Page 74 of Merrily Ever After
‘Thank you so much, I owe you one,’ she said with a sigh of gratitude and gave her number to Gail.
‘Just come to our Christmas Fair this weekend,’ Gail said. ‘That’s all I ask, the more the merrier.’
Emily pulled a face as she ended the call. The event had slipped her mind, what with everything else that had been going on.
She had almost finished her soup when Alison’s car pulled up and the head teacher got out and waved to her.
‘I won’t interrupt your lunch,’ said her boss, coming to join her. ‘But I just wanted to say how pleased I’ve been with your work recently.’
‘It has been easier to concentrate at school, knowing that my dad isn’t going to go walkabout,’ she admitted.
‘You’ve handled your private problems most professionally. I’ve also heard that you’ve been helping with the sixth-form pantomime. And Ivan tells me that you brought him Santa hats for the choir for their Christmas performance.’
‘At the residential home?’ Emily nodded. ‘Yes. I’ll be attending that on Saturday, give them my support.’
‘That’s marvellous!’ Alison’s eyes lit up. ‘You’ve really thrown yourself into school life, Emily, I’m impressed. I want you to know that I’ll be recommending to the governors that we offer you the permanent position as my secretary.’
‘Oh thank you, that’s …’ Emily scrabbled for the right response. This was what she’d been hoping for, but instead of feeling excited, she felt a creeping sense of dread. It was a steady job, nice people, great holidays, so why wasn’t she leaping up and down with joy?
Alison saved her from formulating a suitable response by pointing at the phone beside her which was vibrating with an incoming call. ‘I’ll leave you to get that in peace.’
Emily grabbed her phone, which showed a call from an unknown number. ‘Hello?’
‘Emily? It’s Will. I’ve had an urgent message to call you, is everything OK?’
Her insides fizzed with trepidation. ‘I’ve discovered who she is, Will, my sister I mean. At least I think I have.’
There. She had finally been able to tell someone the news she’d been keeping close to her chest for what felt like ages.
‘That’s great!’ Will replied with enthusiasm. ‘I can’t wait to hear all about it.’
‘I know her name and I’ve even—’
‘This is amazing, Emily, and I hate to do this to you, but I’m in the middle of a training session in Manchester, I’m going to have to cut this short. I only called because I thought it might be an emergency.’
‘Oh. Right, of course.’ She gave an embarrassed laugh. ‘I’m really sorry to have interrupted you.’
‘Hey, this is great news,reallygreat,’ he said. ‘And I’m glad you called me. I’m … Well, it’s made my day if you want to know. But I genuinely need to dash.’
‘I understand.’
‘I’ll call you the very second I’m out of work and make it up to you, I promise.’
‘Or …’ Emily bit her lip. ‘You know that rain check I took on going for a drink?’
‘Remember? I’m still feeling the burn.’ He laughed softly and she felt the knot in her stomach begin to unfurl in the warmth of his voice.
‘How about tonight?’ she suggested. ‘I mean, full disclosure it’s to do with finding my sister.’
‘That’s cool, I can handle that. Any time after seven.’
‘Excellent.’ Emily grinned. ‘You get back to work and I’ll text you the details.’
‘It’s a date.’
She walked back into school in a daze, her spirits soaring. A job offer and a date and it was only Monday …
‘I hope this place is all right?’ said Emily later that evening. She put two soft drinks down on the table that Will had secured for them near the open fire. ‘I’ve never been before, but the reviews were good.’
