Thea took a long breath, letting it out slowly. “I’m not sure now. I miss him. Ammy misses him. I didn’t think they were that close. She trusts him and loves Lucas, too.”
“A real ready-made family. So, what’s the problem? Apart from the “over-zealous ex?” Josh lifted his fingers to wrap air quotes around his words.
Thea waited a moment, the gentle gurgle of the river calming her racing thoughts. “First, we’re so different. He’s organised and focused. Intense. Smart. All the things I’m not.”
“You’re smart. Maybe not right now, but usually. And sometimes different is good. Look at Mum and Dad. They should never have worked out on paper, but they were so happy. I spoke to Mum yesterday. She worries about you, too.”
Thea wrinkled her nose. She hadn’t spoken to her mum in a few weeks. After their dad died, she moved to Portugal to paint and drink wine for the rest of her days. Their mum was notoriously vocal with her opinions, and Thea wasn’t entirely sure what she’d make of Felix Walsh.
“She was so happy when you found Phil and settled down,” said Josh, picking up another pebble and throwing it into the water.
“But Felix is nothing like Phil.”
“Does he have to be?”
“Phil would want me to be with someone like him. Someone to look after Ammy and the farm.”
Josh shook his head. “But who gets to look afteryou? And honestly, nobody could ever be like Phil. He was a bloody saint. Trying to live up to his memory would be exhausting. Even the Dali Lama would struggle.” Josh watched her carefully as he rubbed the back of his neck. “Look, I’m your brother, so I get to say this. You’re being an idiot.”
Her mouth dropped open like one of the little green frogs in the shallows, waiting for passing bugs. “Hey!”
“All I’m saying is that nobody is asking you to commit to Felix forever. You only just met.”
“Exactly.”
“But why wouldn’t you take a chance? Maybe things could work out. Maybe we get rid of the awful ex, and you can have it all.”
The corners of Thea’s lips trembled at the thought of them strapping Adrienne to their old rowboat and launching her off down the river, never to be seen again. “But what about Ammy? And Lucas? What if Felix and I don’t work out, and they get hurt? I can’t do it to her. Not after Phil.”
Josh weaved an arm around Thea and gently hugged her close. “Then she’d have her awesome mother and her incredibly good-looking uncle to take care of her.”
Thea grinned, leaning into him. “You’re a dork.”
“Runs in the family. Listen, if we worried about everything thatcouldhappen and put nothing on the line, we’d all die lonely.”
“I know.” Her words escaped in a thin, strangled voice, and the tears that’d threatened to come earlier arrived.
Josh threaded another arm around her to take her into a full hug. “I’ve said it before. We really make a silly pair, don’t we? But you can fix this. You can have a chance at a happy ever after if you’re willing to take it.”
Thea sniffed a laugh through her runny nose. “Are you trying to give me a bit of the old Kitty and Josh magic? Bringing me down here to the river?”
“Well, you could do with some, couldn’t you? This place is where I first realised what I could lose if I didn’t open my heart. The first place I acted like a complete coward. If I’d have got over my fears, just like my smart sister said, if I’d told Kitty howI felt, I’d never have wasted so much time. I caused myself so much heartache. Don’t be like your dorky brother.”
Thea nodded, chewing her bottom lip. After a hug to rival Elsa and Anna at the end ofFrozen, Josh let go of Thea and ruffled her hair. She batted him off with a laugh.
While Josh stood to gather the horses to head back, Thea picked up another stone, bigger this time. She threw it into the green depths. As it hit the surface, ripples spread out across the river, wobbling the reflection of the willow above their heads.
Who’d have been able to predict the extent of the ripples created the day she splashed Felix with cold, dirty water?
But Josh was right. All she’d done was make herself miserable. And Ammy, too. Didn’t she deserve a chance at having a real father figure in her life?
Felix didn’t have to replace Phil, and her husband had always joked she was too selfless. Maybe the time had come to be selfish.
42
FELIX
Felix sat in his home office. He ran his fingertips over the newspaper on the desk in front of him. Its cool surface couldn’t soothe the ache in his chest, though. He’d found the picture last week, buried somewhere in the business pages of the paper Gemma had sent him. A picture of his party at the hotel. A picture of him with Thea.
