Chapter 43

“The reason you fell out ... was me?”

Three rings. Four. Five.

“Oh, come on,” Will muttered into the handset.

Six rings. Seven. “Hello?”

“Well, it’s about time.”

“Will?”

“Yes, Lynn, it’s Will.”

“It’s Jenni, actually, not Lynn. Sorry it took so long to answer. We were ... busy. Hang on, and I’ll get her for you.”

There was a clunk as Jenni put the handset down and Will heard her shout out to Lynn. His ex-wife didn’t rush to get to the phone.

“Yes, Will, what do you want?”

“Oh, I’m sorry, did I interrupt something?”

“Yes, you did as it happens. Look, what do you want?”

Will signed. “Do you know where Sophie is?”

“At school. Is that all? Can’t you just send her a text or something if you want her?”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course. She left this morning at eight o’clock. Same as every other day.”

“And you didn’t notice she had a bigger bag with her than usual?”

“Bigger bag? What are you talking about, Will?”

“Look, Lynn, at this moment, our daughter is upstairs unpacking.”

“Upstairs? Upstairs where?”

“Here.”

“There?”

“Here. While you were ... doing whatever you and Jenni were doing this morning, Sophie was getting the tube across London and a train down here to me.”

“What?”

“She even got a taxi from the station by herself. By herself, Lynn! She thirteen, for crying out loud!”

“But ... I mean ... Why isn’t she at school?”

“She’s been suspended. The school tried to contact you last night to let you know.”

“Suspended? How? Why?”

“It’s a long story and I think it’s best coming from Soph, but the short version is she got into a fight.”

“A fight? I’ll bloody kill her. How could she?”

“I’m just guessing here, but that reaction might be the reason she’s come down to me instead of telling you.”

“Oh, right, so it’s my fault, is it? Yeah, figured it would be. Daddy to the rescue again, huh? Well, I’d like to see you coping with her on a daily basis. It’s okay for you, only having to put up with her for the odd weekend. It’s easy for you.”

“Don’t even start, Lynn. You know full well I’d love to have Sophie full time.”

“That’s easy to say when you know you don’t have to have her full time.”

“It’s easy to say because it’s true.”

Lynn huffed. “We’ll see. How long is she off for?”

“Five days. Today, tomorrow and Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday next week.”

“Fine. Since she’s there with you now and you were due to have her this weekend anyway, she can stay until Wednesday evening. You can drive her back then. I swear, Will, I can’t be having her pottering around the house during the day. She’ll just get in the way. Can’t you take her to the office with you and give her odd jobs to do?”

“I was going to suggest she stay here in any case. I had already planned to have a couple of days off. I don’t see a problem with extending it into next week as well.”

“Good. It’s all worked out well then. Just bring her back Wednesday about the same time she’d get home from school.”

“Don’t you want to talk to her?”

“Not right now. It can wait. I’ve got something I have to get back to.” There was a click on the line as she hung up.

Will shook his head and put the cordless phone back in its cradle to recharge then climbed the stairs to see how Sophie was getting on. He found Amy helping her. Sophie took the clothes out of the bag while Amy hung them in the wardrobe.

“Oh, I like this top,” Amy said as she put a white and red tank top on a hanger.

“It’s from Next,” Sophie said. “Dad got it for me the last time I was down.”

Amy saw Will standing in the doorway but he knew Sophie couldn’t see him from her position by the bed. “Does he always buy you clothes when you come to visit?”

“Normally. He’s cool like that. All my other friends with divorced parents, their dads, like, never take them shopping and stuff.”

“Well, I think you’re very lucky to have William as a dad.”

“William? Why do you, like, call him that? I thought his name was Will.”

“I just like it. I think it suits him better.”

“Whatever. You’re right though. I am lucky. But I’d never, like, tell him—it’d go to his head. To be honest, I wish I lived with him instead of my mom, but she says that’s just stupid talk because he, like, works really late all the time and it’d be like living on my own most of the time.”

“I’m sure he’d come home earlier to look after you.”

“I suppose. But mom would, like, never let me move down here anyway so I’ll, like, never know.”

Amy glanced at Will and pointedly nodded her head. He smiled and nodded back then quietly slipped downstairs. He poured three glasses of Coke, put them and a plate of biscuits on a tray and carried them into the lounge. Then he stood at the foot of the staircase and called up.

“I have refreshments and snacks down here for you both.”

“Thanks, Dad. Be there in a sec.”

“Now, please, Sophie.”

“Yeah. Let me just—”

“Now, Sophie!”

“All right, all right, no need to shout.”

Sophie plodded down the stairs, radiating her displeasure at being ordered what to do. Amy followed behind with a puzzled look. Sophie took a glass and a biscuit and slumped into an armchair. Amy sat on the sofa while Will took up position in front of the fireplace.

He smiled at Amy then addressed his daughter. “Your mother has agreed that you should stay here until Wednesday evening when I’ll drive you back to make sure you’re ready for school on Thursday.”

“Excellent!” Sophie’s demeanour changed in an instant at hearing the news. She was once again the bright, bubbly girl he loved so much.

“But,” he said sternly, “She is not happy that you didn’t tell her you’d been suspended.”

“She’ll get over it.”

“Sophie!”

She shrugged. “When was I, like, supposed to tell her, Dad? She went out with Jenni as soon as I got in last night and I was in bed before she got back. I couldn’t very well tell her this morning when she expects me to be gone before she crawls out of bed.”

“She did what?”

“That’s why she didn’t answer when the school called. She was getting ready.”

Will gritted his teeth and shook his head. “That bloody woman,” he said under his breath.

Sophie grinned. “So, if I’m, like, staying here and you’re off work, what are we going to do today? Can we go shopping?”

“This suspension is supposed to be a punishment, young lady. Did the school give you any work to be getting on with?”

She shook her head.

“I can rectify that. I need to call them later anyway to get their side of the story—”

“Their side of the story? Don’t you, like, believe me, Dad?”

“What’s one of the things I’ve always said to you, Sophie?”

She sighed and said, “Listen to all sides of the argument before making up your mind.”