Page 45 of Riding the Waves

“Can’t we eat here?” Billy asked.

“You said we have to stay and look after Mummy,” Marty put in.

Damian pushed his hands into his pockets and moved to the edge of the patio. “She’s all better now.”

“You could stay for dinner,” Amy said hesitantly. Three pairs of eyes looked hopefully at her. “It seems like the least I can do since you hung around to look after me all afternoon.”

“Okay,” Damian said.

“I don’t have any food, though.” She glanced towards the kitchen as though a solution might jump out at her. “I can walk down to the shop. Or get fish and chips.”

That got everyone’s approval.

“I’ll go for them,” Damian said, touching her elbow lightly as he passed her. “You stay here and relax.”

She thanked him and sat down to watch the boys tear around the garden.

Taking advantage of the gorgeous weather, they ate their fish and chip dinner outside, the boys keeping up a constant stream of chatter, most of which was absolute nonsense from Billy, but which kept them all entertained.

“Can we stay here for a film night?” Billy asked, shovelling the last couple of chips from his plate into his mouth. “We can’t have film nights at Daddy’s house but we could have one here.”

“It’s almost bedtime,” Damian told them, checking his watch. “You’ll have no energy tomorrow if you stay up too late.”

“We always have energy,” Billy pointed out. “We’ll still have energy even if we have a film night.”

“We will,” Marty agreed. “I promise.”

“Oh, you promise!” Damian echoed, his mocking tone making the boys laugh.

“Please can we have a film night?” Marty leaned against Amy and squeezed her arm. “Please!”

“It’s up to Dad,” she said, passing the buck and hoping Damian would relent to their request.

He gave her a look of mock contempt. “It’s your place.”

She shrugged. “It’s fine by me.”

The boys looked pleadingly up at Damian, their wide eyes so pathetic that he chuckled. “Fine. Film night it is!”

CHAPTER 21

Amy cleared up the dinner things while Damian took the boys to choose a film. When she joined them, Billy was perched on the arm of the couch while Marty sat close beside Damian.

“Sit next to me.” Marty reached out to grab her hand and pulled her down beside him. He kept hold of her hand as though she might try to escape.

Damian pressed play on the film – something involving talking dogs – then turned his head to Billy and told him to sit properly on the couch.

“Shh!” Billy dropped into the space beside Damian and pushed his chin to get him to look forwards. “It’s starting. You’ve got to be quiet.”

Ten minutes later, Billy had curled into Damian’s side and Marty shuffled into his lap, wriggling to get comfy against his chest before reaching for Amy’s hand again. With his fingers curled around hers, their hands automatically rested on Damian’s thigh. Damian kept his eyes on the screen, not even seeming to notice. Amy felt as though her hand was on fire where it connected with his leg. The warmth of his skin seeped through his cargo shorts, and she was hyperaware of every micro movement she made.

When Damian shifted position, slouching down into the cushions, Amy did the same. She forced her muscles to unwind, aware of the fact that there was another hour and a half of the film and keeping her muscles tense for that time wasn’t going to feel good. As it turned out, relaxing meant leaning slightly into Damian. A waft of his scent filled her nostrils, and she realised it was the first time since the boys were tiny that they’d all cuddled up together. Once she let herself settle into it, she felt utterly content. For the first time in a long time, it felt as though all was right with the world.

She was vaguely aware of her eyelids growing heavy, and a couple of times she jerked awake after nodding off briefly. Then Billy was loudly asking if they could watch another film, his voice pulling her from a peaceful slumber.

She felt as though she’d only blinked, but the credits were rolling on the film and she cursed herself for sleeping instead of savouring the time.

“It’s time to go home to bed,” Damian said.

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