Chapter 47

“Things are never quite as simple as that.”

The next morning, Will wrote two letters for Amy to sign, then called Alsworth while Amy and Sophie went to the local supermarket to stock up on groceries. He informed the gang’s lawyer of Amy’s decision and faxed him copies of her letters resigning from the board of directors of both Wonderwall companies.

Shortly after receiving the faxes, Alsworth called back.

“That all seems to be in order, Mr Brown. Thank you for seeing sense and helping Mrs Nugent to make the right choice.”

“I had nothing to do with it. This was her decision to make and I let her make it.”

“Even so, I’m sure her relationship with you had some bearing on it. Or maybe it was her developing relationship with your young daughter. They do seem to get along very well.”

“How do you...? Have you been following us?”

“Not personally. But I have been privy to the reports.”

“You bastard.”

“No need for that tone, Mr Brown. We are both professionals, after all.”

Will took a breath to calm himself. “What about Nugent? You said you’d make sure—”

“Mr Nugent will be dealt with early this afternoon. He’ll be made to understand the situation. You’ll get no problems from him.”

“I have your word?”

“I guarantee it.”

“It’s done,” Will said to Amy as Sophie put the groceries away.

“And John?”

“Won’t bother you ... bother us, any more.”

“How can we be sure?”

“You said you knew these people. If they tell him what to do, will he do it?”

“He’s not stupid, William. He knows the consequences if he doesn’t.”

“Then we can be sure.”

Sophie came into the lounge. “All done. So, like, what are we doing today?”

“You are going to study.” He pointed to the parcel on the coffee table. “From the school. It arrived while you were out.”

“Do I have to?”

“Do you want to go for pizza at Capello’s tonight?”

“Yeah! It is Friday.”

“Then you have to do some work. Go on, you can use my desk.”

“And what are you going to do?”

He shrugged. “It’s my day off. I don’t plan to do anything.”

After a quick and easy lunch, Amy sat on the sofa reading while Will helped Sophie with her schoolwork. They did some maths, then some French and finally they discussed a book Sophie had been reading for her English class that Will remembered reading at school too. After four hours, they called a halt to their study session and Sophie went upstairs to get ready for eating out at her favourite restaurant.

Will slumped onto the sofa next to Amy and sighed.

“You’re very patient with her,” she said.

“It’s not difficult. She’s a good student. Although, I’m not very impressed by the standard of work she’s been set. It seems very basic.”

“Can you really judge on work they’ve set her to do at home during a suspension? Won’t it just be something to keep her occupied?”

“My point exactly. It’s shouldn’t be just to keep her occupied. I might have expected that from King George’s when we were her age, but that’s not what I’m paying for now. That school is very expensive and I’m getting the impression that it isn’t all it promised it would be. I’m not even sure it’s up to the standard of Westmouth Grammar.”

“Is that a fair comparison? Westmouth Grammar is one of the top ten state schools in the whole country.”

“I know. Maurice is on the board of governors, although he’s due to stand down this summer. He’s already sounded me out about taking his place.”

“Do you think you will?”

He shrugged. “Maybe. Who knows, it may be to my advantage.”

“What do you mean?”

“Nothing.” He sat up, slapped her thigh just above the knee and squeezed. “I’m going for a shower. Care to join me?”

She shook her head. “Doesn’t seem appropriate. Sophie could walk in on us at any moment.”

“It didn’t seem to bother you last night.”

“That was different. She was already asleep. Go on, I’ll go after you.”

“Sure?”

She nodded. “Go. But hurry up. I’ll need to dry my hair and I haven’t decided what to wear yet. I need to make sure I don’t clash with Sophie.”

Will and Sophie sat in the lounge waiting for Amy to finish getting ready. In retrospect, Will thought he should have insisted that Amy used the shower first.

“Does she, like, always take this long?” Sophie asked.

Will nodded.

“Yeah, so does Mom. It, like, really annoys Jenni. It’s really funny.” She giggled. “So, like, are you and Amy going to get married?”

Will was taken aback. “Er ... Well ... What would you say if I said we were?”

“You are, aren’t you?” She grinned. “Cool. Can I be bridesmaid?”

“Hang on, slow down. I never said we were.”

“So, you, like, haven’t asked her yet or anything?”

“I asked how you’d feel about it, that’s all.”

“Why does it matter what I think?”

“Because you’re my daughter. You’re the most important thing in the world to me. I wouldn’t want to remarry if it messed up our relationship.”

“It’s alright, Dad. I know you don’t like living on your own much. I wouldn’t mind if you got married. Well, not if you married Amy. She’s pretty cool.”

“Pretty cool, huh? Next step up from kinda cool, if I’m not mistaken. That’s high praise indeed. Well, I like her. A lot. And yes, if she wanted to, I’d marry her. But there’re a lot of things she needs to sort out before that even becomes a possibility.”