When she stuck out her tongue, it was sparkly.
‘I didn’t,’ he replied. ‘Thanks for enlightening me. That’s one piece of knowledge I don’t know how I’ve survived without.’
She beamed at him. ‘Every day is a school day,’ she sing-songed.
‘I’ve got a present for you. It’s on the back seat.’
Her smile dimmed, her expression becoming wary. ‘What is it?’
‘Take a look.’ Mark watched her out of the corner of his eye as she wriggled around and reached behind her.
When she opened the bag and saw what was inside, she burst out laughing. ‘Who says romance isn’t dead!’ she cried, holding a set of jump leads aloft. Then her eyes widened, her mouth became an ‘O’ of dismay, and she blushed furiously. ‘I didn’t— Oh, bugger!’
Mark barked out a laugh, quickly sobering when she glared at him. He wasn’t entirely certain which of them had what end of the stick. He clearly hadn’t meant the jump leads to be any kind of romantic overture – what bloke in his right mind would give a woman a garage-related gift if he was trying to woo her? But did she think that was what he was trying to do – woo her? Or had she been hoping that the bag had contained something a little less practical?
‘Do you know how to jump-start a car?’ he asked, thinking he’d better steer the conversation into less emotionally turbulent waters.
But his plan backfired when she rolled her eyes and gave an exasperated sigh. ‘Yes, Idoknow how to jump-start a car. I’m not completely inept.’
Gritting his teeth, he asked, ‘Where do you live?’
‘Lavender Lane, number four, but do you mind dropping me at the school instead?’
‘Not at all.’ His voice was stiff and stilted, and without saying another word he drove along the high street, reaching the school a minute later.
‘Thanks,’ she said, unclipping her seat belt. Then she held up the bag. ‘Thanks for these, too.’ She got out.
Without thinking, he said, ‘I’ll wait for you.’
‘Why?’
‘I’ll take you home, and you can use my car to start yours.’
‘Oh, right, thanks. That’s very kind of you. Can I meet you there? You don’t have any booster seats, and I know it’s not far, but….’
‘No problem.’Booster seats?He clearly had a lot to learn when it came to kids.
Mark watched her walk through the school gates, then realised he was getting curious looks from some of the mums, so he hastily drove off.
Waiting outside Beatrice’s house, it felt like ages before she appeared with the children in tow, but it couldn’t have been more than ten minutes.
‘I’ll be with you in a sec,’ she said, unlocking the door to number four, a neat, terraced house with an old banger of a car parked outside, which he assumed was hers.
She ushered the children inside, then hurried back out, looking flustered.
‘Problem?’ he asked, flipping the lever to open the bonnet, then getting out.
‘Nosey children.’
Movement caught his eye, and he glanced at the window to see two small faces peering out. Tentatively he waved and Sadie, the youngest, waved back. The older one glowered and he assumed she wasn’t a fan, too old for books aimed at four- to seven-year-olds.
Beatrice popped the bonnet on her car, but before she was able to connect the leads to the battery, Sadie came outside. ‘I’ve got a tummy ache,’ the child announced.
‘Is it because you’re hungry?’ Beatrice asked. She said to him, ‘I think she’s been confusing hunger pangs for tummy ache lately.’
‘Give me your keys,’ he said. ‘I know you’re perfectly capable of jump-starting a car, but you’re probably better off seeing to the girls while I get this going. It’ll take a while to transfer enough charge, and then you’ll have to take it for a drive.’
‘Damn, I’d forgotten that. Oh, well, I could do with getting a few things, so we’ll pop into Thornbury. The kids can have a McDonald’s on the way back as a treat.’
