The oddly idle but cheerful mood lasted until their last call of duty, not ten days before the summer break was due to end. By the time the suits got back from the dry-cleaners, and Mike’s mam dropped off his buttonhole arrangement for the big day, their work suits were being aired on the rack again, and Stephen had refilled his box of stationery goodies from the Smiths in town, complete with a full set of highlighters.
“Don’t need any of that bollocks in science,” Mike had said genially.
“I’m not the one who runs up a literal butcher’s bill, sweetie,” came the not-so-genial reply.
So uncharitable as it was—especially given it was his own stepsister—Mike really wasn’t up for the wedding on the day it arrived. He had a box in his hall ready to go back to the school, and only ten days bef
