Page 7 of Riding the Waves

She took a sip of the hot coffee and stifled a wince as it scalded her tongue.

“And you live in Oxford?” Emily asked.

“Yes.”

Emily’s eyes brightened. “I’m from Oxford. Whereabouts do you—” She stopped at a clatter along the hallway, then smiled tightly as a teenager with long brown hair wandered in.

“Sorry I’m late,” she said breathlessly.

“This is Amy,” Emily said. “You remember we have a meeting with her this morning? To get to know each other and make plans for her time with us.”

“Of course I remember,” the girl said, flopping beside Emily on the couch. “Why do you think I’m out of breath? I was rushing to get here.” She tipped her chin at Amy and introduced herself as Scarlett, then returned her attention to Emily. “I was meeting the two brats. I did message to tell you.”

“It’s fine.” Lizzie took a seat along the couch from Amy. “We expected you might be a bit late.”

Taking another sip of her still-too-hot coffee, Amy tried to figure out what was going on. If she remembered correctly, Scarlett was the name of the third owner of the business. Except this couldn’t be her because she looked about seventeen and definitely wasn’t a businesswoman.

Scarlett’s head lolled from side to side on the couch cushion. “Is anybody gonna ask how my morning was?”

“We were about to tell Amy about the business,” Emily said.

“Okay,” Scarlett said, “but in case you’re wondering, the brats seem to like me. And even if the job is annoying, it’s only for the school holidays. Also, I told Damian he needs to pay me more. He hasn’t actually transferred the money yet. I think he will though. It’s also very easy money because I’ll take the boys to the community centre two mornings a week, so someone else will look after them while I sit in the office with my laptop. Fraser said that’s fine.” Finally, she paused for breath and looked up in Amy’s direction. “Fraser is my husband.”

Amy’s mouth hung open as she tried to digest what she was hearing. Surely this slip of a girl couldn’t be talking about her Damian. Her children. "And the brats?" she asked weakly.

“Scarlett is doing some babysitting over the summer,” Emily said. “Why don’t you tell us more about it later,” she said to Scarlett.

“Two brats?” Amy asked, keeping her gaze locked on Scarlett, who suddenly seemed unable to look her in the eyes.

“Twin boys,” she said, smoothing a hand along her leggings. “Seven-year-olds. I don’t usually look after kids during the day. I prefer to do babysitting in the evening so I can do my other work while they’re in bed. But I need some extra money because Fraser doesn’t earn very much at the community centre. And we’re saving up. The washing machine just broke too, which is why I told the kids’ dad he has to pay me more.”

“Damian?” Amy asked, wanting to be sure she had everything straight.

“Yes,” Scarlett said with a curt nod.

“Those boys don’t happen to be called Marty and Billy, do they?”

“Yes,” Scarlett said happily. “They’re the brats. Billy seems lively, and Marty was quieter.”

Clearly, it hadn’t occurred to Scarlett to question how Amy knew the children, but from the look of horror on Emily’s face she gathered she’d connected the dots.

“My twins are staying with their dad for the summer,” Amy stated, setting her coffee on the table in front of her.

“That’s nice,” Scarlett said. “That’s why you have time to volunteer with us then?”

Lizzie re-crossed her legs and leaned forward in her seat. “You’re Damian’s ex?”

Amy nodded. “I don’t think this is going to work out.”

“Oh,” Scarlett said, the only one who seemed to be unperturbed by the whole situation. “I thought you lived somewhere else. Why don’t you look after the brats for the summer if you’re here?”

“I guess I probably will.” Amy stood and smoothed her dress.

“Please don’t go,” Emily said. “I know this all seems terrible, but I think Scarlett was being affectionate when she was using the term brats.”

“Yeah,” Scarlett said. “I totally was.”

Amy glared at her. “I don’t appreciate anything you’ve said, but especially not the sarcasm.”

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