Free Capturing the Single Dad’s Heart by Kate Hardy Page A

gardens in London that you want to go and see. Then we’ll work through your list together over the next few weeks.’
    Caitlin’s eyes grew round as she looked at Erin’s phone. ‘But this is the latest...’
    â€˜I know. I’m a total tech junkie,’ Erin admitted with a grin. ‘They give me a hard time about it at work because I always get the newest version on the very first day it comes out. I have been known to queue up outside the shop at stupid o’clock to make sure I get one.’
    â€˜But if I drop it...’ Caitlin looked worried.
    â€˜Then, yes, the screen would probably crack and I’d have to get it fixed, which would be a pain. But I’m trusting you not to drop it. You’re thirteen, not a baby,’ Erin said briskly. ‘OK. We’re going to Kew instead of trampolining, so we’re taking a different route from our original one. You’re looking for the District Line, which is the green one. Go and have a look at the map on the wall and tell me which station we need to change at to get there.’
    â€˜OK.’ Caitlin carefully put Erin’s phone in her pocket to keep it safe, and went over to look at the map of the Tube™ lines on the wall.
    â€˜Oh, my God. She’s talking to you like I’ve never heard her talk to my mum or to me—even in the days when she was little and seemed to like being with me. How did you do that?’ Nate asked, looking impressed.
    â€˜I was straight with her,’ Erin said. ‘I told her I’d been in the same place as her, so we’ve got something in common. And I just hit lucky with the garden thing.’ She wrinkled her nose. ‘Sorry. That’s going to be a bit difficult for you. I promise I didn’t do it to score points off you—it was just the first thing that came into my head.’
    â€˜I know you’re not scoring points, and it’s fine. More than fine.’ Nate looked relieved. ‘You’ve just given me something I can do for her. She can have her own patch in my back garden—and my mum loves gardening, so it gives her something in common with my mum as well. You’re amazing, Erin.’
    She lifted both hands in a ‘stop’ signal. ‘I’m not amazing. I’m just me. And it’s very early days. It’s not all going to be plain sailing and you’re still going to have fights. But this is a good start and you can build on that—because now you both know you’re on the same team, right?’
    â€˜Yeah.’ Nate swallowed. ‘You have no idea how good this feels.’
    â€˜It’s good for me, too, knowing that I can stop someone feeling as bad as I did at that age,’ she said. ‘So you don’t owe me anything, OK? This is a situation where everybody wins.’
    Caitlin came back and recited directions about where they had to go and where they had to change lines.
    â€˜Great. You’re in charge of getting us there,’ Erin said.
    â€˜But—’ Caitlin looked shocked.
    â€˜The best way to learn your way about on the Tube™,’ Erin said, ‘is to just do it. If you miss your stop, don’t worry—all you do is get off at the next station, cross to the other platform and go back the other way. There’s only one rule.’
    â€˜Rule?’ Caitlin looked wary.
    â€˜I don’t have many rules,’ Erin said, ‘but they’re not negotiable and they’re not breakable. If you get on the train and you end up separated from me or your dad, then you get off the train at the very next station and you stay right there on the platform where you get off. Then we can find you easily. Same as if I get on first and I’m separated from you, then you stay where you are on the platform and you get on the next train in exactly that place—then when you get off at the next stop you’ll see me as soon as you get out of the