Page 46 of Riding the Waves

Amy peeled her cheek away from his bicep and clocked Marty fast asleep in his lap.

“Do you want to put him in my bed?” she asked.

“It’s probably easier if I take him home. They’ve got kids’ club tomorrow and Scarlett will be at my place early to pick them up.”

Amy’s mind whirred, looking for excuses to keep them there, but she stopped herself from voicing any of them. It wasn’t as though she could keep them all together indefinitely.

“I had a really good day,” Damian said, pausing at the front door and shifting Marty’s sleeping form from one arm to the other.

“Me too.” Crouching, she kissed Billy’s cheek, then straightened up to face Damian. “Apart from almost getting a traumatic brain injury.”

He beamed. “Apart from that, of course. We’ll see you soon.”

“Yes.” Pressure built in her chest at the thought of closing the door behind them and being left alone. “I’ll call you.”

“Great.” He took a step, then inched back to her. “You’re sure your head’s okay?”

“Yes.” She nodded and swallowed hard as his intense gaze bored into her. “I’m fine.”

“Can we go now?” Billy shouted impatiently from beside the car.

“One second!” Damian raised his hand, gently touching her hair above her ear. “The lump has gone down at least. Call me if you don’t feel well or anything.”

“Thank you.” Her fingers lightly stroked his palm as she pulled his hand away from her head.

“Dad!” Billy shouted.

While hoisting Marty higher on his arm, Damian dropped a kiss on Amy’s cheek so quickly she barely had time to register it.

All she knew was she was watching them get into the car and feeling like a balloon that was deflating fast.

She waited, waving until the car was out of sight. Her phone rang the moment she walked back inside and she almost silenced the call from Anthony.

For the first time, she felt a surge of anger at him. If it weren’t for him, she might have spent the past six and a half years with Damian. Her life might have turned out completely differently if it weren’t for Anthony.

Guilt hit her almost immediately. The last person who deserved her anger was Anthony. In reality, the only person she could be genuinely angry with about her situation was herself.

“Hi,” she said, injecting lightness into her voice as she answered the phone. Rather than sit, she leaned against the kitchen counter. “How are you?”

“Fine, thanks. How’s everything there?”

“Good.”

“Glad to hear it.”

The brief silence unnerved Amy and she hurried to fill it. “Sorry about the call the other night. It was kind of chaotic.”

“It’s fine. It was just good to see the boys. That’s actually what I wanted to talk to you about.”

“Oh?”

“I really miss them,” he said slowly. “Not seeing them for another few weeks seems like so long.”

“We can try to do video calls more regularly,” she suggested.

“That would be good, but I’m actually going to be in Bristol at the end of the week. I wondered if I could drive down and see you guys for the day next Saturday.”

“Saturday,” she echoed, since her brain had apparently shut down.

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