Page 56 of My Summer of Magic Moments

‘Right, you pair, time to pop your pyjamas on. Then you can come down and see Auntie Claire for another ten minutes before you go to bed, okay?’

‘Okay,’ they chorused reluctantly.

‘Cup of tea? Or another glass of wine, Claire?’

‘I’d love the wine, but I’d better not. My car’s outside.’

‘You could always get a taxi. Or Mark hasn’t had much – he could take you. He’s upstairs finishing off a bit of paperwork so he gets a clear weekend.’

‘No, tea will be fine. Thanks, though. I’d better keep a clear head for the last of the packing up.’

Sal flicked the switch of the kettle on and found a mug. ‘Everything all right?’ She must have picked up on Claire’s mood. She bustled about with teabags. ‘Earl Grey?’ she asked mixing the mundane with the leading question.

‘Bit of a strange day yesterday,’ Claire started.

‘Oh? Well, I suppose this weekend’s move must be a bit difficult.’

‘It’s not that. In a way, that’ll be a relief now.’

There was a pause. Sal passed her a steaming mug of tea with just a dash of milk, as she liked it.

‘I saw Ed yesterday.’

‘Ed the guy from the cottage at Bamburgh? The hottie?’

‘Yeah.’

‘Wow. Well that’s a bit of a turn-up. I thought he was a cheating scumbag at the last count. And?’

She didn’t reply.

Sal was staring at her. ‘So is he separated or something? Was he asking you out on a date?’

Claire wished it had been that simple.

‘Spill, then. What was all the palaver about – his ex? Or is he still married?’

‘He came back to tell me that he was married, yes. With a child.’ She could feel a lump forming in her throat, knowing what was to come. ‘Oh Sal, the horrendous truth is that they both died in a car accident.’ Claire left out the horror that it was actually Ed driving at the time, wanting to protect him somehow.

‘Oh, Jesus … how bloody awful. No wonder he was a right grump with me that time.’

‘He wanted to explain to me. Just turned up at the office out of the blue, which caused a bit of a stir.’

‘Yes, I can imagine.’

‘You should have seen Andrea’s face when he walked up to my desk. And the whole office just went quiet.’

‘Well, he is a bit of a hunk.’

‘And then the whole office never stopped quizzing me when I got back, after we’d had a walk in the park on my lunch break. It was hard to even talk about it, though.’

‘Sounds romantic.’

‘It might have been. But he’s just so gutted by it all, Sal. I think it was more of a goodbye.’

‘Oh, what a shame. The poor guy. That must be so tough on him. But he must have thought something of you to come all this way to explain. Didn’t you say he was based up in Scotland?’

‘Yeah. But I’ve just felt really odd since. Hearing how cruel life can be at times. It kind of knocks you, you know. How do you ever get over something like that?’