Pippa raised her eyebrows.
‘Go on,’ Elle shooed. ‘And stick the kettle on. I’ll be there in two minutes.’
Aiden and Pippa disappeared inside while Elle waited for Wilson. He soon appeared, juggling numerous packages in his arms.
‘Hey,’ she said. ‘I just want to make sure you’re okay.’
Wilson looked glum, disheartened and even exhausted. There was no smile forthcoming.
‘Not really,’ he replied.
‘Here, let me take those from you,’ Elle said, reaching forward and taking the packages. ‘Is there anything I can do? If you want to talk about it, I’m here.’
For a second, Wilson looked like he was about to say something, but then he changed his mind.
‘I’m a great listener, you know.’
Wilson managed a half-smile as a group of students filed into the library. ‘I know and thank you.’
‘Is it Pippa?’
Wilson shook his head. ‘A little … probably a lot. Rejection is never a nice feeling and we’ve just got a lot of family stuff going on at the moment.’
‘You know where I am if you need anything.’
He nodded. ‘Thanks, Elle.’
She watched him walk back to his van. Just as she was about to go into the library she heard her name being called. She spun around to see Irene hurrying across the courtyard, waving something frantically in the air.
‘What are you doing here so early?’ Elle asked, wondering what all the urgency was about.
Irene thrust a white envelope into her hand.
‘Where did you get this?’ asked Elle, looking down at the envelope, which she saw was addressed to her.
Irene tapped it with her finger. ‘I’m no Sherlock Holmes, but it has the Salvation Army logo on the envelope. Do you think this is it?’
Elle couldn’t take her eyes off the envelope.
‘I’ve been up for hours. Buddy is absolutely adorable, but he’s just like a baby. He’s howled all night and I’ve hardly slept a wink.’
Elle smiled – Irene did look exhausted. ‘I’ve not known many babies that howl.’
‘You know what I mean! In the end, I kept him company in the kitchen and spent most of the night cooking. I nipped over to yours first thing, but you’d already left for work so I let myself in and popped you a casserole in the fridge for later. When I was leaving, I saw this was lying on the mat, so I drove here as fast as I could.’
‘Thank you,’ she said, turning the letter over in her hand.
‘Do you think this is the letter about your meeting?’
‘There’s only one way to find out.’
With a racing pulse, Elle headed towards the staffroom with Irene following close behind. Was this the moment she discovered more information about her mother and the date they would finally meet? As soon as they were in the staffroom, Elle sat down at the table. ‘I feel so nervous.’
She opened the envelope and pulled out the letter inside. ‘It’s from Emily, the caseworker. She’s identified a meeting place.’
‘And?’
Elle gave a tiny gasp.No, surely not. She reread it.
