Bittersweet

By Jacquie Underdown

A vineyard, a family in pain, and the healing magic of cupcakes...

Amy Jenkins, a talented and ambitious chef, is left humiliated and debt–ridden, after her city restaurant fails. When her best friend calls asking for help in her small town cupcake shop, Amy jumps at the chance to hide out in the small town of Alpine Ridge while her shattered ego mends.

The youngest Mathews brother, Tom feels over–looked and under–appreciated. His brothers remember every mistake, but never give him the responsibility or opportunity to take his place in the family business. So, he spends three weeks out of every month working at a mine in the back–end of nowhere. But then Amy moves to town to help run his pregnant sister–in–law's bakery, and suddenly home seems to be where his heart is.

Amy's move was only ever meant to be temporary, but when tragedy strikes the Mathews family, Amy finds herself unable to move on. As she and Tom get closer, Amy finds every excuse to stay: first, she claims it's for the family, then she claims it's for the shop. But maybe, it's for her own heart...

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Australia
• Release date: Jan 1, 2018
• ISBN: 9781489255228

Jacquie Underdown

Jacquie resides in sunny Brisbane with her husband and two sons. Numbers and practicality are a way of life for Jacquie as she works as an accountant by day. So it's no wonder, for sanity's sake, she balances this banality with words, characters and imagination in all other possible moments. Jacquie is an author of a number of novels and writes contemporary women's fiction that is emotionally driven and possesses unique themes beyond the constraints of the physical universe. She strives to offer romance, but with complexity; spirituality, without the religion. Her novels express a purpose and offer subtle messages about life, the spirit and, of course, love.

Book preview

Chapter 1

Amy Jenkins couldn’t get away from Alpine Ridge fast enough. She pressed her foot to the floor, urging the old rust bucket ahead. The engine groaned.

No way was this car sturdy enough to make it the three-hour drive to Melbourne, but she was out of options.

A trail of dust skirted behind her as she raced along the gravel track. The autumn colours of the vineyard, seen through the windscreen, were blurring together behind a watery film of tears.

A sob broke from her throat, and she slammed her palm against the steering wheel. Everything that meant anything to her was lost. Nothing existed inside. She owned nothing. Her dreams were shattered. Every constructed part of her identity had been picked away until she was left gaping and raw.

Shoulders slumping, Amy pressed a hand to her chest, trying to ease the dull ache. She sought an anchor to cling to but found nothing, no-one to hold her up, not even a sense of self. Her heart thudded out a staccato beat as that little nugget of misery dawned on her.

Where did she go now that she’d reached the end?

How did she find the sunshine from the darkness of rock bottom?

She shook. Tears stole her vision. If she didn’t pull over right now, she would crash, so she eased the car to the side of the track and cut the engine. She dropped her head against the steering wheel and fell apart.

Amy Jenkins, who had lived every day for the last twenty-nine years, died at that moment. The world she had built crumbled around her shoulders.

An engine roared in the distance. She wiped at her face and glanced up into the rearview mirror. The glinting metal of a car was speeding down the hill. She turned the key in the ignition, but the engine let out a tired series of gasps rather than the rumble she was hoping for. Damn it!

She twisted the key again and sputtering grunts and clicks sounded. A glance out the windscreen revealed another car heading towards her. The car behind came to a stop, gravel and sticks crunching under the tyres.

Ahead, the ute skidded to a halt metres from where she sat. Amy’s good sense begged her not to look at the man in the driver’s seat—it would only hurt her all the more to do so, but she had no choice, this stupid car wasn’t letting her go anywhere.

The door flung open and Tom climbed out. His jaw was set. His neck was straining. When he faced her and met her gaze through the windscreen, his shoulders relaxed and relief overcame his features for a few heartbeats. Enough time for yearning to throb through her body, sinking deep into her bones. Tom.

He looked past her to the car behind and glowered. The image in the mirror reflected Mitch climbing from his car. A fierceness overcame Tom’s stance, and his fists clenched and unclenched at his side as he stormed towards Mitch.

Oh no no no!

Amy yanked the handle, thrust the door open and scrambled out. ‘Tom!’ she yelled, but he didn’t acknowledge her, his long, determined steps not faltering for a second. She rushed after him, not knowing what she could do to stop him, but she needed to be nearby, just in case.

Tom charged at Mitch and shoved him in the chest. Mitch stumbled backwards but regained his balance.

‘You …’ growled Tom, palms colliding with Mitch’s chest again. The height difference was never more obvious as Tom loomed over his brother, but Mitch was more solid, even with the weight he had lost over the last few months, and he managed to keep his footing.

Tom pressed closer until he was face to face with his brother. ‘No more interfering in my life. It ends now!’

Mitch held his hands up. ‘Let me talk first.’

‘No. You listen to me.’ Tom raised his fist. He slammed it like a hard rock into Mitch’s jaw. A sickening smack sounded. Mitch’s head flung to the side, and he stumbled backwards.

Amy screamed, ‘Tom! No.’

Tom pressed closer, poised to strike again.

‘No, Tom. Don’t. Don’t.’

Tom thumped Mitch again. The revolting crack curled in Amy’s stomach like rancid food. If Mitch hadn’t defended himself yet, he wasn’t going to. He was going to take the blows until his brother’s fire was out. Amy’s heartrate ratcheted because she was unsure how long that would take.

She sprinted, screaming, ‘Stop it! Tom, please, stop.’ She grabbed Tom’s arm. His chest was heaving, his nostrils flared.

Mitch’s face was blotchy red. An open gash on his cheek leaked blood down his face and neck.

Tom glared at Mitch, his jaw tight, but when Amy trailed her fingers down his rigid arm, desperate to diffuse his anger, he turned and met her pleading gaze. With each deep breath, his tensed muscles eased and face relaxed. He dropped his hands to his side and sighed.

Tom. Thank God.

But a different determination crept into his stance and expression. Before she could decipher what it meant, he squatted, gripped Amy by the waist and hoisted her up in the air. He threw her over his shoulder and marched to his ute.

She punched his back, but it was useless, he didn’t even register her fists. She hadn’t the power to compete with his size and strength.

‘Let me down,’ she yelled.

He opened the passenger side door and bundled her into the car. ‘You’re not going anywhere. Your home is here … with me.’ He shut the door and marched around to the driver’s side.

Mitch jogged over. ‘Wait. Let me talk.’

Tom hesitated, looked up at his brother, and his shoulders rolled inwards. Despite the anger radiating from him moments earlier, Tom was obviously broken.

How did they all get to this point? How could all their lives unravel so fast?

Chapter 2

Four months earlier

Amy sat on the edge of the lounge chair, head in her hands. The dense whirling of thoughts in her mind, spinning and spinning, ad infinitum, gave the phone the presence of an intrusive neighbour banging on the door. The ringtone strummed on her nerves like the callused pads of fingertips, made her teeth ache.

The phone stopped, and she sighed. She could go back to thinking. Thinking, she could handle. Anything else …

But as soon as the phone quieted, it rang again. Amy lifted her face from her hands and looked at her mobile dancing across the discoloured timber top of the coffee table. Her best friend’s face flashed on the screen. Rachel’s song, the one she’d chosen for her, reverberated through the small apartment. Amy watched until the screen went black.

Silence.

Then, sure enough, Rachel’s face lit up the screen again. One missed call—nothing to worry about. Two in a row hinted at importance. But three, one after the other, meant urgency and that realisation nestled in Amy’s belly like a sinking bag of bricks.

She lurched forward, grabbed the phone and held it to her ear. ‘Hello.’ Her voice was gritty to her own ears.

‘Amy. It’s Rachel.’

Amy’s pulse quickened. Her friend’s voice was different. Flustered. ‘Everything okay?’

‘Actually, no. I’m in hospital at the moment. There’re some complications with the pregnancy.’

A buoyant dizziness ballooned in Amy’s head. Her heart thundered. ‘What? Is … are you … is the baby …?’

‘I’m fine. The baby’s fine. The doctors have it under control.’

‘What’s wrong? Which hospital?’

‘It’s my blood pressure. It’s too high. But they’re managing it. They’ve transferred me to Melbourne in case the baby needs to be delivered early. There’s a care unit here …’

Her voice cracked, and she stopped.

Amy squeezed the bridge of her nose and sighed. ‘So, it’s serious?’

‘It can be. They’ve got me on medication that seems to be working.’

‘I’m coming to see you right now. Is Mitch there?’

‘Yes. He’s here. You don’t have to visit if you’ve got work.’

Just hearing that word work made her guts clench. But there were more important things at play here than how she felt. ‘I’ll be there in an hour. Text me through your ward number.’

‘Thanks, Amy. I can’t wait to see you.’

‘You too. See you soon.’

Amy hung up with a sigh. She marched to the kitchen to plug her phone in to charge. As she connected the cord, she noticed her shaking hands. Her heart was still racing.

Rachel was her best friend. If anything happened to her baby …

No. She couldn’t think like that. She owed it to Rachel to be positive. The hospital in Melbourne was second to none; Rachel and the baby would be in the best of hands.

Holding a box of chocolates and a bunch of flowers, Amy paced through the hospital ward. She poked her head into Rachel’s room. She was in bed, dressed in a nightie, her rounded belly protruding from under a white sheet.

At Christmas time, when Amy had seen Rachel last, she was five months pregnant. Barely showing. The change in Rachel’s body in the short two months was surprising.

Mitch, her husband, was sitting in the chair beside the metal-framed bed, his hand on Rachel’s stomach. They were in quiet discussion. Amy hesitated in the doorway, but they both turned their heads to face her.

Rachel’s face lit up with a smile. If this were a dire situation, Rachel wouldn’t be smiling so easily, surely? Amy smiled back, too familiar with how a well-constructed veneer could hide truer emotions.

‘Amy.’ The cheery warmth in Rachel’s voice helped soothe the knot in her belly.

Amy moved to the bed and kissed her friend on the cheek. ‘Hi, Rach. It’s so good to see you.’

Rachel grinned. ‘It is.’

‘I bought these for you,’ Amy said nodding to the flowers and chocolates in her hand.

The colourful arrangement of yellow, fluffy billy buttons mingled with taut strands of green foliage brought pleasure to Rachel’s face. ‘Thank you. You didn’t have to do that. They’re beautiful.’

‘Here, let me take those,’ Mitch said, standing.

Amy went to him and was dwarfed by his enormous height and breadth. His usually shaven jaw was covered with rich brown stubble and prickled against her lips as she reached high onto her tiptoes and kissed his cheek. ‘Good to see you, Mitch.’

‘You too,’ he said taking the presents from her.

Mitch found an empty vase and set about dealing with the flowers. Amy sat on the side of the bed. Despite the brassy hospital lighting, Rachel looked stunning with her long brown hair falling around her shoulders and brown eyes shining.

Amy took her hand and squeezed it gently. ‘Everything okay?’

Rachel nodded and stroked her stomach with her free hand. ‘It is now. We were scared for a little while there, weren’t we?’ she said, voice cracking and eyes glossing as she turned to Mitch.

Mitch nodded and sat in the chair beside them. ‘A little scared. But you’re both in good hands now.’

Rachel laughed. ‘You should have seen me. I swelled up like a bloody toad.’

Amy giggled as the image of that appeared in her mind. ‘Because of your blood pressure?’

‘Pre-eclampsia. I didn’t even know what it was until last night.’

‘But they’re treating it?’

Rachel hesitated, shared a glance with Mitch. ‘They’re managing it.’

Amy nodded slowly. ‘And what does that mean?’

A brave, shaky smile curled Rachel’s lips. ‘It means they may have to give me a caesarean early if conditions become worse. And because I’m only thirty-two weeks …’ She stopped and lowered her eyes to her stomach.

Amy squeezed her hand a little harder and blinked back the moisture in her eyes. Her next deep breath inwards was for courage as well as much needed air.

‘There’re some risks involved with that, but everything will be fine,’ Mitch said, straining a smile.

‘The doctors here know what they’re doing and will take fantastic care of you both.’ Amy’s enthusiastic nod and confident, albeit shaky, smile hopefully conveyed reassurance.

When Rachel looked up, her eyes were red. ‘Yeah. I know. It’s just a little scary. And then there’re all these crazy hormones in my body making me feel.’

Amy giggled. ‘Blerg! Feelings. Who needs those, right?’

‘That’s what I say. And pregnancy sends them into overdrive. I cried during The Block. The bloody Block because a contestant didn’t have a delivery turn up on time.’

Mitch rolled his eyes as he chuckled. ‘That’s what I’m dealing with.’

Amy laughed. ‘Terrible. Ghastly.’

‘I know, right? And now I’ve got to spend the next couple of months in here with nothing but daytime television and glossy magazines. I’ll be crying non-stop, in between being bored out of my brain.’

Mitch stood, commanding her attention—the sheer size and ridiculously good looks of this man always managed to do that.

When he and his two brothers were all together, it was even worse, as though she was a marionette, strings rotating her head until the three brothers were her sole focus. She dared any woman not to be mesmerised by their overwhelming presence.

Perhaps there was something in that wine they produced at the vineyard they owned, or maybe even the clean Victorian highland air. ‘I’m going to buy a coffee. You want one, Amy?’

Amy shook her head. ‘I’m fine, thanks.’

‘What about you, babe? You need anything? A green tea?’

Rachel shook her head. ‘I’m fine too.’

He smiled as he leaned over and kissed Rachel on the cheek. ‘I’ll take my time and let you two catch up.’

When he left the room, Rachel sighed. ‘It’s so good to see you. How’s it all going?’

Sharp emotions stirred inside, and Amy’s muscles tightened.

Rachel frowned. ‘Oh no, what happened?’

Amy shook her head and planted a fake smile on her face even though Rachel would see right through it. She always did.

‘Amy? The restaurant?’

Amy nodded. No words, though, lest the ache in her throat and warm prickle in the back of her eyes transpired as pesky tears. Rachel was who was important now, not the damn stupid restaurant.

‘It’s over?’ guessed Rachel.

Again Amy nodded and kept her mouth sealed, though her bottom lip and chin were trembling.

‘I’m sorry.’ Rachel held her arms out. ‘Come here.’ Amy fell into her arms and hugged her friend. ‘I’m so sorry. I know how much the restaurant meant to you.’

Tears were screaming to be released, but Amy wouldn’t succumb. Not now. Not here. Amy sat up and blew out a long breath. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said, shaking her head. ‘This is not appropriate to be whingeing about the loss of my restaurant when your health and your baby’s health—’

‘Don’t be silly,’ Rachel interrupted. ‘Of course I want to know what’s going on with you. I know how hard you’ve pushed and pushed with that restaurant.’

Amy smoothed loose strands of hair behind her ears.

‘So what are you going to do?’

Amy shrugged. ‘I don’t know. I haven’t had time to think about what’s next.’ She hated that her voice was wavering. ‘I guess I’ll go get a job at a restaurant. Be someone’s lackey again. I just can’t face it. I feel like such a failure.’

Rachel shook her head, her eyes narrowed. ‘You’re not a failure, Amy Jenkins. You’re the most courageous person I know. Chasing your dreams like you have. There will be an opportunity again. You watch.’

Amy sighed. ‘I hope so. Anyway, let’s not dwell on my little issues. How long are you going to be in here?’

‘Two months,’ she groaned through gritted teeth. ‘At the most. They’re assuming the baby will need to be born earlier, but they’re holding out as long as it’s safe.’

‘This is just a little hiccup. Before you know it, you’ll be home with your baby, and this will be a faded memory.’

‘That’s a nice way of looking at it.’ Rachel crossed her arms over her chest and frowned. ‘But I’m going to go stir-crazy. You know me, I can’t stop.’

Amy giggled. ‘Yes, I know you very well. So who’s going to run your cupcake shop while you’re here?’

Rachel shook her head, her frown deepening. ‘I have to close the doors. All the businesses I supply will go elsewhere. They’re not going to wait around for me. I may as well shut the doors for good.’

‘Oh, Rach. I’m so sorry.’

Rachel shrugged and rubbed her hand over her stomach. ‘Bringing my baby home healthy is more important than anything else.’

‘Absolutely. The most important.’

But Amy knew the shop, though small, was Rachel’s sanity in that small town.

Rachel had married Mitch and moved out to Alpine Ridge four years ago. A move that was predicted to be easy, but Rachel had been a city girl her entire life and the first twelve months in the tiny town were tough.

Mitch had his vineyard and winery, which he ran with his two brothers, and Rachel was welcome to help him in any capacity she wanted, but it wasn’t her dream. And the longer she stayed in Alpine Ridge, the more her independence was eroded.

Until she decided to open up a little cupcake shop in Main Street. She supplied the local town but also nearby cafes and restaurants with cupcakes and made decent pocket money. Amy had marvelled at the change in her friend, how the social contact had helped Rachel blossom in that town.

‘And what about Mitch? What’s he going to do while you’re here? Travel back and forth?’ Alpine Ridge was a three-hour drive. On top of his duties at the vineyard that would be taxing for anybody.

Tears welled in Rachel’s eyes. She shrugged, but there was a hopelessness in the movement. ‘He’ll stay here in the city most nights at a hotel.’

Amy screwed her face up. ‘That will cost you a fortune.’

‘It has to be done. I need him close by … just in case.’

‘Of course.’

Tears rolled down Rachel’s face.

A deep, sharp tug of understanding burned in Amy’s chest as the immensity of this situation dawned on her. Not only was the health of Rachel and her baby in jeopardy, but their entire lives had to come to a halt for two months while this played out.

‘I’m so sorry, Rach. This is not part of the plan.’

Rachel shook her head and wiped her eyes. ‘No. It isn’t. But I have to look on the bright side—I’m alive and my baby’s healthy. I have good professional care, and a wonderful husband and beautiful life to get back to when all this is over.’

‘Absolutely,’ Amy said squeezing Rachel’s foot and offering a watery smile. ‘As soon as it’s over, everything can go back to normal.’

Rachel giggled. ‘Except for the sleepless nights because of a hungry, screaming baby.’

‘Yes, there’s that.’

Rachel smiled so wide and sincere. ‘I can’t wait to meet this little one. It all feels so real now. She’s kicking and moving, and I love her to bits.’

Amy arched a brow. ‘She?’

Rachel laughed. ‘I’m guessing she’s a girl.’

‘And what are you planning on calling this little princess?’

A soft, warm smile tugged at Rachel’s lips. ‘Sophie.’

Tingles spread over Amy’s arms and along her scalp. ‘I love that.’

‘Me too,’ Rachel cooed. ‘Mitch and I hadn’t been able to decide on a name. And then last night when I was airlifted here, and we thought she might be coming early, we had to make a decision. We knew that Sophie was the right name for her.’

Airlifted here? Amy swallowed hard. ‘It’s been a scary twenty-four hours.’

‘Yep. Too scary for my liking.’

Mitch came back with a coffee in his hand. ‘From the bloodshot eyes, it looks like you two have caught up on each other’s lives.’

Rachel giggled. ‘All up-to-date.’

‘Good to see.’ He sank into the chair beside them and leaned back, stretching his long legs out in front of him. ‘How’s the restaurant going, Amy?’

Amy caught the narrowed eyes and subtle head-shake Rachel was throwing at Mitch to tell him to shut up.

Amy’s jaw ached as it tightened with tension. ‘It’s not.’

It burned her tongue to speak about it while the pain was fresh. Her insides were as taught as a rubber band ready to snap at any moment along with her emotions. But mostly, she was consumed with hot-cheeked embarrassment.

Mitch frowned. ‘Shit. I’m sorry.’

Amy lifted her chin high and held herself straighter, though her face was burning. ‘Right now, the most important thing is Rachel and baby Sophie.’

Mitch smiled at his wife and shared a look filled with warmth and hope for their little family.

‘Anyway,’ Amy said, standing. ‘I might take off and let the two of you have some privacy. I’ll pop back in tomorrow.’

Rachel nodded. ‘That would be nice.’

‘Do you need me to bring you anything?’

Rachel pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes as she thought. ‘How about a book. Or two.’

Amy grinned. ‘Sure.’

‘You know what I like.’

‘Yep. Romance. Sexy shirtless guy on the cover.’

Rachel winked. ‘You know I’m a sucker for a hot guy.’

Mitch laughed. ‘I’m not going to argue with logic.’

‘I’ll see you both tomorrow.’ Amy kissed Rachel’s cheek. ‘You stay strong, okay? Everything’s going to work out just fine.’

‘I sure hope so. Thanks for stopping by.’

When Amy arrived back to her car and paid the ridiculous hospital parking fees, she pulled out onto the street to join the midday traffic. Tension, like a heavy weight, pushed down on her shoulders and head.

First the restaurant and now hearing about Rachel, her stress levels had her wound so tight she could crack wide open at the mention of more bad news no matter how slight.

As she accelerated up the bustling city street, she shook her head. She had to get her priorities right. At the end of the day, she wasn’t the one stuck in a hospital room for the next two months in fear for her and her baby’s health.

Yes, Amy had a crushed ego. Her reputation was destroyed. And she had an unfathomable amount of debt. But the situation could be worse.

In twelve months’ time, she would look back on this and see that it wasn’t as bad as she presumed. She simply had to work through it.

But no amount of self-talk stopped the churning anxiety in her gut or the weariness burning behind her eyes. Dealing with the stress she’d had over the last twelve months, trying to make ends meet, clambering to bring customers through the door, reading the critics’ horrible reviews, applying for more and more credit she couldn’t afford, so she could pay her staff was like running a marathon every single day.

And right now, the accumulation of all that strain was making itself known. She was spent.

She would love to run away. Go hide under a rock for a year or two until the restaurant industry forgot about her. Until she forgot about her problems, her failures.

Amy squeezed the steering wheel, her nails digging into her palms. If she had have known a year ago that this was the result of all that risk, hard work and effort, she may never have done it.

The worst thing, above all else, was that she knew she could whinge and regret and get angry all she wanted, but it wasn’t going to change anything. No matter what, this was her life now, and she was going to have to deal with it.

Amy arrived back at her apartment. She eyed the couch in the tiny lounge room, then looked through to her bedroom. She thumped her forehead with her palm. She should have suggested Mitch stay here instead of a hotel.

This apartment didn’t have a spare room, only a couch, but it would beat the fourteen hundred plus dollars he’d be up for in a hotel. Not to mention parking fees. Takeaway food. She even had a spare parking space in the basement. He could buy his own food while he stayed here.

Amy shut the door behind her and went to the kitchen. She flicked on the jug to boil and pulled a mug from the cupboard.

But could she have Mitch staying here while she was going through the most stressful time of her life? She’d have to pretend that she was okay when inside she was falling apart. She’d have to be strong every day so as not to put any more on his plate, and she wasn’t sure she was capable of that right now when she was barely holding herself together.

Amy spooned coffee into her mug. She was silly; this wasn’t about her anymore. This was about her best friend needing help during a difficult time in her life. If the roles were reversed, Rachel would have her back without a doubt.

She reached for her phone on the bench and dialled Rachel’s number.

‘I have an idea,’ she said when Rachel answered.

‘Um … okay.’

A different thought stung her then and before she knew it, it was out of her mouth. ‘Why don’t I run your shop for the next couple of months? And in the meantime, Mitch can stay at my place in the city. It’s small, but it will save you the expense of a hotel. And that way he can spend as much time as he needs with you.’

There was no answer. Amy glanced at the screen to check if the connection had cut out. She pressed the phone back to her ear. Rachel was weeping.

‘Rach?’

A deep breath sounded, followed by Rachel’s shaky voice. ‘You would do that for me?’

Amy’s throat tightened with emotion. She swallowed hard. ‘Of course I would.’

‘I would appreciate that more than anything. To have Mitch here with me, not worrying … you don’t know how much stress that takes off us.’

A smile crept onto Amy’s lips though her eyes were watering. If there was one positive that could come out of her circumstances, this was it.

‘I’m glad I’m in the position to help.’ And she was, from the bottom of her heart, grateful to be there in any way she could while her friend went through this ordeal.

And two or so months in a small town without the hubbub of the city around her might be a great way to take a few breaths while she came up with a plan about what she was going to do next with her own life.

Chapter 3

Tom Mathews arrived at the vineyard late afternoon. He climbed from his ute and stretched his hands high above his head, sighing all the accumulated stress from the last three weeks of work from his lungs.

The highlands of Victoria were cooler than the harsh Western Australian mining town he toiled away in for most of the month. The hills were lush with green grass; it must have rained recently. The property stretched as far as his eyesight would allow.

And despite him escaping this place for most of the month, The Mathews Vineyard was his home—always had been.

He stretched his legs and back, breathing in the cool country air. After eight hours on a plane to Melbourne, then another three hours on the road to Alpine Ridge, he was stiff, and his arse was numb. Working twelve-hour shifts on his feet, day in day out, his body had learned to detest long periods of sitting in cramped spaces.

And economy seating didn’t accommodate for someone his height. Tom lifted out his small bag of gear from his ute and lugged it inside. He had a quick shower, changed into some fresh clothes and headed to the fridge for a beer.

But following him wherever he went was an undercurrent of anxiety he couldn’t shake. When his eldest brother, Mitch, had rung him last night, voice wavering in a way Tom had never heard before, he knew the complications with Rachel’s pregnancy were a big deal. Mitch’s voice barely ever showed emotion. He was always calm and easy, no matter the circumstances.

Tom uncapped the bottle and gulped down the cold brew with his eyes closed.

He needed a few moments to acknowledge he was home before he started on the strict set of instructions Mitch had left for him.

But his eyes snapped