Danielle sees Spencer with Avery.

Just as Spencer and Avery stepped into the Corner Coffee House for their lunch; Danielle and one of her co-workers from the bank, a teller, were just about to leave having picked up coffees in takeaway containers along with some brown bags containing sandwiches. Dani saw Spencer at the same time he did her, their faces breaking into a smile at an unexpected meeting. Danielle touched her co-worker on the arm saying she would catch up with her back at the bank in a moment. The Avonwick Bank was on the same main street as The Corner Coffee House.

“Hey Spencer. This is a nice surprise,” she said before quickly taking in the blonde women next to him.

“We just keep running into each other everywhere,” Spencer said. The pair of them both knowing the last time they bumped into each other had been outside Danielle and Jessica Wolfe’s houses and had been followed immediately by some pretty scintillating lovemaking.

Spencer stepped forward to Dani and kissed her on the lips warmly. Danielle feeling a rush at being acknowledged so publicly by Spencer, especially in front of this beautiful blonde stranger he was with. Danielle had thought he was meeting his old boss last night and Avery didn’t look like any old boss, still after what had happened after Spencer’s massage at Jessica’s she trusted him.

“Dani, this is Avery. We used to work together in Washington. Avery this is Danielle.” The pair shook hands after Spencer’s introduction. “Are we still on for Friday?”

“McClaren's? Wouldn’t miss it,” Danielle agreed.

“Fantastic.”

Danielle bid Spencer and Avery goodbye and headed off to catch up with her friend at work. Dani almost wished she’d still been there to witness her and Spencer kiss in public and spread it through the rest of the bank.

Placing their orders at the counter, Spencer and Avery took a seat in the dinning area to wait for their food to be made.

“So, she’s the reason you didn’t take me up on my offer last night?” Avery began having seen their kiss and putting two and two together inside her head, not that it would take a rocket scientist to work out.

Having been called out on it, Spencer jabbed back, “or again this morning?”

Avery laughed. “I thought maybe with Amy out of the house you might join me under the hot water.”

“That wouldn’t be the only hot water I’d be getting into,” he noted.

“So, tell me the details. How long have you two been an item?”

“Honestly, its barely been a week,” he told her.

“Very early days then. And if you don’t mind me asking, is she the first person you’ve seen since Kirsten?”

Spencer looked abashed for only a split second but for someone who was so accomplished in reading what people were trying to hide, Avery picked up on it right away. “Awh I almost came here at the right time after all!”

“Very early days,” Spencer instead echoed Avery words refusing to incriminate himself any further.

“Well good for you anyway Spencer. I’m happy for you. She’s pretty and I bet she’s a wildcat in bed!”

Spencer near choked coughing at that. “You can tell that? I mean what makes you say that?”

“Well she’s a redhead for starters. They’re a wild bunch a lot of the time,” Avery began listing her reasons, “Plus the way she looked me up and down when you introduced me. That was pure lioness checking to see if she had a rival. I swear if we had done anything last night she would have known and had your balls.” Avery laughed, enjoying making Spencer squirm in the only way she could.

As their food came Avery told Spencer that she was truthfully happy to see him with someone after all the time he’d spent by himself and that Danielle seemed like a lovely person and looked just right for him. Spencer ate his lunch enjoying what little time he had left to reconnect to his old life. Avery was a blast from the past in a good way. Reminding him of what he’d left behind when he’d moved on from Washington and allowing him for the very brief while to at least put himself in his old mode of thinking when it came to the political games he used to play.

At the airport while waiting for her small commercial flight to arrive and board, Avery took one last chance to discuss the official reason for her trip to Avonwick.

“I know you said you weren’t interested in coming back to work for Newson and I don’t blame you on that but that doesn’t mean you have to live your life away in seclusion,” Avery implored him.

“I’m not just whiling my life away waiting to die out here. I’ve Amy and getting to spend all this time with her while she’s still growing up is the greatest thing I could be doing right now. Besides I’ve got some contacts in D.C. still. I keep my ear to the ground with some work here and there. Not like I used to with Dennis but its still something,” Spencer offered back.

“I know that and Amy is just lovely. You should be so proud of her and how she’s done after losing her Mom.”

“I am,” he said, his heart filling with pride at the thought of his daughter.

“But you could still be doing more,” Avery said.

“Like?”

“I’m not suggesting a run at the oval office but like Sam said I think you’d be great at politics. You could get involved with the town council or something like that. A man with your sort of drive could achieve a lot of good for this place.”

“I think this place is doing just fine without me and could you imagine if I pulled the same sort of stunts I used to out here as I did back there. My God!”

The pair of them laughed.

With that it was time for Avery to begin lining up to get on her plane. Boarding was open and people were starting to gather around the only gate the small airport had in its terminal. Avery thanked Spencer for his hospitality and reminded him to let her know as soon as the bard was built and she would organise everything with Amy’s pony.

Spencer waited until Avery had gotten on the plane before making his way back to where his and a half a dozen other cars were parked. Avery’s reminder about the barn was good timing as he’d meant to give John Monaghan a call about it that day. When his phone started ringing in his pocket on the drive back to his house it looked like he would be a saved a phone call. Spencer pulled the phone out of his pocket and answered it to John Monagham himself. Spencer hadn’t set his phone up on the car’s Bluetooth just yet so was a trifle naughty answering his phone as he drove.

“John. I was about to call you as soon as I got home,” Spencer told John after answering.

“Brilliant! I saved you the trouble then. It’s about the radar we were talking about last week. I’ve a crew that can do it tomorrow if that’s alright with you?” John asked.

“I don’t see why not. I’ve nothing on tomorrow. Anything I need to do?”

“Nothing at all. The team is coming in from Oxford so we will be at yours between 9 and 10.”

“Might be a bit early for a craft brew but I’ll have the coffee waiting,” Spencer offered John, considering him a friend already.

“Wonderful Spencer. See you then!”