Suddenly extremely tempted, Hattie said, ‘I can’t. I’ve got work to do.’
‘Ah. I was hoping you were going to say you had a cake just out of the oven.’
Hattie laughed. ‘No such luck.’
But before she went back to her laptop, she took butter out of the fridge and checked how many eggs she had. She owed Luke a cake for everything he was doing for Xander, she really did.
The day of the parents’ evening, Hattie checked her reflection in the mirror. Xander, whose presence always made the lodge feel small, had been dropped off by Luke. ‘Do I look all right?’
‘You look fine.’
‘OK, come on then. I’m so glad you’re coming with me. I’d never find my way round on my own.’
‘Actually, Hattie…’
‘What? You’re not backing out on me, are you?’
‘To be honest, it would be far better if I didn’t come too. They won’t tell you the truth if I’m there. You’ve only got two people to see. They’ll give you a map of the college when you turn up. You don’t need me!’
‘But what’ll you do here all on your own while I’m away?’
‘You’ve got telly, haven’t you?’
‘I haven’t got Netflix!’
‘Then I’ll listen to music.’ He paused. ‘I might even read a book! Luke’s lent me one.’
‘You really won’t take pity on your old auntie and come too?’
‘Hattie, no one looking at you would ever think of you as anyone’s old auntie.’
Not sure if her nephew was paying her some sort of backhanded compliment, Hattie decided to just go. She’d never really believed he would go with her but it would have been so much nicer if he had. Without quite knowing how it had happened, she’d started to really enjoy Xander’s company.
Chapter Eighteen
The meeting with the maths tutor had gone well and Hattie was feeling relaxed as she waited in the queue of parents waiting to see the English tutor.
When suddenly she was no longer looking at the back of the person in front of her. Instead, she saw a couple in a pub garden. The man – the English tutor – was facing her and the woman was clearly recognisable, although Hattie only had a back view. The neat blonde chignon, the Chanel-inspired suit, the Loewe handbag on the table in front of her and the large pearl earrings: it was her sister, Leonie. The way the English tutor was twinkling indicated the pair were getting on very well.
It was a glimpse, nothing more, before Hattie found herself back in the noisy sports hall, surrounded by parents. She would have very much liked to sit down and have some water – maybe a paracetamol or some Rescue Remedy, but there wasn’t time. It was her turn to see the tutor, and, thank goodness, there was a chair. Hattie sat on it and smiled. Her allotted ten minutes had begun and in this time she now had to get the necessary feedback about Xander’s progress and become friends with this man so she could introduce him to Leonie.
While it would serve her sister right if Hattie ignored the vision, Hattie couldn’t do it. Leonie may well be bossy and overbearing but she was still her sister.
‘Hello, Mr… Saye. As you probably know, I’m Xander’s aunt. His mother is away so Xander is living with me temporarily.’ She smiled, hoping Mr Saye would take it from here.
‘Ah, well, it’s good you could come.’
He had a nice voice, no obvious accent – her sister was a terrible snob and required RP English from all her friends – so this was a start. He wasn’t dashingly handsome but he looked pleasant and had no visible tattoos or anything. Her sister thought tattoos were beyond the pale.
‘So how is Xander getting on?’ Hattie smiled a little more enthusiastically than she would have done if it hadn’t been for the vision; she had to make this man her friend.
‘I don’t think English is his favourite subject. Has he been tested for dyslexia, do you know?’
‘I don’t think so, although I’m sure if there’d been any sign of it my sister would have had that done.’
‘It’s only a thought. He’s very creative when he contributes in class but his written work doesn’t really reflect that.’
‘Do you think he could do with some coaching? To help him get what’s in his head down on paper?’ Hattie remembered someone saying something like this during her own school days. Her talents had always been a bit hard to define. Everyone agreed that she had them, but no one could decide exactly what they were.
