‘There were extenuating circumstances.’
‘Like what? Come on, explain.’ He shifted Eva, who had no interest in this stranger, to his other hip. At twelve months, she wasn’t overly heavy but she was when held for a long time and right now, he didn’t want to put her down on her play mat with her toys because he wanted to guard her with everything he had. He had no idea where this conversation was going but he sensed it wasn’t anywhere good.
And when Paul spoke again, told Noah what he had in mind, Noah felt like a bull let out of the bucking chute and he was more than ready to hurl this cowboy off his back.
‘Get out! Get out now!’ His roar made Eva whimper.
‘You might want to think about that,’ Paul said calmly. This guy had some balls. His feet were rooted to the spot.
‘I don’t. Get out!’
Eva started to cry more, the ferocity in Noah’s voice enough to knock her off centre. He wished she was in her cot so he could physically take this guy by the scruff of his neck and send him packing.
Paul walked slowly towards the door, smug as anything, and turned back only once. ‘I’ll be in touch. But don’t even think of telling anyone about this little conversation because I’ll deny it and then you’ll look even worse in the eyes of the law when I go for custody and turn it around and say you offered me money to take Eve.’
It’s Ev-a, you moron!he wanted to yell.
‘Get the hell out,’ he said in a lower voice, not keen to upset Eva more than she already was.
With a smirk that Noah longed to smack right off his face, Paul left the old signal box cottage.
And Noah clung to Eva tighter than ever.
He never wanted to let her go.
23
Maya loved Julie’s new home. It might not be finished yet, but it was filled with her sister’s characteristic warmth and welcome already. She and Seth had bought a spacious, detached, characterful property in an idyllic setting a little outside of Whistlestop River. It had far-reaching country views and a big list of things that had to be done. The home was thatched but not grade listed, which meant they could do whatever they liked to it for their renovations and it had a generous back garden with plenty of space for a growing family.
‘So what’s next on the renovation agenda?’ Maya asked as they sat on the deck chairs in the kitchen with a cup of tea each. The deck chairs were in lieu of proper furniture, which Julie refused to buy until they’d done the kitchen and right now, she and Seth couldn’t agree on the colour scheme so were putting up with barely any bench space and the tatty floor and doing the dining room while they came to a decision.
‘I’d love to say kitchen…’ Julie set her cup of tea on the floor while she re-tied her ponytail. With old jeans and a worn, flannel, gingham shirt, she looked like a glamorous renovator.
‘But…’
‘Well, as you know, neither of us can see the other’s point of view.’ She said it with a smile. Had this been Conrad and Maya, the same sentence would’ve been laced with frustration, Maya knowing that he wouldn’t be the one to budge. ‘I want to knock the wall through to make it a little more open plan. Seth would rather have the kitchen separate, says it’s in keeping with the house and tradition. But at least we’ve agreed on midnight-blue units for the kitchen and a butler’s sink.’
‘Well, that’s a start.’ Maya blew across the top of her tea. ‘What about worktops?’
‘Wooden but as to which wood…’
‘You two will get there in the end. And I’m enjoying seeing it in progress.’
From her position on the deckchair, Julie reached into the nearest cupboard and when she looked like she might fall out of the chair at any second, she pulled her body back upright with the prize: a packet of chocolate hobnobs in her hand.
Maya readily took two and they settled back to talk more about the house, the other plans Julie and Seth had, what they wanted to do with the garden.
Julie caught a crumb from her biscuit with her hand before it dropped to her lap. ‘From the minute I stepped through the gate… or rather lifted the disintegrating wood out of the way to get to the path, I knew this was the place I wanted to bring up my family.’
‘Mum would’ve loved to see you here, settling down.’
‘I like to think she would have too.’
The way Julie looked reminded Maya so much of their mother, it almost hurt. Julie didn’t really remember their mother, who died when she was only three years old, but she and Maya talked about her often. They didn’t shy away from the pain of losing her; they faced it together. Sometimes it made them melancholy but not always, not today.
‘Has Dad been over since you did the stairs?’ Maya asked. The stairs had rotted in a few places and so the entire staircase had been replaced in a beautiful natural oak with turned newel posts and spindles.
‘He has, he approves. And he’s been helping me a bit in the garden too.’
