Cash stomped through the house, his blood at boiling point. He slammed the door that led out to the pool deck, almost taking the damned thing off its hinges.

Rupe and Jayne were still by the pool. Thank God Meredith and Mum weren’t back with the kids yet. It would give him time to calm the fuck down.

“What the hell’s the matter with you?” Rupe asked.

Cash planted his hands on his hips. “Your fucking wife and her smart ideas.”

Jayne’s eyes widened. “What have I done?”

Rupe placed a protective hand on Jayne’s shoulder. “Before you answer that,” he said. “I’d advise you to dial back your pissed-offness at my wife, otherwise my fist will get nice and friendly with your face.”

Cash dragged over a chair. He picked up Rupe’s drink and took a swig. Urgh, gin. He hated gin.

“Sorry,” he muttered to Jayne. “But your comments about surrogacy have translated into my fucking wife offering her uterus to Emmalee. You know. Like you do.”

“Oh…” Jayne said.

“Shit,” Rupe added.

Cash dragged a hand through his hair. “She’s lost her fucking mind, clearly. I’ve told her there’s no way I’m letting her do it.”

Rupe barked a laugh. “Jesus, you’re brave. How did that go down?”

“Like a shit sandwich.”

“I can see why she offered, though,” Jayne said, not remotely fazed by Cash’s responding glower. “Emmalee has been her friend for so long, and it must be agonizing for Tally to see Em so upset and hurt, especially given you have children of your own.”

“Really?” Cash said. “And the fact I’m her husband doesn’t matter in the slightest I suppose?”

Jayne blew out a frustrated breath. “Of course it matters, but if this is how you responded when she tried to speak to you about it, I’m surprised you’ve still got your own teeth.”

Rupe laughed. Cash… did not.

“And what would you do, huh?” he said to Rupe. “If Jayne came to you with a crazy idea of carrying someone else’s child, one that you had nothing to do with?”

“Firstly,” Rupe said, putting on his patient voice, “I’d say ‘let’s get the one we’re about to have out of the way first and then we’ll talk about it’, and secondly...” He put his finger in the air when Cash started to interrupt, “Secondly. Aha!”

Cash frowned. “What the fuck does ‘aha’ mean?”

“It means ‘and therein lies the problem’. It’s not the fact that your wonderful, kind, generous, and all-round-amazing wife has offered to give the greatest gift of all to someone who’s been closer than a sister to her for over thirty years that’s the issue here. It’s because it won’t have anything to do with you. It’ll be Em and David’s baby, with your wife as the incubator, and you, my dear, lifelong friend, will be relegated to sitting on the side-lines and doing nothing apart from sticking your finger up your arse.”

“Utter bollocks,” Cash scoffed.

Rupe tilted his head. “Is it?”

“Of course it is,” Cash said. “Have you forgotten that Natalia has a history of difficult pregnancies?”

Rupe raised his eyes heavenward. “Pregnancy. Singular. Cian popped out with no trouble at all. Look, my suggestion, for what it’s worth, is to go for a walk, have an honest conversation with yourself about why you’re so against this, and then go and talk to Tally.”

Cash scowled at his oldest friend. What the fuck did he know? If it was Jayne, Rupe would be the first to put his foot down, although no doubt he’d manage it in a much more diplomatic way than Cash had. Huffing, he got to his feet.

“Fine.”

He marched down to the beach, but when he spotted Mum, Meredith, and the kids paddling in the sea, he spun on his heel and headed out onto the street. After walking for a mile or so, he happened upon a bar – the kind of place frequented by locals rather than the tourists who would fork out for overpriced cocktails just because the place had a view of the sea. Well, the only view Cash needed was the bottom of a beer bottle.

He pulled up a seat on one of the colourful stools camped around the distressed wooden bar. The bartender acknowledged his raised finger and thirty seconds later, he had a cold beer in which to drown his sorrows.

As he stared into space, Cash took a long drink. He had every right to his anger at Natalia’s stupid suggestion—every goddamn right. She seemed to have forgotten a minute detail in her haste to give Emmalee what she craved. On Cian’s fourth birthday, over three years ago, he’d tentatively raised the idea of them having a third child. Natalia had dismissed the idea out of hand, and said her family was complete. He’d let it go because he hadn’t been sure whether it was really what he wanted. Time had passed and the right moment to properly discuss it hadn’t come up again. He’d been so busy with the children they did have that he’d pushed the idea to the back of his mind and forgotten all about it—until now—until Natalia had offered to have a kid for her best friend instead of them having another one together.

What was the saying? People always want what they can’t have. Never a truer phrase.

After three beers, and no answers, he returned to the house. Before he even set foot through the front door, though, his mother appeared wearing a knowing look.

“Who blabbed?” Cash asked.

She linked her arm through his. “Let’s go into the sitting room.”

“Where’s Natalia?”

She jerked her head towards the back of the house. “She’s playing with the kids in the pool.”

“And sent you to head me off, right?”

“Wrong.”

They sat on the couch, Cash staring out the window, his mother staring at him. Silence roared in his head until he couldn’t stand it any longer.

“What do you want me to say?”

Mum tilted her head. “I don’t want you to say anything.”

“Great.” He clambered to his feet.

“Sit down, Cash.” Her tone held a steely note that only an idiot would ignore. She could be fearsome when she set her mind to it. He obeyed her command as if he was a child rather than a grown man.

“I don’t want you to say anything because I’m going to talk and you’re going to listen.”

Cash pinched the bridge of his nose and braced himself for a lecture.

“How you managed to snag such a warm, loving, kind and giving woman, and keep her for over a decade is a mystery to me.”

Cash’s eyes widened. “Gee, thanks,” he said, sarcasm highly prevalent.

“You’re welcome,” she replied in an equally sarcastic tone. She smoothed her skirt over her knees. “Cash, you’re my son and I love you, but dear God, sometimes I wish you would think before you speak.”

“She made this ‘offer’ to Emmalee before even discussing it with me.”

Mum blew a heavy breath through her nose. “Yes, and she realises that was a mistake. If you give her five minutes, she’ll tell you that herself.”

Cash threw his hands out to the side. “What would you have me do, Mum?” he snapped. “Stand by while my wife carries someone else’s baby when she refused to carry mine?”

Cash was hit with a loud, “What?” in stereo—one from his mother, and the other from Natalia, who had appeared in the entrance to the sitting room.

“What baby? What are you talking about?” Natalia demanded, moving into the room.

Mum got to her feet. “Okay, I think this is my cue to leave.” She patted Natalia on the arm and squeezed Cash’s shoulder, then quietly left them to it.

“Cash, what on earth are you talking about?”

He got up, closed the door, then indicated for her to sit. He flopped down beside her, exhausted. “On Cian’s fourth birthday, I asked you whether we should have another baby, and you completely dismissed the idea. Said your family was complete.”

Her lips parted in shock. “Cash, my family is complete. You, Darcey, Cian, you’re all I need, and all I want. But dear God, if I’d known it meant this much to you…” She shook her head. “Why didn’t you talk to me about this?”

He shrugged. “At the time, I wasn’t too bothered. It had only been an idea, and when you clearly weren’t keen, I forgot all about it. Let’s face it, Darcey and Cian keep us busy, especially now Cian is showing a real interest in tennis and allowing me to coach him. But… oh I don’t know, sweetness. All this with Emmalee brought it to the fore again for me.”

She took his hands in hers. “Do you want another baby? I mean really want another baby? Have you got the time, the energy, to start all over again, just as our two are becoming more independent?”

“No, I don’t think I have.” He dropped his chin to his chest. “I didn’t mean to storm out.”

“Sure you did, it’s who you are. It’s who you’ve always been and it’s the man I love, the man I married. But please, please, at least take some time to think about the possibility of me carrying this baby for Em and David. After you’ve done that, if you are still adamant you don’t want me to do it, then I won’t. I would never go against your wishes on something as important as this, as long as your rationale is considered and not the result of some flash of anger – that’s all I’m asking, Cash.”

He nodded. “Give me a little time, okay?”

She leaned forward and kissed him. “Take as long as you need.”