The Secret Letter. Kerry Barrett

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СКАЧАТЬ and sat down. To my left, Paula’s husband Chris was flipping burgers. He was engaged in what seemed to me to be a fairly heated discussion with the man who’d been talking to Nate’s handsome husband. The other man was shorter, stockier, and more dishevelled than Marc, but also very attractive in his own way.

      Both Chris and the other man looked quite cross and I was intrigued. I leaned slightly to the side and tried to eavesdrop on their conversation.

      ‘I think you’re being unrealistic,’ Chris was saying. ‘Idealistic.’

      The other man frowned. He looked worried. ‘I thought perhaps, I could just see it as business …’

      ‘Are you the new headmistress?’ a voice at my elbow said, interrupting my earwigging. I turned to see a small girl – year three, I guessed with my expert eye – with a gap-toothed smile and wonky bunches.

      ‘I am,’ I said.

      She fixed me with a serious stare. ‘Are you a nice headmistress or a strict headmistress?’

      I thought about it. ‘Could I be both?’

      ‘S’pose.’

      ‘Then I will be both.’

      ‘You don’t look like a headmistress.’

      ‘Why not?’

      ‘You look like a mummy.’

      I smiled, a genuine, not-nervous smile. ‘Do I look like your mummy?’

      ‘My mummy is dead.’

      I stopped smiling. ‘I’m sorry.’

      The little girl grinned at me. ‘I have a daddy.’

      ‘That’s nice.’

      I shifted awkwardly in my seat. Obviously, I considered myself to be good with kids, but I was off my game this evening and this small child was unsettling me.

      ‘What is your name?’ she asked.

      ‘Ms Armstrong. What’s yours?’

      ‘Cara,’ she said, frowning. ‘What is Mizzzzzzz?’

      ‘It’s a title, like Mrs or Miss.’

      Cara shook her head, her lopsided bunches bouncing. ‘I think you’re getting muddled,’ she said kindly, patting my hand. ‘Miss means you haven’t got a husband or a wife, and Mrs means you have. Mizzzzzz is just pretend. Do you have a husband or a wife?’

      I swallowed. ‘No, I don’t have a husband.’

      ‘Do you have a wife?’

      ‘No.’

      She nodded. ‘Then you are a Miss,’ she said, speaking clearly like I was elderly and hard of hearing. ‘MISS.’

      ‘Cara, are you being a nuisance?’

      The attractive man who’d been talking to Chris was standing in front of us. He flashed me a smile and for a split second I felt a flicker of interest and not just in his conversation. He was wearing a rumpled T-shirt and jeans and his hair was sticking up, but there was something about him that I liked.

      ‘I’m chatting to MISS Armstrong,’ Cara said. ‘She is the new headmistress and she is nice and also strict and she doesn’t have a husband or a wife.’

      I felt myself flush as the man raised an eyebrow at me. ‘Strict, eh?’

      Urgh. ‘I have my moments,’ I said. Where on earth did that come from? Was I flirting?

      The man put his hand on Cara’s head. ‘We need to go, angel,’ he said. ‘It’s late.’

      ‘But Daddy, it’s a party.’

      ‘And now it’s finished.’

      Cara rolled her eyes and I couldn’t help but chuckle.

      ‘Nice to meet you, MISS Armstrong,’ the man said. ‘I’m Danny Kinsella, by the way.’

      ‘Are you a teacher?’ I said, running through the list of names Pippa had bombarded me with in my head.

      ‘God no. Just a friend of Paula and Chris.’

      ‘And a daddy,’ Cara said.

      He smiled down at her. ‘And a daddy.’

      ‘See you at school then, Miss Armstrong.’

      He waved at me, and he and Cara wandered off down the side of the house and out on to the road. I stared after them feeling slightly off-balance. There was definitely more to life in Elm Heath than I’d imagined.

       Chapter 4

       Lizzie

      I was at school at the crack of dawn on the first day of term. I had always been an early riser, and when I was nervous I could never sleep.

      I thought I’d be the only person there, but Emma was already in the office.

      ‘Morning,’ she sang. ‘Ready for action?’

      I grimaced. ‘As I’ll ever be.’

      She put a hand on my arm. ‘You’ll be great. Cup of tea?’

      ‘Yes please.’

      Emma headed to the corner of the reception area where there was a sink, a little fridge and a kettle and busied herself finding mugs.

      ‘I’ll let you get on,’ she said over her shoulder as she filled the kettle. ‘Some things arrived for you. I’ve put them all on your desk.’

      I thanked her and headed into my office. I’d come in every day for a couple of hours and made it more homely. I’d put books on the shelves, and brought in my stationery. But Esther Watkins still glowered down at me and the whole room was still pretty bare. At least it had been. Now there was a stack of post on my desk, a huge bouquet of flowers, a box of chocolates and two bottles in shiny presentation bags.

      ‘Oh my God,’ I breathed. ‘What’s all this?’

      Emma had come up behind me, holding my tea. ‘Everyone’s very pleased you’re here,’ she said. ‘The big card and the chocolates are from the staff, but I think all the other bits are from parents.’

      She handed me the mug. ‘I’m going to go and check all the classrooms,’ she said. ‘See you in a little while.’

      Overwhelmed, again, I sat down on the chair and stared at the pile of gifts. I couldn’t believe how welcoming everyone was being. It was not what I’d expected and I almost felt guilty that they were being so nice when СКАЧАТЬ