Page 72 of That One Moment

Sage has left the room before I can protest, and I can hear Jamie in the kitchen, so that leaves me alone with Nova. She starts to grumble, her face scrunching up into little wrinkles before her mouth opens and she lets out a wail.

Sweat breaks out on my neck and I stand up and start swaying from side to side, like I’ve seen Jamie do with her. She quiets some but is still unhappy looking. I try to remember how Jamie holds her, and turn her so her head is near my shoulder. One hand supports her neck while the other holds the rest of her against me. Then I bounce on my heels and singTwinkle Twinkle Little Starunder my breath, looking at the door to make sure no one else is listening. I don’t know all the words so I improvise, and soon enough, Nova has stopped grunting and wiggling.

“You’re very scary for something so small,” I say, but she makes no noise in response. I’m not sure how you communicate with babies. She seemed to like my song but I’ve run out of verses and don’t know any others.

I decide to make conversation with her instead. “What are your thoughts on cats? I don’t think Ford will like you, he's too territorial. Cooper would have loved you - he really liked kids. Was good with them too, not like me. I’m not good with people of any age, really.” Nova grumbles when I stop moving so Ibounce on my heels again. “Cooper loved the stars, and that’s what you are, a bright little star.”

“Fuck, this is adorable,” Jamie says as he enters the room then promptly takes his phone out of his pocket and snaps a photo of me and Nova.

“Sage said she had to pee, but she’s been ages,” I say quietly, so as not to disturb the baby.

“Sage is in the kitchen eating chocolate cake,” Jamie muses, before he bursts out laughing at the scowl on my face. “I like this look on you.” He comes closer, his smile wide as he brushes the hair off my forehead. “Let me take you out tonight.”

“You want that? Like an actual date?”

Jamie traces my lip with his forefinger. It’s very distracting. “I don’t just want to fuck you, Caiden. We do plenty of that. Tonight I want to take you out. I want us to talk, dance and laugh and then maybe fuck.”

“Should you be swearing in front of the baby?” I ask, my cheeks burning with heat.

“Don’t change the subject.”

I swallow thickly, feeling a flutter of excitement in my chest. “I’d like that.”

Chapter Thirty-Two

Jamie

“This is the place you told me about?” Caiden asks, his lips purse and his nose scrunches up adorably. I look around the interior of The Shed and think I must have stepped into a portal or parallel universe.

Outside, the bar looks as it always has but inside, everything is different. Gone are the old mismatched tables and chairs, the music memorabilia on the wall and the small, dimly lit stage. In their place are what can only be described as an attempt at creating an authentic western style saloon. Cowboy hats and horseshoes hang on the walls and, there's these really badly drawn ‘wanted’ posters above each of the wooden booths.

“When was the last time you were here?” Caiden sounds just as confused as I feel.

I look around and take in the unfamiliar surroundings, nothing of the old place remaining.

“Not since…not since before.” Before Cooper died. Everything is now either before or after, like his death was the pinnacleturning point in both our lives. “I saw a sign saying it was under new management earlier this year, but never expectedthis.”

“Should we leave?” Caiden suggests. We’re still standing awkwardly in the doorway. I’d have expected to hear from one of my friends about this, only I doubt any of them have been here in months. Leo took a job in New York, Lulu got married and gave birth to twins and Dominic moved to Bristol. I stopped being sociable, which meant Sage wouldn’t come alone and so our days of visiting The Shed were officially over. So much for thinking coming here would be one thing that would never change.

The music playing isn’t to my taste - I’ve never been into country music - but the dance floor is lively and everyone appears to be having a good time. Laugher and chatter mixing with the catchy melodies andharmonic vocals.

“No, we’re here now, we may as well make the best of it.” With my hand on Caiden’s lower back, I guide him through a group of people and towards the back where a long wooden bar runs along one wall. Stools covered in faux leather cow print sit beneath it, and I spot two free between a group of girls and an older couple.

“I was hoping for an old school open mic night. I guess there goes my plan to serenade you,” I joke.

“You were really going to do that?” We sit close together, our knees bumping and his hand on my upper leg. His other hand rests on the table top and I play absentmindedly with the bracelet on it.

“Now you’ll never know.”

Caiden laughs, his entire body lighting up in a way that makes everything in me light up too. There’s a funny feeling in my stomach, warm and fluffy, not quite butterflies but something….more. The longer he laughs, his blue eyes sparkling, the stronger the feeling gets.

“There used to be a stage right over there,” I point to the far end of the bar. “They had the best bands - some of my favourite eighties covers.”

“What's with your love of eighties music anyway?” Caiden asks, his fingers absentmindedly tracing my knee, then drawing circles over my upper leg, totally oblivious to the way his touch does all sorts of things to my body.

“I get that from Mum, she’s been playing it to me from the day she found out she was pregnant. There's something about the lyrics of songs out of that time period that are so powerful. New music is good but nothing seems to hit in the same way.”

Caiden grins. “Are you a music snob?”

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