matching miniature diggers from each pocket.
‘Wow,’ the twins said in unison, eyes wide as they grabbed the brightly coloured toy earth movers, already running for the sandpit to bury their latest treasure.
‘Hey, what do you say? And what about your snack?’
The twins pulled up short at the sound of their mother’s firm tone and turned back to him. ‘Thaaank yooou, Uncle Blaaaay…’
They drew out each word in the usual way kids did when told to thank someone, whirling away the minute he smiled at them.
‘They can have their snack later,’ he said, catching sight of Jodi’s frown. ‘Let them have a play.’
Rolling her eyes, she offered him the fruit platter. ‘You’re a pushover. Wait till you have kids of your own. You’ll see.’
His smile faded as he selected a bunch of grapes and slid onto the wooden bench opposite.
‘Hey, what did I say?’
‘Nothing.’
He popped several grapes into his mouth at once, chewing thoughtfully, wondering how much he should tell his sister.
‘Come on, bro. Spill it. This has to be about a woman.’
Not just a woman. The woman.
The woman he’d half fallen in love with the moment he’d first laid eyes on her, the woman he’d walked away from six years earlier, the woman to complete him, to make his dreams come true.
But she still harboured doubts. He’d seen it in her expressive eyes when she’d told him about her difficulty bearing kids, he’d seen it in her tense body language on the trip back to Melbourne afterwards.
He should be ecstatic she loved the house and had agreed to give their marriage a second chance, but he couldn’t dispel the gloomy feeling that something wasn’t quite right, that Cam didn’t believe him when he’d said she was all he needed to make his life complete.
Eyes narrowed, Jodi stabbed an apple slice in his direction.
‘She doesn’t want kids! That’s why you got that funny look on your face when I mentioned kids of your own.’
Shaking his head, he gulped down a glass of water to ease the sudden constriction in his throat at the thought of never having children.
‘It’s not as simple as that.’
‘Then how simple is it?’
Knowing she’d never let him leave without some snippet of the truth, he sat back and interlocked his hands behind his head.
‘It’s Cam.’
Jodi sat bolt upright, wincing as her belly grazed the table. ‘The Cam? As in the teenager-you-married-then-walked-away-from Cam? As in love-of-your-life Cam? The Cam we’ve all heard about but never met?’
He smiled, used to his sister’s dramatics. ‘That’s the one.’
‘What’s going on with you two? Did you find her? Are you reuniting?’
Jodi rested her folded arms on the top of her belly and glared at him. ‘Come on, bro, spill it before I go into premature labour trying to get the teensiest bit of gossip out of you.’
Chuckling, he tilted his face up to the sun, closed his eyes and enjoyed the warmth on his face, knowing it would drive his nosy sister batty.
‘Blane, I’m not kidding. Either you tell me this very minute or I’ll get Sandy and Mon and Mum on the phone in a conference call right this very minute and—’
‘Okay, okay, hang on to your baby bonnet.’
He opened an eye and squinted at her. ‘Actually, that conference call mightn’t be a bad idea. Save you the trouble of getting onto the phone and spreading the news the minute I walk out of here.’
‘Funny guy.’ She waggled her finger at him in the same way he’d seen her admonish the twins countless times before. ‘Weeell? What’s going on with you two? And, more importantly, when do we get to meet her?’
Opening his eyes, he sat up and reached for an apricot, cramming it into his mouth and chewing quickly, aware his sis wouldn’t hold out much longer. Curious cats had nothing on her.
Taking a slug of water, he leaned across the table and sent her a conspiratorial wink. ‘What’s going on? We’re back together, that’s what.’
Jodi squealed and clapped her hands. ‘I knew it! That’s brilliant, I’m so happy for you.’
‘I’m happy, too,’ he said and meant it.
When he’d first located Cam and put his plans for the house into action, he’d hoped the powerful connection they’d once had would still be alive, that she’d be willing to hear him out and take another chance on them. Now they were a couple again, he could hardly believe his luck.
‘I’ve never seen you like this,’ Jodi said, her curiosity evident in her lowered voice, for his youngest sister never spoke in anything lower than a bellow. ‘I’m really looking forward to meeting the woman who can make you look like that!’
‘You’ll meet her soon enough.’
When he’d had enough time to warn her about the Andrews clan and the overwhelming barrage of noise, warmth and bear hugs she’d be at the receiving end of.
Jodi tilted her chin up in the classic challenging pose of all the Andrews sisters. ‘When?’
Smiling, he pushed the fruit platter across to her. ‘Here, junior needs his or her daily dose of vitamins.’
‘Don’t try to distract me, it won’t work.’ She popped a plump raspberry into her mouth, wincing slightly at its tartness. ‘I want to meet your wife.’
‘You will.’
He just wanted her to himself for a bit longer. After six years apart, six years too long, was that too much for a guy to ask?
‘So why the funny look when I mentioned you two having kids?’
He should have known. Jodi would never let up, but he’d be damned if he sat here and discussed Cam’s medical history with his nosy sister.
‘Just leave it alone, Jode. We’ve only just reunited, so give us a break, okay?’
She fixed him with a shrewd stare, her mouth opening in readiness to pump him for more information and he held up a hand.
‘Not another word. Change the subject or I’ll make sure you don’t meet Cam for the next year.’
‘You’re no fun,’ she huffed, sending him a killer glare as she nibbled a dry biscuit. ‘You can’t blame me for being curious.’
‘Patience, Sis, patience. You’ll meet her soon enough.’
As
