I frowned. I hadn’t spoken to anyone apart from Ryan about Amber. I only spoke to my sister once a week, maybe twice at a push, and I didn’t remember saying much apart from I was going to a hot yoga class. “There are two. Heidi and Amber.”
“Amber’s the one who’s your physio, isn’t she?”
I nodded. “She’s a ball breaker. Doesn’t take any shit from anyone.” That much she’d hear from anyone. “How do you know about Amber?”
“You mentioned her.” She crossed her legs and grinned at me. “You haven’t mentioned another woman apart from Chan for ten years, Nate.”
“She’s one of the physios.” I frowned. “What did I say about her?”
“That you had hot yoga in the morning, so Megs was looking after the girls, as it was Amber’s class and you didn’t want to miss it.” Jez looked intrigued.
I vaguely remembered the conversation. “She’s a good teacher.”
“Oh.” My sister smiled knowingly. “Is she single?”
“She is. And she doesn’t want kids – hers or anyone else’s.” She’d mentioned this a few times, even when Chan was alive – in fact, when Chan was pregnant with Zara. “So don’t start trying to matchmake me with her.”
Jez’s expression turned to one of disappointment. “I just hope you do meet someone else. I hate the thought of you being lonely.”
“I’m not lonely.” Which was a lie. I was, kind of. When Chan had been around I’d had someone with me, a partner, and I’d loved it. I wasn’t sure we’d always have been together, and if I was honest, before she got sick, we had been growing apart some, but that didn’t mean I hadn’t loved her. I had and I missed her.
But my sister was right; I was lonely. Amber had taken some of that loneliness away, and I wished she could be around more.
“Your face says otherwise. Ask her on a date. You know, you can date someone without needing to move in with them, or even introduce them to the girls. You are allowed to have fun, Nate.”
I stood up, stretching my shoulders. “I know. I’m going to hit the hay. Make sure you tell Mum and Dad tomorrow. Mum will be pleased if you’re helping out here – she’s got that thing coming up at the village hall and I knew she wanted to get back for it.” My mum had mentioned it at least three times this week.
“Hmmm. I will. By brunch tomorrow they’ll think their daughter is a failure – again.” She knocked back the wine. “I should be used to it by now.”
‘Stop it, Jez. You’re not a failure and you know it. You just haven’t found your thing yet.” I leaned down and kissed her hair. “See you in the morning. Let me sleep in.”
She nodded. “Goodnight, big brother.”
“’Night, non-loser.”
I got into bed and picked up my phone, checking to see if there was any message from Amber. There were messages from Jude and Jesse, a couple from Ryan and one from Rowan, who was working out how to propose to Dee and completely shitting himself at the possibility of her saying no, which we all knew she was going to do as they hadn’t been together that long, and she had most of the sense in the relationship. We figured the more ideas we could give Rowan on how to propose now, the bigger the bank of ideas he’d have for when he asked the next couple of times.
I took the plunge and called Amber, slightly bothered that I hadn’t heard that much from her.
It rang through to voicemail, her chipper but short recording suggesting that I didn’t leave a message as she didn’t listen to them. I hung up, managed to get halfway through sending her a text, when a message came through from her.
Amber: Not feeling great – stomach bug. Will call you tomorrow.
Me: Feel better. Let me know if I can do anything.
Amber: Other than some horrible stuff like holding my hair back and not in the way you did it before, I think I have to suffer it alone.
Me: How long have you been feeling rough for?
Amber: It started Thursday. I don’t want to pass this on to anyone.
Me: I have kids – they are germy so I think I’m pretty immune. Give me a shout if I can bring you anything. No hot yoga tomorrow?
Amber: Heidi’s picking up the class. Let me know how it goes. Sleep well.
Me: You too. Feel better.
I lay back in bed, hearing my sister walk past my room on the way to hers, or the room that she’d be moving into, which was something else to get my head around. I flicked off my light and tried to sleep, blocking out replays of the match that tried to flick through my head, and replays of that night at the hotel with Amber.
