Wednesday's Child (3 page)

Eve’s eyebrows vanished into her fringe in amazement. She tilted her head, waving her foot. “You remember exactly what he looks like, right down to his accent, but you weren’t paying much attention to his name...interesting.”

“Eve, please, drop it. He’s a man and I’m off men.”

“For now. It’s probably best not to swear off men for life, though. They do have their uses.”

“You know very well what Vince did to me. I have no wish to get involved with any man, thank you. And don’t tell me all men aren’t the same. I can’t relax enough around any of them. Not even the boss. I flinch every time he leans across my desk or gets into my personal space.”

Eve raised a hand in self-defense. “OK, OK, subject dropped. You’re right. I’m sorry. Let’s just see what I.T. says before you panic over the laptop, and
possibly
contacting this Mr. Page.”

“All right.” She tapped the case. “Thanks for bringing this over.”

Eve got up, taking the dead laptop with her. “You’re welcome. I’ve got to get back to the office.” She shook a finger at Jacqui and winked. “No more flowers. Especially ones thrown at you by Irish hunks.”

Jacqui managed a small laugh. She’d rather go to the dentist and that was saying something. “I promise.”

****

The bell rang signifying the end of the school day. Liam glanced up at the scraping of chairs and slamming of books. “Did I say dismissed?” He shook his head at the collective sigh from his class. He taught the whole school, and it didn’t matter if they were eleven or eighteen, the lesson was over and forgotten as soon as the bell rang.

He tapped his fingers on the desk and waited until they all sat down again. Their uniforms were slightly awry by the end of the day, blue shirts untucked, navy blazers tossed carelessly over the backs of the chairs and their blue and white striped ties at varying lengths.

He cast a stern look over them. “Remember the assignment on Romeo and Juliet is due in first period Monday. There will be detentions if you don’t hand it in on time.” He ignored the groans. “And before you ask or try it on Monday, I will not be accepting excuses such as ‘my homework fell in the bath, sir’ or ‘the cat threw up over it, sir’. You’ve had a week do it.” Liam uttered the words the students were longing for. “All right, now you’re dismissed.”

The students scrambled for the door as Liam ran his hand over his chin. The beard was an experiment, but one he’d probably end up keeping. He wasn’t used to the scratchy facial hair, but it was better than seeing the scar his clothes didn’t hide in the mirror each day. Besides, he hated shaving with a passion.

Pushing to his feet, he turned to the board and picked up the blackboard duster. These things hadn’t changed since he and his twin sister, Niamh, were at school over two decades ago. Erasing the lesson plan, his thoughts returned to the fool he’d made of himself over lunch. He couldn’t have done it better if he’d tried. Niamh would find it hysterically funny, which was one reason he wasn’t going to tell her about it.

He tapped the duster and then set it on the shelf by the board. Gathering the pile of essays from his desk, he walked to the door, turned off the lights, and headed to the staff room.

He dumped the essays on a chair, and loosened his tie, wishing he could take it off. He checked his phone. No messages or calls.
Was that a good thing or not?
He’d had the image of the woman in his mind ever since lunch. His mother had told him flowers were a good way to impress a woman. But he didn’t think it was the kind of impression his mother had in mind.

Liam walked over to the urn, poured his coffee and added milk. He sipped it and made his way over to the window, staring out over the bland playground filled with pupils making their way home, laughing and chatting. After today’s fiasco, that’s all he wanted to do. He debated playing hooky from the department head meeting with headmaster, Justin Forbes. As much as the school grounds needed something doing to them, he really didn’t want to attend tonight. He sipped his coffee, his eye catching the chunky chain-link bracelet on his wrist. Sally had given it to him as a wedding present.

Liam closed his eyes and the images which haunted his nightmares filled his mind. Gunfire, blood, Sally screaming and falling...

“Liam? Are you all right? It’s time for the meeting.”

“Yeah, I’m fine. I’m coming.”

Sliding into the single available seat, which happened to be in the front row, Liam hoped the person from the Foundation would be a quick speaker. He honestly didn’t see the point in this. Surely the decision to re-landscape the grounds was up to the governors and school body, not the department heads. He leaned back in the chair and propped the left foot on right knee. Justin stood by the desk, the woman next to him leaning over a laptop. She straightened and the short black plaid skirt gave Liam an uninterrupted view of her shapely legs.

No harm in looking, as beauty was there to be admired—whether it was a woman or the view from a mountain top. Besides, he and God parted company when Sally died, so it wasn’t as if he’d come under condemnation from his conscience for it. He shook his head. What was wrong with him today? First he noticed the woman in the café at lunch and now this? Could Niamh be right about the emotional part of him that he’d thought had gone forever? Was it finally coming back to life? According to her, he’d been a robot for the past eighteen months, but part of him liked that. That way it didn’t hurt quite so much.

The woman turned, giving him a glimpse of her face. The smile as she spoke to Justin lit her familiar hazel eyes.

Liam’s eyes widened, no longer with appreciation, but horror. Just when he didn’t think the day could get any worse. It was Miss Dorne from the café. He had to get out of here before she saw him.

He pushed upright in his chair, starting to get to his feet, then stopped. It was too late. She’d seen him.

Her eyes narrowed in recognition, and Liam took a deep breath, trying to force air into his lungs through the obstruction blocking his throat. He hoped desperately she wouldn’t say anything about him ruining her computer. It must have been this presentation she was working on. She looked at Justin as he spoke, then back at Liam as they walked over to where he was seated.

Way to go, you can get fired and spend all your savings in one day.

His dread grew as the headmaster led the woman over to him. Justin smiled as he spoke. “Liam, this is Miss Jacqui Dorne. She’s representing the Jekyll Foundation. Miss Dorne, this is Liam Page, head of our English department.”

Liam took her cool hand in his warm one and shook it. Somehow he managed to get his voice to work and sound enthusiastic, although he felt anything but. Any hint of interest he had in this scheme had just dissipated. “It’s nice to meet you, Miss Dorne. I’m looking forward to the presentation and seeing what your company has to offer.”

2

Jacqui shook his hand, covering her shock at seeing him. He was the last person she’d expected to run into here. It was more than a little ironic that he’d nearly ruined the very presentation he had to watch and evaluate. “Hello, Mr. Page. I hope I live up to, that is, my company lives up to your expectations.”

“It has a good reputation. I’m sure it will.”

So that was the way he wanted to play it. Cool and calm. She could do that.
Be still my beating heart
. She could drown in those eyes of his. She had downplayed his attractiveness to Eve earlier. The guy oozed testosterone. Only now, he looked like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar. For an instant she was tempted to drop him in it. But the instant passed. She wasn’t that mean. It was an accident after all, and now she’d calmed down, she knew that. At least she had the opportunity to ask for his number again.

Letting go of his hand, Jacqui sat down by the desk as Mr. Forbes started the meeting. His words flowed over her as she ran her gaze over the assembled teachers, before finally resting back on Liam Page. He was trying to look nonchalant, his legs crossed, right hand folded over his left. But there was something about him and she didn’t just mean his looks.

“So, let me hand you over to Jacqui Dorne who’ll tell you more.”

Jacqui stood to polite applause and smiled. She’d done this several times, but still the butterflies soared and whirled making her uncomfortable. She took a deep breath and began with a brief history of the Jekyll Foundation. “You should all have found on your seats a paper copy of our designs.”

There was a rustling of papers from everyone with one exception.
It had to be him, didn’t it?
Jacqui picked one up and handed it to Liam. “Here you go.”

“Thank you.” He reached out his left hand and took it, the gold band catching in the overhead lights. How could she have missed it before? His eyes were on her necklace as he spoke. At least she hoped he stared at her necklace. Clearing her throat made him lift his eyes back to her face, a faint smile on his lips. What kind of a game was he playing?

Staying as professional as she could, Jacqui turned back to the laptop. He was married and off limits. The good looking ones always were. Either that, or they were creeps—and she’d had her fill of them. “I’ll answer any questions you may have at the end.”

She started the program and sat. Watching the presentation with a critical eye, she winced over a couple of the sentences, wishing she’d phrased them differently. The borrowed laptop had an older version of the program and it had completely messed up her text. A smaller font than the one she’d spent so long choosing to compliment the pictures filled the screen, and it was much too close to the images. A couple of slides were also the wrong way around, but hopefully no one would notice the order, and it wouldn’t sway them against giving her the contract.

Taking her eyes off the screen for a moment, she caught Liam watching her and quickly looked away. The presentation had finished. Jacqui closed the program and rose to her feet. “Does anyone have any questions?”

****

Liam was more than a little distracted as Miss Dorne gave her presentation, unable to take his eyes off her. He barely heard what she said, instead watching the way she moved and used her hands as she spoke. Like Sally. So much about this woman reminded him of Sally. He wasn’t sure why. Sally was as fair as Miss Dorne was dark. Perhaps it was simply the cross around her neck. He’d bought Sally one as a wedding present, and she never took it off. Not even in the shower.

The following debate was short, with the majority liking the designs. The headmaster thanked Miss Dorne and dismissed everyone.

Liam stayed in his seat, watching her pack away her things. Then he unfolded his legs and stood, moving over to her. “Miss Dorne?”

Jacqui’s gaze met his, pulling him into their depths. “Mr. Page. Did the presentation live up to your expectations?”

“Yes, it did. I, uh, I wanted to apologize again for earlier. Did you get the laptop working?”

“It wouldn’t even boot up. I had to get a replacement from work or there would have been no presentation this afternoon. Fortunately, all the files were backed up on the Foundation servers, so my work wasn’t destroyed.”

“That’s good. I’m glad I didn’t ruin your presentation completely.”

She pushed a stray hair behind her ear. “Only the laptop.”

Liam’s supposedly dead conscience twisted hard within him. His stomach plummeted. “Again, I’m sorry. Well, you’ve got my number. Give me a call, and we can work something out.”

“I’m afraid I don’t have your number anymore. I must have used it to mop up the—” Jacqui broke off as someone else came over to them. “Mr. Forbes, thank you again for the opportunity.”

“Not at all, Miss Dorne. Thank you for a very enjoyable presentation. We’ll get back to your office by Monday at the latest. May I walk you to your car?”

“Yes. Thank you.” Snapping the laptop case shut, Jacqui gathered her things. She inclined her head in Liam’s direction. “Mr. Page.”

“Miss Dorne.” Liam watched as she followed Justin from the room. He headed back to the staff room to pick up his things and then out to the car. He dumped his papers on the roof and pulled the keys from his pocket.

“Mr. Page.” Her voice rang like a bell in the evening haze.

Liam twisted around. “Miss Dorne. We’ll have to stop meeting like this. People are going to talk.”

Jacqui walked over to his car.

Liam watched the way her hips moved and wondered if she knew the effect she was having on him. Then he chided himself for such thoughts. He had principles, after all. “Nice wheels,” Landscape architecture must pay better than teaching.

“Thank you. Uh, I’m afraid I used all the serviettes to try and save the laptop. So I no longer have your number.”

“No problem. I can give it to you again.” He pulled his diary from his jacket pocket and tore out a sheet. He scribbled the number down and handed it to her.

“Thank you.” She folded the paper and slipped it into her bag.

“You’re welcome.” He turned to go, and then turned back. “Can I buy you dinner by way of an apology?” The words were out before he even realized his mind had formed them. What was he thinking? Or not thinking as the case may be.

“Dinner?” She sounded as surprised by his invitation as he was.

He studied her, not sure if he wanted her to accept or not. “Dinner, it’s usually the last meal of the day.”

A wry smile crossed her lips. “I know that. I can’t do tonight.”

“What about tomorrow? Say seven o’clock? I could pick you up.”

“What about your wife? Won’t she object to you taking me out to dinner?”

Liam looked at her. He hadn’t said anything about being married. “My wife?”

Jacqui nodded to his left hand. “You’re married. I don’t date married men.”

“Oh…” Liam hoped Sally would understand. “This isn’t a
date,
it’s an apology.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m quite sure. Shall I pick you up?”