Page 113 of Lessons in Life

‘He’s not been in touch since Friday, then?’ Jess asked.

‘Jess, you’ve asked me that same question constantly over the past three days. No, hehasn’t! Is that good enough for you?’ Mum was nervous. She looked absolutely ravishing, even though she was dressed simply in a short black skirt, black polo-necked sweater and cream jacket.

‘And you’ve no idea what this is all about, Lisa?’ Fabian now took his turn as Grand Inquisitor, but was silenced as the huge oak front door opened to reveal a man dressed in jeans and black V-necked sweater, his feet bare. I immediately saw what it was that Mum had fallen for.

‘Hi, come in, come in, you found us OK?’

We trooped in past him, Kamran Sattar greeting both Mum and Jess with a kiss to the cheek. ‘We’ve not met.’ He smiled, offering a hand to me and Fabian.

We followed him down a beautiful hallway into a sitting room on the left, decorated in neutral cream. Colour came from two full walls of books and several large vases of flowers: winter jasmine and Christmas roses, as well as a huge jug of very early daffodils.

‘What can I get you to drink?’ Kamran indicated bottles of rather upmarket white and red wines, as well as an impressive array of gins.

Once we were settled with drinks, the four of us sitting somewhat expectantly on the edge of two squashy sofas, drinks politely to hand, Kamran immediately started speaking.

‘Sorry I didn’t give you much notice.’ He smiled.

‘No problem,’ I said, wanting to put him at his ease. ‘Gets me out of the usual Monday-night lesson planning I should have done over the weekend?—’

‘The thing is…’ Kamran interrupted, obviously not interested in my schoolwork, ‘…the thing is, I think we’re possibly related.’

Jess, Mum and I exchanged glances and I saw Mum’s face begin to close down. Here was the first man I knew she’d fallen for since Jayden, and now she was being told he was actually family rather than a potential lover.

‘What evidence do you have for that, Mr Sattar?’ Fabian had his barrister head on and I gave him a warning look.

‘Kamran, please. The thing is, I’m really fascinated by family history?—’

‘You should get together with my friend Jo Cooper from school,’ I interrupted.

‘I’ve been with Janice, her mum, this afternoon.’ Kamran smiled.

‘Oh…? Right…! Oh…!’ Mum, Jess and I looked at each other again, our eyes wide.

‘Janice?’ Fabian asked.

‘Jo from school’s mum,’ I reminded him. ‘Janice. You know, who we were with all Saturday after going over to see the Foleys?’

‘Look.’ Kamran shook his head slightly. ‘Janice says she hopes you don’t think she’s been speaking out of turn…’

‘But how on earth doyouknow Janice?’ I asked, frowning.

‘I don’t.’ Kamran laughed slightly. ‘I mean,I didn’t.Not until today anyway. I’d called in to seeyou, Jess, up at Hudson House… I wanted to talk to you about Eloise Howard…’ He spoke the name slowly, watching our faces for any reaction.

‘I’ve been at a funeral all afternoon,’ Jess said. ‘Maurice, who died last week…’

‘Yes, Bex told me. I didn’t stay but, as I was leaving, I was jumped on by Janice.’

‘Jumped on?’ I laughed at that. ‘Even though you’d never met her before?’

‘She obviously knew who I was.’

‘Most people in Beddingfield do.’ I sniffed, remembering his plans for the village. ‘And the KS 9 car registration is a bit of a giveaway.’

Ignoring me, Kamran continued. ‘She was on her way to see Eloise Howard… Hudson…’ Kamran looked at us with raised eyes but said nothing further.

‘And? Could you tell us what was said next, Kamran?’ Fabian was still in courtroom mode and I nudged him irritably.

‘Of course.’ Kamran looked at Mum for a long time and I knew immediately anything she might be feeling for this man was totally reciprocated by him. ‘The thing is, back in the mid-sixties, quite a lot of my relatives left Pakistan, invited by the government to work here in the UK. Several ended up working at Eloise Hudson’s family’s mill.’

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