Kam had had a great day, he had known there was something special about Penmenna School upon his very first visit but today was unreal. These children were so lucky to have this opportunity. And what’s more, despite never having explored gardening in his entire life, he realised he might rather enjoy it. It was satisfying having your hands in the earth and eating what you pulled out. Admittedly. it had just been the one radish that Billy insisted he tried but still, there was a satisfaction to it that he hadn’t expected.
And working with Pippa was so much fun. Her facial expressions were often so outlandish he couldn’t fail to laugh at her. The way she crinkled her nose when someone said something she didn’t like, and the way pure sunshine beamed out of her face when she was happy. He didn’t think she realised quite how transparent she was. On top of which she didn’t stop singing or humming little ditties all day, slightly off-key and not fazed by it at all. And he rather liked it.
Mia, his last girlfriend, had been so inscrutable he had never been sure what she had been thinking, and consequently was taken by complete surprise when she left saying she couldn’t put up with his stupid jokes and hamster cheeks any longer. He had spent the next two weeks eating nothing but green vegetables to see if he could lose the weight on his face and make himself more chiselled and handsome. Then as he glanced around the table during a family dinner, he realised he was fighting a losing battle and it might just be better to accept his rounded face and find a partner a little less judgemental.
The break-up had proved to be the motivator to finding the courage to tell his parents that he was leaving the family business and using his degree to train as a teacher. They were not happy to lose him to begin with, but when he qualified and they realised he was looking for teaching posts outside of Middlesbrough they were incandescent; their disappointment seeped out of every glance, every meal cooked, every parental pore. If you looked at it in a kind of roundabout way, he supposed he had Mia to thank for him meeting Pippa.
He knew his decision was a good one; today for example he had had so much fun that he would have willingly done it for free. To be paid for it and to be part of these children’s lives had to be the best job in the world.
The minibus pulled up at the school where the parents were already hovering so he jumped to his feet to get the children ready for their mums, dads, grandparents or childminders – one of which had parked their car on the no-waiting lines. There was always one!
He looked across at Pippa to exchange a really-who-parks-like-that look, but she didn’t catch his eye, although was also looking at the car in despair.
He instructed the children to remove their seatbelts and then slowly counted them off the bus, ready to be lead back to class and then handed to their parents. They were a little bit later than three o’clock, but he had never been on a school trip that was back on the minute – children were far too unpredictable for that – and, in this case, Ashleigh had needed the loo so desperately that she had started to do that cross her legs and bounce on the spot thing while lining up to get on the bus and return to school. Kam was never sure how that helped, but it was definitely a favourite move of all young children. If he had tried it he was fairly sure his mother would have smacked the back of his legs with a spatula.
As the children were all standing outside the minibus, the very good-looking (in an over-privileged wealthy kind of way) man who had parked on the zigzags leaned out of his car’s window and started waving frantically in their direction.
‘Come on, darling, do hurry up. Time is money!’
Kam wondered who on earth he was addressing, until he saw that Pippa’s face looked like thunder. No, surely not. Darling? He would never have thought Pippa would date someone like that. Someone who thought that saying the phrase ‘time is money’ was a good idea, let alone actually meaning it.
‘Pippa, it’s fine. You can go. We are a bit late.’
‘No, I’ll see the children into class, but thanks.’ Pippa’s scowl was a picture. She looked as if someone had just stolen all her favourite things and replaced them with rocks.
The man in the car beeped his horn. Three times.
Every parent in the vicinity turned their heads. Pippa was looking so cross, as if she were contemplating serious violence.
‘Go on,’ said Marion, ‘He’s obviously in a bit of a hurry. We can get the children back. I do love a romantic adventure!’
Pippa muttered something Kam couldn’t quite catch, but as he nodded his agreement she handed Ellie and Alfie over to Marion to take them back to the classroom, and walked quickly towards the car. Kam, like everyone else, couldn’t drag his eyes away as the man leaned over and kissed her cheek after she had yanked the passenger door open with some force.
‘Childhood sweethearts, you know,’ Sarah, one of the mums who had accompanied them to Penmenna Hall, stood behind him and addressed Alison, Ashleigh’s mum. ‘Best friends all throughout primary, inseparable. Susie was in the same year as them. And then he broke her heart when he went away to university, but look, now he’s made his millions and come back for her. It’s so sweet, a real Cinderella story. All those years yearning for him to return and he does, and in a Maserati too. She is one lucky girl. I wouldn’t be surprised if they were married within the year. So handsome. Obviously devoted. She won’t be a teaching assistant for long, that’s for sure.’
Chapter Sixteen
Pippa sat at her kitchen table, goggles on and drill in hand as she made tiny holes in the bits of mermaid’s glass she had been collecting for her Mum’s birthday. It was a month away yet, but with such tricky work she knew it was always worth starting early.
The other advantage of doing this now was that it was helping her to calm down after this afternoon’s nonsense. She knew herself well enough to know that with a drill in her hand then her irritation at James would subside as she’d have to use all her energy to focus on getting this right. That had to be better than dwelling on how cross she was about this whole situation.
‘Hiya.’ Lottie came into the kitchen and threw her handbag and tablet onto the table, grabbing it up again as she saw what Pippa was doing. ‘Oops, sorry. That’s pretty, what’cha making?’
‘Present for Mum, I’m pretty chuffed, I’ve only split one piece so hopefully I’ll still have enough to make a birthday bracelet. If not, you’ll be with me scouring the beach at the weekend.’
‘Okay, anything in for dinner?’
‘Oh yes, I was meaning to speak to you about that.’ Pippa lifted her goggles up and lay the drill down. ‘It would appear that we have stoat for dinner!’
‘Hahaha, you found him then.’
‘Hmm, I didn’t and normally I’d be furious with you because it is pretty gross, but in this instance James did. I’m hoping that will finally do the trick and put him off me. He’s decided that now he has “won at life” – his phrase – he needs to come and get the girl he’s always loved to “complete the package” – again, his phrase. So, I pretended the stoat was mine.’
‘Harsh.’
‘Well, keeping dead animals in the fridge tends to be a red flag at the start of a relationship.’
‘And again, ouch. I’ll forgive you but what on earth was James doing in our fridge? Oh wow! Are those some of your mum’s biscuits?’
