Second Chance Lane (Brockenridge #2) - Nicola Marsh Page 0,72

she’d bring dessert,’ before relieving Tash of the mousse cake.

‘You know me that well, huh?’

‘Duh.’ Isla rolled her eyes, her smile radiant, and Tash knew spending time with Kody had a lot to do with that.

They had a great relationship and Tash counted herself lucky to have a daughter who liked to hug or chat with her. But Isla had been distant the last week and Tash knew why: she’d put her foot down about Isla trying to squeeze in evenings with Kody during the school week. It had been a decision purely based on concern for her daughter because she didn’t want her falling behind in her studies, but Isla still viewed her as the bad guy.

Tash hated feeling like an ogre but it was her responsibility to be the voice of reason in this whole unexpected scenario. She was prepared to be lenient to a certain degree but she didn’t want Kody getting the wrong idea: that once he left he’d have this same freedom of access to his daughter. Bad enough he’d be seen as the entertaining parent, taking Isla on grand adventures around the world. Tash had no hope of emulating that and she suspected Isla would want to spend more time with her cool dad. They’d have to draw up some kind of custody agreement to formalise coparenting arrangements and while the thought of not seeing Isla for a day let alone a week when it was Kody’s turn for access turned her stomach, she knew it had to be done.

‘Mum, are you okay?’

Tash blinked and shoved her thoughts aside, annoyed she’d started dwelling on stressful stuff again. ‘Long day, sweetie,’ she said, falling into step beside her daughter.

‘Hope you’re hungry, because we made pasta and salad.’

Isla bounced ahead of Tash and through the back door, oblivious to how that ‘we’ sent a stab of fear through her mother. It would be the first of many and logically Tash accepted that, but it didn’t make hearing it any easier.

Bracing for a dinner filled with polite small talk and faux cheer, Tash stepped into the kitchen. She caught sight of Kody at the dining table dressing the salad and her sedate pulse immediately kicked. She remembered the normal range from her nursing days, between sixty and eighty beats per minute, and hers usually sat around the seventy-two mark. But she knew if she pressed her fingertips to her opposite wrist now that reading would be in triple figures.

As if sensing her stare, Kody raised his head and their eyes locked. And just like that her pulse shot from racing to catastrophic. He flashed her a tentative smile and she returned it, not surprised by their newfound shyness. He’d revealed a lot of himself last week and she wondered if he regretted it. She may have been avoiding him the last seven days but he’d done the same, which spoke volumes.

‘I brought dessert,’ she said, brandishing the crumble in her hands to break the deadlock between them.

‘Great, thanks.’ He was still hobbling but he moved with more ease than previously. ‘What is it?’

‘Rhubarb crumble,’ Tash said, as Isla added, ‘Chocolate mousse cake.’

‘I’ll have a double helping of both.’ Kody smacked his lips and Isla laughed.

‘You’ll have to fight me for it, Dad,’ she said, completely oblivious of the impact that one little label had on him.

But Tash saw it: the way his shoulders straightened a tad; the goofy softening of his mouth; the tenderness in his eyes.

He must’ve caught her staring at him because he mouthed, Are you okay?

She nodded, hating how astute he was but appreciating his intuition at the same time. He’d always been attuned to her moods, knowing when she had an exam coming up and her stress levels shot through the stratosphere, knowing when she needed to take a break, knowing when she wanted to lose herself in him.

The only time he hadn’t guessed what she was thinking was when she’d revealed her pregnancy to him. A small part of her resented him for that. For a guy who could usually read her so easily, who’d spent countless evenings in her arms, who’d whispered shared confidences during the nights, the speed with which he believed her lie left her relieved yet disappointed. She’d wanted to drive him away, and she’d succeeded, but she’d assumed he knew her better than that.

‘I’m starving,’ Isla said, taking a seat between them and reaching for the bowl filled with steaming pasta. ‘We kept it simple, Mum. Olive