Page 58 of The Only Way Is Up

‘Concerned for my spiritual welfare,’ said Tom. ‘She came over to ask if I’d accompany her to church. I said no thank you. Tessa was the churchgoer, not me.’

‘I imagine rejection must be part and parcel of being a vicar,’ she said, then immediately wished she could take the words back. She blushed and looked at her hands.

‘Not just vicars,’ mumbled Tom.

Ouch.

‘—How was your holiday?’

‘Great,’ Daisy smiled. ‘The kids had a fabulous time. Melanie too.’

‘And you?’ asked Tom pointedly.

Daisy took a deep breath, unable to meet his eyes. ‘I had a fabulous time too. Christian coming was very last minute, but it was good to see him.’

A brief wince of pain crossed Tom’s face. ‘I’m glad.’

I’m doing this for you, Tom. I can’t explain it because you’ll never understand. But it’s the right thing to do.

Tom opened the door to the domestic science classroom and stood aside to let Daisy pass. ‘We had some people in last week to sort this place out,’ he told her. ‘Electrician, plumber, decorator. The ovens are a bit old but they still work.’

Daisy looked around, breathing in the smell of fresh paint and kitchen cleaner. ‘It looks great,’ she said, giving him a genuinely grateful smile.

‘A couple of the teachers went to IKEA on your behalf.’ Tom opened a drawer in one of the five workstations, each with an oven and hob and space for four pupils. ‘They got some stuff for each group – bowls, knives, peelers, that sort of thing. Funnily enough I found one of your mum’s old textbooks and used the equipment list from that.’

Daisy looked in the drawer, then opened a cupboard, impressed to see new mixing bowls and saucepans.

‘Wow, this is amazing,’ she muttered. ‘Can you give me the bill?’

Tom shook his head, leaning against one of the counters with his arms folded. His expression was hard to read but she could see what he was – a decent, kind man. In many ways it would be so much easier if he was less nice; more smug and arrogant like Christian, or self-obsessed like Marcus. Instead he was just incredibly attractive on multiple levels, which made this whole situation so much harder to bear.

‘No need,’ said Tom. ‘The governors have agreed to free up some funds. To be honest this is great publicity for the school – the parents are already talking and it will be a big story locally.’ He gave a small laugh. ‘Not much happens around here. We might pick up a few new pupils, at which point a few hundred quid for saucepans and tin openers is kind of irrelevant.’

Daisy nodded, her face lined with uncertainty. ‘OK, but my reputation isn’t exactly pristine right now, were all the governors OK with it?’

Tom shrugged, picking up a fork and turning it over in his hands. ‘The thing at the NTAs was obviously unfortunate—’ Daisy looked away, feeling the familiar cringe of embarrassment, ‘—but it’s old news now. Nobody died, and you’re still a big name. You also have to remember that most of the parents are our age,’ added Tom. ‘They’ve grown up with you. We can’t cancel now, if that’s what you’re thinking – everyone’s buzzing about it. I’d have a riot on my hands.’

Appeased, Daisy boosted herself up to sit on one of the worktops and rummaged in her bag, drawing out her lists. ‘OK,’ she said briskly. ‘Shall I talk you through my plan?’

Twenty minutes later, Daisy had outlined her ideas for what each year group would cook and agreed to do five classes in total – Years 8 and 9 the first week back after Christmas, and Years 10, 11 and 12 the week after. Year 13 were up to their necks in prep for mock A levels and were a bit old for the book anyway.

‘I’ve been thinking about some extra pairs of hands,’ Daisy said. ‘Twenty kids is quite a lot for me to handle.’

‘Who did you have in mind?’ Tom asked, his voice softer and friendlier than when she’d turned up in his office. Maybe he was thawing, thought Daisy, and they could find a neutral space where they could at least be friends.

‘My mother and Justin,’ said Daisy. ‘Mum is an expert on teaching schoolkids to cook, and I figure they already know Justin.’

Tom nodded slowly. ‘That’s a really good idea. Do we need to get them over now?’

Daisy shook her head. ‘No. I think we should probably focus on the email to parents today. I’ll speak to Justin later on.’

‘OK. Let’s go back to my office, see if the dogs have trashed it.’

Daisy laughed, thinking how different Tom was to the first time she’d met him. In less than three months she’d gone from hating his guts to snogging his face off to putting him in the friend zone for his own safety. It occurred to her that some people were married for decades and went through fewer ups and downs.

The walk back to Tom’s office seemed to take forever, both of them walking side by side in silence, the air between them electric with unanswered questions and unrequited yearnings. At one point they both reached for the same door handle and their hands touched, and Tom leapt back like he’d trapped his fingers in a sandwich toaster.

‘I’m sorry,’ said Daisy, feeling like any apology she made wasn’t even going to touch the sides.