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  Maud’s phone rang off the hook from 5am and she’d had to creep into school three hours later in the rather muddy van of the school gardener, John, as the front gates were surrounded by local press. He’d smiled jovially, told her well done, and patted her hand in a fatherly way. It bought a tear to her eye as she still hadn’t managed to speak to her own parents, who were just back from their holiday. She wasn’t sure they would be quite as understanding as John was. His wife had found one of the paintings and now they knew it was worth a fortune, they were so excited. He’d never sell it, though, he’d told her with pride. He thought she was a lovely young lady and the children were lucky to have her there, plus the little artwork was now his wife’s most treasured possession, even before she’d known its value. Maud had felt tears fill her eyes. It was so good to hear she had made someone happy in all this mess. John said his wife, Marjorie, had found the painting on a day she’d been told a friend had died and it had seemed like a message from the angels which had got her through. Now she knew it was from Maud, it meant even more. Maud got out of the car and squeezed John’s arm in thanks for his kind words, taking a deep breath and ducking quickly into one of the side doors of the school building before anyone saw her.

  As soon as Maud walked past the office, she noticed Daisy was in early too. Maud was pleased to see that she was looking healthier and Daisy glanced shyly her way and waved her into the reception. Maud headed in with trepidation, as she wasn’t comfortable around her old friend yet.

  ‘It’s mad out there,’ Daisy whispered urgently. ‘I came in early in case you needed me. How did you get in?’

  Maud’s heart melted a little at the fact that Daisy was here for her and she tried to give her a super-quick hug, to show her she appreciated the gesture, but wasn’t ready to resume their friendship yet. ‘I sneaked in with John. Did you know his wife picked up one of the first paintings I left in a park?’ When Daisy smiled but didn’t let her go, she gently pulled away, but kept holding her friend’s hand. Daisy held her breath and waited, and Maud knew she had so much to say, now Maud seemed ready to listen.

  Before Daisy could speak, Maud looked around her to check they were alone and tried to find the courage to face Daisy. It was still so early that hardly anyone else was there yet. ‘I know you’re not a bad person, Daisy, and Tom must have literally made you drunk out of your mind. I believe you love Ryan and would never go out of your way to hurt him. It will take some effort, but I miss you in my life and it’s all so crazy out there...’ she gestured towards the main gates. ‘I need all the friends I can get at the moment.’ Daisy let out a big squeal and hugged Maud until all the breath was squashed out of her and she was whimpering slightly. Daisy quickly let go and sloppily kissed her cheek.

  ‘Thank you for giving me a chance,’ said Daisy, avoiding Maud’s eyes. ‘Ryan and I came to your show last week.’

  ‘You did? I didn’t see you.’ Maud had been half-hoping Daisy would be there to support her and was astonished at how upset she had felt when she couldn’t spot her.

  ‘We got an invite from a very reluctant Dot, but we wanted to support you. We hid in the crowds. I’m so proud of you, Maud.’

  Maud smiled and tried to control more tears that threatened to pour. ‘So you and Ryan have sorted things out?’

  Daisy sighed and rubbed her tired eyes. ‘We’re taking it slowly. Neither of us can believe this has happened. I’ll have to make it up to him for the rest of my life, but he loves me and he’s willing to let me try.’

  ‘Well, thank goodness for that.’ Maud was so happy for Daisy. She knew how much this relationship meant to her and that she’d learnt from this mistake. She wouldn’t do it again. The pain wasn’t worth it.

  They turned as the headmistress walked in and asked if Maud could come into her office. Maud’s stomach plummeted. This couldn’t be good. She grimaced at Daisy, who was so happy now that she missed the look. She beamed at Maud and sent her on her way with a jaunty pat on her bottom, as she unmuted the phones and they immediately started ringing off the hook.

  The headmistress, Mrs Ganty, called Maud into her office. For some reason Maud always felt nervous coming into this inner sanctum, even though she was a grown up. It must be a throwback from her childhood, when a call to the head teacher’s office rarely meant anything good. Mrs Ganty spoke in a warm tone, but her smile didn’t quite meet her eyes. ‘I’d like to congratulate you, Maud, on your success as an artist.’ Maud was about to speak, and hadn’t been asked to sit down, but Mrs Ganty kept talking.

  ‘I think it may be difficult for you to continue working here. The press has been camped out all night and no one can enter the school. We have managed to get rid of some of the reporters as we said you weren’t here today, but a few are still hanging round. You understand that this isn’t an ideal situation with children in the school?’

  ‘Of course,’ said Maud in shock. She hadn’t expected to lose her job! She did understand they couldn’t have people blocking the school gates or taking pictures of the families here, but she’d expected at least a little support for her predicament. She’d hoped they would be proud for her to be working there, but something was a bit off-kilter

  She noticed that Mrs Ganty, who’d never let them be unprofessional and call each other by their first names, was twitchy and wouldn’t meet her eye. ‘Obviously we don’t want to lose a good teacher, but I have a feeling you’ve found your real love... art.’

  Oh bloody hell, thought Maud, realisation dawning. Not another one. She had wondered if it was possible to hate Tom more, but at this moment she did. Mrs Ganty had three children and a lovely husband. Couldn’t Tom keep his penis in his pants for more than one second? No wonder she wanted Maud to leave. It would leave the path open for her. Maud wondered if she knew about Daisy... or the pregnant dinner lady? What a mess, with another stupid, stupid woman. No, scratch that, Maud would have felt sorry for her – if she hadn’t been trying to oust her from her job.

  Maud wasn’t even sure she wanted the job any more, but her parents would kill her. Losing her job for being arty. What a nightmare. Then she remembered she’d sold all her paintings and nearly fainted, as she thought about the price tags Dot had put on them all. Maud could happily live off that one show for a year. Could she take a chance and follow her heart? She narrowed her eyes and looked at her employer. ‘Shall we get through today and we can decide how to move forward?’ She had steel in her voice now and Mrs Ganty had the good grace to realise that Maud knew what was going on here, and looked at her feet. Maud stalked from the room without a word, she was so fed up with being told what to do by people who didn’t deserve her respect.

  As the school bell rang for break, Daisy opened the door to the staffroom and found Maud slumped in a chair. She was wearing a fitted top with tiny stars sewn all over it and black trousers that hugged her hips and skimmed her now-svelte legs. She had cute black ankle boots on, with textured buttons on each side.

  ‘You look amazing,’ said Daisy in awe, as if she hadn’t just seen her a while ago, although Maud admitted to herself that Daisy had predominantly been avoiding eye contact as she hadn’t been sure what reception she would get. ‘Your hair is a bit wild, where you’ve been running your fingers through it, but you are gorgeous nonetheless.’ Yep, there was her usual Daisy, thought Maud. She had a constant foot-in-mouth problem.

  Daisy walked over to Maud, who beckoned her to sit, and they talked quietly, before Daisy sprang up angrily and paced the room. No one else was around, they had all surrounded Maud and hugged her and high-fived her in excitement when they had seen her in reception earlier. The children had rushed in too, and she’d had so many questions fired at her that she could barely keep up. It had been decided by Mrs Ganty that she should do filing in the staffroom all day, so that the rest of the school could function with some semblance of normality.

  Tom swung the door open and rushed in, excitement shining in his eyes. ‘I drove back from my brother’s late last
night after you texted me the news. I’m so sorry I missed your show, Maud. I would have come back sooner if I’d known it was your work. You are so good at surprises,’ he said, pulling Maud into his arms and trying to kiss her, before realising Daisy was there too and flushing bright red. Maud pushed out of his arms and stood up.

  He looked slightly panicked but recovered quickly. ‘Now you’re a famous artist, Maud, you’ll need a good manager. We need to plan our future so that you have peace and space to work without interruption, my darling.’ He grabbed her hand and glared at Daisy to leave this private moment, but she stood firm.

  Maud smiled at him and he sighed in relief. She put her hand into the bright purple squashy bag next to her, a present from Dot. Maud suspected that it was part of Dot’s old wardrobe that she didn’t want any more, but Maud wasn’t complaining, it had lots of pockets and room for a small sketchbook, which she now carried everywhere. Locating her phone, she tapped the screen. She held it out to him and showed him her brand new social media page. It already had tens of thousands of followers, shocking to her, but quite normal as far as Dot was concerned, now that people knew who Maud was.

  ‘Wow!’ said Tom. ‘That’s great.’ He kissed her check and hugged her to him. She stepped away as Mrs Ganty came in to make herself a coffee. Maud had counted on the headmistress not wanting Maud to be alone with Tom for long, so she’d sent her a text to tell her that he would be back at break time to visit the school and then waited for them both to arrive. They looked a bit worried when they realised they were all in one room together, and that Daisy was there too, and might hear something she shouldn’t.

  ‘I was just showing Tom my new social media page,’ she smiled to the headmistress, beckoning her over.

  Mrs Ganty looked confused. ‘Why is there a picture of Tom on it?

  ‘Because I’m her boyfriend,’ said Tom pompously, as Daisy made a sick sound. He frowned at her, sending her a warning look and then the same to Mrs Ganty, who looked annoyed.

  ‘You’re not my boyfriend, Tom,’ Maud stated clearly, making his mouth drop open in shock and his forehead crease in confusion. ‘You are someone I was dating, during which time you slept with my best friend and my boss.’

  Mrs Ganty’s cheeks flamed as she looked at Daisy, and was horrified when she realised the part she’d played in this mess. She tried to rally, but almost choked on her words as she said, ‘Maud, obviously you will always have a teaching job here for as long as you like. Earlier I was just thinking of you, and the stress of managing two careers.’ Maud could see pictures of lawsuits flying through the other woman’s mind, and enjoyed the mental picture for a moment, before putting Mrs Ganty out of her misery. The woman had suffered enough by having to sleep with a loathsome creep like Tom.

  ‘I don’t want to work here any more,’ she decided, holding up a hand to stop anyone talking until she was finished. ‘But I do want a glowing reference as I’m a great teacher.’ The other woman nodded mutely.

  ‘Tom,’ she turned to face him. ‘If you treat anyone else in the disgusting way you’ve treated all of us, I will hit send, and everyone will know what you’ve done and who you are. I will be happy to make you pay for what you’ve done for the rest of your life.’

  Tom’s face was flushed and there was fire in his eyes now, but he had a parting shot. ‘You were too frigid to sleep with me anyway. Why do you think I had to look elsewhere?’ he pointed rudely to Mrs Ganty, who blanched and looked sick. ‘Why would I sleep with her, either?’ he jabbed his finger towards Daisy and snarled at her.

  Maud was aghast and quickly got in the way as Daisy was about to floor him with her right hook. ‘You told her you’d slept with her. She was drunk. You took advantage of a drunken woman.’

  ‘No I didn’t,’ he shouted back, glancing around in agitation to make sure no one else was coming in or could hear them. ‘She was too drunk to know what she was doing. I kissed her but then she passed out. I’m not a bloody monster! I like women, but I’m a good guy. I wouldn’t do something like that.’

  Daisy screamed over Maud’s restraining shoulder. ‘You told me we’d slept together and to keep quiet or you’d tell Maud... my best friend.’

  Tom had the grace to look ashamed for a minute, but brushed her comment aside. ‘You turned me down and I wanted to pay you back. No one turns me down. I didn’t say we’d slept together, you just assumed it. Women love me. I have never had a woman fall asleep on me before. It was humiliating.’

  ‘So you lied to her, ruined her relationship by telling her she’d cheated and then destroyed our friendship,’ Maud spat out, now ready to strike him too, for all of the suffering he’d caused.

  Tom stopped for a second, as if he hadn’t even given this a moment’s thought, and he looked wildly around for a way out, but Mrs Ganty was now blocking the door.

  Maud’s eyes flamed and she just about restrained herself from scratching his eyes out for the devastation he had dished out, without even realising what he’d done. He’d literally been sulking and had wanted to pay Daisy back for rejecting him. ‘You disgusting excuse for a human being.’

  Mrs Ganty moved to the side of the door and pointed to Tom, then to it. ‘Get out.’

  Chapter Forty-Four

  Nate was leaning against the wall next to the huge floor-to-ceiling window in his flat, and looking out at the street below. He was still upset about Dot and Maud’s lies and felt that they’d made a fool of him and the rest of the family. Everyone else was still celebrating and he knew that Dot thought he was jealous of her new artistic ability, but he’d always known she was creative and wonderful. She managed all of them beautifully, handled clients and every minute detail of a gallery show with flair and sophistication. He’d never questioned Dot’s place in the family business, she had only doubted herself. He understood she had been frustrated that she hadn’t found the right medium to work with until now, but the jewellery she made was exquisite and the ability she had was astounding. He was so proud of her... but then he’d always been proud to call her his sister. She exasperated him and misunderstood him, but she was funny and lively, bonkers and sweet too.

  He hadn’t been able to speak to Maud since the show. He’d tried to congratulate her that evening, but she had been surrounded by people all night and he hadn’t been able to get close enough to her. It had been so frustrating and he’d growled at a few people, especially Elliott, who knew why he was grumpy and ignored him as usual. El was shocked when he realised that Dot had made the exquisite jewellery showcased in the sculptural glass domes, but as he loved anything she did, his chest puffed out in pride and he beamed at her. She’d rushed over and thrown her arms around him for a hug and poor old El hadn’t been able to stop grinning all night.

  Nate was just about to reach for the phone, when it rang and made him jump. Before he could speak, Dot started berating him for being such a jealous freak and told him to stop avoiding her and Maud. Suitably told off, he smiled into the phone. He was actually glad she’d called, even though she was shouting at him for no reason. He’d decided he couldn’t be bothered to be cross with them any more, as he missed them both too much. Dot was still talking and he began listening to her again, only to go quiet when the blood in his veins started to boil at her words and he started walking to the door with his mobile phone still in his hand, as Dot explained what an awful day Maud was having. His fists bunched around his car keys. They dug into his hand as he headed for the stairs and slammed the door behind him. He didn’t need to say anything as he cut off the call. Dot had explained what Tom had done and Nate was appalled at the months of torture he had put these women through. If he was still at the school when Nate arrived, he would wish he’d never been born.

  Nate looked at his watch, then pulled out from his parking space. It was getting towards the end of the school day now, so he’d have to step on the gas to get there before Maud tried to go home. What was Dot thinking of, letting her return to the school before giving her some sort of
press training, or at the bare minimum giving her a heads-up that this was her life now? Dot should have known that the press would besiege the school, and ought to have had a steel-clad plan in place for Maud to take more time off, while she decided which direction she wanted to take her career in. He would have to find Dot later and wring her neck.

  He got stuck in a little traffic as he got nearer the school, then he started to grow impatient. There seemed to be so many people outside. Dot had said everyone had left, thinking Maud wasn’t there, but they’d obviously found out she was and had come back. Parents were being let through the school gates by two men wearing bright yellow tabards, who looked shell-shocked, but serious about protecting one of their own. Nate sighed and swung his car into a driveway opposite the school, which had a car already on the drive and a small bike lying on the ground beside it. He quickly turned away from the rabble on the opposite side of the road and knocked on the door, hoping a school parent lived here if the bike was anything to go by. The door was swiftly opened by a woman with blonde hair tied back in a jaunty ponytail, who looked to be in her early thirties. She was surprised to see such a handsome man on her doorstep and absently brushed her fingers through her hair, but then glanced across the road and cringed. ‘I’m so sorry to bother you,’ he laid on his best charm and gave her a winning smile. ‘Do you have children at this school?’

  The woman’s face immediately clouded and she tried to shut the door. ‘I’m not talking to the press about Miss Silverton, I’ve already told your friends,’ she tilted her head towards the people on the pavement with cameras.