‘Who have you invited now?’
Her mother clapped her hands with glee as if she had the most delicious secret to impart. ‘He’s a delightful man.’
‘Mum! Not again…’
Her mother looked up and batted her eyelashes at her daughter. ‘What? Can’t I introduce my beautiful daughter to a few eligible bachelors now?’ She had the audacity to look wounded and Dot felt her blood start to bubble and heat up.
‘A few?’ Dot wanted to stamp her feet and then throw herself on the floor in a tantrum, but her shoes had towering heels with fake sharks’ teeth protruding from every angle and she was worried she could do herself some serious damage, so she tried to grab her emotions and squelch them back down again before they erupted in fury.
Her father started to put on his coat and signalled to his wife that it was time to make a run for it before Dotty threw something. ‘I did advise Camille against telling you about the extra party guests, as it’s such a bothersome and trivial matter, and you are so busy these days. We have just over 200 guests so far and a few extra bodies will just blend in, surely?’ he looked round in a panic for inspiration or distraction, as Dot was turning puce. ‘Mum wanted to congratulate you on your good work at the art preview show, Dotty, and I have to agree you’ve done a stellar job.’ Dropping a kiss onto his daughter’s hair, and spitting out a twig that had lodged itself at the side of his mouth, he laughed at her eccentricity and practically ran to the door and waved goodbye, dragging his wife behind him.
Dot slumped in her seat and spread her arms out across her desk, in a complete huff. As she leaned forward to plug in and recharge the iPad next to her computer, she recalled she’d promised Nate that she would look up her guest list and find out who the mystery girl was. Maybe she was an art critic, or from the media?
Scrolling through the main guest list, she recognised every single name, so she clicked on the page of people who had won invites through social media or competitions. The prospect of attending a preview of the work of a famous artist like Nate had created quite a buzz and Dot felt a swell of pride on seeing all the names of people who entered the competitions listed in black and white. The results had been satisfyingly wide-reaching, hopefully creating a plethora of new Nate fans.
Five gilt tickets had been given to painting competition winners. She peered closer to the screen as she took in the name and address of one of them. Excitement rising in her chest, she glanced over to the map she had been studying earlier. The lines had crossed at Twigleston, and that was the same hometown as this mystery girl. Dot felt adrenaline rush through her veins. What were the chances of that? Maybe she could pay… Maud Silverton, she noted the name on a piece of paper, a visit? If she lived near the main areas where the artwork in the newspaper was being deposited, she might be able to point Dot in a direction that outsiders couldn’t. If Maud helped Dot to find the incredible new artist, Dot might feel generous enough to introduce her to Nate properly. She opened her carpet-covered handbag and scooped everything off her desk into it. She had no time to waste now. This must be a sign from the heavens above, and she wasn’t about to let anyone else steal her prize.
Chapter Nine
Little Robbie Whitman was doing it again. He was ramming his finger up his nose and then about to wipe his hands down the back of poor unsuspecting Becky Loper, who was studiously writing her alphabet into her exercise book and trying hard to ignore the disgusting boy next to her.
Maud danced between the chairs and grabbed the offending hand mid-swipe, being careful not to get her own clothes covered in the gloopy detritus from his nostrils. ‘Robbie. Perhaps you should go and wash your hands?’
The boy looked confused at first and then grinned at her and she felt all resistance melt. It was outrageous that such a small child could bend an adult to his will, but although Robbie could be a pickle, he was a real character and Becky was whiney and annoying, if she was honest.
Maud glanced up to where Tom was sitting at his desk at the head of the class, golden head bent as he concentrated on deciphering the handwriting in their homework books. Maud’s stomach growled embarrassingly. She’d forgotten to eat breakfast, she had been in such a rush that morning, and all the children looked up and laughed. Tom looked, too, and smiled those big blue eyes at her. She almost forgot her embarrassment and swooned until she realised everyone was staring at her. She covered her hair over her face and hunched down next to one of the children to begin to explain the next class task.
Although she loved her job, it didn’t really inspire her, or it hadn’t until Tasty Tom had arrived as the new temporary teacher in her class for a few months, while Zoe was on maternity leave. After she returned, he was going to be a roving teacher and help in any class he was needed in and run lunchtime and after school clubs until a full teaching job came up, as the school was often short staffed, but didn’t have room for another full time employee. Although everyone liked Zoe, Maud thought that they were secretly hoping she took a year off to be with her baby and they got to keep Tom for a little longer. Zoe could be a bit of a taskmaster and often reported the teaching assistants if they spent ten minutes too long on their coffee breaks. Maud liked her anyway, but Daisy called her a snitch.
Daisy’s eyes had popped out when she’d seen Tom, and the rest of the predominantly female staff were now behaving as if they were permanently on heat. Most of them were loved-up in a relationship, or married, but as Lila, the other receptionist who was sixty-eight and engaged to a hot Italian, said… a girl could look.
Tom wasn’t poster-boy good looking but he oozed confidence, had amazing hair and eyes and, to be honest, men were in such short supply in the school that someone even half as nice to look at would have been news.
When Maud got up from helping Susan with her work, she realised the children were mostly still snickering at her and even boring Becky had raised a smile. ‘Sorry about that,’ she said.
‘Someone miss breakfast?’ asked Tom, his eyes crinkling at the corners as he smiled and ran a hand through his hair. He set the pile of homework books to one side of his desk as he gave an admiring glance to Maud’s immaculate silky blond hair and simple skirt and white blouse, which was buttoned up to her chin.
Maud laughed and leaned over the table, collecting the books to start handing back to the children. ‘I had a friend round last night and we ate so much that I didn’t think I needed breakfast.’ Maud thought back to the two giant pizzas that she and Daisy had demolished the night before while they watched a soppy film together, huddled up on the sofa.
Tom tutted good-naturedly, but had a slight gleam in his eye that piqued her interest. ‘Male friend?’
Maud was surprised by the question and heat rose to her cheeks. Tom actually sounded a bit jealous. She knew that this was the part where she should coquettishly simper and dance away whilst looking back over her shoulder and saying, wouldn’t you like to know, or some such rubbish, but she had never been good at flirting and a classroom full of seven-year-olds wasn’t really conducive to seducing their teacher, however blue his eyes were.
Instead she laughed and balanced the pile of books under one arm. ‘No, it was Daisy, although she did once have a moustache,’ she winked, then nearly walked into a desk as she wondered what the hell she was thinking, actually winking at a man? Tom looked highly amused, but probably thought she had something in her eye or had a nervous tick. He turned his attention back to the lesson plan he was about to start, as humiliation burned in her stomach.
Daisy stuck her head round the classroom door some time later, as she did every afternoon, to see if Maud had finished for the day and waved jauntily at Tom, who grinned at her and waved back. ‘Have you cracked him yet?’ she nodded towards Tom, who had his head bent over the rucksack by his feet as he prepared to head home.
‘Not yet,’ sighed Maud. ‘I’m working on it.’
‘Work faster,’ hissed her friend, which made Tom look their way. Maud dug Daisy in the ribs to shut her
up for a second. She was so embarrassing. Daisy didn’t know how to be subtle and stomped into any situation with her petite size four feet. She usually wore black high heels, which were so unsuitable for a school environment, but made her look slightly taller than her five foot four inch frame and assisted everyone else with knowing when she was in the vicinity, as they could hear the clickety-clack of the heels on the stone floors of the school and make a sharp exit before she discovered them doing anything they shouldn’t be.
Maud grabbed Daisy’s arm and waved jauntily to Tom before shoving her out of the door and into the corridor. ‘What do you want me to do? Wait for the children to leave and then drape myself naked over his desk?’ she asked in exasperation.
‘It would be a start!’ joked Daisy, heading towards the school reception to collect her bag, which was the latest trend of soft blue canvas with an oversize clasp, which Maud thought was ridiculous as it kept snagging on everyone that walked past. Daisy loved it, though, so Maud just made sure she walked a step behind her when she was carrying it.
Maud rubbed her temples to give herself strength and to stop the pounding headache that was starting to seep into her brain from the stress and excitement of the day. ‘Come on. I’ll walk home your way and we can discuss tactics for Tasty Tom.’ Daisy seemed appeased by this and swung her bag over her shoulder, narrowly missing garrotting Maud, who ducked out of the way just in time.
‘Lead on. I can’t wait to hear how we are going to bring your libido out of retirement,’ she joked.
Maud hoisted her small handbag further up her shoulder as she walked home and felt glad that it was Friday today, so that she could hide in her studio and paint for a couple of days. Daisy was going on a dirty weekend away with her boyfriend where she would ‘ravage his body,’ which sounded suitably disgusting. Maud did have other friends and occasionally went out with staff at the school, but many of them had families of their own and preferred to spend evenings and weekends with them. Plus, Maud’s painting hobby kept her isolated a lot of the time. Maud thought back to the moment just before Daisy had come into the classroom, when she had discovered a yellow sticky-backed note from Tom inside her daily school classroom planner, and a broad smile spread across her face while her cheeks went pink. All it said was, ‘dinner?’ Her pulse had started racing and she’d felt sick when she’d first seen it. She was also a bit terrified, as she hadn’t been out with anyone for quite a while. Her last boyfriend had pretty much dominated her and borrowed money from her, which made her feel like a sad loser. Her mum had been so happy to see her coupled up with someone in a suit, but the man inside the clothes was far from perfect, she realised now. For some reason an image of Nate came to mind, with his brooding good looks and watchful eyes. Maud dashed that thought away, as Tom was the one she should be thinking about, not the famous artist. She’d made such a fool of herself in front of Nate, it was a good job she’d never set eyes on him again. She hadn’t told Daisy about Tom’s note on the walk home today as she wanted to keep it to herself for a moment first, and Daisy would start telling her what to do about it if she did. For now, it was her secret. She would tell her on Monday, when she’d decided for herself.
Chapter Ten
Dot leaned forward in her little blue sports car and squinted at the iron number next to the door of the bungalow, deciding that this must be the address she was looking for. She’d expected an elegant apartment block or a bohemian residence, not a little bungalow in a leafy suburban street, which sat alongside a row of similar properties.
This particular bungalow stood out from its neighbours as the garden had been cleverly designed to entice you to the front door, with lush green plants and a winding path that led to a whitewashed wooden door. It was really quite beautiful, so Dot got out of her car and ambled over to admire the handiwork of the garden designer, before reaching out to ring the bell.
The sound was melodious and Dot really wanted to sit in the pretty wicker chair against the front wall of the house. It had been a hard slog to organise Nate’s art show and, although his work pretty much sold itself, to keep up the momentum of his celebrity took a lot of hard graft. She hadn’t realised how draining it would be until she had stood on this doorstep, waiting for someone to answer when they were obviously out. She paused and was drawn into the view of the inviting garden again. It almost looked like a painting, with complementary shades of flowers and shrubs. Even though everything was manicured to perfection, the garden was visually striking without appearing over-designed; a bit like Monet’s garden in Giverny. Clever stuff, thought Dot. It didn’t seem like anyone was in, so she decided to plonk herself down and take a five-minute rest while she resolved what to do next.
As she approached her front garden, Maud stopped short. A very colourful vagrant was slumped in her chair and appeared to be fast asleep, if the loud snoring was anything to go by. The vagrant had big clothes, big hair and clompy boots. Their huge coat had birds sewn all over it, and was quite beautiful. Maud shuffled closer to take a better look and whispered reverently under her breath, ‘You’re one fancy tramp.’ She coughed slightly and Dot opened one eye and groaned as she realised she’d fallen asleep. A young, smartly-dressed woman was peering at her with concern and Dot quickly straightened up, which was quite difficult as she was wearing the latest trend of a spring coat, which was bloody suffocating.
‘Sorry,’ said Maud. ‘I was tempted to nudge your boot with my foot, but was afraid to startle someone sleeping as I’ve read all about people’s fight or flight instinct where they lash out when backed into a corner,’ she tried a feeble joke, eyes darting behind her and across to her neighbour’s lawn. ‘I didn’t want to startle you, but my garden isn’t the ideal place to take a nap.’
Dot felt frustration burn in her chest. The woman looked ready to run off at a moment’s notice and she was scoping the area, which didn’t suit Dot, as she really needed to talk to her. She was definitely the woman from the gallery show and Dot was a very determined lady when she wanted something.
Dot stretched out her hand in greeting to the woman, trying to help her relax. ‘Is this bird’s nest hat too much? My mother talked me into giving it another go as I’d chucked it into the bin,’ she said as if this explained everything. ‘I’m Dot. I’m here to meet Maud,’ she explained.
Maud looked into Dot’s brown eyes, surrounded by sooty black lashes and freckles that dotted their way prettily across her nose. ‘Are those where your name comes from?’ she asked, then slapped her hand over her mouth, seeming horrified at her lack of tact. Dot just smiled and ignored the question, as she’d been asked it so many times. Her parents had actually named her after Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz as they liked her sparkly red shoes. Dot would cringe in embarrassment whenever they told this story, to the hilarity of others. She was just thankful that she now had a nose full of freckles as she would much rather people thought that instead. Most children hated freckles, but she’d adored hers.
Maud tentatively took Dot’s hand and shook it. ‘You look familiar but…’ Suddenly Maud flushed to the tip of her nose, as she seemed to recall their last meeting. Dot wasn’t sure why she would be so embarrassed about it, unless her brother had said something inappropriate to her in some way, which was entirely possible given how he was used to women drooling all over him. The man had a huge ego.
Maud hesitated, ‘um... I’m Maud.’
Dot tried to straighten her shoulders, but the coat was set on weighing her down and it took some effort to shake it off onto the floor, where it puddled into a big dollop of fabric. She gave it a victorious glare and then turned back to the woman in front of her. ‘Great! Thank goodness I fell asleep or I might have missed you.’
‘Missed me?’
‘Yes. I was only stopping by to say well done for winning a preview ticket. I run the gallery you visited.’
Maud frowned and started wringing her hands in confusion. ‘Do you go to the homes of all of your competition winners?’
&nbs
p; Dot thought about the idea for a moment before her face creased up in laughter and she let out a snort of mirth that was so loud it almost made Maud take a step back in surprise. Dot smiled up at her from where she had bent to retrieve her coat. ‘It does sound a bit odd, doesn’t it? No, I don’t usually stalk my competition winners, but my brother Nate mentioned that we had met and I felt so rude, as I couldn’t recollect where. I thought visiting you might jog my memory, I usually remember people I meet. I felt awful I didn’t say hello at the preview. I left it to my promotional boys to show the winners around, as I was with clients. I was in the area today and thought I’d pop in and say hello.’
Dot stood there expectantly, still smiling at Maud who was gaping and staring at her hair, as if a bird had just flown in and nested in it. She hesitated, then said, ‘would you like to come in?’
Dot, delighted at this outcome, glanced quickly at her watch with its huge dial, and then nodded. ‘Great idea. Have you got any camomile tea?’
‘Uh... sorry.’
‘Oh, that’s good! My mum said I have to drink it to stop me being quite so hyperactive, but I hate the stuff. Honestly, if I wasn’t so energetic, I’d collapse in a heap of exhaustion, the amount of shepherding my family take.’ Seeing Maud’s shocked expression, Dot pulled a face and giggled while Maud reached for her keys, opened the front door and finally began to join in with the laughter. Dot knew she made people smile, but wasn’t completely certain it was always for the right reason.
If You Love Me, I'm Yours Page 5