Breeze spoke first. “Well, I’m not surprised. The man has forearms to die for.”
I was silently grateful she hadn’t picked this moment to add anything about Dax.
“And you think he’s your brother?” Rick asked.
“Well, no… Not actually. I don’t know!” I huffed.
“How could you know?” Breeze asked, and I nodded. “You don’t know your family history anymore.”
Rick whistled low through his teeth.
“This is all I have,” I said, pulling a photo from the envelope in my satchel. A younger version of me stood beside a woman who looked suspiciously like I do now. Apparently, she’d sent it to her parents.
“She looks just like you!” Breeze gasped, grabbing the photo. “She even has your dimple.”
I nodded. Bill had been right.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
“Am I in the right place?”I asked the curly-haired woman behind the dimly lit reception desk. Her face was buried in a sudoku book. Glades Bay was too small for its own yoga studio, so I’d found myself at the surf lifesaving club instead. I tried not to hate the location, even though the sea-facing windows brought me straight back to Bellamy House.
“Depends on where you think you are,” she replied in a flat monotone, not looking up.
“Evening yoga with Jo?” I double-checked the info on my phone.
“Then you’re in the right place. Yes—got you!” She scribbled a final nine into a square and looked up. “Haven’t seen you before,” she added, her turquoise eyes scanning me from head to toe.
I tried not to let my discomfort show. I was wearing grey track pants and an oversized vintage-knit jumper I’d scored from a charity shop a few months back. Was this not yoga attire?
“Evening, Laney,” said a familiar deep voice from the front doors. My knees nearly gave way.
Dax.
He froze as he reached the middle of the room and registered me. Laney’s gaze bounced between us.
“I didn’t realise you were still here,” he said.
Well, at least I knew I was in the right place now. My cheeks flamed as the last conversation we’d had barged its way back into my mind.
“I didn’t know you were back,” was all I could manage. I couldn’t meet his eyes, but I mentally clocked the distance back to the exit. Not far, but he’d beat me there easily.
I was relieved to see he was wearing a black T-shirt and low-slung track pants and that I wasn't underdressed. Those things should be illegal with a body like his.
“Riley?” Dax’s voice sliced through my fantasy, and heat flushed to my cheeks again.
“Yeah?”
His chocolate eyes searched mine. “I seem to have that effect on people,” he joked, looking towards Laney, who beamed at him. Sure, smile at him. Don’t worry about the out of place stranger looking for help.
“You zoned out while I was talking.”
He was talking? The last thing I remembered was… sweatpants.
“I’m surprised to see you, is all. A good surprise,” I added quickly, watching the light return to his eyes. I wasn’t ready to see that spark dim again. “I’m not sure where I’m supposed to be.”
“You’re here for Yoga Nidra?”
I nodded, though I was half-tempted to say I was looking for the bookshop and leave. Zen wasn’t really my thing, and my anxiety was rising by the second.
