“I’m coming with you.”

The first time she said it was at her house. I’d ignored her then, shaking my head as I went to collect Piper from the front room. “Thanks for the snacks.”

“I’m coming with you.”

“You’re not.” I’d pushed the pram from her verandah to the gravel path, headed back to the road.

“I’m coming with you,” she’d insisted, and I’d thought that was the last I’d hear of it.

Then the door had clicked shut.

She followed me all the way to the beach shack, waited as I prepared a travel bag for Piper and changed her nappy, then spoke as I walked back out to the driveway.

“I’m coming with you.”

“You’re not.” I buckled Piper into her seat, the damn straps taking forever to click into place. The pram was next, folded down and in the back of the car.

The boot slammed shut, and I turned to face her. Even though my arms were folded across my chest, even though I towered above her, she somehow seemed just as large as me. “Everly, listen. You are not coming with me. My dad, he’s got some problems. He doesn’t remember things—”

“So he won’t remember me next time you go,” she protested. “Besides, won’t you need someone to look after Piper?”

I frowned. I hadn’t really thought about what I’d do once I was there.

“I’m sure she’ll be right for a few minutes, but what if they need you to stay a while? What then?” She opened the passenger car door. “You need me, Cam. And this is the way I can repay you for all you’ve done in the garden.”

“I … fine.” I gritted my teeth. “Thank you.”

“Don’t look so happy about it.” She slid into the seat, grinning up at me in that damn cheeky way of hers. “Let’s go.”

I sighed, then headed around to the driver’s side and started the engine. It clunked into life, and I ran a hand over the dash, clearing some of the dust from the surface.

As I reversed out of the driveway, I caught Piper’s eyes in the rear-view.

She wasn’t crying.

And damn it, it felt like something had changed. For the better.

I started on the windy road out of town. Every now and then, I looked in the rear-view. Piper. The ocean behind us.

It was beautiful.

I couldn’t get enough.

Things were getting easier with her, I had to admit. It was kinda enjoyable having a little … friend, I guessed, with me all the time. I’d even found myself looking forward to her waking when she’d been asleep too long.

Except for when I was with Everly.

I glanced at her in the passenger seat across from me.

When we were together, time seemed … different.

I tightened my grip on the wheel, focused straight ahead.

“You look like you’re petrified I’m going to kiss you again.”

“Huh,” I scoffed. “I’m not afraid of you.”

I’m fucking petrified.

“Okay, Mr Runs Away After One Kiss. But just so you know, I get that you’re going through something. Something happened in your past. And now, the very idea of trusting someone else with your heart scares you,” Everly said, kicking her feet up on the dash. From the corner of my eye, I saw her denim shorts ride higher up her legs, exposing milky-white thighs. Lord.

My blood pressure ratcheted up. I couldn’t think of her that way.

Bella. And Dad. Dad needed me right now, and he needed me focused. Besides, it wasn’t fair to hit on Everly when she was probably quite vulnerable after her ex’s betrayal, and—

“You have an adorable baby girl back there, and I’d love to help you out with her whenever you need a hand.”

Piper interrupted her speech with an almighty wail.

“Hey, Pipes,” I sang, hoping to make it stop.

Her wail turned into a full-blown cry. It tore at the fleshy muscle of my heart.

“Hey, hey,” I rushed out, trying to be soothing. “You need a bottle, don’t you? A toy?”

Why hadn’t I thought of that before I left? When would preparing to leave the house with a small child get easier?

I jerked the car to the side of the road. The Hyundai swayed side to side like a drunk as it crunched over the stones. Everly gripped the door handle, her knuckles white. “Want me to—”

“I’ve got it,” I growled. Why was I mad at her? She hadn’t done anything wrong. Neither had Piper.

Myself.

I was mad at myself.

“Sorry. I’m just … I’m sorry.” I shook my head, leaving my door open as I jogged to the other side of the car to check on Piper. A quick sniff of her pants and I decided it must have been food.

“I’m an idiot. I shoulda given her this back home.” I put the bottle together, shaking the formula into the hot water I’d at least had the common sense to bring with me.

“You were in a rush. You didn’t want to lose any time,” Everly said. “Why don’t I hop in the back? Feed her as we go?”

I paused. It wasn’t the worst idea. “You sure?”

“Of course.”

“Thank you.” I pressed my lips together. Emotion wreaked havoc in my chest. “Thank you.”

“No problem.” Everly hopped in the back beside Piper, and I settled back into my seat before pulling onto the road again.

“There you go,” Everly sang softly. “So hungry, sweetheart. You’re such a thirsty girl.”

Piper didn’t cry anymore.

When we finally reached the centre, I paused in the parking lot. Was I going to let Everly in to see Dad? And what about Piper? I couldn’t predict what she’d do, how she’d act in a place like this. And Dad—adding a child to the mix would only confuse him further. When I’d first found out about Piper, I’d told him I wouldn’t be back for a few months just so I wouldn’t have to take her in to see him.

As soon as I opened the car door, the scream reached me.

Dad.

I flew from the vehicle, my feet hammering over the hard pavement. I darted inside, my heart hammering. Da-dad, Da-dad, Da-dad.

“Mr Lewis, you need to sign—”

Words passed me by as I raced down the hall past reception, headed for my father’s room. The scream still sounded, morphing into one long continuous cry of horror. One long continuous cry of pain that I heard whenever I closed my eyes, whenever a car backfired, whenever fireworks sounded overhead.

I finally reached Dad’s room. I grabbed onto the doorframe, swinging myself inside and—

There was my father.

Scratching at those red marks on his arms.

Screaming.

Screaming like his heart was breaking.

Screaming like he was being burnt alive.

Nurses stood by his side, trying to stop his self-mutilation. Two black straps held his body down, and an IV bag shook with every jerk, every fight my father put up, swinging and banging, clang, clang, clang against the metal head of the bed. One of the nurses said something, but I didn’t know what. I couldn’t hear a goddamn thing over the past roaring in my ears.

“And the theme will be white and gold. Really classic wedding,” Bella finished up, clasping her hands together.

“Sounds like a Christmas decoration,” I teased. “I don’t know why we need to do this. Wasn’t the Vegas wedding enough?”

“You might be wearing a ring, but it wasn’t legally binding.” Bella sighed, turning to Dad. “Honestly, Donald, we have had this argument a thousand times.”

“Lay off my daughter-in-law, son,” Dad said.

“You know I’m only teasing.” I placed my arm around her, pulling her to my side and pressing a kiss to her head. “I’ll give you anything you want.”

She smiled, gesturing to the ‘reserved’ sign on the table. “Even stealing other people’s tables when they’re late for lunch?”

I laughed. Bella had mentioned how she’d been here before and loved it, so when I saw the empty table, I’d begged the waitress to let us sit here just until the other party arrived. “Even stealing”—I glanced at the sign—“poor Anderson’s table. I’ll do anything for you.”

“Even hear me talk about the gold wedding theme for the twentieth time?” she asked, her eyes hopeful.

“Bring on the twentieth, the twenty-first, the twenty-thousandth. I have ears to listen to them all.”

“I love you.” She trailed her hand down the side of my face. “But you’re excused. We can talk about something else.”

“No. I want the details. Gimme all of them.” Dad rubbed his hands together, as if weddings were his new favourite thing.

“Actually, Dad, we’ve got something else to tell you.” I glanced at Bella. I couldn’t help it. My eyes went to her stomach. Dad followed my gaze. “Something big.”

His mouth dropped open. “You’re … you’re not …”

“We are.” Bella reached over and clasped his hand. “You’re going to be a grandfather.”

“I … I …”

I’d never seen my dad speechless.

Not until then, that blissful moment as his eyes turned glassy.

“This is beautiful,” he gasped, sniffling. “How far along?”

“Fourteen weeks. It’s been a hard pregnancy so far—I think I’ve been to see the midwife five times already, due to some bleeding and other potential health issues, but now we’re in the clear. Apparently, it all looks like it’s going okay and we can start telling people.” Bella beamed, and I did, too. A baby. We were going to have a child.

“Cameron … son, I’m so—”

“Don’t say it, Dad.” I held up my hand, cutting him off. “I know. I’m the luckiest man on the planet.”

“You are.” Dad nodded. “When your mother and I found out we were having you …”

A familiar sting zipped through me. “I’m going to go to the bar. You guys want anything?”

“Cam …” Bella frowned.

“Ah, let him go. He’s never liked talking about her, and he never will.” Dad looked up at me. “A beer thanks, son. And the best mocktail you can order for this beautiful lady here.”

I smiled. “Coming right up.”

I headed inside, grateful I’d dodged that bullet.

As I waited to order, a man with a backpack walked in, the logo of a chain of fitness clubs on the side. Strange. He didn’t look like a tourist, or as if he’d come from the gym.

In the present, as I blinked my eyes into focus, willing my mind to please, please stay in the now, I could have laughed. He didn’t look like he’d come from the gym. A thought that stuck in my brain even now. It was so funny how out of place the man had appeared. How I’d questioned the guy’s lack of muscles, the shirt that seemed too restricting to be worn during a workout.

No. He didn’t look like he’d come from the gym.

Because he hadn’t.