Page 10 of The Sunrise Sisterhood

‘Thank goodness,’ she whispered, blowing out a breath. ‘I hoped you’d approve.’

I stared at her. ‘Approve? What do mean?’

‘He’s asked me out.’ She jumped up and down on the spot, still holding my hands. Just as Mike and I had done after we got our grades for that presentation. ‘I spotted him straight away and made a beeline for him. We hit it off immediately.’

‘Wow,’ I said weakly, my throat suddenly constricted. ‘That’s … just wow.’

‘I know.’ She hugged me. A tight, brief hug filled with excitement. ‘And I know this is ridiculous, but I’ve got a funny feeling about him.’

‘It’s not ridiculous,’ I said flatly. Because I’d had that same funny feeling since Freshers’ Week. ‘He’s a nice guy.’

‘Yay! I’m so pleased you like him because I’ve already told him yes,’ she gushed and kissed my cheek roughly. ‘So glad you invited him. You absolute star.’

‘Yeah, you owe me one.’ I mustered up a smile and handed her the tray of starters. ‘Take these in please.’

As she bounced back out of the kitchen, I blinked back tears of frustration and poured myself a massive glass of wine. The joy had gone out of the evening, and I couldn’t wait for it to be over. I’d missed my chance. I’d never told him how I felt and now I never could.

Mark Twain had said that twenty years from now you’d be more disappointed by the things you hadn’t done than the things you had. But, in my case, it was forty years and still counting.

Chapter Four

Clare

‘Good luck with your final year and thanks for the flowers!’ Clare smiled at Phoebe, the twenty-two-year-old trainee teacher who’d dashed in with a bunch of roses for her on the last day of term.

‘You’re welcome! One day I want to be sitting in the head teacher’s chair, just like you – you’re my inspiration,’ the girl replied with a wave from the doorway of Clare’s office.

Heaven help her, thought Clare, watching her leave. She wasn’t sure she’d done much worthy of inspiration. Since coming back from maternity leave at Easter, she’d clung on by her fingernails, muddling through, putting on a good show for parents, staff and kids while gradually sinking under the weight of her responsibilities.

She turned her attention back to the stack of paperwork on her desk. She was going to need the six-week school holiday to recover from clearing her inbox for the summer. Still, at least being busy had kept her mind off the date.

Mum’s birthday.

Clare’s throat thickened instantly. Mum’s second birthday since her death; even thinking about her brought Clare up short. If she’d still been alive, they’d have had a lovely evening together, just the three of them. An alternative universe fluttered briefly into her mind of a picnic on the beach and blowing out candles on a birthday cake until the voice of her deputy head teacher, Andrea, drifted through her open door and cut into her thoughts.

‘Yes, darling, I’ll be leaving soon. It’s six-fifteen now, so I guess if I—’

‘You are kidding me!’ Clare gasped. A gasp filled with horror, from deep at the base of her lungs. Six-fifteen? How, how could it possibly be that late?

She leapt to her feet so fast that her chair tipped over.

‘Oh my God!’ she yelled at the top of her voice.

‘What’s happened?’ Andrea careered into Clare’s office, wide-eyed.

‘Ivy.’ Her mouth was so dry, she had to peel her tongue from the roof of her mouth to speak. ‘I forgot to collect her from nursery. I should have left ages ago. How the hell did I do that?’

Her baby girl. The most precious thing in the whole world and she’d been so wrapped up in work that pick-up time had slipped her mind. Clare was all Ivy had. She couldn’t let her down, she just couldn’t.

This was her worst nightmare.

‘Because you’re busy, because you never cut yourself any slack,’ said Andrea, already unplugging Clare’s laptop from the wall and shoving it in its case. ‘And you forget that you’re just like the rest of us – human.’

Clare’s panicked gaze flicked over her surroundings, at the remaining jobs, the secret pile of detritus under the desk, where she’d been shoving things she didn’t know what to do with … fear had paralysed her; she couldn’t move.

‘Leave all that. Just go!’ Andrea shook Clare’s arm, jolting her back into action.

‘Right. Yes. I’d better phone the nursery first.’ She grabbed her handbag from under her desk and riffled through it to find her mobile. The screen showed two missed calls from them. ‘Shit.’