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Suddenly she became aware of the silence and looked up to find Mark watching her, his face pale.
‘Oh, that’s what became of it,’ he said. ‘I was afraid I’d lost it.’
He held out his hand and she gave him the photograph.
‘Is that—?’
‘Shall I pour you some tea?’ he asked, almost too politely.
His face was implacable, setting her at a distance. At that moment his likeness to his father was alarming.
‘Thank you, I’d like some,’ she said, recognising that she must back off.
He put the picture away and poured her tea, taking up their previous conversation about Italy, a country that he’d evidently studied closely.
‘You’ve got the makings of a scholar,’ she said at last.
‘Don’t let Dad hear you say that,’ he warned. ‘He’d hit the roof.’
‘Yes, I suppose he would. I guess you need to be a bit older before you can stand up to him.’
‘People can’t often stand up to Dad. He just flattens them. Except you.’ He gave a sigh of delight. ‘You flattened him.’
‘Mark,’ she said, laughing, ‘life is about a lot more than who flattens whom.’ She couldn’t resist adding, ‘Whatever your father thinks.’
‘Yeah, right,’ he said, unconvinced. ‘But it helps. And you’re the only one who’s ever flattened Dad.’
‘Stop saying that,’ she begged. ‘And how much did you overhear, anyway?’
‘Enough to know that you fla—’
‘All right, all right,’ she said hastily.
‘Wish I could do it.’
Diplomatically she decided not to answer this.
‘I have to be going,’ she said.
‘I wish you wouldn’t. It’s nice with you here.’
‘I’ll see you at school tomorrow. That is—’ she added casually, ‘if you’re there.’
‘I will be.’
‘No more truanting?’
‘Promise.’
They shook hands.
‘Good,’ said Justin from the door. ‘The best deals are made over a handshake.’
There was nothing but calm approval in his voice, and she had no way of knowing if he’d heard his son’s words.
‘We’ve made a very good deal,’ Evie assured him. ‘Mark has promised me that he’ll attend school every day from now on, and since I know he’s a man of his word I consider the matter closed.’
Her eyes told Justin that if he was wise he’d better consider the matter closed too. She thought she detected a flicker of surprise in his expression, but all he said was, ‘Mark, perhaps you’ll show our guest out? Goodbye, Miss Wharton.’
He gave her a brief nod and walked away, depriving her of the chance to talk to him again. Which, she thought, had probably been the idea.
Chapter Two
EVIE didn’t teach Mark the next day, but she saw him at a distance and knew he was in school. On the following morning he was there in her class, quiet but attentive. As he left she drew him briefly aside.
‘All right?’ she asked briefly.
‘Fine.’
‘He didn’t give you a hard time after I left?’
‘He never said a word about my playing truant, but he asked a lot of questions about you.’
‘What sort of questions?’
‘About who you were, how much did I know about you, how were you different to the other teachers?’ There was a touch of mischief in his voice as he added, ‘I said you were no different from the others, and he said, ‘You mean they all go around on motorbikes?’
She tried to suppress a chuckle and failed.
‘You’d better run along,’ she said hastily.
The rest of the week passed uneventfully. Mark attended every day, as he’d promised, and Evie was able to feel mildly satisfied for a job well done.
Her personal life was less tidy. Andrew was growing disgruntled at the feeling that he didn’t come first with Evie. She knew she could save the relationship with a huge effort. But then what? Marriage, which she’d always avoided? Just how hard did she really want to try? She wished she knew the answer.
Tonight he was taking her to dinner and she had discarded jeans and boots in favour of an elegant blue dress and a necklace of filigree silver. She stayed at her desk for a couple of hours after school, catching up on paperwork until Andrew called for her. She was just finishing when Justin Dane walked into the classroom.
She could feel his anger before she saw it. It was like watching a volcano preparing to erupt.
‘So much for deals,’ were his first words.
‘I beg your pardon?’
‘You made a deal with my son, a young man of his word, according to you. He was to stop playing truant.’
‘And he has. He’s been here every day since. I’ve seen him.’
‘Today?’
‘Yes, this afternoon. In fact, he did a particularly good piece of translation. I’ve just finished marking it—here.’
She pulled the book out and showed him.
‘Then where is Mark now?’ he asked in a tight voice.
‘He didn’t come home?’
‘No.’
‘Perhaps he went out with friends?’
‘He isn’t allowed to just go off like that. Either Lily or I must know in advance.’
‘Are you saying that he’s wandering around alone?’ she asked, horrified.
‘I don’t know. I wish I did. Where did you find him last time?’
She scratched her head. ‘I know where it is but I didn’t notice the name of the road.’
‘OK, you can take me there.’
His casual way of giving her orders made her grind her teeth and say, ‘Since you seem not to have noticed, I am about to go out on a date.’
‘How could I have noticed?’ he asked, puzzled.
‘Because I’m dolled up,’ she said, indicating her dress and make-up. Unwisely, she added, ‘I don’t dress like this unless I have to.’
Incredibly his lips twitched. ‘I believe you.’
‘Mr Dane, I’m sure this will come as news to you, but I do have a life. I don’t just sit here waiting for you to give me orders.’
‘So you won’t help me?’
‘I didn’t say that, but ‘‘please’’ would be good.’
‘All right. Please. Now can we get going?’
She looked at her watch. Andrew would be here soon. She guessed how he’d feel if she put him off, but she couldn’t shut out the memory of Mark’s unhappy face and the miserable hunch of his shoulders.
‘All right,’ she said. ‘But I don’t have long, and I must make a call first.’
She dialled Andrew on her cellphone and was relieved when he answered.
‘Darling, I’m going to be a little late,’ she said. ‘Can you leave it for an hour?’
She heard him sigh. ‘An hour then.’
Justin’s luxurious car was waiting in the school yard. For a while, on the journey, neither of them spoke. Evie remembered Mark saying that his father had asked a lot of questions about her. He’d described some of the questions, but how many others had there been?
She took a cautious look at Justin’s profile, which was set and hard, otherwise she would have called it attractive, with a sharply defined nose and a firm chin. A good man to have on your side in a fight. Otherwise, steer clear.
‘So, tell me everything that happened,’ she said at last.
‘I called home and asked to speak to Mark. Lily said he wasn’t there and she didn’t know where he was. Just like last time.’
‘So you immediately blamed me.’
‘I thought you might have some ideas.’
‘I don’t know why we’re going back to this road,’ she said. ‘He’s hardly likely to be there a second time.’
‘Unless there’s something nearby that attracts him. A cinema, a shop?’
‘It’s a tree-lined street. And so are all the others near it. What’s the matter?’
She had noticed him grow suddenly alert, slowing the car and looking around him at the passing streets.
‘I know this part,’ he said. ‘We used to live here.’
‘When?’
‘About three years ago. Is this where you saw him?’
‘In the next road.’
He turned into the street where she had seen Mark slouching along, but, as she had feared, there was no sign of him.
‘Where was your house?’
‘Another five minutes,’ he said tensely. ‘The next turning, then the first on the right.’ He was turning the car as he spoke.
‘There he is,’ Evie said quickly. ‘In the cemetery.’
Of course, she thought. His mother must be buried here.
Justin was drawing over to the kerb and getting out. She hurried to catch up with him and together they climbed the few stone steps to the raised ground where the graves were laid out.
Something made the boy look round as they approached and it was Evie he saw first. His face brightened and he took a step towards her.
‘Hallo, son,’ Justin said.
The child checked himself before turning obediently to his father and there was nothing in his face but blankness. It was enough to stop Justin in his tracks. Evie clenched her hands, hoping he wouldn’t berate his son, but he only turned away with a shrug that would have suggested helplessness in anyone else.
Evie took her chance, walking up to Mark and speaking quietly so that Justin couldn’t hear.
‘You know,’ she said, trying not to sound too heavy, ‘this isn’t playing fair. You promised me, no more playing truant.’
‘But I’ve been at school,’ he said quickly.
