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First published in Great Britain by HarperImpulse 2017

Copyright © Zara Stoneley 2017

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Zara Stoneley asserts the moral right

to be identified as the author of this work.

A catalogue record for this book is

available from the British Library

This novel is entirely a work of fiction.

The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are

the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to

actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is

entirely coincidental.

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Source ISBN: 9780008241087

Ebook Edition © November 2017 ISBN: 9780008237981

Version 2017-09-05

For Hilda, my nana, who loved animals, people and life.

Table of Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Map

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Acknowledgements

A Note From the Author

Also by Zara Stoneley

About the Author

About HarperImpulse

About the Publisher

Chapter 1

Lucy Jacobs stared out of the window, and tried to ignore the little shiver of excitement that had sent a rash of goosebumps down her arms.

Could she do this? Was she brave enough to cut the last tie, change her life for ever?

The words danced about in her head in much the same way as the chickens in the garden were doing.

Yesterday they’d flounced in indignantly when the first spots of rain had fallen. They hated the damp, and had spent most of the day sulking and shivering, but this morning after poking their sharp little beaks out, and craning their necks, they’d discovered sunshine. She’d had to laugh as they’d jostled their way out, like a group of pointy-elbowed bargain hunters in the January sales.

Today the good weather had put a skip in their step – they were scratching around in the soil, with an occasional dash across the garden if they suspected one of their group had found something worth fighting over. And the news had brought a secret smile to her lips, she couldn’t help it. This could be the start of a massive adventure.

‘Are you still there? Miss Jacobs?’

She was still here. And she knew it was time to stop behaving like a hen and to make a decision. If she did this she was shutting a door for good. Moving on. Which was exciting. But scary.

‘Miss Jacobs?’ The tetchy tones scratched their way over the airwaves.

‘Yes, sorry.’ She tried to concentrate on what the estate agent was saying, and block out all the conflicting thoughts that were bouncing around in her head.

She much preferred talking to the young, jolly Simon Proofit who made everything sound like a good idea, than to Mr Bannister who had never told her his first name, and insisted on calling her Miss Jacobs and making her sound like some old spinster.

It was strange really, Mr Bannister had lived in the village of Langtry Meadows all his life, but his whole manner suggested a brusque, efficient city type. Whereas Simon, who had over an hour’s commute from a suburb of the closest city, always made it seem like working in this tiny village was the best thing that had ever happened to him.

‘I suppose you need time to think about it?’ The sharp words were followed by a resigned sigh that rolled towards her in large waves of disappointment. Mr Bannister really wasn’t the man you wanted to start your weekend with. He was enough to rain on anybody’s parade, as her gran would have said.

The hen that she’d not-so-originally nicknamed Squeak darted forward and tried to wrestle a long worm from Bubble’s beak. They looked like lovers sharing a strand of spaghetti. Bubble flapped with indignation, and Squeak, well squeaked before bustling off in a huff to scratch under the apple tree. She kept cocking her head to one side though, keeping a beady eye on the other hen. Just in case.

Lucy smiled to herself. Who’d have thought she, Lucy Jacobs, would become an expert on poultry? Well maybe not an expert, but her life had changed beyond recognition in the last twelve months. She’d swapped the hustle and bustle of a city centre school, nestled next to the M6 motorway, for a tiny primary school overlooking a village green, and somehow found time to look after a pig, goose, chickens, cat and fat, naughty pony.

Taking on a teaching position in the village of Langtry Meadows had, it was fair to say, changed her life. Renting Annie’s cute home, with its overflowing cottage garden and menagerie of animals had, at first, seemed a step too far from her clean and tidy semi-detached house – the only reminder of her old life she’d hung on to.

She’d rented her home out, fully intending to go back there one day – after her cover position at Langtry Meadows Primary School came to an end. But she’d accepted a permanent position now, and whilst the rent was handy she was beginning to wonder if she’d ever go back there.

And one day, in the not too distant future, Annie would return from her travels, which could leave her in a bit of a mess if she wasn’t careful. She really did need a plan.

The city would seem so large, impersonal now. Although she knew that was partly what had originally drawn her there. But living in Langtry Meadows had changed her, she’d realised that this close community of caring people was what she wanted in her life. Not anonymity. And she also wanted a rather gorgeous vet called Charlie sharing her breakfast table, which was part of the problem …

She hoped her sigh hadn’t travelled down the phone, and decided she better say something just in case he had heard, and thought she wasn’t interested.

‘Well, no. I mean yes, I …’ If she did this, if she bought the house that Mr Bannister had told her had just come up for sale in the village, and she sold her house, she was saying goodbye to her old life. She didn’t need to keep a foot in the past, just in case things didn’t work out, did she?

No, no, she really didn’t. After a fabulous summer of getting to know Charlie Davenport, the village vet, she had to admit, she had dreamed up this strange fantasy that when, if, she settled permanently then it would be in a cottage made for two. Not one.

But his life was far too complicated for that at the moment. He had a child to consider. They had a child to consider. Adorable little Maisie had to be their main priority.

Lucy knew what it was like growing up with only one parent, thinking that she wasn’t good enough, thinking she wasn’t loved, wasn’t wanted – and she was determined that Maisie would never feel that way. The little girl would know that Charlie, her father, loved her with all his heart. That Lucy wasn’t going to steal him away.

When Josie, Charlie’s ex, returned from her six month contract abroad, then it would be the right time for her and Charlie to spend more time together, be more involved, maybe, just maybe, settle down in that dream cottage together. But for now, making sure Maisie felt secure, was happy, was what really mattered.

She felt the small smile creep over her face as she thought about Charlie. They’d agreed at the start of the summer that they’d take things slowly, see how it went and it had gone – she knew her smile had grown – wonderfully.

But they didn’t know when Josie would be back, didn’t know what would happen when she returned – whether she’d settle locally with Maisie or not. And until they did, it was hard to see what the future held. What if Josie moved away? What if the only way Charlie could see his daughter was to move as well? What if she couldn’t find a new job close to where they went? What if, what if, there were just so many ‘ifs’, which Lucy wasn’t keen on at all. For a girl who liked to have a plan, be organised, the uncertainty was difficult. But she was learning, getting better at taking each day as it came.

So really, if she was going to be sensible about this, she had to decide what she really wanted. Now. And worry about the future later – after all if she bought a cottage now, she could always sell it.

She really had never thought the whole question of buying a house would raise its head for months though, years!

The estate agent’s crisp tone cut into her thoughts. ‘It would be in your interests to move quickly. It does, as I have mentioned, require a fair amount of modernisation, but opportunities like this don’t come up very often. A cottage for sale in Langtry Meadows is a rare occurrence, and I’d have normally already contacted interested parties, but Miss Harrington persuaded me to give you first option. I’d advise you not to dally about too long.’

Ah. So that explained the unexpected phone call from Bannister & Poole’s Estate Agency. She’d made an offhand comment to the elderly Elsie Harrington about needing to look for a permanent home, and as if by magic a solution had appeared.

‘I won’t, dally that is. I’d love to look round.’ It really was an opportunity she couldn’t pass on, she had to at least look. And ‘modernisation’ might mean that it had an outside toilet and a well – which would put it way beyond her humble budget.

‘I’ll email the details through, although they are currently just draft ones, they haven’t been approved.’ She could hear him shuffling papers in the background. ‘I can meet you there at 11 a.m. if that suits?’

‘Well, I.’ She would really have liked to share the news with Charlie first, see what he thought, but he’d be busy seeing clients. And she did want to stay in Langtry Meadows, whatever the future held for her and the man she’d fallen head over heels for. ‘Today? This morning?’

‘We do close at midday, it is Saturday you know.’

Which meant Charlie couldn’t go with her, but she could check it out first. It could be totally unsuitable anyway. ‘That suits perfectly, and er, thank you, Mr Ba—’ He cut her off mid-sentence, and Lucy slowly took the phone away from her ear and stared back out at the garden, knowing she had a stupid grin on her face.

Lucy glanced down at her pyjama bottoms, then up at the kitchen clock. This was not how she’d expected her last weekend of freedom to start. The new school term started on Wednesday, and they had an inset day on Tuesday, and she was officially the teacher of Classes 1 and 2. The last few days of the holiday were supposed to be about relaxing, chilling, preparing herself for the chaotic weeks ahead. She hadn’t factored in being woken up by a phone call from a bossy estate agent, and the kind of stomach churning, exciting news that had left her feeling all butterfly stomach-ey and jittery.

Her brain wasn’t exactly functioning either, which was how she always felt before the first strong coffee of the day. Lucy was not a morning person, she wasn’t really a night owl either. She was guaranteed to be the one that had to be in bed by midnight or she risked falling asleep on the shoulder of the nearest person and no doubt snoring and drooling in a very unattractive way. She was the one the rest of the students had drawn a moustache on when she was at college, as she slept through oblivious.

Her mobile gave a cheery bleep announcing an incoming message. Coffee. She needed coffee and a chance to wake up properly, then she’d shower and dress, and then she’d read the email that the efficient and officious Mr Bannister had already pinged off from his clean and tidy office, determined to disrupt the peace of her sleepy cottage in Langtry Meadows.

She’d only got as far as the bottom of the stairs, when a loud honk stopped her in her tracks. A warning honk, not the kind of gentle ‘go away’ noise that Gertie the goose often directed at unwelcome visitors. This had more urgency. And volume.

Rushing to the front door, Lucy threw it open, expecting some kind of carnage.

Gertie was having a fit. The type she normally reserved for straying men – as in they’d strayed on to her property and nothing to do with their morals. Well, to be more precise the goose was flapping her big white wings like some avenging angel and dipping her head backwards and forwards towards a mysterious object just inside the garden gate. Gertie didn’t like mysterious objects. She didn’t like most things, to be honest. And Lucy didn’t know if that was a ‘goose’ thing, or just a Gertie thing.

Lucy folded her arms, relieved that it was nothing more serious. ‘What have you got?’

Gertie glared back accusingly.

Lucy was used to parcels being left just inside the gate. Her regular postman knew all about how to deal with Gertie, but most strangers took one look at the bird as she hurtled round the corner of the cottage in response to the click of the gate catch, and scarpered. She couldn’t blame them.

‘Okay, I’m coming.’ She slipped her feet into the pink wellingtons that were in the porch. The wellies were her secret defence – with them on Gertie was putty (well not exactly putty, but no longer quite as lethal) in her hands. Gertie loved the boots; they were, as Annie had told her, the first thing she had seen and she thought they were her mother. She would happily follow them anywhere.

The parcel moved. Rocked. Gertie gave it a prod. It made a strange, wheezy noise and the goose drew herself up to her full height, gave a loud honk, then turned on her heel and marched off in search of something more interesting.

Frowning, Lucy lifted a corner flap cautiously. It sounded like there was something alive in there, and for all she knew it could be a box of snakes. Or worse. Rats.

Two eyes stared up at her out of the dark shadows of the box. One chocolate brown, the other the clearest blue she’d ever seen, spring water in a crystal clear stream.

Quiet trusting eyes.

She stooped down and opened the flaps of the box wider. It was a puppy, the blinking of its eyes the only movement as it gazed up at her. Over one eye was a patch of black, but most of its coat was the softest grey, splashed with black as though a careless artist had tired of finishing the painting, its paws and chest a damp, stained white with a smudge of tea-stains.

The puppy shivered and its chin sank down onto its paws as though it was exhausted.

‘Hang on.’ It didn’t respond. Not even the slightest wag of its fluffy tail, which sent a shiver of alarm through Lucy. Her instinctive response would have been to reach in and cuddle the poor animal, but something told her not to. It was poorly, very poorly.

She reluctantly closed the flaps of the box back down as gently as she could and ran back inside, grabbing her mobile phone as she dashed up the narrow stairs. She couldn’t ring Charlie to discuss something like a house for sale, but this was altogether different. ‘Charlie?’

‘Morning, gorgeous, you’re up early for a non-school day!’

‘I know you’re not open yet, but …’

‘Are you okay?’ His voice lost some of its cheery tone as he picked up the worry that tinged her words.

‘Somebody’s dumped a puppy in the garden. It’s in a box, but it looks really sick, it’s just lying there and shivering, and it’s …’

‘How sick?’ The cheeky edge had gone altogether now, replaced with professional concern in an instant, and she could imagine his frown, the narrowing of his eyes as he ran his fingers through his hair.

‘It looks like it’s been sick in the box, all its chest is damp and stained,’ she put the phone on speakerphone and dropped it on the bed, rifling through the drawer for clean underwear, ‘and it looks so thin and pathetic. I know I’m no expert, but it hardly even moved when I opened the box up, puppies just aren’t supposed to behave like that, are they?’

‘Bring it straight down, Luce.’

‘I’m just getting clothes on,’ she was breathless as she yanked her jeans up, fumbling with the zip with one hand, ‘I’ll be there in five minutes.’

Vet Charlie Davenport headed out of the surgery as soon as he spotted Lucy. He got the same familiar rush of pleasure he always did when he saw her. Along with the desire to take her in his arms and kiss her. Which would be very unprofessional.

He’d not expected to see her until the evening. It was the last weekend of the school summer holidays, and he knew that Lucy, organised as she was, would be busy with spreadsheets and lesson plans, getting ready for the new term of fresh-faced children, excited after a summer of freedom.

He felt the muscles in his shoulders tighten. This term that included his daughter Maisie, and he was dreading it.

He’d been over the moon when his ex, Josie, had finally let him see Maisie again. The daughter she’d told him might not be his, the daughter she’d refused to let him see for months.

When she’d asked him to look after Maisie while she worked abroad for a few months his whole world had seemed brighter and he’d been naively expecting it to be just like it had when they’d been a family.

Maisie had moved in with him at the start of the summer holidays, and it had been a big adventure. Now, with the new term approaching the reality had started to sink in. She was starting a new school, she wasn’t going back home to the friends she loved. She had a new uniform to pick up on Monday, and a bright new book bag that she didn’t like at all. It was the wrong colour. It had the wrong badge on it. Mummy hadn’t picked it.

They were both struggling, him with how to deal with the unexpected tantrums, and her with adjusting to a different life.

He sighed. After Maisie had begged, then told him it wasn’t fair, then stared at him with her big brown eyes brim-full with tears, and her lower lip trembling, he’d relented and allowed her to spend Friday night with a friend from her old school. He still wasn’t sure he’d done the right thing. He’d cocked up; he should have spent all summer ensuring she made friends with the children in Langtry Meadows. But it had seemed wrong to expect her to take the move in one massive step.

He was already proving pants at this single parenting lark. He was heading for disaster.

When Lucy had suggested they spend Saturday evening together, then take a picnic out on Sunday afternoon, fly the kite he’d bought, have some fun, he’d jumped at the suggestion as quickly as his daughter had. Maisie loved Lucy; he wasn’t convinced she held him in quite as high esteem.

‘It’s been sick again just in the time it’s taken me to walk down here.’ Lucy ran through the open doorway, out of breath, going straight through to the consulting room, where she put the box down and slowly undid the top. As though worried about what she’d find.

Charlie glanced in and frowned. This was worse than he’d expected. He reached for some gloves, then carefully lifted the tiny scrap out of the box. A gangly, skinny bundle of dirty fur that seemed to weigh nothing in his hands.

It shivered violently, the shakes travelling down its whole body. ‘Has,’ he paused, glancing up at Lucy who was pale, biting her lip, ‘she been in contact with any of your other animals?’

‘No, I’d only just found her when I rang, well Gertie found her. But she didn’t touch her, the box was still done up. I left her by the gate while I rang, she just looked so poorly …’

He nodded, relieved. ‘Good. You didn’t clean her up, then …’ He had to be sure.

‘No. Should I have done? I just panicked and …’ She stared at the gloves.

‘No, no. You did exactly the right thing, didn’t she little one?’ Charlie stroked one finger gently over the tiny puppy’s head, but it barely reacted.

‘What’s wrong with her, Charlie? Why are you wearing …?’

‘I’m sorry Lucy, the gloves are a precaution.’ He softened his tone. He didn’t want to upset her, but he had to be honest. ‘I can’t be sure, but there’s a chance this little mite has got parvo.’ He wanted to hug her. But he couldn’t.

‘Parvo?’

‘Parvovirus. It’s pretty lethal when it comes to young animals like this, and from a quick look at her she’s not very old at all. No idea where she came from?’

‘None.’ She shook her head, and her blonde ponytail swung from side to side. ‘The box was just dumped by the gate.’

‘Well she can’t be local, nobody here would do that. They must have driven in from outside the village.’ He frowned, angry at the callousness of some people. ‘How much effort would it have taken to have the animal treated, to have taken it into a local surgery?’ He knew the rough edge was back in his voice, but he couldn’t help it. ‘Instead of abandoning it to its fate. If you hadn’t been at home, it could have been dead within twenty-four hours.’

‘It’s that serious?’ Lucy leaned forward to look at the pup, her voice soft, and he knew she was finding it hard not to reach out, touch it, reassure the tiny scrap.

He nodded, tried to be brisk, business like. ‘It’s good that you got here quickly before morning surgery started.’ Charlie quite liked Saturday morning surgery, usually it ran at a nice steady pace. People bringing cats and dogs in for vaccinations, and consultations about neutering or teeth cleaning. At this time of year though there were often young animals and the last thing he wanted was the risk of a parvo outbreak in the village. ‘Look I need to get her on a drip.’

There was the tring of the bell as somebody opened the surgery door.

‘Sally?’

Sally, the practice receptionist and animal nurse appeared at the consulting room door, her normal ready smile spreading across her face as she saw Lucy.

‘We need to get this little one isolated.’

The smile faded. ‘Parvo?’ As she spoke she dropped her bag on the chair and reached over to grab a pair of gloves. Carefully she took the unprotesting puppy into her arms, and headed out of the consulting room into the back.

‘I’ll call you later, Lucy.’ She was still worrying at her lip, her eyes glistening, and he really did want to hug her. Instead he peeled off his gloves and then put his hands on her arms. ‘If you’ve handled her make sure you wash your hands properly won’t you?’ She nodded. ‘This virus is highly contagious and we really don’t want it to be passed on to any of Annie’s animals.’ He dropped a kiss on the tip of her nose, and wished more than anything he could stop, reassure her, but he knew he had to do his job. Save the puppy.

‘Will she make it?’ The words were soft, and he wouldn’t have heard them if his forehead hadn’t been resting against hers.

‘I honestly don’t know if it’s parvo. Let’s hope it isn’t.’ He brushed his thumb over her cheek, then pulled back reluctantly. ‘God, what a horrible start to the day for you. Look, I’m sorry, I’m really going to have to go.’

‘I know.’ Lucy was staring after him, as he elbowed the door through to the back of the surgery open.

‘I’ll call you in a bit, okay?’ He shot an apologetic glance over his shoulder as he headed through.

She nodded.

‘Still on for tonight?’

‘Sure. Is Maisie any better?’

‘Fine, well she’s had a sleepover at a friend’s and I’ve got to go and pick her up after lunch. She’s getting a bit uptight about the new term, she wants to go back to her old school.’ He grimaced. There’d been tears at bedtime more than once, and he didn’t know if he’d done the right thing agreeing for her to go and visit a friend from her old school. ‘It’s just been like a holiday, having those couple of weeks at Langtry Meadows Primary at the end of last term, then the summer break. She wants to go back to her old life now, and I don’t know what to say.’ It bothered him. ‘Am I doing the right thing, Lucy? Have I got this wrong?’

‘You’re doing the only thing you can, Charlie.’ Her voice was soft, it was her turn to reassure him now, but he could see a trace of worry in her blue eyes. ‘She’s bound to miss her mum, and her old home, it will take time. It’s a big change for a little girl.’

‘I better …’

‘You had, go on, go! We’ll talk later, and we’ll make sure she has a great time tomorrow. I’ll make cakes!’

He opened his mouth in horror. ‘Oh no, not Lucy cakes.’

‘Sod off, I have mastered fairy cakes now,’ she paused melodramatically, ‘I have watched a whole series of Great British Bake Off back to back I’ll have you know.’

‘You’ll be in the WI next!’ He winked, thankful to her for lightening the atmosphere, even though he was more worried than he’d let on. Then turned back to the matter in hand. A very poorly puppy.

Chapter 2

Jasmine Cottage lived up to its name. The sweet-scented white flowers spread a delicate flush of colour over the old red brick as the plant snaked its way round the old window frames, over the ramshackle porch and up towards the roof. In amongst the feathery leaves of the summer jasmine were thicker, woody stems that Lucy was pretty confident were winter jasmine. Six months ago she wouldn’t have had a clue, but after spending all her spare time trying to tame Annie’s garden she discovered she’d taken in more details from the gardening books she’d found in the tiny bookcase under the stairs than she’d have thought possible.

If she remembered correctly, winter jasmine had yellow flowers, which meant that once Christmas was over she could look forward to a flush of cheery bright colour.

Since she’d spoken to Mr Bannister on the phone, she’d been completely distracted by the puppy and hadn’t been able to give the cottage (or him) another thought. In fact, she’d not even remembered to mention it to Charlie. But now she was here every doubt about whether this was the right thing to do fled her mind.

Which could be bad news, given the state of the overgrown garden, and peeling porch and window frames.

It might be a good job she enjoyed a challenge she thought wryly, as she pushed the small gate, and it rocked alarmingly on its one hinge and squeaked in protest.

‘Morning, Lucy.’

Jumping at the cheery greeting, she spun round to see the tall, lanky figure of Simon Proofit.

‘Simon, am I glad to see you!’ Which could be taken as rude. ‘Not that, well, I was expecting Mr Bannister.’

Simon grinned as though her reaction wasn’t totally unexpected. ‘Alf couldn’t make it.’

‘Alf,’ Lucy felt the smile twitch at the corners of her mouth, ‘that’s his name?’ That made him seem much more human.

‘It is, he inherited more than just the business from his grandad. What do you think?’ Simon gestured at the cottage. ‘It’s the type of property we say,’ he put on his ‘estate-agent’ voice, ‘has got oodles of charm and character.’

Lucy laughed, the last trace of the jitters disappearing from her stomach at his disarming smile. ‘I bet you do. Along with dry rot and rising damp?’

He chuckled. ‘The plumbing has character as well. Want a look?’ He strode past her, and was opening the front door before Lucy had a chance to answer.

Lucy stepped from the stone flags to the warmth of the old oak floorboards and fell head-over-heels in love with Jasmine Cottage.

‘It’s beautiful.’ The words came out on a sigh.

‘It is.’ Simon’s tone had softened, lost its normal slightly bombastic strength, and he walked over and settled into one of the armchairs by the fireplace, sending up a plume of dust that danced in the sunlight. ‘It’s been empty since May had to go into the nursing home, and her family haven’t wanted to part with it. I think they’ve hung on because giving up on the place would be accepting she’ll never come back.’

‘How sad. I don’t think I know her, she must have left before I came to the village.’ Lucy wandered over to the window; she had the perfect view of the green, of the bench where she and Charlie had sat so many times. For a second something caught in her throat, a sadness she didn’t want to acknowledge. Charlie had to go where his daughter led. If Josie took Maisie away, then he’d be leaving the village too. She was sure he felt the same way about her, as she did about him. That he’d want her to go with him. But it wouldn’t be easy. They both had busy lives. And leaving this lovely place would be hard.

For the first time in her life she felt like she belonged somewhere. That Langtry Meadows was her home.

‘Oh, May’s been gone a couple of years now.’ Lucy turned her attention back to the estate agent, and he waved in the direction of the fireplace. ‘You could put a nice wood burning stove in there.’

She gazed round the room. ‘It would be so easy to make it cosy.’ She could reach the beamed ceiling if she stretched up, but the place felt safe, and comforting, even in its present neglected state. ‘I could soon clean up the floorboards.’

A few bright rugs scattered around, a bookcase in the corner, some new curtains would transform the place. She could even squeeze her desk into the alcove.

‘Want to see more?’ Sensing a sale, Simon jumped to his feet, and waved her on enthusiastically.

The kitchen was bigger than she’d expected, and brighter, with a lovely large window which she was instantly drawn to and found herself looking out over the small cottage garden. Next to the house was a York paved patio, with a small, round wrought iron table and chairs and a mass of colourful pots all different shapes and sizes that she could imagine overflowing with summer bedding plants.

Lucy turned back to study the room. There was a mix of old fashioned cupboards, and under her feet the red quarry tiles seemed to glow, leading her gaze straight to the cream Aga.

‘Wow, is that a proper Aga?’

Simon grinned. ‘It is, May’s daughter told us it’s been looked after, but it runs on coal so you might want a more modern version.’

‘Oh I love it, just as it is, it must be so cosy in the winter in here.’ She could sit, on a chair by the Aga, reading a book or doing her marking, and gaze out at the cute back garden. Charlie and Maisie would adore the place, though she really, really mustn’t think that way, their future could be far away. But the pup would love it here, it would be heaven for a dog.

Oh God, she mustn’t think about that, the poor thing was really ill, and she still didn’t know quite how poorly it was. The way it had looked at her, so trusting, lifting its head even though it was so weak. She blinked. She mustn’t think about it, she’d had her heart broken once before as a child, when she’d lost her dog, her best friend. Her and her mother had moved, and not been able to take Sandy with them, and now she really didn’t know if she was ready to risk the heartache again. Even thinking about the poor little scrap, the thought of it dying …

She gulped away the feelings and stroked a hand along the old stone sink.

She’d love it here. She just knew she would. And buying it was something she’d be doing for herself.

‘I’ve got to warn you that the bathroom isn’t up to much.’ Simon was heading up the small staircase as he spoke, ducking to avoid the beam. ‘It was originally outside the back door of course, which is now a brilliant storage shed, I’ll show you in a minute, but they squeezed one in up here about forty years ago.’ He turned to wink at her. ‘Modern development.’

The small bathroom was far from modern, but she could imagine how it would look if she got a claw foot bath near the window, if she stripped out the thin green carpet, the olive-coloured tiles, and the avocado suite that might well be as old as the bathroom itself.

‘You’d need a survey of course, but the place is basically sound as far as we can tell. The family did look after it for May, it just needs a bit of updating and a few throws and cushions and stuff, not that I’m into interior decorating, but my mum is a whizz with a bit of soft furnishing. Only started to appreciate it when I started going into other people’s houses and realising how much difference a few bits and bobs could make.’

Lucy couldn’t help but smile at his enthusiasm, and he blushed, ushering her into the next room.

‘Master bedroom, nice view over the green and pond, you can peer round the net curtains and keep up with business better than Elsie Harrington can. Must drive her mad being hidden away by the church.’

‘She does get to see what goes on in the square.’

‘True. What do you think then?’

‘Honestly?’

‘Honestly.’ He sat down next to her on the little window seat.

‘It’s amazing, Simon. I could see myself living here. But …’

‘But?’ His shoulder nudged against hers, as though chivvying her on, willing her to say yes.

‘Well Mr Bannister, Alf, said it would sell quickly and I’m sure he’s right, and I’d need to sell my own house first.’

‘Don’t worry about that. If you really want it, get yours on the market and we’ll sit on this for a few days.’

‘But you can’t …’ She frowned. ‘It’s business, you …’

‘It’s much better for the village if the people who live here own the houses. Especially these ones. We can’t hold on to it for ever, but if you’re serious …’

‘Yes.’ She looked around, and nodded. ‘I’m serious.’ There was a little flutter of anticipation deep down in her stomach. This could be her home. Her real home. Not some characterless block of bricks that was little more to her than a symbol of her achievements. ‘I am.’ She could hear the conviction ring out in her own voice. ‘I’ll ring the agent who’s letting mine out as soon as I get home, I’m sure he can give me an idea of how long it would take to sell, and confirm a price.’ Although she had a fair idea of how much the house would be worth. Hopefully she’d be able to keep the same level of mortgage and she’d have a little bit of equity to spend on the work the cottage needed.

‘Great, Alf will be pleased.’

She raised an eyebrow, and Simon laughed.

‘He’s okay, just a bit of a grumpy git on the outside, but his heart’s in the right place. He’d far rather somebody we know buy it, and so would May’s family.’

Lucy felt a little glow spread up through her body. Somebody we know. She hadn’t been in the village that long, less than a year, but she did feel she belonged, she did feel she knew people – which was something she’d never expected at all.

‘Feel free to come and collect the key if you need another look.’

‘I will, thanks Simon. I’ll let you know this afternoon what the agent says, although you’re closed aren’t you?’

‘Officially, according to Alf. Here,’ he held out a card, ‘take this, it’s got my mobile number on it.’

The banging on the door was followed by the sound of it creaking open, and a cheery ‘hello.’ Lucy gave up on staring at the email from the estate agents, not that she’d been concentrating on it that hard – with the poorly pup on her mind – and closed the lid of her laptop with a sigh, just as Maisie flung the kitchen door open and dashed in, a small brown dog at her heels.

‘I’ve been to see my friend, have you got any cakes? Daddy says you’ve got cakes.’

Lucy grinned. ‘They’re for the picnic tomorrow.’

‘Hi!’ Charlie, looking much more relaxed than he had earlier at the surgery, ruffled his daughter’s hair. ‘You’ve had enough cake, and what happened to “Hello Lucy, how are you?”’

‘I don’t need to say that, she’s got a happy face so I already know.’ Maisie rooted through the wicker basket of toys near the back door. ‘Daddy says your puppy’s a poo.’ She giggled. ‘Poo and Roo go together. Come on Roo.’ Picking out a tug toy she waved it at the dog, before making a dash for the back garden.

‘My puppy’s a poo?’ Lucy raised an eyebrow. Not sure about the poo, or the fact Maisie had called it her puppy.

Charlie shook his head, trying not to smile. ‘It is indeed, well that’s my best guess, I think it’s a cockerpoo, a cocker spaniel poodle cross, and I have good news.’

‘About the puppy? She’s going to be okay?’

‘Yep. I thought I’d deliver the news in person, along with this.’ He held up a bottle of wine, then after a quick glance out of the window he leaned in and planted the softest of kisses on her lips. It was a gentle caress, the slightest brush of his dry lips against hers, but it found its way all the way down to her toes.

‘Oh.’ Lucy’s stomach gave a little flip, and the single syllable quivered. They’d said they wouldn’t get too involved over the summer, for Maisie’s sake. But they’d failed miserably. Not that the little girl had been affected. Charlie’s parents had been overjoyed that Josie was away. She’d always limited the time they could spend with their only granddaughter, and as soon as they’d known the coast was clear they’d been on the phone to Charlie – begging him to let them spend as much time as they could with Maisie over the summer. So Maisie had spent several weeks with her nana and grandad, and Lucy had spent rather a lot of time with Charlie.

Now, after two weeks of him spending as much time as he could with Maisie, and her spending rather more time than she wanted to with her spreadsheets preparing for the new school year, she had a very unladylike urge to jump on him.

He winked, as though he’d read her mind. ‘I really need to get my hands on you, think you’ll be able to cope with my animal urges once Maisie’s fast asleep tonight?’ The rough edge to his voice brought a rush of goosebumps to her arms.

‘I’ll do my best.’ She grinned as the heady atmosphere of anticipation lifted a bit. ‘Think you’ll be able to cope with all my demands?’

‘Oh, I’ll certainly do my best.’

They grinned at each other. Then he remembered the wine. ‘Open it now, finish it later?’

She smiled back at the question in his voice. She’d fallen in love, and she felt happier than she could ever remember being. But she also knew they had to keep this as low key as they could for Maisie’s sake, now she was back.

Lucy knew only too well how it felt to be abandoned by somebody you loved, what the upheaval from your family home could do to you. At least Maisie’s dad loved her, both her parents loved her, and her move to Langtry Meadows was to a lovely welcoming place. Nothing like the nightmare Lucy had experienced.

When she was not much older than Maisie, she’d been sure that nobody loved her. She’d thought her dad had abandoned her, and that her friends hated her. She’d lost her dog, her home, and her mother was working every hour she could to scrape a living. Lucy’s whole world had crumbled. Which was why, when she’d graduated, she’d buried herself in the anonymity of a city.

But she’d learned recently that the truth was far more complicated. Wasn’t it always? That her mum had feared for their lives, and fled her domineering and brutal husband. That starting a brand new life, severing all their ties had been what had saved them. Even though for years it hadn’t seemed like that.

Maisie’s situation was quite different. But Lucy knew that the little girl needed as much of her father’s attention as work allowed. For now, she had to be there for support, a helping hand, not her father’s lover. Which would be confusing, more than confusing as she was also going to be Maisie’s teacher.

Tonight though was special. They’d agreed that they needed to distract Maisie from the fast approaching start of term. Charlie and his daughter would stay with Lucy in the cottage, then in the morning they’d make a picnic together, before heading off on an adventure.

‘Sounds nice.’ She grabbed a corkscrew. ‘Is she okay?’ Lucy kept her voice low, even though Roo was barking and Maisie was squealing excitedly.

Charlie shrugged. ‘She’s been a bit subdued.’ The smile dropped from his face, the fan of laughter lines she loved so much faded away. ‘It’s my fault, she’s probably spent far too much time with Mum and Dad this summer and in between I’ve let her see too much of her old friends, and not got her to mix with the kids here.’

‘It’s not your fault.’ She chided him gently, wishing she could take the worry away from his eyes. ‘Everybody is away over the summer anyway, and she needs to know her old friends are still there for her, young kids need to feel secure, it helps them cope with change.’ She glanced down. ‘I lost all my friends when I moved.’ It had been horrible, she’d come to terms with it, discovered why it had been that way. But she could still remember how it felt. The hurt. The feeling of being cast aside – and even the logic of knowing it wasn’t actually like that couldn’t rewrite the memories. Which was why she had to resist the temptations of the gorgeous Charlie Davenport, and make sure they did this right.

‘I know.’ He put a warm hand over hers, squeezed, and brought a lump to her throat.

‘We can chat later, when she’s in bed? Come up with a plan.’

He laughed then, a warm, deep laugh and looked straight into her eyes. More tempting than a box of her favourite hard caramel chocolates. ‘You and your plans, you haven’t got a colour coded spreadsheet in mind, have you?’

‘Of course.’ She took his lead, moved on from the difficult topic that she was sure occupied most of his waking hours. ‘So, how’s the puppy?’

‘She’s not got parvo.’ His words were muffled, as his head was in the cupboard. ‘We’ll have to keep her in a few days, but then she’s all yours. So, what are you going to call her?’ He reappeared, holding two wine glasses.

‘All mine?’ She frowned.

‘You are keeping her, aren’t you?’ He raised an eyebrow. ‘Well, if you can’t I suppose I can get Sally to ring the dogs’ home, but they won’t be keen with all the care she’ll need, she’s really poorly. Needs some TLC and building up.’

‘Stop.’ Lucy held up a hand. Okay, she had been thinking about keeping the pup, after all hadn’t it been one of her thoughts as she’d stood in Jasmine Cottage? But it had just been a passing thought. ‘Just stop, I know exactly what you’re playing at. I’ll look after her for now, okay? Then we’ll find another home. And you can stop smirking.’

He grinned, and poured the wine. ‘You were really upset when Elsie Harrington told you that somebody else wanted that podgy retriever pup of hers.’ His tone was a gentle tease.

‘No I wasn’t!’ The last of Elsie’s litter of puppies had been adorable, and for the first time in years she’d actually started to wonder if a dog in her life might not be a bad thing.

‘You were. You got your sulky face on.’

‘I don’t have a sulky face.’

‘You did that I can cope, leave me alone, thing.’

‘Charlie!’

His grin broadened until the dimples appeared at the side of his mouth. ‘It’s okay,’ he leant forward, his broad, suntanned forearms resting on the table, ‘I know you’re a soft touch under that strict school teacher exterior.’

‘You’ll be getting detention if you don’t behave.’

‘Oh, yes please, now you’re talking.’ He chuckled, and the shiver of goosebumps shot down her arms again.

‘Stop being naughty!’

‘I can’t help it when you’re around.’ His gaze grabbed hers, held her, for a moment serious, and she couldn’t miss the meaning.

‘You’re bad.’

‘You make me that way.’ The husky tone made her wriggle in her seat. ‘You’re in so much trouble later.’

‘Promises, promises.’

‘You betcha.’ He touched the tip of her nose with one warm finger, shook his head then pulled away reluctantly and turned his attention back to the wine. ‘I know you didn’t want to give Elsie her puppy back, even though you wouldn’t admit it.’

Lucy tried to scowl, but he was right. He knew her too well. She’d grown quite attached in the few days that she’d looked after Elsie’s dog Molly, and her puppy. She was fairly sure that Elsie had been plotting to persuade her to home the dog, but when a neighbour was devastated by the loss of her own Labrador, Elsie had felt she had no choice but to offer her Podge, as Lucy had named him. But she’d decided it was for the best.

A tiny, malnourished runt of a puppy with mismatched eyes and an aptitude for projectile vomiting wasn’t for the best. Even if she couldn’t stop thinking about the animal.

‘She’s stopped being sick now.’ Charlie grinned, as though he’d read her mind.

She sighed. ‘I haven’t really got time though have I? Being sensible. Term starts in a few days, and there’s bound to be tons of work to do, and parents evenings and …’ and possibly a new home to renovate.

‘She’ll be good company for you.’ His voice was soft, but it hung between them. The unspoken agreement, she’d be company for her because he couldn’t be right now, he had Maisie. ‘Sometimes it’s better not being too sensible.’

‘I have got all the other animals.’

‘The other animals aren’t yours, they’re Annie’s. And anyway, a dog is different.’ He was right. A dog was different. The sound of Maisie and Roo filtered through from the garden. She’d played with her own dog Sandy when she was that age, and she’d been heartbroken to leave him behind when they’d moved. She’d sworn she’d never get attached to an animal in that way again. But maybe now was the right time.

Things had changed since she’d moved to Langtry Meadows. She’d changed.

‘So?’

She shook her head at him, but couldn’t help the smile that came to her lips. It was the right time. ‘Piper. I’m going to call her Piper.’

‘Let’s drink to Piper then.’ He raised his glass, his eyes seeming to assess her, and it was there, that moment when she knew that whatever happened, she’d always love him. She gave herself a mental shake. ‘You look like you need a drink, are you okay?’

‘Well actually,’ this was a brilliant time to concentrate on the other big issue, and distract herself, and her urges. ‘I’ve had a bit of a strange day.’ She sighed.

He was studying her, looking serious. ‘What? Has something else happened?’ His voice was soft, concerned.

‘My house, the one in Birmingham?’

‘Oh no, it’s not been trashed or anything?’ He put his drink down, laid a warm hand over Lucy’s.

‘No, no, it’s not that.’ She hadn’t been able to believe the response when she’d rung the agent who was letting her house out, within the space of an hour she’d had a return call, and an email confirmation in her inbox. ‘The people who are renting it from me might want to buy.’

It was all so much to take in. In the space of one short day she’d found an idyllic home, and it looked like it was hers for the taking.

When she’d taken a temporary job at the school in Langtry Meadows, Lucy had had no intention of hanging around. She liked working in Birmingham, and as soon as the opportunity arose she’d be back there like a flash. Which was why she’d let her home out. But the village had got under her skin, and she’d soon found herself accepting the permanent position that Timothy Parry, the headmaster had offered. Now it was hard to imagine living anywhere else.

‘That’s fantastic!’ Charlie paused, his eyes searching her face. ‘Isn’t it?’

‘Well yes …’

‘But?’ He frowned. ‘You’ve take a permanent job on here, and you can’t live in this place for ever, can you? I mean, what happens when Annie comes back? Selling yours means you can afford to look for a place, doesn’t it?’

Which was true, Annie had planned to be away for at least a year, but beyond that who knew? That had been fine when she’d only planned on staying a term, but it was a rather different situation now. She’d already been in Langtry Meadows for six months, what if Annie and her husband were back next spring? ‘Well yes, I mean I have got a job. But the school’s still got an uncertain future, even knowing it’s not on the list they’re considering closing this year.’ And it was the final step. Letting go of the security blanket that had cloaked her insecurities of the past.

‘That could be the same anywhere.’ His voice was gentle, with a question at the end of it. ‘What’s the real problem, don’t you want it to work out?’ The way he said it, the way he was looking at her with that slightly unsure edge to his voice, said it all.

He knew, they both knew, that the problem wasn’t just about letting go of the dreams she’d put in place to protect herself – the big school, challenging kids, promotion prospects. It was him. Charlie Davenport, and his daughter Maisie. Them.

Or more specifically, it was Josie. What would happen when Maisie’s mum came back?

It would break her heart if Charlie moved on, and she couldn’t follow. And it would be beyond awful if Josie moved back to the area, and made things difficult for them.

‘Of course.’ She squeezed his hand. ‘I do want it to work out.’ Those gorgeous brown eyes of his were studying her intently. He cared, she knew he cared, but that didn’t alter anything. ‘But it is complicated, isn’t it?’

He nodded. ‘It might be.’ She knew he’d understand, know she wasn’t just talking about houses, jobs. ‘But nothing we can’t handle.’

Lucy hoped so. ‘Well,’ she paused, ‘the other bit of my strange day,’ how much drama could a girl cram into one short day? ‘One of the little cottages opposite the green has just come up for sale. I could buy it.’

‘Wow,’ Charlie sat back, and ran his fingers through his hair, ‘you have had a busy day! But that’s perfect timing, isn’t it?’

She nodded slowly. ‘It’s gorgeous too, but, well, should I wait until …’ It was a massive step. She should do it, just for her. But he was part of her life.

He put his glass down, and gave her a funny lopsided grin which she didn’t quite understand. ‘Wait? Why? So you don’t want to commit to life here? I thought …’

‘You thought?’

‘Well, me and you, I thought you’d be around to help me with Maisie, and for, well, us.’

She felt like he was squeezing her heart. ‘I do want to be here for us.’ She wrapped her arms round him. Rested her forehead against his. ‘I do.’ But what if the immediate future didn’t have a Charlie and Lucy shaped gap? Loving Charlie was one thing, but coming between him and Maisie was something she’d never want to do. ‘But should I wait until Josie comes back, until we know …’

Charlie shook his head, his forehead brushing against hers, his dark gaze hitting her head on. ‘Josie’s dictated to me for long enough. You know Maisie means the world to me, I’ll never give her up, but you mean the world to me too, whatever we need to do to make this work we will. Yes? Do it, if it’s what you want to do?’

She nodded, looking at him through the tears she hadn’t realised had sprung into her eyes. ‘It is.’

‘Good.’ Then not even glancing up to check whether Maisie was nearby, he kissed her.

Chapter 3

‘I wondered where you were!’ Jill smiled at Maisie, who was kneeling down in the playground, clutching Roo to her chest. The tears that had been building in her big brown eyes spilled over, as she sensed the inevitable. Her grip tightened on the little dog. ‘I need your help, Maisie.’

Lucy stood back. Yesterday morning, the little girl had been more than a little reluctant to leave her dad and dog, and she was sure there had been a muttered ‘you’re not my mummy’, so today she had decided to use different tactics.

‘Our guinea pig isn’t at all well, and I’m sure somebody told me you were the best person to help. But, if they’re wrong I can always ask one of the other children.’ Maisie’s grip loosened on the dog, and she stood up, taking the hand that Jill was holding out.

Lucy could practically see the whoosh of tension leave Charlie’s body as his daughter disappeared into the school building.

‘Morning.’ Lucy smiled at Charlie. ‘You’ll go bald if you’re not careful.’

He gave a wry smile, but stopped running his fingers through his hair.

The first few days of the new school year had been chaotic and Lucy had been glad the term had started on a Wednesday and they hadn’t had a full week to cope with. The children, and staff, had been exhausted by the end of Friday. And now they were already into the second week, and were starting to settle into a routine. Apart from Maisie.

‘She seemed fine last week, but this week …’ He shrugged, looking at a loss.

‘I know. She was very quiet over the weekend though. She’s bright Charlie, she was mulling it over.’

‘I thought bringing Roo with us might help, but if anything it’s made her worse.’ The little terrier looked up at the sound of his name, and Lucy patted his head.

‘She’d be hanging on to you if Roo wasn’t here. She’ll be okay, honest. She just needs time, and Jill will keep a close eye on her.’

‘I hope so.’

The school bell rang, and the last of the children started to make their way towards the entrance door. ‘Shoo, go, and make sure you bring Roo with you when you pick her up!’

‘I wanted to bring Roo in to school.’ Maisie was looking down at the desk, and Lucy knew it was to hide the shine of tears. ‘Roo will be sad.’

‘I’m sure he will.’ Lucy squatted down. ‘Daddy will look after him though, and he’ll be very happy to see you this afternoon, won’t he?’

‘Daddy’s busy.’ She gave a large theatrical sigh, but Lucy was glad to see that the threat of tears seemed to have abated. ‘He’s always busy. Why can’t dogs come to school?’

She was just trying to formulate the best answer to that, when Rosie chipped in. ‘They can.’ She was doodling away industriously at what looked like a picture of a sheep, or it could have been a legless dog, or even a very hairy guinea pig, and didn’t even look up. ‘Our other teacher let us have a pet day. We always have one. I brought my rat in. Do you like my picture, Miss?’

Lucy stared, and wondered if looking at it from a different angle would help. ‘Very good, I thought we were all drawing our favourite animals?’

‘He is.’ She scribbled harder until the point of her pencil snapped off. ‘He’s the furry caterpillar I found on the fence on holiday, he was enormous.’ She picked up a brown crayon. ‘We stayed in a big caravan. But Mummy wouldn’t let me bring him home. That’s why,’ she glanced up at Lucy, ‘I’ll have to bring our rat to pet day. It’s pet day tomorrow, isn’t it Miss?’ She nodded at Maisie knowledgeably. ‘You can bring Roo, as long as he’s not going to try and eat my rat.’

Lucy looked up at Jill, who shrugged apologetically, then pointed to the large calendar.

How on earth had she forgotten that tomorrow was pet day?

‘My mam says caterpillars are a bleeding nuisance.’

‘Sophie, we don’t say that, do we?’

‘A bleeding’ she paused, and frowned, ‘pest. They eat our lettuces.’

‘I wish my mummy was here.’

Lucy put an arm round Maisie, swallowing down the lump in her throat. She remembered wishing her dad had been there when she wasn’t that much older than Maisie. The little girl was only six, what kind of mother just upped and left her child for six months? Josie had to have a good reason, she had to. ‘Draw her a lovely picture of Roo, and you can show her on skype can’t you? I’m sure she’s missing you and Roo.’

‘Lunch time meeting.’ Liz Potts stuck her head round the door, then was off before either Lucy or Jill had time to question her.

‘What’s that about then?’ Jill raised an eyebrow.

‘Your guess is as good as mine.’ But even as she said the words, Lucy felt a twinge of anticipation. It was Tuesday, the children had been back at school five days now, and five days into the new school year had an ominous ring to it. It was the earliest date that the Ofsted inspectors could come calling.

Lucy sank down with a sigh onto one of the comfortable staffroom chairs. Would anybody notice if she put her feet up on the table?

The first week of the new school year was always a killer. After a long summer of late nights, lie-ins, walks and general lazing about it was nice in a way to get back into a normal work routine. At her previous school, the first few days were always hard work, particularly when you had a new class, over thirty new names to learn, personalities and capabilities to assess. Behaviour to manage. Here though, even after only a few short months of working at the school, she at least knew most of the children by name – and she was carrying on teaching the class she’d had last year. It was a small school, and several of the classes had been merged, which meant she had Class 1 and Class 2. But there were a few newcomers, a few changes, and the children always seemed to grow over the summer and learn new tricks. Even the sweetest of children liked to test the boundaries, in fact the butter-wouldn’t-melt ones were often the ones who pushed hardest. And then there was Maisie. Sweet little Maisie who had giggled her way infectiously through the summer, but now wasn’t quite sure why she was still here in a strange place, without her mummy.

Lucy tried to force the frown away and relax, and found herself yawning.

‘Keeping you up?’ Jill, her classroom assistant, laughed. ‘Budge up. Any idea why Timothy has assembled the troops?’

‘Nope. I was hoping you’d be able to tell me.’

Jill shook her head, then nodded towards Liz Potts, the school secretary who had just bustled in with an armful of papers. ‘Looks like Liz knows.’

‘Thank you for getting here promptly everybody.’ Timothy Parry, head of Langtry Meadows Primary School coughed, straightened his bowtie and tugged at the cuffs of his shirt which were peeping out of the sleeves of his tweed jacket. ‘I won’t keep you long, I do appreciate how much, er, fun, the first couple of weeks back are. Now,’ he motioned to Liz, who handed over the papers. ‘I have a copy here of our SEF, which Lucy very efficiently updated at the end of last term.’

Lucy grimaced as her stomach hollowed in anticipation. With the small village school still at risk of closure they’d all thrown themselves into making sure they were fully prepared to hit the ground running before they’d closed for the summer break. The school’s self-evaluation form had been updated, a new improvement plan put together, and every file in Mrs Potts’s system gone through to ensure they were ready for anything. Anything, it seemed, involved an early Ofsted inspection.

A small smile twitched at the corner of Timothy’s mouth. ‘As I think Miss Jacobs has already guessed,’ they all turned to look at her, ‘we have been informed that the Ofsted inspectors will be calling rather earlier than anticipated. We appear to be in demand, top of the list.’

A ripple of a groan spread round the staffroom, peaking when it reached their youngest member of staff, who clamped her hand over her mouth as she realised she’d gasped rather louder than she’d meant to. Liz patted her arm comfortingly.

‘Don’t worry dear, it’s not all bad, they’re not the ogres they used to be.’

‘Says who?’ Jill whispered rather too loudly in Lucy’s ear.

‘Ahem.’ Timothy coughed to restore order. ‘After the huge success of our summer picnic I pretty much think we’re on track to safeguard the future of our school, but a good report would be the icing on the cake. Which reminds me, the Right Honourable George enjoyed his visit so much that he sent us a rather delightful letter. Liz has very kindly framed it and put it on the wall so that we may remind ourselves how wonderful we are,’ he paused, ‘if the need arises.’ He glanced around the room, his face serious, but something Lucy was sure was mischief danced in his eyes. ‘George always did like to make himself heard, which I think Lucy has done a splendid job of utilising.’

Lucy blushed and studied her hands. It had really been Elsie Harrington and Jim Stafford who had been responsible for the reintroduction of the Summer Picnic – without their help the idea would never have occurred to her. She would never have known that so many past attendees of the school, like George, now had rather prominent and influential positions on the numerous councils that had the power to control the future of the school. But Elsie, a colourful, elderly villager who seemed to know everybody’s business, and school governor (and councillor) Jim who had a finger in every pie, had soon pointed her in the right direction. She still wasn’t quite sure if she’d been manipulated, or made the decisions, but it didn’t matter.

How could George recommend Langtry Meadows Primary School to be the next closure, after the nostalgic reminder of his childhood? As guest of honour George had excelled himself, his speech had been longer than a presidential inauguration, and had definitely made prolific use of the word ‘great’.

‘I rather thought we should invite him back to the school nativity, and ask him to switch on the lights if nobody has an objection? Keep him in the loop, as it were.’

‘Nativity?’ Lucy hissed to Jill who had a broad smile on her face.

‘Oh you’re going to love Christmas. But don’t worry about donkeys and the rest of the mayhem yet, we’ve got this half term and Ofsted to get through first.’

Which sounded ominous. ‘Donkeys?’

‘And cows.’

‘Right ho.’ Timothy clapped his hands together. ‘Let’s smash it.’

‘Smash it?’ Lucy raised an eyebrow at Jill as they made their way to the door.

Jill grinned. ‘He’s been spending too much time with his nephews over the summer. He’ll be high fiving us next and telling us how many Pokémon he’s caught. Don’t worry he’ll be back to normal within a couple of weeks.’

Lucy rather hoped he’d be back to normal by tomorrow, before the Ofsted team arrived.

Five minutes after they’d got to the classroom, the first of the children started to run in – hot and excited from running about in the sun, and within a further two minutes the head scratching began.

‘Looks like we’ve got little visitors.’ Lucy pulled a face at Jill. ‘Not only have we got bring-your-pet-in day tomorrow, we’ve also got head-lice now. Just what every Ofsted inspector likes to see.’ She automatically reached a hand up to scratch her own head. They definitely weren’t a welcome addition to her classroom.

Jill laughed. ‘I thought I saw one or two of them scratching earlier, but didn’t like to say. I think we’ve got more livestock in Langtry Meadows Primary School than there is in Charlie D’s waiting room.’

Lucy shook her head. ‘I’ll ask Liz to write a letter to the parents.’

‘Talking of Charlie,’ Jill watched as Maisie was escorted to her seat by Rosie, who seemed to have taken her under her wing, ‘is that man really going to let Josie waltz straight back in and take his daughter away from him again?’

Lucy frowned. Hoping the villagers wouldn’t speculate about the return of Charlie’s daughter had been a bit unrealistic. The daughter he’d kept a secret. The daughter his ex had said wasn’t his. She didn’t know how far that last nugget of information had spread, but she really hoped that it wasn’t a topic of conversation in the village shop.

She shook her head. ‘I hope not, I don’t think he’s going to give up without a fight, but who knows what will happen when she comes back from her travels. If she’s not his daughter though, will he have much say in the matter?’

‘He doesn’t know yet? He hasn’t had a DNA test?’

‘Nope, he says she’s his, whatever.’ It worried her, and she knew that it worried Charlie. He’d always been wary of Josie and her intentions, and they hung over them, a threatening black cloud.

‘Miss, Miss, I’ve just found a nit on Rosie’s head.’

‘And what are you doing messing with Rosie’s hair, Ted?’ Jill made her way over to the children and Lucy clapped her hands to get their attention.

‘Right, who is bringing in a pet tomorrow? Hands up!’

Chapter 4

‘Guess what?’ Sally beamed, and actually did a happy dance on the doorstep when Lucy opened the cottage door. Sally, Charlie’s receptionist and right hand woman, was like that. She was unfailingly friendly and breezy in the vets (but always professional), and fun outside of it.

She’d also been the first person that Lucy had properly talked to when she’d moved to Langtry Meadows the previous spring, the person that had dragged her out of her new home and into the community. That made it sound like she was part of a rehabilitation programme, which in a way was true. A few months in Langtry Meadows had given her a new lease of life.

Sally didn’t wait for a response. She grabbed Lucy in a hug. ‘Piper is ready to come home!’

‘No!’ Lucy shrieked, peering round Sally to see if the puppy was actually with her, then pulled herself together. ‘Sorry, sorry, come in.’

‘Don’t worry, I’ve not got her with me, the weekend seemed a better idea. Look, I know you’ve only just gone back to work, Loo, but that’s a bit of an extreme reaction!’ Sally grinned and gave her friend another hug. ‘Bad start to the school year?’

‘No, well yes. We’ve got nits.’

Sally giggled. ‘At least it isn’t fleas.’

‘And it’s bring-a-pet-to-school day tomorrow.’ Lucy put her hands on her head, feeling like her brain was about to boil over.

‘Piece of cake when you’re used to herding Annie’s lot. What are you worrying about girl? I think a glass of wine is in order.’ She started to steer Lucy towards the kitchen.

‘I can’t drink!’

That got Sally’s attention. ‘You’re pregnant!’

‘No I’m not bloody pregnant.’ Lucy couldn’t help it, she laughed, then shook her head. ‘Nutter. It’s worse. We’ve got Ofsted tomorrow.’

‘Ofsted and bring-a-pet-to-school? You definitely need a drink. Chill, you’ve got this, you spent half the summer break preparing for all eventualities. I’ve seen the colour coded spreadsheets.’

‘There isn’t any kind of colour coding to cope with Ofsted and animals at the same time.’ She frowned and peered at Sally as the comment sank in. ‘I’m not that anal am I?’

‘You are, but we all love you for it.’ Sally put an arm round her shoulders and handed her a far too big glass of wine.

If she drank all that she’d be as entertaining tomorrow as one of the worms that little Ted liked to keep in his trouser pockets.

‘I promised to take a pet in as well.’ Lucy sank down on one of the kitchen chairs. ‘Though heaven knows what. Gertie will chase any inspectors off the premises, no way can I take a fat pony, so Mischief is ruled out. The chickens are total hooligans, and Tigger the cat will have a field day if any of the kids take in fish, mice or hamsters.’ Which was what she hoped most of them would take in, anything bigger could be calamitous.

‘How about Pork-chop? He’s got a harness, and he’s cute.’

The pig was quite cute, she had to admit it, and he spent a lot of time just grunting and sitting down, which was a definite bonus.

‘Hell, I’m being pathetic.’ She looked up. ‘It just feels like there’s still so much at stake, we need an outstanding from Ofsted, and then we’ll be completely in the clear.’

Sally shook her head. ‘Totally pathetic.’

‘Sally!’

She fought a losing battle to keep a straight face. ‘It’s okay, you’re allowed to have moments of weakness. It makes you more human.’

‘What do you mean, more human?’

Sally flung her arms round her in reply, and squeezed. ‘Less perfect.’

‘I’m not per—’

‘We all like to see other people lose it a bit now and again, you know weep, explode, scream.’ Sally shrugged. ‘You keep it in most of the time.’ She tutted. ‘Not fair.’

‘You’re mad.’ Which made two of them. She had all this to cope with, and she’d agreed to have a dog?

‘At least Piper’s stopped being sick now. We can keep her until Friday for you, she’s no bother.’ Sally grinned, as though she’d read her mind. ‘Anyhow, I hear you should be celebrating. Charlie says you’ve sold your house and found a new one.’

‘I’ve got an offer, I’ve not said …’

‘You don’t look very happy about it.’

‘I’m in shock, that’s all.’ She tried a smile, and knew from Sally’s rolled eyes that it wasn’t convincing. ‘Well you know how I like to plan.’

More rolled eyes. ‘Don’t I just! Sorry,’ she laughed, ‘carry on, go on, tell me.’

‘Well making my own mind up that I want to do something is different to suddenly having it dropped in your lap, and somebody else almost making the decision isn’t it?’

‘It’s bossy teacher syndrome isn’t it? You like being in total control, don’t you Lucy Jacobs, and this is freaking you out. God knows how poor Charlie copes with you in bed.’

‘Sally!’ Lucy tried to glare. ‘But you’ve got a point about being a bit freaked out. I feel like I’ve been backed into a corner and my hand’s being forced. Though I’m sure you’ll be delighted about that, me showing my human side.’ She had actually been pondering over the summer about the possibility of selling the house, but she hadn’t quite got to the point of knowing it was what she wanted to do. Now this had happened. Which was fantastic. But scary.

Sally sat down at the kitchen table and studied her, looking serious. ‘You know I was only joking.’ Her voice was soft, concerned.

‘Yeah, I know, well I know there’s an element of truth in there too.’

‘So, what’s the problem? I know, you don’t want to become a country bumpkin like me.’

‘It’s not that.’

‘I mean, you live here now, don’t you? And it’s not often a nice place comes up for sale in the village. Gawd I’d kill for a chance like that.’

Sally’s words had a wistful edge, and Lucy instantly felt herself colour up with guilt.

‘Could you and Jamie get a place together?’ Lucy knew that Sally and Jamie’s relationship had positively exploded, and left the whole village agog. Not that they weren’t all pleased, and very relieved that the couple had finally started to date – after all everybody knew they were perfect for each other.

Sally and Jamie had known each other since they were children, but both had been worried about admitting that they wanted to be more than just good friends. Until Sally had finally taken the drunken plunge and admitted how she felt. After that they seemed to have been intent on making up for lost time. Lucy had never known two people so obviously madly in love with each other.

Sally shook her head. ‘Rentals hardly ever come up and the amount I get paid it’s hopeless. Jamie’s trying to save so that we can put a deposit down, but farming isn’t exactly the best job to be in right now.’ She sighed. ‘At this rate it’ll take bloody years, and lovely as they are I am getting a bit sick of living with Mum and Dad. Have you any idea what it’s like being asked what time you’ll be home when you’re my age?’ She rolled her eyes and Lucy laughed. ‘And don’t start me on the comments my dad makes about my clothes, you’d think I was twelve years old still. He actually asked if I was wearing a skirt or a belt the other day, how old is that line? And it was nearly down to my knees!’ She shook her head in disbelief, then gave Lucy her direct not-to-be-messed with receptionist look. ‘You’d be mad to pass on it.’

‘I know. But what if the school closes?’

‘That could happen anywhere. What if the world ends tomorrow? You get run over by a tractor? You get nits?’ Sally’s voice was gentle. ‘What’s the real issue here, Lucy? It’s not just about the house is it? Is this about Charlie?’

‘Charlie, what’s it got to do with …’ She stopped herself short. It had everything to do with Charlie, well maybe not everything, but quite a lot. ‘Charlie needs space for him and Maisie, a village is a small place.’ Lucy grimaced. If she was honest, she needed to know she had a bolthole, options, if it all went wrong. If she wasn’t wanted. Again.

In the last few months she’d finally managed to get rid of a lot of her insecurities, but there was still that lingering doubt. She’d spent a good chunk of her childhood feeling dispensable, as an adult knowing she had some security had always been important, the most important thing.

‘You don’t need to tell me that.’ Sally rolled her eyes dramatically.

‘What about when Josie comes back, what if it seems a better idea to move?’

‘Then move. But you don’t have to go back to your old place in Birmingham, do you? You don’t have to hang on to the past and look backwards, Lucy. The world’s your oyster.’

‘It’s just a bit of security, having that house.’

‘So keep it. Carry on renting it out.’

Which was what her head kept saying, but some part of her heart was telling her to let go. To be really brave, braver than she’d been in accepting this job. Follow her heart.

But she was scared.

Scared of waking up one day and realising she didn’t belong here. Scared that she should have stayed where she was, the place she understood. Scared that one day the past would catch up with her in this cute village and it would all be wrecked again. The nightmare of her dad leaving them had been replaced with the one of him finding them. A city was big. Anonymous.

‘Either way, it’s only a house, Luce. It’s not like some inherited mansion or something,’ she paused dramatically, ‘is it?’

‘No, it’s your bog standard semi.’ But it was her bog standard semi.

‘Well then, a place here sounds much better.’

‘I know.’

‘It just means you’ve got your security here, not there. And you can always move again. Here, anywhere.’ Sally paused, bottle of wine in hand, Lucy must have let her thoughts flitter across her features. ‘And you might always fall in love with somebody else.’

She gave a grim smile, ignoring the Charlie remark. ‘It’s a good source of income.’ The bottle of wine was still in Sally’s hand. Poised. ‘Are you pouring that or is this some weird mannequin challenge I don’t know about, Sal?’

But it wasn’t just about an income, security now. It was a decision. A step. It was letting go of her anchor.

Sally topped up their glasses. ‘Don’t stress about it. You’ll know, when the time’s right, you’ll know. Maisie likes you, doesn’t she?’ She tipped her head on one side and smiled. ‘She was in the surgery yesterday, talking about how she wished she could live with you all the time, instead of with Charlie who always says no.’

Lucy smiled back. ‘I like her too. She might go off me now I have my teacher hat back on though.’ It was hard not to fall in love with Charlie’s curly haired daughter, although she wasn’t always quite the angel she appeared – with her halo of soft auburn curls. They’d had a good summer, the three of them, but it was hard. She wasn’t Maisie’s mother, she didn’t want to get too close to her. A part of her held back.

‘What if Josie doesn’t come back? You know, says she can live with Charlie permanently.’ Sally was offering the other option.

She wasn’t ready to be a mother, she didn’t know how to be a mother. ‘Oh don’t be silly, she’s Maisie’s mum, of course she’ll come back.’ Then where would that leave her? But worse, what if Josie started laying down the law again, made it hard for Charlie to see his daughter?

Josie had taken Maisie away from Charlie once, she could do it again. And if a DNA test proved that Maisie wasn’t his, well, it didn’t bear thinking about. A hard lump formed in Lucy’s throat at the thought of him having to suffer again. Although she knew he’d fight. But was the law on his side?

Charlie had told her it was over between him and Josie, and she believed him. But who knew what would happen if it came to the crunch? If Josie insisted he had to choose between seeing his daughter, and seeing her? She’d have no choice, she’d do whatever she could to make sure he saw Maisie. No way would she ever want the little girl to grow up without her dad, like she’d had to.

They’d both held back since the start of term, Maisie was the important thing, Charlie’s priority now, and however much Lucy had fallen for the gorgeous vet she knew she couldn’t jeopardise that.

‘Pour the wine Sal, then seeing as it was your idea you can help me wash Pork-chop. He can’t go into school smelling of chicken poo.’

***

The Ofsted inspector stepped neatly round Pork-chop and squatted down next to Harry, who was clutching a small box.

‘Now, young man, who do we have here?’

‘Mario.’

Lucy’s heart sank, and she looked at Jill in alarm. Harry’s hamster Mario had sadly died in the spring and as far as she knew had been buried. Surely not? No, it was impossible, Harry couldn’t have dug him up. Could he? She edged closer. He was opening the box, the inspector was peering in. He put his hand in, and pulled out … a hamster treat, followed by a picture, and a tuft of fluff.

‘My dad said we had to bury him, but we made him a mim, mimo, mimor thing to remember him by.’

‘A memorial! How wonderful, what a clever boy you are.’

‘When the vet came in to school we talked all about him dying, and we drew pictures, and I took this picture home so I could put it in his mimoroyal box.’ Harry nodded wisely. ‘But I don’t look at it much now because I’ve got a lamb.’ He sighed heavily. ‘Well he was a lamb and I had to feed him with a bottle and everything cos his mum dropped dead.’ He shook his head. ‘Sheeps always do that you know. But that lamb is getting real bossy now, we’ll be having him with mint sauce soon I reckon.’

The inspector, looking slightly shocked, got to his feet and moved on to study the children’s books which had been laid out on a table by the window.

***

‘Well.’ Jill shut the door firmly and leant against it. ‘That was an interesting day.’

‘Gawd, I thought he was never going to go, I think Sophie producing her nit comb and telling him what her mam had to say about it was what finally convinced him he’d heard enough.’ Lucy sat down on one of the tiny chairs. ‘Any news on how the rest got on?’

‘No, but Liz Potts was singing so that’s a good sign. They’re in again in the morning, but we should get an update in the afternoon.’ Jill grinned. ‘I did overhear some comment about it being the first time he’s seen a pig in a classroom.’

‘And it will be the last time anybody sees one in my classroom, if it has anything to do with me. Roll on Friday.’ One thing Lucy was sure of was that tonight she would fall into bed exhausted – but at least she’d done her bit. Now all they could do was wait for the verdict.

Chapter 5

Charlie couldn’t help it. He needed to talk to somebody, or he’d be snapping at Maisie and upsetting the very fragile state of her emotions. When he’d met her from school on Wednesday she had been bubbly, excited to tell him about her day, what Roo had done, and how she wanted a ‘pet day’ every day. But then she’d wanted to tell Mummy all about it, and Mummy unfortunately was not in an area with Wi-Fi. The skype tone had echoed out until he’d had to admit defeat, and the hope had died from her face.

Then he’d felt guilty. It had been his fault – even though where Josie was and what she was up to was totally out of his control. In fact everything seemed out of his control right now.

The week had gone downhill from there, when he’d had to explain that Roo wasn’t allowed in school again, and he’d felt a complete heel when ten minutes after collecting her from school on Friday he’d had to leave her with Sally while he dealt with an emergency.

And he wanted to talk to Lucy, desperately. He wanted to chat to her about the house, about the future, but in-between Maisie’s tantrums, his emergency call outs, and her evenings sorting lesson plans they hadn’t been able to grab more than a few minutes alone.

He squeezed his eyes together. He was totally knackered. He’d always loved being a parent, but being a single one was a different kettle of fish altogether. Especially when he was trying to run a veterinary surgery almost single-handedly, and his clients seemed to think he was available 24/7. Thank goodness he had the very capable Sally to help out, or he’d be really stuck.

But, keeping his professional life in order was nothing compared to trying to reassure his daughter that she was the most loved, the most wanted child in the whole wide world. That she meant everything to him. That although she felt like her little world had been tipped upside down, it hadn’t. That everything would be okay. He’d sort it.

He felt totally inadequate though. It had taken him quite some time to cheer her up when he’d finally finished work for the day, and when he’d tucked her into bed she’d been hanging on to a toy as though it was her only friend. When he’d gone up to check on her before leaving, the toy had been replaced with the Border terrier Roo.

‘Should she have the dog in bed?’ Sally who had been called in as emergency babysitter raised an eyebrow when she saw the sleepy child, and Charlie shrugged.

‘Maybe not.’ He sighed. ‘I’m a crap parent, but I know now why so many dads just say yes to everything.’ It had been so much easier when it had been the two of them, him and Josie, and to be honest Maisie had seemed so unflappable. She’d always been a happy child who had been easy to distract from her tantrums and was rarely demanding. Even the terrible twos hadn’t seemed to have a huge impact.

Now she was frightened; clingy in a way he’d not noticed before, and tearful. Maisie had always been the child with a smile on her face, and it worried him that she seemed to be getting more sensitive as each day passed. He had to work out what to do. He’d always thought he was doing okay as a parent, but now he wasn’t sure. Now he was scared he was failing her.

And he had to talk to Lucy about this bloody email.

‘I won’t be long.’

Sally nodded at his slightly curt tone, and her voice was soft. ‘Take your time, Charlie.’

Lucy didn’t answer when he knocked, and when he jiggled the door handle it was locked. He felt like sitting down on the step, closing his eyes and blocking out the world and his problems. Instead, with a weary sigh he headed back down the garden path.

She couldn’t have gone far, and if he didn’t find her, a brisk walk round the village would do him good and maybe clear his head.

The cobbled square was deserted when he strolled across, the shops shut up for the night. Only the sound of his own footsteps broke the stillness of the evening, and as he walked some of the peace leaked into his soul.

By the time he reached the village green he was feeling more positive. He wasn’t a bad dad, he wasn’t doing everything wrong. They just needed a bit more structure in their lives, he needed to reorganise – instead of trying to shoe-horn his daughter into the chaotic and over-busy life he had been leading.

There was a crowd on the benches outside the Taverner’s Arms, making the most of the warm September evening, and he soon spotted Lucy sandwiched between Jill and Timothy.

She waved as he walked across the grass.

‘We’re celebrating. Come and join us.’

‘Sit here young man, my supper calls me and it’s been a long week.’ Timothy stood up, and put a hand on Charlie’s shoulder. ‘Goodnight all, thank you as always for all your hard work. See you all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed on Monday morning!’

‘Good Ofsted report then?’ Timothy’s upbeat attitude was infectious, and Charlie felt his spirits lift another notch.

‘Great.’ Lucy had a big grin plastered to her face. ‘Well we won’t get it in writing for a couple of weeks, but everything was pretty positive.’

‘I’ll get a drink, another?’

By the time he got back with his pint, Jill had gone.

‘Something I said?’

Lucy smiled, and put her hand on his knee. ‘She said you looked like a man with the weight of the world on his shoulders.’ Her smile slipped. ‘What’s the matter, Charlie? Nothing’s wrong with Maisie, is it?’

‘Maisie’s fine, I left her with Sal.’ He shrugged. ‘Well she was fine when I left.’ He needed to talk to her about the email, his biggest problem, but then again it was all part and parcel of the same issue. If Maisie wasn’t happy with him, if it got to the stage where she didn’t want to spend time with him, then he really was in a mess.

‘Oh?’

‘It’s not working out.’ He knotted his fingers in his hair in frustration.

‘What do you mean?’ Lucy looked alarmed. ‘You can’t …’

‘She’s not eating properly, she didn’t want her tea, only picks at stuff.’

Lucy shifted closer, so that her shoulder rested against his, and it felt like an anchor. Something stable. ‘She eats her lunch at school so she’ll be fine. But, maybe saying no to what you give her is her way of showing you she’s not happy, it’s the only thing she can say no to. The only thing she can control.’

‘She says she doesn’t like it here, she wants her old friends back, she wants her bedroom.’ At the moment the list seemed endless. She wanted everything to be different.

‘Well the bedroom bit is tricky, but why don’t you invite one of her friends here for lunch, a picnic, just a play in the garden?’

‘The surgery doesn’t have a garden,’ he gazed across the green, not really seeing it, ‘and the flat is cramped, that’s why I’ve let her go and visit friends. It’s easier. It’s not helping her make a home here though if I keep letting her go back there, is it?’

‘Nope. She seems more unsettled than unhappy though, she gets on with the kids in her class and once we’re past the initial half hour she’s fine.’

‘She’s not fine at home. She doesn’t cry, she just looks at me, sad as though I’ve let her down.’

‘You’ve not let her down, it’s just different. The summer was a big adventure, something new, but in her head she probably thought that everything would go back to how it was at the end of the holidays.’

‘She was always so happy. That’s the worst bit, she was always smiling, giggly, and now she always looks wary, unsure. Unhappy.’

‘It’s not just the move, Charlie. She’s getting older too, she’s not that chubby toddler any longer. School is more demanding, she’s starting to question things.’

‘You’re telling me. She asked why Roo couldn’t sleep in her room and I couldn’t think of an answer, especially when she said she was lonely.’

Lucy grinned. ‘You let him?’

‘I said he could, in his basket though.’

‘And?’

‘He was on her bed when I checked on her. They were curled up together, the dog was fast asleep, and she was drowsy but clinging on.’

‘She just needs to feel secure, Charlie.’

‘And only the dog does that for her.’ He gave a wry smile.

‘You know that’s not true. But Roo’s a warm, living, breathing friend to fall asleep with. My dog was my best friend when I was her age.’

‘I know.’ He took her warm hand in his, threaded his fingers through her slender ones. ‘I wish it had been easier for you.’ He’d been lucky, the perfect childhood surrounded by animals, fields and two loving parents – unlike Lucy, who he knew had faced disruption and the feeling that she’d been abandoned. She’d got through it, but he didn’t want the same for his own daughter. He wanted her to be happy.

‘It was fine.’ Her tone was light. ‘But I get how it feels for Maisie right now.’

‘I know.’ He looked straight into her clear blue eyes. ‘I’m not giving up, but our whole living arrangements, everything, is a mess.’ That much at least had occurred to him, and it was something he had the power to change. ‘I can’t run a busy surgery, and look after a child properly,’ he paused and looked at her, ‘on my own. I feel so bloody guilty every time I have to rush off.’

Lucy smiled. ‘Guilt’s an important part of being a parent.’

He shook his head. ‘Very funny. It’s not fair on either of us though. I don’t want her pushed from pillar to post while I’m working, or left to play on her own.’

‘No,’ she squeezed his hand. ‘She’s too young. When I was her age I hated it.’

‘Is that how it was when you and your mum moved?’

‘It is. I was a couple of years older than Maisie, but I’d been used to having Mum around. I felt,’ she paused, ‘abandoned.’

He stared back bleakly. That was the last thing he wanted Maisie to feel.

‘I mean, it is a bit different for Maisie, because Mum had always been at home for me, she didn’t work after I was born, until …’

‘You moved?’

She nodded. ‘Maisie’s used to you and Josie working, isn’t she? What did you do before?’

‘Her old primary school was part of an academy trust, they had after school clubs, breakfast clubs, it was a big set up. It’s different in Langtry Meadows.’

‘Back at Starbaston, the last school I taught at, they had much the same. But she’s used to doing that, so why not get somebody to help you out? It’s not admitting failure, everybody does it. There must be somebody in the village who’d be glad of a few extra pennies. Somebody with kids?’

Why hadn’t he thought of that? Why had he decided that looking after Maisie was totally his responsibility, that he owed it to her to try and do it all by himself?

‘Oh God, you know what? I’ve been an idiot haven’t I? I’ve been as guilty as Maisie of treating this as an extension of the holidays, and not looking at this long term. No wonder she’s not settled.’

They both stared into their drinks for inspiration.

‘What about Becky?’

‘Sorry?’ The name didn’t immediately ring a bell with him.

‘Becky, the teacher I took over from. I mean she’s not bothered about money, but I’m pretty sure she’d be glad of a break from just looking after her baby, and she’d be brilliant with Maisie, and I bet Maisie would love helping with the baby. Children her age like to help with little ones.’

‘But,’ he hesitated, ‘I don’t want it to look like I’m copping out, that I can’t cope.’ That was still his problem. He’d failed on his own life, failed in his marriage. If he failed on this, he could lose his daughter for ever. ‘I need to prove that I can look after her. I got this.’ He pulled the copy of the email out of his pocket and handed it over. This was what it came down to. One short email.

Lucy smoothed the paper out, not looking at it. ‘But letting people help is looking after her Charlie. Nobody is expected to do it on their own, and you’re doing your best.’

‘I know, but read it. It’s from Josie. She wants a divorce.’

Lucy sobered up, and picked up the piece of paper, which from the look of it he’d been folding and unfolding as though he didn’t know quite what to do with it.

She’d been feeling on a bit of a high at the end of the school day after the Ofsted team had left and had missed Charlie’s agitation when he’d first arrived, but now it was evident. He looked worn out, his face tinged grey. And she was pretty sure it wasn’t just the normal ups and downs of being a parent. Whatever he said, Charlie was made of sterner stuff. He’d never let his daughter down if he could help it.

‘I’m worried, Lucy. It’s not the actual divorce, that’ll be a relief in a way, but she’s playing games again over Maisie. I thought we’d got a truce, that we’d worked a solution out. You know, that when she comes back to the UK she’d get a place nearby and Maisie wouldn’t have to be uprooted again. We’d share the arrangements.’ He ran his fingers through his hair in the agitated way that was so familiar to her. She put a hand over his, but the ache of dread inside her grew. This was what had been worrying her, eating away inside her. But she had to be the calm one here. ‘That’s what she said. But I don’t know, the whole tone of this spells trouble.’

‘Are you sure?’ Lucy searched his face, but all she could see was worry. Charlie wasn’t one to overreact. And Lucy still couldn’t quite work out what she thought about Charlie’s ex. From what Charlie had told her about their break-up, Josie had seemed pretty callous. There probably wasn’t a nice way to tell a man that his daughter probably wasn’t biologically his, but doing it as you walk through the door and suggesting he never see her again was bad by anybody’s standards. But then when she’d brought Maisie in to Langtry Meadows Primary School in the spring, telling Charlie his daughter missed him, needed him, Lucy thought she was seeing the real Josie. The caring side, the side that was putting her daughter first.

Until she’d announced the real reason – that she wanted Charlie to look after Maisie while she worked abroad, ignoring her responsibilities.

And now this.

Lucy wanted to tear her hair out and scream, but instead took a deep breath.

Either the woman was incredibly selfish, or there was far more to this than Lucy and Charlie realised. Lucy’s heart ached for the man and his daughter. She loved both of them, she wanted them to be happy, and as hard as she tried, taking a detached view of this was impossible.

‘Read it, tell me what you think.’ He touched the very edge of the sheet of paper. ‘When she comes back she’s going to take Maisie away again.’

‘Only if we let her.’ Lucy felt her throat dry. She’d seen the state Charlie had been in when he’d thought he’d lost his daughter before – when he’d returned to Langtry Meadows heartbroken. It had taken a long time for him to confide in her, admit what Josie had done, that she’d told him he’d be in the wrong trying to see his daughter.

He’d jumped at the opportunity to see her again, to have her stay with him.

Neither of them had seen this on the horizon. And not so soon.

Lucy scanned the words as he spoke, we need closure … I feel we need to formalise arrangements for Maisie and think about what she will want as she gets older … I miss her … this was just a temporary solution … better with her mother … I’ve spoken to my solicitor.

‘She’s just been using me, Lucy, so she could have six months off gallivanting and living her dream.’ His voice was tinged with bitterness. ‘She’ll come back and try to push me out of their lives again, won’t she? Disrupt Maisie, do exactly what she wants.’

Lucy’s stomach felt hollow as she looked at him. ‘She can’t do that to you, or to Maisie.’

‘Can’t she?’

When Lucy had first met Charlie, he’d spent months struggling to put his life back together. He’d always been prepared to fight for his right to see Maisie – whether she was his or not – but then when Josie had unexpectedly offered an olive branch, his life had picked up. ‘But surely any court would see you’ve been a father to her? That you’re looking after her now? She can’t just stop you seeing her.’ The unspoken question that neither of them knew the answer to hung in the air between them, can she?

He shrugged, looking defeated. ‘But what if I’m not her father? Do I have any say at all? What if her …’

‘I don’t know.’ She squeezed his hand, looked into his eyes and knew they were having the same thought. What if he really wasn’t Maisie’s dad, what if her real father came back? ‘But we can find out what rights you’ve got, can’t we? You do want her here with you don’t you?’ She knew he did, but he needed to say it.

‘Of course I do.’ His eyes were shadowed. ‘I really thought Josie was planning on coming back, settling locally so that Maisie had both of us. That’s what she said, we agreed. But now …’ He shrugged despondently, the droop of his shoulders saying it all.

‘Oh Charlie.’ She wrapped her arms round him, and after a moment he put his arm round her shoulders and pulled her in tighter against him. ‘We can’t think about the worst case right now. We’ve got to assume the best, make it look like you’re expecting her to stay.’ She could feel the burn of tears in her eyes. Josie couldn’t be allowed to do this again. She wouldn’t let her. Swallowing away her upset she forced the tremor out of her voice. ‘You’re right though, you need a proper home and you need child care.’

‘But the surgery needs somebody there all the time. It works, me being in the flat, on hand.’

‘But it doesn’t work for Maisie.’ Lucy pulled away and straightened up. ‘Eric didn’t live there before, did he?’

‘No, it was just used if Sal needed to stay overnight, if we had a dog in.’

‘Right, well it sounds like it’s time you moved out, and went back to that arrangement. It was fine for just you, Charlie when you were a locum and weren’t even expecting to stay long.’

‘True.’ Charlie nodded, ran his fingers through his hair in a gesture she knew so well. When he’d moved back to Langtry Meadows, it had been to help Eric out. A temporary position. Eric was now on the road to recovery, and soon he’d be back in the surgery helping out, but he’d already told Charlie he wanted him to stay. That he needed help for the foreseeable future.

‘But it’s different now, isn’t it? In fact,’ she paused as a sudden idea popped into her head, ‘why not ask Eric if Sal can move in permanently? I know on the wage you pay her,’ he raised an eyebrow but she carried on, ‘she can’t afford anywhere big, and there are hardly any small places up for sale or rent in Langtry Meadows. Oh come on, Charlie, it makes sense, I know she’s dying to get away from her parents.’

‘Sounds like we need one of your spreadsheets.’ There was a glimmer of the old Charlie there, a hint of smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

‘It does. And an estate agent.’

‘You’re right, it might make Maisie feel more settled as well if I get a place that reminds her of home.’ He put a hand on her knee, the warmth seeping in, and she leaned in against him. She couldn’t help it. ‘Thanks.’ He dropped the lightest of kisses on her hair. ‘You’ve got to show me this house that you’re after as well, over the weekend. I am interested you know, sorry we’ve not had time—’

‘Neither of us have had a spare moment. I’ll show you round, but don’t expect much, it needs a lot of work.’

‘But you’ve got time, before Annie comes back?’

‘True. But first let’s sort your stuff out, that’s far more urgent.’

‘I’ll get Becky’s number off Sally tomorrow, she’s bound to have it.’

‘She is, or I can ask at school. Jill will probably know.’

‘Talking of Sal, your little Piper is ready to go home. Shall I bring her round in the morning?’

‘Sure.’ Lucy frowned. She really wanted the little dog, she’d been thinking about her ever since she’d found her by the garden gate – and she’d popped into the surgery regularly after school to check up on how she was doing. But the thought of taking responsibility for her was a bit daunting, even though she’d been caring for all of Annie’s animals. This was different, this was a dog of her own.

‘What’s up?’ Charlie nudged her.

‘How can I look after her? I don’t often get a chance to pop home at lunch time, and she can’t spend all day on her own.’ And soon she might have a house-renovation project on her hands as well.

‘Well I can soon sort that.’

Lucy jumped at the gruff country burr behind her, then twisted round to find Jim had sneaked up unnoticed. ‘Jim!’ The school governor, and Annie’s brother, had been looking after her since she’d arrived in Langtry Meadows. It was Jim who had introduced her to Annie, found her a place to stay, he kept an eye on things and checked she was coping with the gorgeous but overgrown cottage garden, and now it seemed he was jumping into the breach again.

‘Evening!’ He grinned, showing a chipped tooth.

‘But how …’

‘You’ve no need to go worrying about that pup while you’re in school, I can quite easily take the young ’un a walk for you when I take Molly.’

‘You walk Molly?’ Lucy was surprised, she’d never realised that Jim helped Elsie out with her dog, and she hadn’t realised that her discovering Piper was common knowledge either. But in Langtry Meadows it was hard to keep anything under wraps.

‘Oh aye. I offered a while ago, when Elsie was finding she was too,’ he paused diplomatically, looking for the right word. Nobody would dare call Elsie old, or suggest she couldn’t cope, ‘busy. Not been feeling quite herself lately, and she has a lot on some days so I said it was no trouble.’

Lucy frowned. ‘Is she okay?’ She’d not seen quite as much of Elsie Harrington as she should since she’d been caught up in the new term, and the old lady had been so kind to her.

‘Just old age and a bit of a summer cold, but you know she doesn’t like a fuss young Lucy. I’m sure she’d welcome a visit though if you’re passing. Aye well, official dog walker, me.’ He chuckled. ‘It would be good for Molly to have a youngster come along with us, she doesn’t run around that much since her own pups went, the lazy old thing.’

‘So that’s settled then.’ Charlie stood up. ‘Can I get you a drink, Jim? Lucy?’

Lucy grinned. ‘Definitely. Sit down Jim. I reckon you’re better than any estate agent, aren’t you? Do you know if there are any houses up for rent in the village?’

Chapter 6

‘Oh God, no.’ Lucy clutched her head. It wasn’t how she liked Saturdays to start. Piper was barking a high pitched ‘I didn’t know I could do it’ kind of bark, and a hen was squawking indignantly.

A hen.

She sat up abruptly. The hens should be in the garden, not in the house. Not even stopping to put her slippers on, she scrambled down the narrow staircase.

‘I didn’t know you could bark.’ Piper flapped her tatty tail sheepishly, but didn’t look up. Her chin was on the floor, her gaze fixed on the bottom of the bureau. She wriggled forward a few inches on her tummy, commando style and Lucy tried not to laugh. The hen that she’d nicknamed Squeak wasn’t squeaking, for the first time since Lucy had set eyes on her she was flapping her wings and squawking out what sounded like a warning.

The puppy was unperturbed.

Lucy knelt down so that she was at her level, and peered. Peeping out from the darkness under the bureau was something yellowy-brown and fluffy. A chick. She put her head on the floor so that she could see right under, and another three pairs of eyes stared out from the gloom.

‘Oh.’ She stood up and frowned at Squeak. ‘You’re supposed to lay eggs for breakfast, not hide them until they hatch. Now what are we going to do?’ What on earth was she supposed to do? Leave the chicks there? Put them somewhere warm? Put them back outside with Squeak and the other hens? ‘How did you get in the house anyway?’ Squeak ruffled her feathers, deciding that now Lucy was there to protect her she didn’t need to scream, and settled down.

Piper sat up, whined then lay down again, nudging her nose in the direction of a fluffy chick.

‘I think we’re going to have to ring for assistance, aren’t we?’

When Sally arrived at the cottage ten minutes later Lucy had made a pot of coffee, but Piper hadn’t budged from her position.

‘You’re lucky that we’re quiet in the surgery, can’t stay long though, Charlie said he’d call me if the phones got busy. He hates answering calls because he ends up saying yes to everything.’ She paused. ‘Is he okay, Charlie? I mean, I know it’s none of my business, but when he asked me to babysit last night he looked uptight. Though he does seem more cheerful this morning, and Maisie made him laugh because she dressed Roo up in a Batman outfit.’

‘He had an email from Josie.’ Lucy didn’t want to gossip, but Sally knew all about how Josie had ambushed Charlie on May Day and asked him to look after Maisie. Lucy was pretty sure that she didn’t know about the fact that Charlie might not be Maisie’s biological father. That piece of information hadn’t got any further than the staff at the school – she hoped. ‘It looks like things might get nasty, and,’ she shrugged as she handed Sally a mug of coffee and sat down, ‘Maisie’s not very settled. I think he’s worried, that’s all.’

‘Hmm.’ Sally frowned. ‘She’s more up and down than she was at the start of the summer. She seems a bit, well …’

‘Sensitive?’

‘She’s touchy, and she actually refused to do what he asked her to the other day which was a bit out of character. They had a mini stand-off,’ she smiled, ‘I could see he was itching to tell her to behave, but scared stiff she’d burst into tears and run back to her bedroom. Then her cute little bottom lip wobbled and he was putty. Not that I’d have a clue what to do, I don’t know anything about kids.’ Sally gave a little shudder. ‘Give me a hen any day!’

Lucy smiled. ‘All hens get to worry about is an egg getting stuck. Maisie’s lost her mother. I know Josie will be heading back soon, but to a six year old a week can seem like a lifetime. Six months, well, she probably feels abandoned, unwanted.’ Lucy swallowed the lump in her throat down, this wasn’t personal, it wasn’t about her. ‘Even though Charlie’s doing his best to make it up, having your dad isn’t always good enough, when you want your mum is it? Especially if you’re scared she doesn’t want you.’

‘I can remember when I was little, I always wanted Mum if I fell over or anything went wrong.’ Sally smiled. ‘Though my dad is pants at hugs and sticking plasters so it’s no wonder, is it?’

‘No, dads can be pants.’ Major pants, well hers was. Although Charlie definitely wasn’t. ‘And on top of that she’s moved schools, been torn from her friendship group and been dropped into what has to feel like an alien world.’

‘You can say that again, Langtry Meadows can definitely have a touch of the alien.’

‘And,’ Lucy fought the laugh and tried to be serious, ‘living in the flat at the surgery can’t be good, and Charlie whizzing in and out sorting out emergency calls when he should be sitting down practising spellings. I mean, I know you’re there, but—’

‘Believe me, I’m no mother substitute, I’ve told you – give me a puppy any day.’

Lucy shook her head and battled on. ‘She’s just not got a routine. Kids like routine, knowing what to expect, it gives them something solid.’

Sally nudged her. ‘Which is why you told him to ring Becky?’

‘He’s done that already? I’m impressed, Mr Efficiency.’ Charlie was obviously worried sick about the email he’d had from Josie, about the threats, or he wouldn’t have been making phone calls the moment he got up on a Saturday morning.

‘It was a brill idea. Becky’s jumped at the chance, I think she misses the kids at school, but her husband’s already talking about baby number two so she knows she won’t be going back. She’ll get a chance to natter to the teachers if she’s picking Maisie up as well, she told me she’s feeling a bit stranded, left out at the moment. It must be strange.’ Sally pulled a face. ‘I can’t imagine being at home all day with a baby. Oh God, puke and nappies and gaga noises all day.’

Lucy laughed. ‘Me neither, but I suppose some people love it.’

‘She says she can’t wait for hers to grow up a bit and start doing things. I told her it was your suggestion and she says the moment she’s not on 24/7 feeding duties she’ll escape and buy you a drink.’ Sally grinned. ‘Do I owe you a drink too? Was it you told Charlie to offer me the flat above the surgery?’

‘Has he?’ Lucy grinned. ‘Brilliant,’ she paused, ‘if you want it that is?’

‘Want it? You’ve got to be kidding me. I knew you would have had something to do with it. I do love you Lucy Jacobs! And he said he’s talked to Eric and I can stay for practically free, which is amazing, it means I can still save some money towards, well,’ Lucy could swear she saw a blush, ‘save a deposit for a house with Jamie.’ She changed the conversation before Lucy had a chance to comment. ‘So, Charlie’s moving in …’ She glanced around.

‘No. Oh no, he’s not moving in here. And don’t thank me, he needs to move out for Maisie’s sake, but I did think maybe it would be handy for you.’

‘It’s fab, and I am thanking you. But, where’s he going if …’

‘He can’t move in here, Sal. For a start we’re not that involved,’ Sally raised an eyebrow, which Lucy ignored, ‘and he’s got to think about Maisie. She needs to know she’s the most important person in his life. Being here would complicate things,’ and would give Josie all kinds of ammunition for the battle she was sure lay ahead, ‘and let’s face it what kind of a mother figure would I make?’

‘A good one. She loves you. Okay, okay, don’t give me the evil eye. It’s true, but I get the fact it might not be perfect timing. I suppose if her mum gets back to find you two shacked up she might go off bang.’

Go off bang was probably an understatement. Lucy felt herself go red as she remembered the embarrassment of the last time Josie had knocked on her door to find Charlie there. And that was before Maisie was living with him.

‘But where are they going to live?’

‘Jim seemed to think he might know a place.’ Jim, it seemed, had the answers to everything. He’d sorted out Annie’s cottage for her to stay in, and now he’d assured Charlie he’d ‘sort something’. His quiet confidence had helped though. Charlie had cheered up knowing he had a plan in place, a way forward.

‘Oh?’

‘Well apparently Elsie Harrington owns some of the cottages in the village, they’ve been in her family for years. Jim said he’d check with her, he thought one was coming vacant soon. It’ll mean Charlie’s got a proper garden for Maisie and Roo.’

Sally giggled. ‘I don’t know who’s worse, Jim or Elsie Harrington, they both seem to have fingers in every pie. So, we’re all on the move then.’ She studied her feet. ‘You don’t think me and Jamie are rushing things do you? You know, thinking about a house?’

‘Rushing?’ Lucy laughed. ‘You’ve got to be kidding, from what I’ve heard everybody expected you to start dating ten years ago.’

‘Hang on, I’m not that old! But, well, we’ve only been seeing each other a few months.’

‘But you love each other don’t you?’ Lucy spoke softly. ‘You know he’s right for you, and you know each other inside out, don’t you?’

Sally nodded. Then suddenly smiled. ‘Shall we drink to us all moving then?’

Lucy shook her head. ‘You’ll drink to anything. But first,’ she nodded her head in the direction of the bureau, and Squeak who had settled down but was keeping a beady eye on proceedings. ‘I did think about just moving them, but I didn’t quite know if they’d be okay in the coop with the others.’

‘Are you on guard duty Piper?’ Sally stroked the puppy, who flapped her tail and cocked an ear in her direction. ‘I thought you were picking her up this morning, Lucy?’

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