Kaleb’s gaze burned into Sam, and when he looked over, there was an annoying smirk plastered across his son’s face.
‘What?’
‘Um… Who was that?’
‘Clara. She’s a teacher I work with.’
‘And she fancies you.’
‘No, she doesn’t.’ Sam started running again.
‘Totally does. She even called you “lovely”.’
Sam let out a short laugh. ‘That’s what she calls everyone. Trust me, she’s always like that.’
Kaleb shot him a sideways look. ‘Is she married?’
‘No.’ Sam gave a wry smile. ‘But she’s…’
‘What, in a relationship?’
Sam sighed. ‘Not exactly. She’s just out of a tough situation.’
‘Ah, a situationship. I get it.’
‘Not sure it was even that, to be honest. But it doesn’t matter anyway.’
‘Kind of does… Because if she’s free then—’
‘Then it’s nothing to do with me. That’s her business.’
‘But why? You need a date for that wedding you’re going to. Why not take her?’
Sam groaned. He’d shoved thoughts about the wedding firmly to the back of his mind while the inspection and the uncertainty around Olive’s job took centre stage, but Kaleb had a point. During the Easter holidays, Sam was due back in Somerset for his friend Dominic’s wedding, and while he didn’t technically need a plus one, turning up alone held zero appeal.
Dominic, for a start, would be insufferable about it. He always was. They’d been friends since school, and there was an old, unspoken dynamic between them that never quite died – Dominic was flirty, confident, perpetually partnered, and Sam was somehow always the spare part. Dominic’s first wife was an ex-girlfriend of Sam’s, which didn’t help. Not that there was bad blood about it. She and Sam had been school sweethearts but had been apart for years before she got together with Dominic.
What he felt now wasn’t jealousy exactly, but it stung all the same.
It would be easier to have someone beside him. To sidestep the jokes, the assumptions, the well-meaning questions.
The worst part was knowing how much he hated that it mattered. Being single wasn’t something he was usually bothered by, but at times like this, an awkwardness seeped into him.
‘I can’t take her. She’s a colleague.’
Kaleb snorted. ‘You’re hopeless.’
Sam rolled his eyes. ‘Probably.’
And wasn’t that the truth? There was little hope of him finding a steady relationship when he had no way of making plans that couldn’t be upended by Olive whenever she chose to.
Sam would never deny liking Clara – she was a wonderful person – in a purely platonic, colleague-to-colleague way. If she happened to be attractive in other ways, then he had to ignore it, because she wasn’t for him – he was too unstable for her, too old, and too dull. She needed someone who could shine as brightly as she did. Another Kerr who would bring laughter and joy into her life.
And he hoped with all his heart that she would find that person… He meanwhile had to find a date for the wedding or reconcile himself to going alone – as usual. Which was looking more and more likely every day.
Chapter Five
Clara
