Page 72 of Hook, Line and Single

‘Great. Let me check my diary once I’m back and I’ll text you some dates.’

He settles back on his sun lounger, evidently happy, but I’m in turmoil. Part of me wants so much more than friendship from him, and I think he probably wants that too, but that would involve opening myself up to him and being vulnerable. I’ve protected myself for so long that I’m not even sure I’d know how to do that, even if I wanted to, which I definitely don’t.

You don’t do relationships, I mentally remind myself.Your life is perfect as it is. Don’t mess it up.

The problem is that I suspect I’ve already messed it up by allowing myself to fancy him. And, to make matters worse, the real reason I don’t do relationships is the one thing I definitely can’t talk to Sam about.

25

It really does feel like I’ve been away for ages as the taxi pulls up outside our home. Most of the other people in the Marco Polo group went straight from the ship to the airport, but I was glad that Sam and I had booked an extra night in Rome, as it meant we had time to do a little more exploration including the all-important visit to the Sistine Chapel. Although I missed Cameron more than I expected to, and Sam was definitely missing Robin, it was nice to spend some time together, just the two of us. She had, typically, continued probing to try to find out whether there was more than friendship between Cameron and me, but I’d managed to shut her down.

‘Here we go then. Back to reality,’ she sighs as she pulls her case up to the front door and rummages in her bag for the keys. No sooner has she pushed open the door than Em appears, wearing a party hat and blowing on one of those extending whistles. I glance into the living room to see that she’s decorated it with balloons and a huge ‘Welcome home’ sign.

‘This is all very elaborate,’ I observe cautiously. ‘What are you trying to cover up?’

‘Nothing! No need to be so suspicious. I just wanted to welcome you back in style.’

‘I think it’s lovely, Em,’ Sam tells her, giving her a hug as I stick my nose into the kitchen.

‘There’s nothing to worry about in there,’ Em says. ‘Everything’s absolutely fine, I promise. Even the shop is still in one piece.’

‘Where’s the boy?’ Sam asks, looking around the sitting room for Samson.

‘Ah.’ Em does look a little sheepish now. ‘I did tell him you were coming home and he ought to be here to welcome you, but he seems to have ignored me and gone out.’

As if on cue, the cat flap bangs and Samson nonchalantly saunters in. When he sees us, he stops in his tracks and flicks his tail in mild irritation, before stalking straight past us, jumping up onto the sofa and curling up, watching us warily.

‘Don’t be petulant. We’re home now,’ Sam says as she sits down next to him and starts to stroke him. After a while, he begins to purr softly. It’s not his full-on road drill purr; he’s obviously holding back, making sure we know that we’re not forgiven yet, even if he is enjoying the attention.

‘You should go away more often,’ Em remarks as she settles on the arm of the sofa and takes over from Sam, causing a marked uptick in the volume of the purring. ‘We’ve had a grand old time, haven’t we, Samson?’

‘And Charlie?’ I ask.

‘Has an interview for a job in London next week,’ she says happily. ‘We’re not counting any chickens, but it’s a start. Anyway, did you have an amazing time?’

‘Sam’s dating a vicar,’ I tell her.

‘A vicar?’ Em’s eyebrows have shot up so far they’re practically in her hair line. ‘I thought you were off churchy people after that place you went to where they made you feel like the whore of Babylon.’

‘Bit strong, Em,’ I admonish her.

‘But Biblical,’ she replies with a smile. ‘And therefore topical, no? Charlie found it in the book of Revelation.’

‘What was he doing rootling around in the Bible?’

‘It was a project he set himself, to read the Bible from end to end. He was doing quite well until he got bogged down in Numbers, so he skipped to the last book. There’s some pretty spicy stuff in there, I can tell you. He read the whore of Babylon bit out loud to me; it talks about “the abominations and filthiness of her fornication”. It just reminded me of the way those people were with you. Anyway, I reckon you’ll outrank them all if you rock up with a bona fide vicar on your arm. Is that the point?’

‘No,’ Sam tells her. ‘I didn’t even know he was a vicar to begin with.’

‘He’s really nice,’ I add.

‘Ruby made a new friend too,’ Sam tells her, causing her eyebrows to shoot up again.

‘Just a friend,’ I clarify.

‘The type of friends that share a bed and go skinny dipping together,’ Sam continues, seemingly determined to take the focus off her by throwing me under the bus. ‘And that’s before we get to the raunchy massages. Make of that what you will.’

‘Raunchy massages?’

---