like she couldn’t believe he’d practically agreed.
‘I haven’t said yes yet, but maybe I could check out the place before I make a decision?’
‘Absolutely,’ someone yelled, while another woman let out a whoop.
‘Ruby and Alisha are stoked,’ Tash said. ‘Just give me a minute, okay? I want to talk to you without an audience.’
He heard a yelled ‘Spoilsport!’ before the background noise shut off.
After a few moments, Tash said, ‘Sorry to ambush you like that.’
‘No worries.’ Though there were plenty, most of them centred on his fear of performing and making an ass of himself.
‘Listen, I know how tough this will be for you, so take your time deciding.’
‘Actually, I want to talk to you about a lot of stuff. Can we have lunch together some time soon?’
‘Uh, sure. I’m rostered on to work the next five days so how about next Friday?’
He hated having to wait that long; it left him too much time to stew. But it would have to do. ‘That’s fine.’
‘Great. Kiss Isla goodnight for me.’
‘Will do.’
For some inane reason, he didn’t want her to hang up. Tash grounded him, always had, and chatting to her made him more relaxed.
‘So how’s the bridal shower going?’
‘Good, but I’ll have a headache in the morning.’ She groaned.
He laughed. ‘Keep the paracetamol handy.’
‘Hopefully if I drink a litre or two of water before bed I’ll be right.’
He remembered another time long ago when she’d tried the same remedy. They’d been high on the rush of the band’s first sold-out gig at a pub not far from the Princeton and had done tequila shots. Tash had been a lightweight with alcohol so had been hilariously tipsy after three shots and a beer chaser. But she’d sworn that drinking copious glasses of water before bed would help. It hadn’t. She’d spewed twice when they got back to his studio and had ended up making several trips to the loo overnight.
He shouldn’t bring up the past, not when so much had happened—not all of it good—since. But he couldn’t help himself. ‘That theory didn’t work so well for you the last time. Remember the tequila shots?’
‘Don’t remind me.’
Silence stretched between them before she added, ‘We had some fun times together.’
‘Holding back your hair as you barfed wasn’t so much fun for me.’
She chuckled. ‘I meant the rest. The dating. The gigs. The dinners.’
‘Yeah, we were good together.’ The admission came out of nowhere. Tash had hurt him badly when she’d walked away from him, and it had taken him a long time to get over it. He’d thrown himself into a party lifestyle in LA, sleeping with women the antithesis of her in order to move on, and writing a stack of ballads filled with heartbreak and bitterness. But he couldn’t hold onto the past, not when a product of their relationship sat in the next room playing a song he’d taught her earlier tonight.
‘I miss us …’
At first he thought he’d imagined it, but then Tash rushed on, ‘Don’t listen to me. Alcohol makes me maudlin, which is why I rarely drink these days.’
Kody wanted to say, ‘I miss us too’ but he didn’t want this conversation heading down a track of reminiscing and false promises. Because he couldn’t give Tash anything beyond being a father to Isla, no matter how much a small part of him yearned otherwise.
‘See you in the morning,’ he said, hanging up before he changed his mind and blurted exactly how much he wished things were different between them.
CHAPTER
31
Jane always hibernated when life got too much for her. Back in high school, after she’d driven Ruby out of Brockenridge on the night of the graduation ball, she’d spent a week holed up in her room, listening to music and bingeing on chocolate. Gladys hadn’t cared. She’d only checked on her once in that time to warn her against consuming too much sugar because her skin and hips would bear the brunt. Because heaven forbid any child of perfect Gladys Jefferson spoil her appearance.
These days, she wallowed in peace. Any time her self-esteem took a hit, usually after hooking up with the wrong guy, she’d hide away at home with a well-stocked freezer of ice-cream and as many rom-coms as she could physically watch in a day—or three.
After that disastrous kiss with Mason she’d stopped at the supermarket on the way home and stocked up on ice-cream and family-sized chocolate blocks. Now, with her favourite rom-com of all time, Notting Hill, ready to roll, she pulled a