Her wicked sister made fake gagging noises when he kissed her again. ‘Ignore her,’ Lyndsey said, ‘she’s jealous.’
Griff laughed it off. ‘How long until Deke’s home?’
‘Too long.’ Becca rolled her eyes. ‘We’ve still got about seven weeks to survive yet.’
Lyndsey’s spirits sunk, and she couldn’t look at the man who’d spent most of the night loving her. Once her brother-in-law returned, she’d have no excuse to stay this side of the Atlantic Ocean. Nora’s shrill cries broke through her gloom, bringing her back to the here and now.
‘I’ve got a baby to wrangle.’ She tugged on Becca’s arm. ‘You’ve got breakfast to fix. It’s your turn.’
‘I’ll see y’all later.’ Griff ambled off, but Lyndsey stayed where she was and didn’t move until he’d disappeared down the drive.
* * *
By twelve o’clock, Lyndsey was dying on her feet. She’d cleared up after breakfast, folded a mountain of laundry and made a healthy chicken, vegetable and pasta salad for lunch.
‘For heaven’s sake, sit down before you drop.’ Becca gave her a shove towards the nearest chair.
‘But—’
‘But nothing. It’s my turn to boss you around.’
‘I’msupposed to be taking care ofyou,’ Lyndsey protested.
‘Remember what you told me the other day? If I didn’t take care of myself, I’d be no use to my family? The same applies to you. You’re wearing yourself out.’ Her sister smirked. ‘We both know you’ve had almost no sleep. How do you expect to keep going when you’re running on empty?’
‘Before you had Nora, did you have any idea how much work she’d be? Not that she isn’t absolutely worth it, of course.’ Lyndsey tried to deflect her sister’s pointed questions.
‘Didyouknow how much work running your own business would be before you started it?’ Becca swiftly turned the tables back on her. ‘None of usknow. I didn’tknowwhen I married Deke that Theo would be so . . . challenging. I wouldn’t ever say this to anyone else, but there were plenty of days I wished he wasn’t around. I didn’t expect to get pregnant immediately, either.’ The color rose in her face. ‘I don’t regret any of it, but the timing could’ve been better.’ Her expression softened. ‘Thanks to you, I’m learning to embrace my new life.’
In the distance, Lyndsey thought she heard a door slam, but was distracted by Nora batting her tiny hand on her leg. Her niece was strapped into her bouncy chair on the floor, playing contentedly with a noisy elephant-shaped rattle. She crouched down to stroke her niece’s soft pink cheek.
‘Getting broody?’
‘Broody?’ Her face heated. ‘Maybe.’
‘Griff would make a great dad.’
‘Griff? Are you mad?’ Lyndsey’s heart fluttered. ‘He . . . I mean . . . we’ve slept together, and it was incredible and I love being with him, but . . .’ She didn’t point out the short amount of time they’d known each other, because months, weeks, days faded into insignificance when they were together.
‘He adores Nora. And Theo? He’s wonderful with him, too.’ Becca looked sad. ‘Much better than I’ve been. Theo was so sweet yesterday, though, and I’m sure that’s down to Griff. It’s my fault. I should’ve been more understanding from the beginning, but I let his natural resentment blossom and now it’s a hard road to put things right. I’m determined things will be different from now on.’
‘I’m sure they will.’ Lyndsey stifled a yawn.
‘You are going right now to take a nap.’
‘I can’t. You—’
‘Will manage perfectly fine. You’ve taken care of the mountain of washing and prepared lunch. My house is tidy.’ Her eyes shone. ‘At least a large proportion of it is, and the rest is getting there. You certainly know how to do your job. When I video chat with Deke later, I’m going to give him a virtual tour so he can see what he’s got to look forward to when he comes home.’
‘That’s a smashing idea.’ Lyndsey debated how to casually throw in the conversation she’d had with Griff about Theo.
‘Come on. What’s going through that devious mind of yours now?’
Was this new understanding of how each other’s minds worked an up or down side of them getting on better? The jury was still out. ‘If I throw out some advice, could you trust me enough to think about it without needing to ask where I got the info from?’
‘Probably.’ Becca didn’t sound certain, but half-hearted agreement was better than nothing.
‘Theo’s got the screwed-up idea his mum left because she thinks he’s a loser and didn’t want to be bothered with him any longer.’
