Page 49 of Riding the Waves

“That’s her argument too.”

“And she’s right next door, so that’s pretty perfect.”

“She’s also pointed that out.”

“It would give Judith some purpose too. That’ll be part of the reason she offered.”

Leo rolled his eyes. “Did she have a word with you?”

“It just seems like the perfect solution.”

“Maybe.” He kissed Alice again then moved onto the floor with her so she could wriggle around on the carpet.

“Are things okay with Caitlin?”

“Yes.” Leo wrinkled his nose, looking thoughtful. “She’s great. But she’s annoyed that I won’t let her help with Alice more. She sees it as me not trusting her or something.”

“Is it?”

“No. I just don’t want her to feel she has to. It’s not an easy situation.”

“It sounds as though you have trouble accepting help. Which is strange considering how you were so quick to thrust your child on me today.”

“It’s different with you. We’re like family. You won’t feel used because you look after my child from time to time.”

“I don’t think Caitlin would feel used either.”

“Probably not, but I’d feel like I was using her.” Leo dragged his hands through his hair, but it still stuck out at an odd angle where he’d slept on it. “Anyway, what happened with you and Amy to make you all cheerful?”

Damian puffed out a humourless laugh. “What happened was I forgot she was married for a day. But I’ve just been reminded, so that’s a bit of a downer.”

“I think you’re going to need to explain that better,” Leo said with a frown.

He gave him a quick rundown of their day together and how enjoyable it had been, then told him about the earlier phone call.

“So now you’re feeling guilty about wanting to sleep with another guy’s wife?” Leo asked.

“Not really.” Damian flopped back in the chair, pushing his head into the cushion. “It’s not just that I want to sleep with her. I want all of it. I want to hang out at the beach with her and sit around the house playing board games with her and the kids and I want her to fall asleep on my shoulder while we’re cuddled up on the couch watching TV with the boys.”

“Sorry if I’m missing something, but isn’t that a possibility? From what you said, it seems she enjoyed Saturday as much as you did. She asked you to stay for dinner, didn’t she? She agreed to watching a film together?”

“Yeah. But what happens when her husband turns up at the weekend and she realises she wants to fix things with him? And even if they’re not together, there’s also the slight problem of her living in Oxford. She’s not going to take the boys out of school and give up her job to come and live by the sea in my cramped house.”

Leo nodded solemnly. “Hypothetically speaking … if she told you she wanted to be with you, would you consider moving there?”

“I’d move in a heartbeat. Anywhere. But we tried that before and it didn’t work. There’s also the problem that I’m qualified for nothing. I’m pretty much unemployable.”

“I don’t think that’s true. There’s a good chance you’d end up doing a job you hate though.”

“If I got to go home to Amy and the boys, I wouldn’t care. But she’s used to a certain lifestyle that I can’t provide.”

“Does she actually care about the lifestyle?”

Damian eyed him warily, not sure how to respond.

“It just seems weird,” Leo said, “that you’d fall for someone who’s so hung up on material stuff. Maybe she doesn’t care about that stuff as much as you think.”

“She definitely likes her big house with all its bathrooms and fancy kitchen appliances.”

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