There was a moment of silence, and then—
‘Actually,’ Lissa’s voice piped up, a mischievous glint in her eye, ‘I think there might be someone – or two someones – who’d like to make an announcement.’
All eyes in the room swivelled towards her. Clara’s cheeks flushed hot, her heart hammering in her chest. She glanced atSam, who looked equally caught off guard. He looked like he was chewing his tongue, possibly planning numerous ways to get Lissa back for this.
‘Oh, yes.’ Gil looked around, clearly wondering who and what.
‘Um.’ Clara raised her hand. ‘I assume you mean us?’ She eyeballed Lissa. ‘For which I’ll be having words with you later.’
‘Us?’ Gil frowned at her.
‘Yeah, me too.’ Sam raised his hand too. ‘We’re guilty of causing the intrigue.’
‘Intrigue?’ Adele blinked at the two of them. ‘Holy shit… Pardon my French. But are you two together?’
‘Guilty as charged,’ Sam said.
‘Very guilty.’ Clara looked at him and smiled.
‘But that’s amazing!’ Brenna squealed, leaning over and hugging Clara.
Finlay wolf-whistled and Clara laughed.
‘Way to go, man.’ Isaac clapped Sam on the shoulder. ‘That’s like… wild, but so nice.’
‘Aw.’ Polly got up and came over to hug them too once Brenna moved back. ‘I love this news.’
Clara laughed, hugging Polly.
‘Well…’ Gil shook his head. ‘That got more response than my announcement. But I’m not downcast. In fact, I’m downright delighted.’
Clara smiled at Sam. No one could be more delighted than her. Her heart was ready to burst with joy.
‘Congratulations to you both,’ Gil said. ‘Just don’t let it interfere with work.’
‘No danger,’ Sam said, though he gently nudged Clara. Yup, there was every danger, but Gil didn’t need to know that.
Looking up, she caught Kerr grinning at her. ‘Wow, you two. That’s so great.’ He nodded like a penny was dropping, and sheknew he was thinking about the day last week when he’d seen them picnicking.
Hopefully she could go back to having an easy friendship with him now, minus the awkwardness. Because no matter what she’d once felt for him, it would never be anything compared to what she felt for Sam. He was her everything.
She’d first seen him in this room just last year. From day one, they’d been friends, and now to the year dot, they’d be so much more.
Gil dismissed them all, and Clara went to close the notebook on her lap. But before she did, she scribbled on it.
Sam and Clara, from friends to forever, and pushed it towards Sam. He grinned, put his hand out and rested it on her knee.
‘Forever,’ he whispered.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Sam
June
Sam perched on the edge of his desk, clapping his hands lightly to bring the room’s attention back to him.
‘Ok, everyone, eyes up here for a moment. Let’s talk about persuasive writing. Who can tell me what they think it means?’
