When Tom got back in to the house, both Mika and Chlo were stood on the stairs waiting to talk to him.

They had watched the scene from upstairs.

They were both curious to know what was taking him so long to say goodbye so had gone upstairs and watched out of Mika's bedroom window - since her room was at the front of the house, facing Anna's.

They had watched their step - dad kissing Miss Aspinall with a mixture of feelings.

On one had they both felt too loyal to their mum's memory and didn't want him to forget about her.

But on the other hand, Anna was really nice and had made an effort to get to know them both. She was easy to talk to and fun to be around - if she made Tom happy they couldn't argue.

'Well?' asked Chlo when Tom had come back inside.

'Well what?' asked Tom although he knew perfectly well what she was talking about.

'You and Brett's Aunt,' supplied Mika, 'Are you like a thing now?'

'Look - it's late, go to bed and stop being so nosy.'

'But are you seeing her now?' aske Chlo.

Tom shrugged, 'We'll see how it goes.'

'But you kissed her,' said Mika matter - of - factly.

'How do you know?' Tom asked.

'We were watching out of the window, it's no big deal,' shrugged Chlo.

'You two are so nosy. Get to bed.'

'Fine - but just so you know, if you are seeing her, I don't mind,' said Chlo, 'I think she's cool.'

'Thanks Chlo. Now - Bed.'

Over the road at Anna's house, the woman was in her kitchen, making herself a cup of hot chocolate - she couldn't sleep without a warm drink before bed.

Whilst the kettle was boiling, Brett came in to the room.

'Heya honey,' she said giving him a caring sort of smile. One that showed how much he meant to her.

'Hey,' he replied, folding his arms across his chest, leaning against the wall and simply surveying her.

She raised her eyebrows, wondering why he was just standing there staring at her.

'Can I help you?' she asked cynically.

'You and Clarkson, eh?' he asked looking quite amused.

'I don't know what you're talking about,' Anna smirked.

'I'm not stupid, you know.'

'I know you're not, quite the contrary actually.'

'Then you'll know I'm able to analyze a situation. The two of you seem to spend a lot of time talking.'

'Ooh talking, ring the wedding bells.' snorted Anna.

Brett looked at her seriously, 'Come on, can you honestly tell me that there's nothing between you and him?'

Anna blushed.

'Ah ha.' her nephew exclaimed in triumph.

'He asked if I'd like to go out for a drink some time and I said yes and that's it.'

'So you weren't snogging in the street?'

The colour of her cheeks flushed even redder, 'We were not snogging.'

'Sure you weren't,' he said obviously not believing her.

'How do you know about that anyway?' she asked feeling quite embarrassed at the way the young man was watching her in amusement.

'Mika texted me to tell me,' before she could ask the next question he knew she was going to, he answered it without being asked, ' And Mika knows because she was watching out of the window.'

After a moment's silence, Anna tore her gaze from the tiled kitchen floor and met Brett's eyes, which were the same shape and colour as her own.

'If Mr Clarkson and I were together, what would you have to say about it?'

He considered it before answering, 'It's your choice.'

'I know but what do you think about it?'

'Well Clarkson's a decent bloke, I guess.'

'Yeah, so you wouldn't mind? Because I won't see him if it bothers you.'

'Why would it bother me?'

'I don't know, it might.'

'What would it matter if it bothered me anyway? It's your life.'

'I know, but are you OK with it?'

'Yeah - I mean I've got nothing against him.'

'Thanks Brett, it's nothing serious anyway. Just an arrangement to go out for drinks.'

The next morning, Tom was already on the staff room when Anna arrived.

He watched as she entered the room and went over to the circle of comfy blue chairs on the corner.

She sat down opposite Jasmine and Matt.

'Morning,' she said brightly.

'Morning,' answered Matt.

'Hi,' smiled Jasmine.

They began talking, though Anna wasn't listening, but glancing around the room trying to make it look casual.

A minute later, Tom sat down next to her handing her a mug of ceffee.

'Just the way you like it,' he said proudly.

'Aw thanks,' she said.

He smiled at her in response and casually slipped an arm around her shoulders.

She also smiled and leaned in slightly, feeling at a sort of natural ease.

Matt trailed off from what he was telling his colleuges and looked at Tom and Anna in a questioning manner.

'Um, are you two - ?' he asked, not wanted to pry in other people's business but curious about the situation.

Anna looked at Tom, 'I don't know,' she said, 'Are we - ?' she asked playfully.

'Yeah we are,' he confirmed.

Jasmine looked at them kindly, ' That's great, good for you.'

'Yeah,' agreed Matt, ' I thought there was a spark between you.'

On the way to her class room, Anna heard Grantly's dull voice from behind her.

Grantly had never liked Anna, mostly because he had been to school with her father, and the men had never gotten on.

'So I hear you've gotten together with Mr Clarkson,'mused Grantly.

She spun around to face him.

'I don't see what business that is of yours, Mr Budgen.'

'Now, now I'm merely making observations.'

'Well don't.' she said frostily.

'Don't go thinking you're anything special Miss Aspinall.'

She frowned at him, 'I don't think I'm special.'

'Make sure you keep it that way. You're not the first person from work Tom's been involved with.'

'I know, now if you don't mind I have a class to teach.'

'Just keep in mind - Lorna Dickey, Izzie Redpath, Davina Shackleton. You're not the first and you won't be the last. Tom Clarkson likes to be involved with women. It's what he does. He'll use you and dump you.'

Anna bit her lip, 'He's not like that.'

'We'll see about that.'