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His mother bit her lip. ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset him.’
Becca sighed. ‘I knew they’d be upset. I wanted them to enjoy tonight before I told them what was happening. I better go get him. Gabby, you stay with Grace and Grandpa Ned.’
Becca was almost to the empty path along the creek when she realised Morgan was following her. ‘Don’t bother, Morgan. This isn’t your problem.’
‘He’s still my son.’
Anger seared a hole in her chest. ‘Is he?’
He was panting, trying to catch his breath and she remembered he was still recovering from pneumonia.
He bent over, gasping. ‘Don’t … punish … the children … because I can’t … be what you want.’
‘What is with you? I misread the signals. My mistake. I won’t make that mistake again. Your answer is to put distance between us?’
‘If you resent moving, you should have said so. I’m quite prepared to do it the other way.’
‘Stop fighting. Both of you.’ Edward’s voice shattered the bubble.
Becca turned to him, remorse gripping her stomach. He stood on one of the picnic tables by the protective railing. The water was deep there, a bend in the creek undercutting the bank. A jolt of fear froze her in place.
‘Edward, get down.’
‘I hate you both. You don’t care about Gabby and me. You keep fighting and now we can’t live in the same town.’
Morgan moved sideways towards the railing. ‘Edward, why don’t you sit down? We’re not fighting now. Come down and we can talk it through.’
Edward twisted wildly on the table, trying to keep them both in his sights. ‘Go away. I don’t want to talk. I want you to stop fighting.’
Becca kept her voice calm though her heart was racing. ‘Sweetheart. It’s okay. We can work it out.’
‘No. You always say you can work it out but every time something good is going to happen you ruin it.’
‘Is this about living with Morgan?’
‘Yes. No. It’s everything. We were happy before he came home. Now we know what it’s like to have a dad, but you keep messing it up. I wish he never came. It was better not knowing.’
Morgan’s face was as pale as the patches of snow scattered on the grass. ‘I know we’ve made mistakes. Give us a chance to do better.’
He was close now, only an arms-length away.
Edward skittered away and Becca was helpless to stop it. One foot slipped on a patch of melting snow and he went backwards, over the railing and into the icy water.
Morgan didn’t hesitate, launching himself from the railing into the dark water. Becca was close behind kneeling so she could lean through the fence. She could hear the splashing and see a pale shadow in the water. Pulling her phone from her pocket she activated the torch, relieved to see Morgan dragging Edward to the jetty further along.
‘Becca, call the ambulance.’
Fear made her clumsy but she managed to dial the emergency number. In moments she’d given the details and received the acknowledgement help was on the way.
Dragging herself to her feet, heart still pounding, she ran along the path to a safety gate, opening it wide as Morgan heaved Edward from the water and propped him in a sitting position. She fell on her knees beside them.
‘Is he all right?’
‘He needs his puffer.’ Morgan sounded like he needed it too, wheezing almost as badly as Edward.
‘It should be in his jacket pocket.’
Morgan rummaged in the pockets. ‘Nothing. It must have fallen out.’
