This was the cue for the parents and non-cast members to either disperse outside, or take a seat in the audience. Clem looked between the hard seats she’d be sitting on and the large double doors Ian was about to close. Sitting in silence beside Spencer for an hour, trying to predict what he wanted to say to her and how she should respond, while trying to watch the dress rehearsals, was a recipe for disaster.
‘We’re heading outside,’ she told him, taking Indi’s hand.
‘There’s a tree Mum said I can climb today. You can come too, Spence,’ Indi said, putting her free hand in his and giving him her toothiest smile.
Alarmed, Clem wriggled her hand out of Indi’s sticky little grasp. It would only have been moments before the cheeky little scamp lifted her feet off the ground, and nothing screamed ‘relationship’ more than a man and a woman swinging a three-year-old between them.
‘Here’s trouble.’ Ian grinned, his eyes lingering a moment on his son-in-law’s large hand linked with Indi’s tiny one. ‘I hope this little lassie isn’t leading you astray?’
Indi giggled, looking all kinds of adorable, and Clem couldn’t help noticing the way Spencer dwarfed her little girl.
So the bloke’s got big hands, get over it. He’s also got a very different opinion on a major ethical issue.
She swallowed, trying to shore up her traitorous heart, which kept melting at the sight of the two of them together.
‘You could very well be right.’ Spencer chuckled softly. ‘If Indi and I get stuck up the top of the cypress trees out there, I want it on record that it wasn’t my idea.’
Indi giggled again, and for the life of her Clem couldn’t think of a single thing to say as she followed her daughter, and the man who’d broken her heart, outside.
‘Clem—’ Spencer waited until Indi was absorbed in her tree-climbing mission. ‘I feel terrible about the way we left things.’
Clem nodded.
‘Me too. Spencer, I should never have been so insensitive, it was an awful way to react and I can’t imagine how hurtful that was. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking too, and maybe this was bound to happen. I mean, we only knew each other for a short time, just long enough to establish it wouldn’t work.’
Her heart hammered so loudly she was sure he’d hear it. When he drew in a quick breath, she held up her hand. ‘It’s okay. New year, new start. Even if we agreed on everything, there’s no need to waste any more time on something that wasn’t meant to be. I’m sure messages are flooding into your inbox from women eager to help you get over the heartbreak with Emily.’
She met his gaze then, but looked away quickly, jolted by the depth of emotion she saw there. For a guy who’d seemed pretty good at avoiding his feelings, it looked like today, his eyes had missed the memo.
It’s like the unwanted puppies and kittens people try to offload at community markets. Regular Joes get sucked in by those deep, woeful eyes and then whammo, suddenlythey’re scooping up dog poop, wearing earplugs every night to drown out the barking, and their couch has become a very expensive pet bed.
She wasn’t letting her feelings sway her logic this time.
They held opposing views on a major issue that had impacted both their lives, not to mention the children he wanted. It couldn’t possibly work.
Spencer was surprised by the apology, and how much it meant to him, but he’d at least thought Clem would hear him out instead of writing their relationship off completely.
Even if she regretted the argument, it doesn’t mean her mindset’s changed.
He shook off the negative thought. She had a good reason to react the way she did but the more he thought about it, the more he hoped they could keep working to bridge their differences.
‘I’m sorry for the hoopla you’ve had to witness with the TV show and for making you sneak around to be with me. I’m not so good at talking about Belle, or the way she died, and it’s always been easier to shut down, or change the topic, than talk about my feelings.’
Spencer watched Clem absorb his words, her gaze never leaving the low branch Indi was playing on. Just as his focus had been on protecting his heart and honouring the contract he’d signed with the TV station, hers had always been on protecting her daughters, and she worked her butt off, night and day, to do so.
The knowledge that those girls were the centre of her world made him love her even more. Having children that were biologically his own, with a mum who mightn’t love and cherish them like Clem did, felt less important when hewatched her with them, when he’d felt little Indi’s hand slip so easily into his, and when his words had soothed Harriet’s frayed nerves.
Clem turned to him, but her arms remained locked across her chest, her shoulders stiff, and his nerve started to waver.
Is it too late?
‘Maybe it was a bad call right from the start,’ Clem said. ‘I should have gone with my gut and steered clear of everything reality-TV related. I wish I’d turned down that catering job, because the small boost it gave the cafe’s bottom line wasn’t worth the turmoil and heartache this has brought into my life.’
Spencer’s hopes lifted for a moment at her reference to heartache.
It was a relief to know that of all the things he stuffed up, he hadn’t mistaken the way she felt. She’d been invested too.
‘Let me make it up to you, Clem. South Giddi Giddi’s being sold. I’m done with the TV show, and I can be the partner you need.’
