This Time Around (7 page)

“Really? That is your answer. What happened to the cocky roadie I met ten years ago? The guy who could smile and make every woman’s knickers melt right off their bodies just by smiling at them.” She smiles back at me and I know that my next answer will shock her senseless.

“He grew up, Bambi. He had a son.” The look on her face is priceless. She opens her mouth to say something but closes it again. The waiter brings our drinks to the table and I tell him to give us a little more time to decide.

“I-I didn’t think you would tell me about him straight away. I thought you would hide him from me until we talked a little more.” Her comment makes my back rise. It pisses me the fuck off. Why the fuck would I hide my son from her?

“I am not ashamed of my son,
Penny
.” I grit out her name. My voice harsh from her words. “I fucking love my son, and I would never hide him from anyone.” I shake my head at her. Picking my phone up off the table, I stand up ready to leave her sitting there. Staring down at her shocked face that has a hint of hurt on her beautiful features. But she needs to understand that she can’t say shit like that to me. Knox is my reason to breathe. My reason to get my arse up every morning and go to work. Everything I do is for him. “I guess we both changed over the last few years. I will never hide my son. I can see that me having a son is going to be a problem for you. Have a great day, Penny.” I step away from the table but Penny doesn’t let me get far. She grabs my wrist halting my exit.

I can see the regret in her eyes and it makes my chest ache a little. “I’m sorry, Liam. I didn’t mean that the way it came out. Shit, I am messing this up. Sorry. Listen, please sit down so we can talk some more. Please?” Her voice cracks with emotion and my heart wins out as I take my seat again.

“Liam. I didn’t mean for it to come out that you are ashamed of your son. I know how you feel. I-I umm. Shit. I have a daughter, Liam. She is nine years old. Her name is Connie.” My breath stills in my chest. She has a daughter. Adrian never mentioned a fucking daughter. We talked plenty in the last four weeks but it was mostly business. I think back and try to calculate the dates.

HOLY FUCKING SHIT.

The dates pretty much, match up.

HOLY. FUCKING. SHIT.

Could I have a daughter that I never knew about? Or did Penny go and shag some other guy after I left and got pregnant? Both questions piss me off. On one hand, the fact is if her daughter is mine then I missed nine fucking years of her life. And on the other hand, some other dickhead has touched her.

“You- you have a daughter?” I stammer out. Her smile widens and I swear my breath hitches.

“I do. She is beautiful, and yes I know I am biased but you should see her,”

“Can I?” I ask, hope lacing my voice.

“Of course.” She lifts her bag off the floor and places it on the table and starts digging through it. I never understood the fascination with large bags. Once she finds her phone, she returns her bag to the floor and unlocks her iPhone. I watch and wait, my heart beating a mile a minute in my chest. Thank Christ that I work out and I know my heart is in pretty damn good condition. She smiles and jumps up from her seat and sits down in the seat next to me.

“Here. This is Connie just before I went away with Rachel. I wanted loads of photos of us together, to help me cope over there.” I take the phone from her tiny hands and stare at the girl on the screen. Her hair is ink black just like mine, and her eyes are a pale blue. My chest eases a little when I see that she has no resemblance to Knox. I turn my gaze to Penny and then back to the phone in my hand. She smiles proudly at the phone, ignoring my presence. I slide my finger across the screen and a photo of both Penny and Connie stare back at me. Something flicks through my head. She looks nothing like Penny.

“She must look like her dad, because she looks nothing like you, Bambi,” I joke.

But desperately seeking answers without actually asking the questions. Yep, I am too chicken shit to ask. She gets a far away look in her eyes before she shakes her head. I assume shaking her head of the thoughts that she has in her head. She takes the phone out of my hand and our fingers graze slightly, but enough to send a static shock up my arm. Penny goes to stand but I place my hand on her thigh, silently telling her to stay next to me.

“Talk to me about Connie’s father? Did he hurt you, baby?” I ask.

She shakes her head. “No, he never hurt me. I ummm.” Before she can finish her sentence, her name gets called from across the cafe. We both turn and look at who is calling her. Penny shakes her head and looks at me. “I’m sorry, Liam.”

“For what?” I ask, totally confused. We both sit and watch as the woman walks towards us. Her red hair framing her face. She stops at our table and looks between Bambi and me. Her smile never leaving her face.

“Well, who is the sexy piece of man meat?” the woman asks, and I can’t stop the shocked look that crosses my face or the freaking heat that rises up my neck. “Aww, isn’t he a sweetie. Look at him blush. So, hi, I’m Rachel. Best friend and partner in crime. And by partner in crime I mean, sitting around at night helping our girl here break the hearts of men all around the town. Especially at the hospital,” she winks at Penny, who just moans into her hands. The sound vibrates through my body, stopping at my dick, making my jeans tighter in the zipper area.

“Oh, God. Please, tell me that the ground is opening up and I can fall right in.” Rachel ignores Penny’s embarrassment and takes the seat that Penny was sitting in earlier. I put my arm around her shoulders and pull her tight to my body.

“Oh, Bambi. I take it Rachel is in the job of embarrassing you from time, to time?” Rachel’s gaze follows my arm as it settles around Penny’s shoulders.

“Bambi?” Rachel asks while quirking an eyebrow.

“Yeah. Bambi. It is my nickname for Penny. The night we met, Penny here tripped over her own feet a few times and the name stuck with me. Every time I thought of her I thought of the name. Whenever Knox wanted to watch the movie, it made me smile. She will always be my Bambi,” I explain, looking Penny in the eye.

“Knox?” Rachel asks again. Penny giggles next to me.

“My son,” I state.

"Oh, umm,” Rachel just stares at us.

“I can see that you are affected by this hot piece of man meat.” Penny giggles again and I am pretty sure that my dick will have zipper dents in it by the time I leave her. “Rachel Cullen, meet Liam Bradley aka
my
roadie.” This time it is Rachel’s face that wears the shock. She opens her mouth to say something but snaps it shut. Her eyes are wide and she takes in both Penny and me. She tries to say something but again she snaps her mouth shut.

“Holy shit, did I render the Rachel no-filter Cullen, speechless?” Penny laughs so loud that people in the cafe turn in our direction. I can’t help but chuckle at Rachel’s face. Penny is still cracking up but she is wiping the tears away from her eyes.

I think I am going to enjoy being around Bambi and her friends. I just need to get her alone and carry on our talk about Connie and her father. I need to know, for my sake as well as Knox’s and even Connie’s. Smiling at the girls bantering back and forth, I plot my next attempt to get my Bambi alone.

After meeting Liam at the cafe yesterday, we have text almost non-stop. I feel like a bloody teenager again, well minus the iPhone. My first mobile was a crappy Nokia thing, where you had to hit the number button a few times to get the correct letter you wanted. I hated it; it took bloody ages to write a message. Thank God mobile phones have advanced hugely since then.

Putting the washing on the line, I think back to the night I had with Liam. The way he felt, and the way he made me feel. I became a different person when I was with him. Even if only for one night. The way his arms moved above me, his muscles tensing as he moved inside me. The slow motion building the sexual tension riding through my body. I squeeze my thighs together and it is like I can feel him in me.

“Mum. Mum, where are you?” Connie’s voice breaks the trance and my cheeks flush red, even though I know no-one can see me.

“Out in the garden, Con. Listen, go and jump in the shower. I need to pop into town and pick a few things up before I start back to work on Monday, plus we can have breakfast out,” I shout back to her. Connie appears through the patio doors in her watermelon pj’s, her hair matted from her tossing and turning all night. She hits all four corners of the bed when she sleeps.

“M’kay,” she mumbles, as she walks back into the house and up the stairs to get ready for the day.

Finishing up pegging the clothes out, I carry the washing basket back into the house and set another load of washing in the machine. My phone beeps on the kitchen island, I’m hoping it is Suzy getting back to me about my work hours.

Yes! I love this shift. Plus weekends off. Bonus. It means I am here for Connie in the morning, and during the summer I am there for her before she goes to bed. I love working during the summer months. I’ll work these hours during the summer, but once Connie goes back to school my hours will change. I work five days out of seven which is great for me. Thank Christ for family support.

Sitting in the little cafe in town, Connie is stuffing her bacon and egg sandwich in her mouth like it is her last meal. I chuckle and she smiles around the food in her mouth.

“Sweetie, slow down. Okay listen, I thought we should get your new uniform today, that way it is done and out of the way. New shoes and bag. Let’s get everything today so I have one less thing to worry about.”

“OK. Lydia said that New Look have the bag I was looking at online before you went away. But it is half the price, so I thought I could get that,” she states. Connie is always thinking of ways to save money. She is never asking for things if she doesn’t need them. What she doesn’t know yet is that she is set up for life.

“Okay, well we can pop in there first and look at bags and shoes. Then over to the uniform shop and get you stocked up for this term. You will need new stationery and books.”

“Sounds good,” she answers. I take another drink of my coffee and look around the cafe, taking in the different people in here enjoying their breakfast and gossiping about what their plans are for today. I love living here, everyone knows everyone and I think that keeps everyone safe.

Once we finish our breakfast, we hit the shops and start getting the things Connie will need for school once it starts back in September. The summer is only six weeks, and for that I am grateful. When we were on the nurse’s programme I made friends with an American woman, and she said that the kids over there have three months of summer. Don’t get me wrong I love Connie, but having her home for three months would make me pull my hair out. Connie gets the bag she needs like her life depended on it, her words not mine. We also get the shoes that she was looking at. The town centre is packed with people, more than normal for a Saturday, but I know that some parents are like me. They like to get a head start on the school purchases. I thought having the one child was killing the bank, but I know that most parents have more than one child in school. We stop by the bakery that we love so much.

“Morning, Miss Helen,” Connie says, as she bounces through the door.

“Well if it isn’t my favourite, poppet. So what are you lovely ladies doing this morning?” she asks.

“Mum brought me shopping to get new school uniform sorted
and the other stuff I will need,” Connie explains.

“That’s good. How are you enjoying the summer so far? Oh, and Penny, how was the Nurses Aid program?”

“Hey, Helen. The NAP was amazing, I learned so much over there, it was eye opening that’s for sure. I think Connie is enjoying the time off school. Sleeping in and going out playing with her friends.”

“Typical nine-year-old then?” I nod. “Okay, so what can I get you two today?”

I look over at Connie, whose eyes are scouring over the glass cases that are the only thing between Connie and all the delicious looking cakes. Connie has a huge sweet tooth. Me, I am more of a savoury person. Give me a corned beef pasty any day.