‘Diana's pregnant.’
She almost felt like laughing at the absurdity of it all. That he was acting as if she actually knew who Diana was, or that he showed up unannounced – not to mention the fact that he was having another kid, which would be bound to have a negative effect on Danny.
Nick rubbed his eyes and Holly could tell he was itching for a cigarette. Against her better judgment she felt a little sorry for him. He had at least admitted he was not a good father.
‘Do you want to walk with me to work and we can talk on the way? I'm going to be late otherwise.’
‘Sure yeah.’ Nick immediately pulled out a cigarette, as she had known he would, and they started walking back up the avenue together. She was about half an inch taller than him in her heels and felt very much like the together, confident woman she had strived so hard to become after leaving him. But instead of feeling powerful over him, now she just found herself feeling sorry for him.
‘So Diana … that’s your girlfriend I take it?’
He grimaced. ‘I didn't tell you about her?’
‘No, Nick, you didn't, and you probably didn’t tell Danny either,’ she chided.
‘Right, I should do that.’ He puffed nervously on his cigarette. ‘Anyway, she's pregnant, and she says unless I can prove to her that I can be a better father to Danny, she wants nothing to do with me.’
Holly felt nauseous. So now Danny was being used so Nick could hang onto his latest girlfriend?
‘Right, well being a better father should probably be done for Danny’s sake before anyone else.’
‘Yeah, that’s what our counsellor said too.’
Holly stopped in the middle of the path. ‘You're seeing a counsellor?’
‘Yeah, can you believe it? She's really got me, this girl.’ He shook his head. ‘Says there's a lot of work to be done … ’ He trailed off and stared at Holly. ‘What?’
She started walking again, ‘Nothing, Nick, nothing at all.’
‘So, I thought, maybe I could try and be more regular in Danny's life, like a real dad would.’
Holly didn't look at him, but let all the thoughts and emotions crowd her brain and her heart. It was great that Nick was in counselling, and kudos to this Diana person for getting him there. But telling Danny he was going to have a little brother or sister? Letting Nick into his life again after he’d screwed up so many times? She didn't realise it but she was instinctively shaking her head.
‘Oh, come on, Holly, don’t be that way, please? I know the odds aren't good with me, but things are different now … ’ he trailed. ‘I swear I’ll do better by Danny from now on. I mean it. Come on, take a chance, roll the dice.’
Holly took a deep breath. They were nearing the store by now. ‘OK, but I'll still have Kate pick up Danny today. You can take him for pizza or whatever, but she'll be there too, OK?’
‘Fine, whatever.’ Nick nodded at her and walked away.
She could tell by his tone that he was annoyed that he was going to be chaperoned later, but what did he expect? He shows up out of the blue and thinks he's going to take over? What if he forgot to pick Danny up? Heaven forbid … Holly shook her head. Lord only knew what can of worms this was going to open. She pulled out her phone before going in the store to text Kate and let her know that Nick would be there later.
Roll the dice, he’d said.
Holly sighed, looking down at the pair of silver dice on her charm bracelet. She’d heard that one before …
32
Las Vegas, 2000
Nick raisedthe taster of Sangiovese to his lips and took a small sip. He swirled it in his mouth for a moment and then looked to the sommelier and nodded.
‘It’s pretty good.’
The sommelier turned to Holly, poured her a glass before filling Nick’s, then placed the bottle on the table and took his leave.
‘So what do you think, babe? Isn’t this spectacular or what?’
Holly smiled nervously. This whole experience was indeed spectacular, but she couldn’t help but feel slightly out of her element. This was her first time in Vegas and she had to admit, everything truly was larger than life. They were here on a ‘work retreat’ or, at least, that’s what Nick and his partners were calling it. In truth, little or no work was being done, and Holly knew that the term was only being loosely batted about so they could write the entire trip off. Nick said that jaunts like this were needed so as to keep morale up, keep the motivation going, but Holly couldn’t help but view it as excess.
