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‘Don’t forget your medal,’ they say.
Molly jumps up and down on the spot with excitement. ‘I do get a prize,’ she says.
One of the girls slides a plastic medal from the euro shop with bright pink-and-yellow ribbon around Molly’s neck.
‘Thank you,’ I say.
‘You’re Charlotte, right?’ the taller of the two girls asks.
‘Um, yes,’ I say, wondering if Molly told them my name.
‘You’re Kayla’s stepmam, right?’
I wince, not sure what to say. Kayla never refers to me as her stepmother and Gavin doesn’t either. And I imagine Heather would rather stick pins in her eyes than use the term. But I guess as Gavin’s wife that’s what I am. And acknowledging that these two friendly kids see me that way fills me with joy.
‘Yeah. Yes I am,’ I say, owning the title, proudly.
‘I’m Sarah. And this is Amy,’ the taller girl says, pointing to herself first and then her friend. ‘We saw your Help Fund Me page.’
‘Oh,’ I say, wondering if all the kids have been talking about it. Wondering if the teachers know. Suddenly I’m very aware that Heather is in the hall packed with gossiping parents and teachers.
‘Did you know they were talking about it on the radio this morning?’ Sarah asks.
I shake my head unsure what to think or feel.
‘She lives in Dublin,’ Amy says, pointing at me. ‘You don’t get Radio Cork up there, do you?’
‘No,’ I say, glad that Heather won’t have heard anything.
Sarah nods. ‘Ah, right, yeah that makes sense. Well, anyway, the DJs were talking about it on the breakfast show this morning. Saying how Kayla is a local girl and all. They were saying how awesome an idea it is and then loads of people were phoning in saying there were going to donate.’
‘Really? People are donating?’ I ask.
‘Yeah. Like tonnes of people,’ Sarah says, practically bouncing on the spot, the way Molly does when she is excited. ‘There’s a hashtag on Twitter too. #HelpKaylasCakes.’
‘It’s just #KaylasCakes, silly,’ Amy corrects.
‘Okay, whatever. It’s something like that and people are really into it. I think it’s so cool. You’ve done such an amazing thing. Kayla must be so excited.’
‘And her mam must be super happy too,’ Amy adds, a little more calmly than her friend. ‘Like a bakery isawesome. And I’ve known Heather since I was little. She makes the best cakes. It will be so cool when she has her own shop. I’m going to go there all the time.’
‘It’s totally going viral,’ Sarah says. ‘Kayla is, like, famous.’
I pull my phone out of my pocket and log into the app. ‘Oh my God. Oh my God,’ I say as I see the hundreds of donations that have come in since this morning.
‘See. Told ya,’ Sarah says. ‘And it’s going up all the time.’
‘This is incredible,’ I say, barely able to believe my eyes. ‘People are so generous. Kayla won’t believe this.’
‘She’s on the basketball court with Aiden and that hot old guy,’ Amy says. ‘If you want to go tell her.’
I’m the same age as Jack. I try not to take offence that Kayla’s friends think anyone in their mid-thirties is obviously ancient.
‘Can we come with you to tell her?’ Amy asks, beginning to become as excitable as her friend.
I really wish they hadn’t asked. I’m not sure what Kayla will say when she discovers her story is all over the internet and radio, but they’ve been so lovely I can’t ask them to leave now.
‘Sure,’ I smile. ‘I’m sure Kayla would love to catch up with you both.’
