Page 47 of Riding the Waves

“If that would be convenient, and if Damian wouldn’t mind.”

“I don’t think he’d mind. I’d just have to check he doesn’t have anything planned. Were you thinking you’d pick the boys up and take them off somewhere for the day?”

“I guess so. I was also thinking we might get a chance to talk.” He sounded hesitant as though he was expecting a hostile response. “I know we agreed we’d wait until after the summer to make any decisions about the future, but I’ve had some thoughts that I’d like to run by you … that way you can mull it over while you’re away.”

“That makes sense, I suppose.” Except, she couldn’t imagine it would be an easy conversation. It would force her to face up to the realities of their situation, which was something she’d been burying her head in the sand about. There was really no question that she was going to have to find somewhere else to live, since she couldn’t afford to buy Anthony out of the house.

“Okay,” Anthony said. “Do you want to speak to Damian about it and get back to me?”

She promised to call him back soon, then ended the call. Standing in the middle of the room, staring at the phone, she contemplated calling Damian.

She decided to wait, not wanting to put a dampener on their day together.

CHAPTER 22

Leo was waiting outside the surf shack when Damian finished his lesson on Monday morning. He was pacing with Alice in his arms and looked completely wiped out.

“What’s wrong?” Damian asked, propping his board in the rack and peeling down the top half of his wetsuit.

“She’s teething. I barely slept all weekend. Also, I think Caitlin is pissed off with me.” His shoulders slumped. “My life is chaos and I don’t know if I’ll survive the day.”

Damian grabbed a towel and rubbed at his hair and then his torso. “Give her to me,” he said, reaching for Alice once he’d draped his towel around his shoulders. “Why don’t you go and have a nap at my place? I’ll entertain her for an hour or so then bring her up to you.”

“Are you sure? Where are the boys?”

“Off out with Scarlett. They’ll be back soon, but we can hang out here for a while.” He nipped into the shack, jiggling Alice on his arm as he went. When he returned, it was with his house keys, which he handed to Leo. “Where’s her stuff?”

“Her buggy and changing bag are in the car.”

“Cool. Give me the car keys.”

“You’re the best.” Leo scrutinised Damian as he gave him the keys. “You’re also looking pretty pleased with yourself. Did you sleep with Amy?”

“No!” The thought made his lips pull upwards. “I just had a good weekend.”

“Involving Amy?”

He adjusted his hold on Alice, who squirmed in his arms. “Yes, it involved Amy.”

Leo nodded. “Let me get some kip, then I want to hear all about it.”

“See you soon.” He lifted Alice’s arm for her to wave at Leo, then cursed himself when she realised what was going on and wailed loudly.

Leo sighed and stepped towards her which did nothing to help the situation. “Maybe I should …”

“No—” Damian retreated a little. “Just go. She’ll be fine.”

After a moment of hesitation, Leo turned and left. Alice calmed down again quickly and even gave Damian a hint of a smile when he blew a raspberry on her neck.

He grabbed a blanket and a couple of beach toys and took her down to play on the sand. She was happily wriggling on her back and chewing on a blue sand toy when his phone rang. He’d been planning on calling Amy later to arrange when they’d see her next, but seeing her name on the screen gave him a thrill. If she was keen to set something up that was even better.

He stared down at Alice while enjoying the timbre of Amy’s voice as she greeted him.

“I was thinking we could just arrange regular days to meet,” he told her, his blood pumping harder at the thought. “Dinner twice a week,” he suggested. “Or whatever you want. We’re easy.”

“That sounds good,” she said, her voice flat, as though she wasn’t concentrating on the conversation. “There was something else I wanted to ask you. Anthony wants to visit at the weekend and take the boys out for the day. I wanted to see if that would be okay with you.”

The mention of her husband felt like a bucket of cold water over his head. He wasn’t even her ex-husband. They were having a trial separation, that was all.

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