‘I had to lie to him to come out and not have to head over there again, Bess. I’m sneaking around trying to have my own life in the same way I did when we were married. I told him I’m meeting you for drinks; I didn’t say anyone else would be here.’
‘Do you remember the time he found out it was the whole team?’ Bess asked.
‘Which time? He did it more than once. He’d show up, Isaac in tow.’
‘I seem to remember Conrad claiming he and Isaac were out for a father and son beer,’ Hudson joined in, which told Noah that his suspicion was correct, the whole team knew what Conrad was like and Maya’s feelings towards him.
Bess sniggered. ‘Yep, forgetting Isaac wasn’t even old enough to drink at that stage.’
Noah had to ask the girls to shift a bit to their right so he could take a shot. Hudson accused him of stalling and trying to out-psyche his far superior opponent.
Bess was still doling out advice behind him. ‘I know you feel you owe it to Isaac to do everything you can to give him arelationship with his dad, but there are only two people who can do that and neither of those people are you.’
Maya recounted some story about Conrad dropping plates; Noah didn’t quite catch it all as he continued with the game.
He moved out of Hudson’s way so he could get in at the right angle and caught more of the girls’ conversation.
‘It happens with major concussions, Maya. I’ll give him that,’ said Bess.
‘At least I’ve got custody of Whizzy now.’
Whizzy? Who was Whizzy?
Whoever Whizzy was, the girls clinked their glasses and smiled at each other.
It was only when Maya went off to the bathroom that Noah asked Bess what the deal was with their pilot and her ex-husband. He’d already mentioned bumping into her outside the pharmacy.
Bess’s brows knitted together. ‘Why do you want to know?’
She didn’t miss a thing, but he wasn’t about to share how he felt about Maya – that she was unexpected, that from the moment he’d met her he knew there was something special about her, even though they hadn’t got off to the greatest start.
‘What, so you can ask me about my private life, about Eva, but I can’t ask any questions about anyone else without having a reason?’
Bess swigged her beer. ‘Didn’t say that, and how is Eva, by the way? I still know nothing about why you have your niece. I have my theories.’ Probably the correct one given the softness in her voice now.
‘Eva is good.’ Perhaps if he wanted any information about Maya, it was time to be honest about himself. And with Paul in the picture, things might be about to change.
Bess sat forward, intrigued as he recalled the story about Cassie, and when he finished she got up, wrapped her armsaround him and hugged him tight. ‘I’m sorry, Noah, that’s really awful. You must be heartbroken.’
‘Taking each day as it comes. It’s all I can do.’ He picked up his beer before probing again about Conrad.
‘Maya is helping him out by taking him readymade meals, being there on and off. Apparently he’s not all that steady on his feet.’
‘You don’t believe it?’
‘Not for me to decide.’ She sipped from her bottle, disappointed to find it empty.
‘So if he’s her ex then why is she doing it for him?’
‘Ties… with her son, I guess she feels she should. I don’t know, I wouldn’t if I was her, but if there’s one thing I’ll say about Maya, it’s that she’s strong-willed and it’s difficult to change her mind about anything. She has a confidence in what she does. Good job, given she’s a pilot.’
‘Amen to that.’
After Maya returned, he watched as she and Bess took their turn at the dartboard for a game, which Maya won hands down to Bess’s immediate demands for a rematch.
Bess won the next three games and Noah had to wonder whether it was because Maya kept checking her phone and tapping in replies. Perhaps to her son? He had no idea. Although she didn’t look impressed by whoever it was, so it was more likely to be the ex.
Hudson waved his goodbyes to everyone, Nadia joined Noah in a game of pool and soon the gathering had whittled down to only the four of them.
