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She was fiddling with the cords at the neck of her hoodie. ‘I expected you would have been married. Have your own family.’
‘I’m not much good to a woman, to be honest.’
With a frown, she scanned him top to bottom and back again. ‘Because you’ve been sick? Is there something permanent? Will you recover fully?’
‘I’d almost think you cared.’ A touch of the old bitterness put an edge on his words and he sucked in a deep breath. He wasn’t going to let her think he was still carrying scars from all that time ago.
‘Don’t be ridiculous. It’s only natural I care if you’re sick. I’ve known you most of my life.’
Which put him effectively in his place.
‘Much appreciated.’
‘I don’t want to fight with you, Morgan. I’ve been thinking about what you asked today. It looks pretty pointless trying to forbid them to come and visit and you’ll be seeing them around. I’m all right with you spending time with them, but it has to be fair. If Edward wants to join you and Gabby, he needs to feel welcome.’
‘I wouldn’t do anything to hurt him, Becca. I like him.’
‘Good.’ With an air of finality she moved towards the door.
‘One question, Becca.’
Her brows drew together over the narrow frames. ‘Yes?’
‘Did my parents know?’
Her eyes closed as she breathed deep, her shoulders rising and falling. ‘You need to talk to them about it.’
‘Is that a yes?’
A bleakness shadowed her eyes under the glint of glass. ‘Ask them.’
And she was gone, slipping out into the twilight leaving more questions unanswered than the spoken ones.
Chapter 5
Becca piled the containers of sandwiches onto the table in the school tuckshop and waved off the twins. They scooted off to the playground, heading for a group of their friends. Most of the kids were younger, even though it was a P-12 school covering all the grades. High school aged kids probably didn’t want to hang around school on a weekend and were old enough to be left while their parents came.
‘They’re getting tall.’ Marcia from the Hot Bread Shop brushed her hands off on a tea towel.
Becca watched them greet their friends with an enthusiasm that suggested they hadn’t seen them for months, instead of yesterday. But they didn’t usually get to see them on the weekend. ‘They’ll be grown up before I know it.’
Marcia wrinkled her nose. ‘Don’t say that. I’m feeling old at the moment.’
Becca turned to look at her, envious of the curves and the retro style that made the most of her shape. ‘I forgot it was your birthday this month. The twins will be twelve. Talk about feeling old.’
Marcia’s beautifully made-up mouth curved up at one corner. ‘It happens to us all. Sorry, I have to fly. Things to do, people to see. Hope the working bee goes okay.’
Eyeing the large supply of cupcakes, all beautifully decorated, Becca nodded. ‘They’ll be well fed. Thanks for this.’ Marcia didn’t have children at the school, but she always seemed to be donating her cupcakes to events.
‘Someone can drop the containers back to the shop on Monday.’ Marcia darted out of the tuckshop, making her way past a group of fathers who paused in their digging to watch her go by.
A tall figure with red hair near the gate caught Becca’s attention. Surely Morgan wouldn’t be coming to a school working bee. She paused in sorting through the box of paper serviettes to watch the new arrivals. It was Morgan, talking with Sabine Mallings, one of the schoolteachers. Another local girl so Morgan probably remembered her, though she was younger than Becca by a couple of years. They looked good together, the tall elegant blonde and Morgan.
He was looking better every day, filling out and losing the dark shadows under his eyes. In a white tee and jeans and a leather bomber jacket it reminded her of how he’d dressed back in the day. He hadn’t filled out as much at nineteen, but the height was already there.
‘Do you think they’re an item?’
Becca jerked her attention back to her task, hoping Celie hadn’t spotted her drooling. In her absorption with Morgan, she hadn’t noticed the other mother approach. She was nice, but her children were younger so Becca didn’t have much to do with her apart from these events. ‘I wouldn’t know. He’s only been back a week or so.’
