once or twice in the past when he’d come into the Cow for dinner, but not the young up-and-coming partner overseeing the job.

Apparently, she’d just won a swanky national award, raising the profile of the firm immensely nationwide, and job offers had poured in, promising to keep them busy for several years to come. So much so that Isaac was considering hiring more people.

Luckily, they’d already had their job locked in the previous year, the council approvals and permissions having taken this long, causing the delay in starting the rebuild.

Simon couldn’t help the excitement curling through his blood. This place had been his home away from home. He’d spent more time there, working behind the bar, than at his actual residence.

It was home. Or, at least, it had been.

He couldn’t wait to see it come together and take shape in front of him.

“Could be a good thing this chick won that award. A lot of eyes will be on her for this rebuild. It might make them even more careful about how they do it,” Simon said as they rounded the two dual-cab work utes with the nameSouthern Cross Architecturesplashed across the sides.

Max chuckled. “Don’t worry. I think they’re pretty psyched wanting it to go perfectly as it is, without added pressure from the media.” He motioned with the tray of cupcakes to the utes. “Isaac is here today too. He was excited to see us break ground.”

Simon nodded. “Understandable.” He glanced around. “No Millie and Juliet?”

Max’s smile turned softer. “They’ll be here soon. Mil was just finishing off a feed.”

“Cool,” Simon said.

He’d tried so hard to move forward, to not distance himself from the kid—after all, it wasn’t her fault his life had fallen apart so spectacularly—but something held him back from getting too attached. He knew it hurt Max that he couldn’t fully engage with Juliet. Heck, Max was not only his brother, he was also his best friend and the proverbial proud dad. He adored and doted on his wife and child.

And Simon was truly happy for him, for them. He just…

He sighed to himself. Perhaps he was just an ass. This not being able to get past the whole baby thing. It had been almost twelve months. He knew it was stupid, knew he was fixating. He’d even talked to a psychologist a few times, something only Darby knew about.

But knowing it and dealing with it were two very different things.

Darby’s little Finn was getting easier. Sometimes. The little fella was walking now, and Simon had had all that time with him before…

Before things went bad.

He looked down at the tray of coffees as they rounded the high back of the closest ute.

Thinking about the psychologist brought him back around to that night he’d foolishly gone to Bialga with the prime intention of getting rat-shit drunk.

Thank God he’d improved from that low point. And thank God he’d still had enough brain power to stop things going any further with Eva. He hadn’t been drunk, exactly, but he certainly hadn’t been sober.

He knew he’d upset her by backing off like that. But if he had allowed it to go any further it would only have become a huge mistake. Hooking up was the last thing on his mind that night. It wasn’t why he’d been there. And spending the night with acomplete stranger—however sexy—wasn’t the way to deal with his own grief.

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