Cash waved away the overattentive waiter and held out a chair for Natalia. He sat opposite her and picked up a menu. “I’ll order for us.”

Natalia smiled. “Nothing changes.”

“Oh, sorry. Do you want to choose?”

She rolled her eyes. “Cash, stop.”

He frowned. “Stop what?”

“Treading on eggshells. I want the old Cash back. That’s the one I fell in love with. I never thought I’d say this, but I miss the grumpy Irish git.”

His lips twitched, even though he tried for a look of offence. “I was not grumpy.”

“Yes, you were. Grumpy and fierce and in control. And pretty damned wonderful.” She rested a hand on top of his. “Just be yourself, okay?”

“Careful what you wish for,” he said, leaning back in his chair. “Fine, I’ll order, but is there anything my son or daughter has taken a dislike to?”

As he spoke the words, a wave of pride and exhilaration rushed through him. He was going to have a child with a woman who’d changed everything for him, despite him putting her through hell. Christ, he was a lucky bastard.

“Ice cream as I mentioned, which I’m really pissed off about, and asparagus.” She pulled a face. “Not so bothered about that.”

Cash laughed. “Okay, no asparagus. At least you can still eat crème brulée.”

“You remembered,” she said softly.

“Some things are too important to forget. Like this.” He reached around the back of his neck and unhooked the thin chain that held her engagement ring. “I know it’s way too soon to be thinking about this, but I wanted you to know I still had it. When I was at my lowest in Hamburg, this ring kept me going. One day, when the time is right, I want to give it back to you.”

“Oh, Cash.” Her eyes glistened as he refastened the chain around his neck.

“So tell me, what have you been doing these past few months?”

She sipped some water. “I spent some time in Greece.”

His eyebrows shot up. “Really? Whereabouts?”

“Safome.” She chuckled when he gave her a confused look. “It’s a small island not too far from Rhodes. I helped out in a café, feeding refugees.”

His forehead creased. “Jesus. After all this time, you still have the ability to surprise me. What made you come back?”

She glanced at her hand cradling her stomach. “This one. When I found out I was pregnant, all I wanted to do was come home.”

He nodded in understanding. “Why Greece?”

She chewed at the inside of her cheek, and he repressed a smile. Some habits never changed. “Because we’d never been there. I needed to be in a place that wouldn’t remind me of us.” She gave a glimmer of a smile. “Except it didn’t matter. In the end, I discovered you can’t escape yourself. I couldn’t get you out of here.” She tapped a finger against her chest. “Nor here,” she said, touching her temple.

Cash was hit with a wave of regret so strong his breath caught in his throat. “I wish I could have dealt with this differently—”

Natalia held up her hand. “Remember, we agreed to stop looking back on bad memories.”

Cash blinked slowly. He did not deserve this woman. She’d always been a better person than he was, and as a consequence, she made him a better man.

“Yes, we did,” he said, lifting her hand to his mouth. As his lips touched her soft skin, a blast of desire made his stomach clench. He withdrew, and as his gaze met hers, he saw his feelings mirrored in her eyes.

“How’s Rachael?” she said, breaking eye contact as she laid her napkin over her knees.

“Really good. She’s missed you. She gave me such a hard time in the beginning, nagged me to contact you, but you know how stubborn I am.”

Natalia raised her eyebrows. “You, stubborn? Surely not.”

Cash laughed. “To be fair, she can’t complain. I get it from her.”

“Does she know about the baby?”

He rubbed his fingertips over his lips. “Not yet. I wanted to make sure you were okay with me telling her.”

“Of course I am. She’s going to be a grandma.”

Cash paused as the waiter arrived with their food. “Not sure how she’ll feel about the title, but she’s going to be thrilled about the baby.”

Natalia picked up her fork and attacked her food with enthusiasm. Cash repressed a smile.

“Let’s call her soon.”

Cash nodded. “How did Pete take the news?”

“He’s been great,” she said, her mouth half-full. “Very supportive. So has Em.”

Cash blew out a breath. “I guess I’m persona non grata again.”

Natalia shook her head. “Actually, no. Neither of them agreed with my decision not to tell you I was pregnant. They’ve both had periods of nagging me about it. Em has been particularly vocal.”

“She looked pretty pissed off with me the other night in the taxi.”

“She went into mother-hen mode, that’s all. When we first split up, she was insistent I should go back to Ireland and talk to you, work it out.”

Cash grimaced. “I’m glad you didn’t. I had shit to work through, and the last thing I needed was to be even viler to you. I have enough guilt to deal with as it is.”

She wagged her finger. “Uh, uh, uh. Happy thoughts.”

He chuckled. “Yes, ma’am.”

They finished their meal, and Cash slipped an arm around her waist as they strolled back to the car. He helped her inside and reached across to clip her seatbelt into place. She giggled at the familiarity. Cash walked around the car and climbed into the driver’s seat.

“Let’s get you home. You must be tired.”

“I am, but before that, can you do me a favour?”

“Name it.”

“I want to see Rupe.”

* * *

Cash pulled up outside Rupe’s house and twisted around in his seat.

“I’m trying not to be jealous about your excitement at seeing my best friend.”

Tally gave a faint smile. “You know, one of the worst things about you and I splitting up was everyone else I lost at the same time as you. Your mum, Rupe, Anna. They’re family. I felt like half of me was missing.”

A flash of guilt crossed Cash’s face. “I never thought of it like that.”

She placed a hand on his arm. “I didn’t tell you to make you feel bad, but when I bumped into Rupe on the street last week, I was so terrified he’d see I was pregnant that I forgot to be thrilled he was there. All I could think about was getting away from him as quickly as possible. Now that I don’t have to hide anything, I’m eager to see him.”

“Then let’s go.”

He tucked her hand inside his and pushed open the door to Rupe’s place. Music blared from the living room, and Cash led her in that direction. Rupe was sitting in front of a roaring fire, a tumbler of whisky in his hand as he bobbed his head along to the music.

“Hey, stranger,” Tally said.

Rupe jumped. Clearly he hadn’t heard them come in. He set his drink down and leaped to his feet, his arms outstretched.

Tally threw herself into his embrace. “I’m so sorry about the other day,” she whispered in his ear.

He pulled back and studied her face. “No apologies. Although I am considering getting glasses. Completely missed you had a passenger on board.”

Tally laughed. “I hid it pretty well. One of the benefits of winter—big coats.” She turned to Cash. “Would you mind making me a coffee?”

He raised an eyebrow. “Trying to get rid of me?”

“Yes,” she said, waving her hand. “Now, scoot.”

When Cash disappeared into the hallway, she took Rupe’s hands and guided him to the sofa. “How have you been?”

“Terrible. I nearly swapped him for you.”

Regret swarmed through her. “I’m sorry I didn’t get in touch. I should have, but I was scared you’d tell Cash where I was, and I needed the clean break. It was the only way I could cope with losing him.”

“You had Emmalee well trained. That girl would stand up well to torture.”

Tally grinned. “She said exactly the same thing.”

“Where were you?”

“Greece.”

Rupe let out a low whistle. “Blimey. No wonder I didn’t bump into you in Waitrose. When did you get back?”

“In January. I hadn’t planned on coming home, but when I found out I was pregnant, I needed to be surrounded by familiar things.”

“Makes sense.”

She threw her head back. “Has he had it rough?”

Rupe nodded, concern etched in the line of his jaw. “Very. He hides it behind the usual Cash bluster, but he’s been to hell and back. Don’t underestimate the personal struggle he went through in Germany, Tal. The only thing that kept him going was the hope he’d one day be well enough to try to win you back, but at the same time, he was terrified you wouldn’t want him.”

She blew out a frustrated breath. “On the one hand, I know why he did it. On the other, I want to lamp him. We were getting married, and that means for better or worse, yet at the first sign of trouble, he pushed me away.”

“For your safety.”

Tally tilted her head to one side. “Do you think he would have been violent towards me?”

“No, I don’t,” Rupe said. “But it doesn’t matter what I think. Cash was convinced you weren’t safe around him, so he sacrificed his own happiness to protect you. That’s how much he loves you.”

She chewed the inside of her cheek. “How’s he coping without tennis?”

“Have you asked him?”

She folded her arms. “I’m asking you.”

Rupe picked up his whiskey, swirling the amber liquid around the heavy glass tumbler. “He’s not.”

“He said the physio is going well.”

“It is. At first he had no grip. Couldn’t hold a toothbrush, let alone a tennis racket, but he’s definitely getting the strength back. It’s a slow process, though, and you know Cash. Likes instant gratification.”

“I don’t want him hiding things from me.”

“He’s always been overprotective where you’re concerned. You need to push him. Don’t get me wrong—he’s been working hard, but his entire focus has been on getting you back. And now he has…” Rupe paused. “Right?”

Tally smiled. “Right.”

A look of relief swept across Rupe’s face. “Now he can put more energy into his tennis, but he’ll need lots of reassurance. His confidence is shot.”

“I’ll talk to him,” Tally said as Cash walked back into the room, holding two cups of coffee.

“My ears are burning,” he said, handing one over to her.

“You know what they say about eavesdroppers,” Rupe said. “They never hear anything good.”