‘No buts. I don’t regret it. I enjoyed it immensely.’
Relief bubbled up inside her. ‘So did I. It felt… right.’
Sam’s hand cupped her cheek, his thumb gently caressing her skin, mirroring what she’d done to him. ‘It was right. We both needed it.’
Clara nodded, and he pulled her closer, pressing a tender kiss to her forehead.
‘So what happens now?’
He smiled. ‘Now, we take it one day at a time. We’re friends. We can be adults about it. Let’s enjoy this moment and make the most of it.’
‘Aw, Sam. You’re adorable.’ She snuggled deeper into his embrace, loving the warmth of his body and the steady beat of his heart against her cheek.
‘I’m glad we can do this together because there’s every likelihood I’ll be moving on this summer. It seems sensible to seize the day with someone I like before I go somewhere else.’
Clara looked up at him, her heart twisting. ‘That’s so unfair that you can’t decide for yourself.’ Though she knew only too well how that felt.
He sighed. ‘I suppose I can. I could choose to stay in Glenbriar and not see the boys very often, but I don’t want that. They deserve a dad who sticks around. My dad was the best. I loved him so much. We were all crushed when he died, but at leastwe have those wonderful memories. I want the boys to have that too.’
Her chest squeezed even more as she nodded her agreement. Of course she wanted that for his sons too, but a tiny, selfish part of her wept that she wouldn’t have him for herself.
Later that morning, they were heading back to Sam’s mum’s house to pick her up – along with his nieces – for an Easter Egg trail at a local historic property. A strange but wonderful sense of empowerment flowed through her veins. Being with Sam last night had done something to her, lifted her somehow. Maybe it was just the thrill of having it as their little secret, or maybe it was something deeper, but whatever it was, she felt good. Almost walking-on-sunshine good.
As she walked across the green in front of Moira’s house, she felt like bursting into song. Some kids were out playing in gardens, enjoying the warm day, and as they approached the house, Alisha and Mina’s voices reached them, sounding cheery and full of mischief.
‘They’re waiting for their naughty uncle to lead them further astray.’ Clara glanced at Sam with a smirk.
‘I’m sure that won’t be a problem.’ He winked at her.
‘Good morning, sweethearts.’ Moira opened the door as they’d just reached the gate. ‘How was the wedding? Come and tell me everything.’
Clara wouldn’t go quite that far – Moira didn’t need to know what she’d got up to with Sam last night – but she joined in with his chat about the wedding and the reception.
Moira took it all in as she called the girls in from the garden and started them getting ready for their outing.
‘So, is that all the fake stuff over?’ she asked.
‘Yes,’ Sam said.
‘And what if Dominic invites you both to something in the future?’
Sam exchanged a glance with Clara. ‘Well, we haven’t thought that far ahead. I guess we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.’
Once they were all toileted and had their shoes on, they piled into Sam’s car.
‘I’ll go in the back with the girls.’ Sam climbed in. ‘We can let the senior ladies have the front.’
‘Excuse me.’ Clara put her hands on her hips. ‘How old do you think I am?’
Moira laughed and shook her head. ‘Cheeky boy.’
He grinned as he clicked his seatbelt, and Mina jumped in beside him.
Clara put the address into the satnav, and Moira admired it. ‘Very clever these things. I don’t have one in my car. Though hopefully we won’t need it. I think I remember the way.’
‘Then keep me right,’ Clara said. ‘I’m not sure I trust these roads to be the same twice. We drove around the same village about six times when we were looking for the cottage.’
Moira chuckled. ‘There are a lot of lanes, and many of them look the same.’
