Now that he was back, could there be another chance for Claire and Liam?
BY BETH WATSON
CLAIRE wouldn’t have noticed them if it hadn’t been for the bicycle bell. It rang out behind her followed by a brisk, “Look out ahead!”
She glanced round, taking a hasty step to the right.
“Thank you!” The cyclist breezed past.
In this part of their student town, cycles using the pavement were a daily hazard.
Claire had given up being annoyed by it.
She even had a sneaking sympathy with them.
She wouldn’t fancy her chances on the road either.
Imagine trying to compete with the melée of buses, taxis and ordinary drivers in a hurry.
At least this one had issued the warning.
It was that glance back that did it.
She was just in time to see the two men meet.
Her steps stilled and she edged into the protection of a shop doorway.
Claire watched. She could just make out their voices.
“Man, I’ve missed you!” The men hugged, arms wrapped tight.
The warmth flowed from them in a tidal wave.
Claire found herself smiling.
After much back-slapping, the men broke apart.
They headed off together, hands gesticulating, voices rising and falling. It was obvious what it was: the ecstatic reunion of two best friends.
Two friends who happened to be her brother and ex boyfriend.
Claire sighed, then went on her way, her thoughts running back to the past.
She had only recently passed her driving test.
Her dad dangled his car keys in front of her one Friday evening.
“Why don’t you go and
pick up Jamie from the bus station?” he suggested.
“Really? You trust me with your precious car?” she asked.
She plucked the keys from the air before he could change his mind.
“I have every confidence in you,” he stated airily, dropping a kiss on top of her head. “After all, who taught you?”
That was true. Dad and Mum had saved her a fortune in driving lessons.
Her brother Jamie was away at university.
He was in his third year, but still came home one weekend a month.
“When I run out of clean clothes,” he teased their mum.
Claire knew it was really because Mum had been ill.
She was better now, but he still liked to keep an eye on her.
He often brought one of his uni mates with him.
Over the years Sanjay, Liam and Stu had camped out in their cluttered spare room.
Dad said he might be bringing one of them this time as well.
Well, she’d find out soon enough.
She was busy parking, when Jamie strode out of the station’s sliding doors.
“Look at y
