Falling in Love Again (43 page)

Natalie swung her long legs out of the back and stood up, tossing back her hair, then sauntered off without a goodbye.

‘Bye-bye.’ Jack flapped his chubby little fist.

Leonora looked back and leaned into the car to plant a kiss on his soft cheek. As she did so, she glanced guiltily at Evie. ‘She didn’t mean it.’ Leonora was the softer of the two, if there was such a thing. ‘She didn’t mean to tell you Mum said you were a dangerous driver. And I don’t think Mum meant it either.’

‘Well, she shouldn’t have said it.’ To her horror, Evie felt her eyes prickle with tears. She looked away hastily, so that Leonora couldn’t see, and watched the Fiesta squeeze past her, almost scraping the Discovery’s side. ‘That’s what you call dangerous driving,’ she said angrily. ‘Not mine. Well, go on, then, aren’t you going to be late?’

Leonora hesitated. ‘Mrs Foster wants to see Mum. This morning. She was meant to come in last week but she didn’t. Mrs Foster says that if she doesn’t see her this morning, she’s going to write to Dad and . . .’

Evie sighed. This wasn’t the first time it had happened but Robin usually sorted out these problems. ‘What have you been doing now?’

‘Nothing. I just called this girl something I shouldn’t because she said something nasty to me and then I hit her so she hit me and . . . Oh, God, Evie, I’m really in trouble this time. Please help me. I didn’t dare tell Dad.’

Evie was torn between anger and pleasure that Leonora had chosen to confide in her. Despite herself, she also felt sorry for her. The anxiety on Leonora’s face reminded her of the problems she’d had at school. Not that the girls would understand
that
.

She looked coldly at her step-daughter, who was waiting for an answer. ‘I can’t come in now. I’m on a double yellow.’

‘Please, Evie. I’m really going to be in the shit if you don’t.’

‘Don’t use words like that.’ Evie glanced around to see if there were any traffic wardens. If she was quick, she could explain to Mrs Foster that Rachel would come in to sort this out when she got home.

‘Stay there,’ she instructed Jack. ‘Don’t move. I won’t be a second.’

She didn’t like leaving him but Jack was getting too heavy to carry and his dawdling would slow her down. ‘Come on, then. Quick.’

They walked briskly past a child in a scruffy black blazer.

‘But it’s non-uniform day,’ he was saying, into his mobile. ‘Please bring in my jeans, Mum, or I’ll be the only one like this.’

Poor boy, thought Evie. Kids hated being different – like many an adult. To her relief, Mrs Foster was in the staffroom.

Evie explained the situation, awkwardly conscious that Leonora was near enough to hear. ‘My step-daughter’s mother is away at the moment but she’ll come in as soon as she’s back. I’d be really grateful if you could make allowances. Leonora has been through a difficult time recently.’ She gave the woman a warm smile, the kind that said, ‘I know your job’s difficult but it’s bloody hard work being a step-mother too.’

Mrs Foster nodded. ‘Leave it to me, Mrs Brookes. I know what girls are like. I’ve got three of my own. Now, Leonora, why don’t you show your mother – I mean step-mother – the way out?’ She smiled again. ‘This place is like a rabbit warren if you don’t know it.’

Wordlessly, Leonora led the way, her face red with the embarrassment of having an external adult next to her while her classmates walked past.

‘Don’t worry,’ whispered Evie.

‘I’m not,’ retorted Leonora.

Evie’s heart sank and her new confidence evaporated. The brief intimacy had passed and she felt punctured. Why should it bother her that Leonora no longer needed her protection? But it did. How pathetic was that?

She put on her sunglasses (easier to observe the world than allow it to observe her) and walked briskly out of the school towards the car, checking the expensive watch that Robin shouldn’t – in view of his redundancy – have bought her last Christmas. Blast. That Mrs Foster hiccup had made her late for Jack’s nursery, and if the traffic was bad she’d be late for the meeting with Bulmer about circulation figures. Of all the appointments in her day, that was the one she couldn’t be late for. Over the last three months, Gareth Bulmer had been unfairly critical of her circulation figures, which were improving at a time when magazines were grappling with production costs and readers who were defecting from the glossies to affordable weeklies. Evie had to be on the ball for this morning’s meeting. She had to -

Christ! What was that noise? It sounded like the car alarm. Evie ran towards the Discovery, and saw, with a stab of fear, that the back seat was empty.

Calm down. Jack must have unstrapped himself again and would be playing in the front. She zapped the car door and turned the handle. Locked! She must have left it open so Jack had let himself out . . .

‘Jack!’ she screamed. She unlocked the door and looked under the seats in case he was hiding. Then she opened her mouth to scream again but nothing came out. Even worse, she felt wet between her legs; wet with fear because she must have (oh, God, no!) peed herself just as she had at school when things went wrong. Her legs paralysed, she looked wildly up and down the street. No one, apart from a few straggling mums, chatting outside their cars.

Jack had gone.
Jack had gone
.

Then the scream came, louder and shriller than any car alarm. So loud that Evie didn’t know she was doing it until the other mothers turned and looked at her, eyes wide, mouths open.

‘Jack! Jack!
Where are you?
’

Find out what happens next in
The School Run
, available now exclusively as an ebook.

Sophie King's much loved best-seller is published in a brand new ebook edition. Now a Number 1 best-seller in ebook format.

Meet Harriet, Pippa, Evie, Nick, Kitty and Martine as they battle the daily school run. Share their ups and downs during one life-changing week, as they face relationship dilemmas, family dramas, secrets and lies. . . all leading to surprise events which cause their lives to collide.

'There is a lot for women to relate to here.' Katie Fforde

Harriet doesn't know whether she'll still have a marriage by the end of the week. But as she waits for her husband's decision about their relationship, does Harriet have more choices of her own than she realised?

Pippa is waiting too - for the results of medical tests that could bring devastating news about her health and future. But could it be Pippa's own actions that threaten all she holds dear?

Evie is struggling with her high-pressure job on a magazine and dealing with two stepdaughters who hate her. But when her husband disappears can she rise to her biggest challenge yet?

Widower Nick worries about his teenage daughter, Julie, as they approach the anniversary of her mother's death. Can Nick keep his guilty secret about how she died?

School teacher Kitty needs a man. At least that's what her friend Mandy tells her. Can she win Mandy's bet to find one by the end of the week?

Martine is unhappy as the au pair for a famous TV couple. Will she find her escape with a married man?

Meanwhile, Betty watches on, determined to find the hit and run driver who killed her young son...

Seven people living different lives, but their paths are destined to cross in ways they could never have imagined.

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