Page 14 of Riding the Waves

His eyes slid back to hers, full of suspicion. “I’d tell you if I was seeing someone. Anything that affects the kids we tell each other, right?”

“Yes.” She swallowed again, suddenly parched. “That’s why I was asking. In case the boys mentioned something … it’s just easier to know …” She trailed off as he eyed her intently. She could swear he could read her mind; though given the way she was wittering like an idiot, he probably wouldn’t need to have particularly honed senses to figure out how much she hated the idea of him dating.

“Did you decide what you’re doing for the summer?”

The change of subject was a relief. “I had a good chat with Lizzie, so I’m still going to work with them. From next week. I’ll just relax this week.”

“The break will be good for you. I bet you’ll love working with Lizzie and Emily though. What sort of hours will you be doing?”

“Not too many,” she said. “It’s just part-time, and it’ll be pretty flexible.”

He nodded, his gaze pensive as he stared towards the horizon.

“I’ll try not to interfere too much with the boys,” she said. “I’m really not trying to tread on your toes.”

“It’s fine,” he said, creases appearing across his forehead. “It’s not as though I expect you to stay away and not see them.”

“I don’t want to encroach on your time with them.”

The left side of his mouth twitched to a smile. “Look, I might have been annoyed about the idea of you being here for the summer, but it was mostly because you sprung it on me. It’s fine. We’ll figure it out.”

“Thank you,” Amy murmured.

“Daddy!” Billy called, running full pelt towards them.

“Hey!” Damian grinned and caught Billy when he launched himself at him. “How was the kids’ club?”

“So cool. I played football and scored two goals and Fraser can throw a basketball from the other end of the room and get it in the basket. He’s married to Scarlett and he’s really good at football. Even better than you, Dad.”

“I find that hard to believe,” Damian said. “How can he be better than me?”

“He is, Dad!”

“It sounds as though you had fun,” Amy said.

“Yes. I made a friend, but I don’t know his name. Emmy was there too, but she had a friend from school so she didn’t talk to us much. But she did give Marty a hug when he was sad.”

“Why was Marty sad?” Amy asked, instantly on high alert.

“Because he didn’t want to leave Scarlett.”

Looking around, Amy spotted Marty ambling slowly along the sand, clutching Scarlett’s hand. She whipped her head back to Damian. “I knew this was a bad idea. You know how sensitive he is … It was never going to work for him to be taken somewhere and left with people he doesn’t know …” She switched her attention to Marty, smiling as he approached. “Hey,” she said, adopting her most soothing tone as she crouched to his level. “If you didn’t like it at the kids’ club you don’t have to go again. You can stay with me instead.”

“It was okay,” he said. “I think it will be better next time.”

“Oh.” She frowned. “Billy said you didn’t like it.”

“I didn’t want to join in the games, but Scarlett said it’s fine to watch and then next time I might feel like joining in.”

“Oh,” she said again. “So you weren’t sad?”

His chin wobbled then. “I only cried because Billy called me a big baby because I was sitting on Scarlett’s knee.”

“Billy!” Amy snapped, catching the sly grin on Billy’s face before he buried his head in Damian’s shoulder.

“That’s not cool.” Damian peeled him off him and set him down. “What do you say to your brother?”

“Sorry!” Billy shouted insincerely. “Can I go and build sandcastles now?”

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