Page 24 of The Cotswolds Christmas Fair

He shrugged. ‘You know what I mean. You’ll be fine crashing with good old Julia for a bit, won’t you?’

Ted glanced at Jen, and she met his eye. He more than anyone knew that this was a less than ideal solution.

‘Goodbye, sweetheart,’ Lou said, hugging her. ‘So lovely to see you! I’m sure you’ll have a ball with Julia and the family.’ Her voice rose optimistically at this, and she smiled.

Jen scowled back. ‘I doubt it,’ she muttered.

‘All right, let’s head off.’ Ted ushered them out, checking that everything was as it should be. He locked up and placed the keys back in the safe on the wall.

They all hugged one last time, and Lou and Rich climbed into their cars and drove gingerly down the drive.

As Ted turned to his car, Jen grabbed his arm. ‘Take me with you.’

He laughed. ‘What are you talking about, you maniac?’

‘I’m serious. I – you know I can’t stay in that house, you know why, it’s not – not going to work. You must have a spare room, take me with you, I won’t be any trouble.’

He turned to her, sighing as though his patience was being tested. Which Jen considered rather rude, but she thought better of mentioning that while she was begging for bed and board.

‘Jen,’ he said gently. ‘I can’t, it would break their hearts – I was watching from the window; I mean, their little faces . . . they’ll be so disappointed if you don’t go now. You won’t be there long, it’ll be OK. It’ll be good! It’s time to patch things up, don’t you think? This was all—’ He waved a hand. ‘Centuries ago.’

‘Hardly.’

‘You know what I mean.’

‘Come on, Ted. We’ve always said we’d do anything for each other, right? You know I can’t stay with Julia. Please. It won’t be for long, the trains will probably be running again in a couple of hours.’

She gazed up at him beseechingly. He’d always been the one she could count on, the one who had her back. He’d got her out of every scrape, talked her down from every crisis, celebrated every achievement and listened to every story. He wouldn’t let her down now.

Ted looked at her with big, soft brown eyes and sighed.

He’d given in. She knew he wouldn’t be able to resist her. Grinning, she began pulling her bag round to the passenger side of the car.

‘Nope,’ he said, climbing in and slamming the door.

Jen froze, dumbstruck.

He wound down the window and poked his head out. ‘I’m not going to be the one responsible for making those cute little kids sad, and I think you’d regret it if you didn’t take the chance to spend a few extra hours with them.’

He had a point, but she wasn’t going to admit that.

‘I’ve got work to do, anyway,’ he said. ‘Organising this Christmas fair for the school has turned into a mammoth task. You’d be bored stiff. And it’s past time you sorted out this stuff with Julia. She’s your sister, you used to be as close as anything, I know you miss that.’

Jen opened her mouth to protest but he held up a hand to silence her. For the first time, she could see him as a deputy head. She didn’t like it much.

‘You’ll thank me later,’ he said. ‘But I’ll give you a lift, if you like.’

Furious, she glared at him. She couldn’t remember him ever refusing her anything before. She wasn’t enjoying it now.

‘Fine,’ she snapped, marching away. Or at least trying to; the snow was slippery underfoot and was clogging the wheels of her bag, somewhat hindering her attempt to storm off.

‘You OK?’ he called.

‘Yes.’ She used both hands to pull her bag, staggering a little. Her face began to burn and she started to sweat with the effort.

‘Sure you don’t want that lift?’

‘No. I can manage. I don’t need any help from you.’ She was being childish, she knew that, and a part of her was humiliated that she was behaving this way in front of him. But she’d dug herself into a hole she couldn’t get out of. And she really, really didn’t want to be trapped with Julia.