Carla nodded, eyes bright with unshed tears. ‘I don’t want to, but I can’t wait. I need to be in Bristol tonight.’
‘Carla…’ Nick started.
Carla held up a hand. ‘You said you’d think about it. Please. I’m not asking for forever. Just until I come home.’
Nick’s jaw tightened.
Kitty could see the battle behind his eyes, the disbelief, the panic, the faint pull of something deeper he didn’t want to name. Maybe the man was more than a shallow pretty-boy and could feel human emotion after all?
‘Look at her, Nick,’ said Carla quietly. ‘She deserves better than being dragged to an angry dying man’s bedside. She needs normality for a few days. You can give her that.’
Nick sighed, the fight seeping out of him. ‘Can we talk about it more, please? This is all so mad, and I can’t get my head around it,’ he said finally.
Carla’s shoulders sagged in relief. ‘Thank you for not saying an outright no. Talking sounds good.’
‘Mummy?’ said Emily, standing in the doorway to the snug with her thumb in her mouth. ‘I want to go home.’
Kitty went out to the little girl. Whatever was going on here, Emily should not be caught in the crossfire. Emily’s hand reached for hers. This wasn’t Kitty’s mess to clear up, but she couldn’t walk away. ‘Have you been to the beach yet, Emily?’
The little girl shook her head.
‘Your mummy and Nick need to have a little talk. Maybe we could explore outside?’ Kitty looked over Emily’s head and raised her eyebrows in a question. Carla nodded and managed a smile.
Carla crouched beside her daughter and with a forced brightness said, ‘Would you like to go to the beach with Kitty? It won’t be for long. I need to talk to Nick, and you know how boring grown-ups’ conversations can be.’
‘OK,’ said Emily. She looked up with another shy smile and, with a jolt, Kitty saw the resemblance to her father. Emily and Nick shared the same straight nose, which turned up slightly at the end. It was the eyes, however, that were most striking. Hazel, with a hint of green and gold. Whatever was going on here, Kitty was sure of one thing. Carla wasn’t lying about her daughter’s paternity.
‘Come on then,’ she said, taking the child’s hand. The feel of a small hand in hers was shocking, the memory it unearthed stealing Kitty’s breath. She swallowed down the lump in herthroat, blinked away tears, and turned to Nick. ‘Do you have a bucket and spade we could borrow?’
He stared at her as if she’d asked for a jar of moon dust.
‘I’ll take that as a no. Is there a way down to the beach from the garden?’
‘Um, yeah,’ said Nick, recovering his composure. ‘If you walk to the end of the garden, you’ll find a wooden staircase which takes you right to the beach.’
‘Great. We’ll stay near the steps so you can find us when we’re ready. Can you show us the way out, please?’
‘Sure.’ Nick led them through the open-plan space and with one quick tug, the bifold doors slid silently on their runners. ‘Thanks for this.’
‘No problem.’
Emily let go of Kitty’s hand and ran to the edge of the decking. ‘I can see the sea!’
‘I’m sorry you’ve been lumbered with the kid,’ said Nick, his voice too low for Emily to hear.
‘It’s fine.’
‘It’s not.’
Kitty stared into those hazel eyes, wanting to knock sense into the head behind them. ‘Listen, Nick, if Emily is going to stay with you, there are practical details you and Carla need to discuss. Go inside and start acting like the father you’ve got to step up and be.’
Before Nick could reply, she crossed the decking and took Emily’s hand once more. They walked through the garden, Kitty relieved to have escaped the drama she’d somehow stumbled into.
Chapter 8
Nick waited on the decking, watching Kitty and Emily making their way through the garden. Could the girl really be his? He couldn’t wrap his head around it. He turned and looked at the hammock. Was it only yesterday he’d been sunning himself without a care in the world? A niggling feeling in his stomach reminded him he wasn’t actually carefree. The lack of money, which yesterday was merely annoying, now seemed critical. How could he look after a child without a penny to his name? He shook his head, the weight of unexpected responsibility weighing him down.
‘Are you hiding out here?’ Carla stepped onto the decking, her curls lifting in the breeze. Her voice was gentler now, anger and desperation replaced by tiredness.
