Second Chance Lane (Brockenridge #2) - Nicola Marsh Page 0,8

here was prone to drought but the rolling green hills on the horizon belied that. He could spy cattle in a far paddock, sheep in another and his nearest neighbour’s house, about five hundred metres away. He followed the path as it meandered along the border with the adjacent property, the divide delineated by towering pines, and inhaled, his arms reaching overhead, the pungent freshness filling his lungs. The movement calmed him a little so he did it repeatedly, until he felt lightheaded.

‘Wow, we don’t see many guys doing yoga out here. Weird.’

He jumped, lowered his arms and spun around to see a young girl watching him. She had dark blonde hair snagged in a messy ponytail, hazel eyes and a frown that deepened the longer he took to respond. As she stared at him with curiosity, the damnedest thing happened.

He felt like he knew her.

He’d met many fans over the years so maybe she’d travelled with her parents to one of his concerts or to one of the intimate performances he did for radio stations. Yeah, that had to be it.

‘I’m not doing yoga, I’m chilling,’ he said.

‘Out here?’ Her eyebrows shot up. ‘Mister, you need to get a life.’

A bark of laughter escaped him, the first time he’d laughed in a month.

‘Where did you come from anyway?’ he asked, liking this kid and her wit.

‘I live next door with my mum.’ She jerked a thumb over her shoulder to the house he’d seen earlier. ‘I did a dumb thing earlier and I needed to get out of there.’

‘So you thought you’d trespass too?’

She rolled her eyes. ‘I duck through the pines to walk here all the time because your house is always empty.’

‘It’s not my house.’

‘Then you’re trespassing too.’

Her sass got to him again and he chuckled. ‘How old are you? Eleven going on fifty?’

‘I’ll be thirteen in two months,’ she said, annoyance that he’d underestimated her age lacing her words. ‘How old are you?’

‘Too old for you to be asking that question. Didn’t your mum ever tell you it’s rude to ask old people their age?’

‘You’re not that old,’ she said, staring at him with renewed interest. ‘You look familiar.’

‘I have one of those faces,’ Kody muttered, eager to beat a hasty retreat before she recognised him. ‘Anyway, I better get back to my yoga—’

‘I’m Isla,’ she said quickly, as if desperate to keep him talking a little longer and it hit him that a kid living with her mum this far out of town wouldn’t have a lot of people to talk to.

‘Kody,’ he said, before mentally slapping himself upside the head. He’d planned on using an alias but this girl had somehow disarmed him and he’d slipped up.

‘How long are you here for?’

‘Don’t know.’

When suspicion glinted in her eyes again, he added, ‘Maybe a month or two.’

‘Well then, I might see you round.’ She paused and pointed at the gap between the pines. ‘You don’t mind if I walk around here while you’re staying, do you?’

He did, because kids these days were whip-smart and if she saw him again she might recognise him. But banning her would draw more suspicion, so he nodded. ‘That’s fine.’

‘Cool.’

She walked away, and he exhaled in relief. Short-lived, because she paused and glanced over her shoulder.

‘My mum’s a great cook and she hasn’t had a boyfriend in forever so if you get tired of being on your own, you should come over.’

She sounded serious so he stifled the grin tugging at his lips. ‘I’ll keep that in mind.’

As she ducked back through the gap in the trees, Kody realised that Isla had made him feel lighter than he had in weeks. That’s the thing he liked about kids. They didn’t bullshit, they called it how it is.

But Kody had no intention of going anywhere near the mouthy kid or her spinster mum.

CHAPTER

5

Jane’s head pounded as her eyelids cranked open. She didn’t know what was worse, the rock band jamming in her brain, the grittiness of her eyes or the dryness of her mouth. She hated hangovers. Not enough to stop drinking though. She knuckled her eyes and used her pinkies to clean the crumbly bits from the corners before pushing into a sitting position. Disoriented, she blinked several times and moved her head slowly to stave off dizziness. Pale blue blinds, ecru walls and a desk … where the hell was she?

She glanced at the rumpled sheets on her left and had a flashback of hairy legs and a mermaid