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She snapped back to the moment as Liam said, ‘That’s wonderful, Cassie.’
‘It is, isn’t it? Cassie has a really lovely grasp of language and is able to use techniques to create beautifully descriptive writing.’
Liam slid the book back across the table and almost smiled at Sophie. His eyes crinkled slightly at the edges, but the smile didn’t quite reach a warmth.
‘Let’s talk about maths,’ Sophie said, swallowing nervously. She was acutely aware of Kate sitting at the adjacent table, watching their meeting unfold. She knew she’d get the third degree after Liam left. ‘I would say that maths is a little more challenging for Cassie.’
She looked to Cassie for some agreement, but her head was down and she was fiddling with the zip on her jacket.
‘She does well but needs to make sure that she asks questions when she is unsure about how to work something out. She can be quite shy,’ Sophie explained. She left a moment of silence, just in case Liam wanted to explain why Cassie might be a little quiet. When he didn’t, Sophie continued to talk about how Cassie was doing in her other lessons.
She fumbled her way through the meeting, Liam’s eyes never leaving hers. The problem was, he really was quite attractive and on more than one occasion, she lost her train of thought, only for a moment.
‘So, my girl’s doing good,’ Liam said once Sophie had finished. He ruffled Cassie’s hair.
Cassie squirmed to get out from underneath his hand. ‘Dad!’
‘Thank you, Miss Lawson.’
‘Can we talk about behaviour?’ Sophie said.
Liam’s look changed from the happiness he’d felt at Cassie’s report so far. His brow lowered. ‘Go on,’ he said.
It was invitation enough, but Sophie wasn’t sure he really wanted to hear what she was going to say. She looked at Cassie and then back at Liam. This was her chance. She was really going to do this.
‘Cassie has been a very well-behaved student since starting at Cranswell, but recently, I’ve found that she can sometimes react to certain situations in quite a …’ Sophie searched for the appropriate word, ‘negative way.’
‘Really,’ Liam said. He folded his arms across his chest as he sat back in his chair in an all too familiar way.
‘It’s not just the fight in the playground,’ Sophie continued. She sensed his unease with bringing the situation up, but she could assure him she felt the same discomfort as he did. ‘In class there are sometimes disagreements, sometimes over trivial things, but I’m sorry to say Cassie seems to be involved in them a little more frequently of late.’ Sophie leant back from the table and waited for his reaction.
‘Is this true?’ To Sophie’s surprise, he addressed Cassie.
Cassie wrinkled up her nose. ‘No. I don’t know what she’s talking about.’ She shrugged.
Liam turned back to Sophie. ‘Can you give me some examples?’
‘I can’t believe you’re siding with her,’ Cassie said.
It was the loudest thing Sophie had ever heard her say, and as Liam and Sophie turned to react, Cassie pushed back her chair and stormed off. They watched as she left the main hall and flopped down into a chair in the corridor. Liam turned back to Sophie, his expression unreadable.
Sophie pulled her cardigan sleeves over her hands and rested them on the table. ‘Cassie is doing very well academically.’
‘But not socially. Is that what you’re trying to say?’ He ran a hand over his stubble.
‘Of course not.’ Sophie chewed the inside of her lip.
Silence.
‘Look, Liam … Mr Hawthorn.’ Sophie closed her eyes and took a deep breath. ‘It’s not unusual for children to behave differently when there’s something on their mind, or if they have big life changes going on.’
Liam didn’t speak.
‘I just wonder whether Cassie might be dealing with something that we don’t know about. We want to help.’ She gave a friendly smile and willed him to respond. He didn’t, his brow still lowered.
‘I’m just worried about Cassie,’ Sophie said.
‘About my daughter?’
