Page 93 of Riding the Waves

With wide eyes, Billy looked between the two of them.

“Sorry,” Christina said in a rush. “That’s probably bad table manners. How about you try some mustard on a little bit of your hot dog, and then decide if you like it?”

“Okay,” Billy said, then bounded away again.

“Sorry.” Christina grimaced. “I promise I have good table manners really.”

“I wasn’t at all worried about manners,” Amy said. “I was more concerned about you ending up with Billy’s drool all over your dinner.”

“It’s fine. I have two little nieces so I’m used to drool.”

“How old are they?” Amy asked, thankful for the neutral topic of conversation.

“Six and three. And my sister is pregnant with her third so I try and help her out as much as possible at the moment.”

Amy smiled, grateful that Christina seemed to be a nice person. It seemed silly now that she’d even considered Anthony might have chosen someone with more of an evil witch vibe.

After a few gulps of her beer, Christina let out a long breath, then seemed to catch herself and looked at Amy sheepishly. “Sorry. That was like the world’s most dramatic sigh. I’ve just been quite stressed about meeting you, but you seem nice which is a relief. Anthony said you were nice, but I just wasn’t sure how this meeting was going to go.”

“I’ve been really stressed about it too,” Amy confided.

“Really?” Christina’s shoulders visibly relaxed. “I had it in my head that you might hate me, because Anthony mentioned that he’d told you that we went out a few times while you and he were still together.” She slapped a hand across her forehead. “Oh, god. Why did I say that? We weren’t seeing each other or anything. We were just friends. We really were.”

“It’s okay,” Amy said, feeling pretty sorry for Christina as she floundered. “Things weren’t good between Anthony and I for a long time before you came along.”

“I’m glad you don’t hate me on sight.” Christina smiled awkwardly. “And it is nice to meet you even though I was terrified by the prospect.”

Amy picked at the label on her bottle. “When I was freaking out earlier, Damian pointed out that this evening would be way more daunting for you. I’m not sure I’d have agreed to it if I were in your position.”

“I did think about chickening out a few times,” she said. “But it was important to Anthony. He absolutely adores Billy and Marty. He really thinks of them as his own kids… you know that, of course. But the past six months have been so hard for him.” She stopped abruptly and her cheeks flushed bright red. “Sorry, that wasn’t meant as a dig at you. I just wanted to support him, that’s why I’m here.”

“I know it’s been hard on him,” Amy replied kindly. “And I’m glad he’s had you to support him.”

This time it was Marty who interrupted them, complaining about Billy taking the toy he’d been playing with. Once she’d dealt with that mini drama they all moved outside to enjoy the mild weather.

Apparently, Damian and Anthony had bonded over the barbecue and were more relaxed around each other over dinner than Amy had ever imagined them being. Damian also had Christina enthralled as he told her about the surf shack. In return, she told him about her experience of learning to surf while she was backpacking in Australia.

Smiling widely as Anthony recounted his recent surfing experience to Christina, Amy felt utterly relaxed. All her worry had apparently been for nothing and the dinner was a resounding success.

Anthony and Christina didn’t linger after they’d eaten, seemingly wary of outstaying their welcome, but as they said their farewells at the front door, Amy could absolutely imagine more dinners together.

Once they’d left, Damian shooed the boys upstairs to get ready for bed, promising he’d be up soon to read to them. Then he followed Amy into the kitchen and swept his arms around her as he nuzzled her neck, making her laugh.

“That wasn’t so bad, was it?” he said.

“No, it was surprisingly easy.”

“Christina seems nice.”

“I really like her.”

“I told you Anthony has good taste in women.” Extracting himself from her, he hopped up to sit on the kitchen counter.

“It’s weird seeing Anthony with someone else,” Amy blurted out without thought. She grimaced as soon as the words left her lips.

“How do you mean?” Damian asked.

“Nothing.” She shook her head and moved to begin loading the huge pile of dishes into the dishwasher. “Never mind. Ignore me.”

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