1
THEA
Thea clutched the shabby wheel of her ancient truck and turned into the gates of Clavenham Primary School. She hunched down on the seat, hoping her daughter wasn’t out and about in the playground. If Ammy saw her mum pull up, she’d organise a pack of school friends into a marauding assault of sticky fingers and excited chatter.
Thanks to her daughter, she’d become a local legend, rivalling only Doctor Dolittle in the animal stakes. Playdates with Ammy were popular and usually included a visit with the cuddly creatures of Small Oaks Animal Sanctuary and a ride in Thea’s bright red tractor.
Thea swept her eyes over the play area next to the school building. It lay empty. The kids were all inside. She let out a breath. Although it wasn’t best practice parenting to be so relieved, at least she could sneak into the school without having to duck behind any cars.
The car park was busy for a Wednesday morning, but Thea spotted a space towards the end of the line of vehicles. It wasn’t just any space, though. At its centre sat a muddy puddle large enough to rival Loch Ness. There'd been little rain since thesnow last winter, but a downpour last night left a watery hangover of monstrous proportions.
The corners of her mouth twitched. The dark pool was too good to resist, and she pressed her foot down on the accelerator, executing a tight turn, coming to a halt in a spray of brown water.
With a chuckle, Thea turned off the engine and leaned down to rescue her bag from the footwell. It lay partly buried in a pile of empty crisp packets. Ploughing through the water had felt good. Reckless. In fact, it was the most exciting thing she’d done all week. She needed to get out more.
Thea came up to sit again. She angled the rearview mirror to check her face for dirt, but a movement outside the muddied window and a sharp tapping on the glass startled her. There was nothing like a jump scare early in the morning.
She opened her door and slipped to the ground, landing almost ankle-deep in the puddle she’d just driven into. The splash of brown water made its way over the top of her boots and onto her jeans.
“Shit!” Thea surveyed the damage to her already muddy trousers. She hadn’t thought that move through. Perhaps the exhilaration of creating a giant spray had overridden her logical brain. All she’d managed to do was make herself even filthier.
“Shit indeed,” said a low voice.
Thea dragged her eyes from her boots towards a second pair of feet on the tarmac next to her car. They weren’ttechnicallyin the puddle with her but wore most of it. Their smart, brown brogues dripped thick, murky water, and she sucked in a breath. The cost of those shoes would likely feed her guinea pigs for a month. One ruined brogue sloshed in the liquid, and with a grimace, Thea steeled herself to face its owner.
Time slowed to a crawl as she took in the expensive suit, now resembling a Jackson Pollock painting. The man’s trousersand jacket bore the remnants of her muddy joy ride, and a hefty splash of mud painted his face, giving him a Rambo meets city slicker vibe. His flinty green eyes narrowed as they met hers.
Under the man’s scrutiny, a fiery heat rose toThea’s cheeks. He looked like a bedraggled sea monster. She should be more sorry or maybe feel an ounce of guilt, but try as she might, remorse wouldn’t come. Instead, she fought to keep the corners of her mouth from lifting and contain the bubbles of laughter that grew in her chest. Not a part of him had escaped the spray.
She hadn’t seen him. He must have got out of his own car just as she arrived. He probably regretted her pulling up next to him, but he must see the funny side of the situation? After all, she hadn't meant to cover him in sludge, and she’d ruined her own trousers, too.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” His voice was deep. Commanding. A million glib responses skittered through Thea’s brain. But, instead of offering apologies, she bit her bottom lip and tipped her head to one side.
“Look at my suit. Look at my car!” The man signalled towards the vehicle parked next to hers.
Thea peered around his body at what she assumed was once a white Range Rover. After her dramatic arrival, it was hard to tell. He waved at his car, adding tiny drops of water to the mess.
At the sight of his bulging eyes and reddened cheeks, Thea lost the battle raging inside her, and a snort of laughter escaped.
The man’s mouth dropped open. “I’m sorry. Did I miss something funny?”
Thea raised her eyebrows.
“No, really. Did I miss the punchline? All I saw was some obnoxious woman driving too fast in a school car park,careening around the corner, and plastering me and my car with mud. Correct me if I’m wrong.”
As he spoke, Thea sucked on her lips to keep them in a straight line. She honestly hadn’t intended to splash him, and if she could have a do-over, she’d approach the puddle a little slower, but he was overreacting. The damage to his suit and car was nothing a good dry cleaner and a hose-down couldn’t fix. Maybeheneeded to get out more, too.
Hang on, did he just call her obnoxious? Friends and strangers had labelled her many things in her life. Scatty, frustrating, and yes, irritating, but never obnoxious. It wasn’t like she splashed him on purpose. She hadn’t even seen him. Thea folded her arms across her chest and raked her eyes over his car.
It was a white monstrosity that towered over her beaten-up Toyota truck. Referred to in nastier circles as a mum-mobile, his car was about as suited to the country lanes of Clavenham as a stretch limo.
“Maybe if your car was more appropriate for its surroundings, you wouldn’t notice a speck of mud,” Thea said, returning her eyes to his.
“Aspeckof mud? More appropriate?” His upper lip curled.
“Yes.”Thea pleaded with her brain to stop now, cut her losses, and offer to pay for his laundry. But at his accusatory stare, she carried on. “Your car is too fancy.” What bit of “stop” didn’t her brain understand?
“Too fancy?”
