Only Malcolm nodded in agreement, his expression revealing that he found Glen’s point to be thought provoking. Bryn, on the other hand, looked horrified by his statement and she flashed Keira a look of apology. Keira just gave her sister a deadpan look, as if to say I said this would be terrible.

“What about you then, Glen?” Bryn asked, floundering to save the conversation. “If you’re not a fan of traveling, what do you think your next five years will look like?”

Everyone turned their attention to the accountant. He cracked his knuckles.

“I’ve got it all planned out,” he said confidently. He pointed at his index finger. “A wife in a year.” Then he moved onto his next finger. “Our dream family home in the suburbs the year after that.” He pointed at the next two fingers. “Two kids, eighteen months apart. One boy, one girl.” Then finally he wiggled his thumb. “And a dog.”

Keira sighed deeply. She’d known before she’d even left Bryn’s apartment that she wasn’t going to find anything resembling romance on this date. But there’d still been a flicker of hope. Just a little spark that someone who burned as brightly as Shane might appear in her life out of the blue, turning her world upside down just as quickly as Shane himself had done.

But she realized now, with bitter disappointment, that she’d been a fool to even entertain that idea. Shane was a one in a million experience. No, one in a billion. Her date with Glen had just confirmed her worst fears.

She’d never find a love like that again.

CHAPTER THREE

Keira had no choice but to return to the office the next morning. Heartbreak wasn’t a valid reason to miss work in the first place, and two days in a row seemed to be really taking liberties. Besides, she didn’t want to spend another day moping in coffee shops, and she definitely didn’t want to get cajoled into another one of Bryn’s stupid harebrained schemes! The last one, the date at Gino’s, had left a very sour taste in Keira’s mouth.

Despite feeling like she had a dark gray rain cloud hovering above her head, Keira managed to get herself dressed and ready for the day. Usually she felt empowered dressing for work, but today she felt like a phony, even though she’d opted for one of the more casual outfits from her business wardrobe options.

As she left Bryn’s apartment, Keira saw that Nina had sent her a supportive text.

Everyone’s looking forward to your return.

Keira smiled. She was glad she had such a good friend in Nina. Despite the age difference between them, they seemed very in tune with one another. And Nina had had such a glittering career within the world of writing that she was also an excellent mentor to Keira.

As Keira walked into the Viatorum head office she was surprised by the immediately different atmosphere inside. Before, there had always been an air of panic in the office, a sort of invisible stress that permeated the whole place. In the past, no matter how good a mood she’d been in when she entered the place, there was no chance that when she left she wouldn’t feel tired, stressed, and anxious.