Page 126 of Playing for Keeps

“Where’s Caitlin?” Hugh asked, sitting beside Leo and taking Alice from him for a cuddle.

“Staying at her place tonight.”

Hugh nodded, deciding not to add anything more. Clearly he still hadn’t got round to asking her to move in. “And the boys?” he asked, looking to Amy and Damian.

“My parents have taken them for the weekend,” Damian said, his lips twitching at the corners.

Hugh grinned. “You’re missing them already, I take it?”

“We’re not quite sure how we’ll survive the weekend,” Amy joked.

Damian’s features turned serious. “How’s everything with Allie?”

Hugh had kept them up to date via messages, so they knew all the major points. “Okay, I think.” Though he was currently itching to run a quick internet search to see what else he might find out about her. “I went up to the golf club earlier. She seemed pretty stressed but working her way through everything.”

Amy leaned on the table. “I can’t believe the manager got away with stealing money for a year. It’s nuts.”

“Yep,” Hugh agreed, then tilted his head as Jack arrived and hovered over him.

“I’ll trade you a baby for a pint,” he said, setting a beer in front of Hugh.

Hugh looked at Alice, then at the condensation running down the side of the glass. “Sorry,” he said, nuzzling Alice’s cheek with his nose. “It’s been a long week.” He raised his arms and handed her to Jack, who jiggled her until she squealed in delight.

“Just taking her to say hello to her bestie.”

Emmy turned in her seat and waved at Jack’s wife, who stood at the end of the bar with their baby boy in her arms. “Emily’s here,” she said, standing up. “I’m going to say hi.”

“She could have sat with us,” Hugh said, raising a hand to wave across the room.

“She reckons she’s not staying long,” Jack said. “Just came to flirt with the barman, apparently.” He tickled Alice’s tummy and wandered away.

“I might go and say hi to Emily too,” Amy said.

“Haven’t you spent like half the week with her?” Damian asked.

“Yes.” She paused with a hand on his shoulder. “But we were working.”

“That’s what you tell me,” he replied, shooting her a playful look.

Once it was just the three of them, Leo turned to Hugh. “So how’s everything really?”

“I have no idea.” Hugh pulled his phone out and tapped Allie’s full name into a search engine. “Bloody hell,” he said, sighing at the sheer number of results it generated. “Maybe Emmy’s right about her being famous. She told me she was a professional golfer and a social media influencer.”

“And it didn’t occur to you to look her up?” Damian asked.

“Obviously not.”

“It’s cool that she owns the golf club,” Leo said. “I reckon having a rich girlfriend will suit you.”

Hugh ignored him entirely as he clicked into an article about Alegra Harris. His eyes skimmed over the headline and the accompanying text.

“Oh, wow,” he said flatly.

“What now?” Damian asked.

“She’s not just a professional golfer,” he said. “She’s like the best golfer in the world. Or she was.”

“She didn’t mention that?” Leo asked, then tilted his head. “To be fair, it would probably have sounded a bit braggy.”

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