Chapter 13 #2
‘That should give you plenty of time to cheer on the hero of the hour, for organising the whole thing. You and Nathan seem to have been getting along very well just lately.’ Bex gave her a knowing look and Rowan was tempted for a moment to confess that she and Nathan had kissed, and that she really liked him, but that would have been breaking her own rule.
She’d had a video call with Odette and Pippa the night before and had confided in them, telling her friends just how different it felt to be kissed by a man who was clearly attracted to her and not just going through the motions.
‘I didn’t know what was missing until I found it,’ was how she’d put it, before pulling herself up sharply, and desperately trying to underplay the situation, after Pippa had responded by saying that a kiss like that sounded ‘potentially life changing’.
She and Nathan could never be anything serious and it was the last thing she wanted anyway.
The problem was it was just far easier to remember all of that when she wasn’t describing what it felt like to kiss him, which was why she absolutely couldn’t mention it to Bex.
Instead, she arranged her face into what she hoped was a neutral expression.
‘Nathan’s such a nice guy and I’m glad you said hero of the hour, because I hope people in Port Agnes see the real him at the half marathon.
He’s obviously devoted to Leo and whatever he might have done in the past, I very much doubt he’s that person any more.
’ Rowan didn’t miss the twinkle that appeared in Bex’s eyes and she needed to shut that down.
‘But before you get any ideas, we’re just friends.
I don’t think Theo would have got through the first part of this term without Leo, and Nathan has been doing as much to encourage their friendship as I have. ’
‘They’re such lovely kids, and I’m sorry Theo is still having a bit of a hard time with some of the other boys.
I know we’re supposed to think all kids are great, but that Kayden in his class is a nasty piece of work and if I catch him bullying Theo again, he’s going to find all his permission slips for anything fun mysteriously going missing until it’s too late for him to take part. ’
‘Lyra has already offered to cast him as the back end of the donkey in this year’s nativity play, with Hunter Welch as the front end.
’ Rowan couldn’t help laughing again. Hunter was known for his fascination with toilet humour and, in his world, there was nothing more hysterical than passing wind.
‘Of course we’d never really do that, but it does help to imagine him getting a bit of karma every now and then. ’
‘I want to believe in karma.’ The smile had melted off Bex’s face. ‘But when you’ve got a lovely kid like Leo going through all of that, it’s pretty hard to, isn’t it?’
‘It is and it’s also impossible not to fall in love with Leo the moment you meet him.
’ Rowan bit her lip. It broke her heart to think that the gorgeous little boy, with the impish grin, who could make her son giggle when he was feeling sad, just by pulling a funny face, might not get to make it to adulthood.
All the fears she had for Theo, and even Bella, paled into insignificance when she thought about what Leo and his family were facing.
Nathan had told her they’d had to learn to push the fact they were eventually going to lose him to the backs of their minds, and focus on the now, but even that was hard when his condition was progressing in front of their eyes.
As the headteacher, Rowan wasn’t supposed to have favourites, but aside from her own children, Leo was hers and she knew he would have been even if he hadn’t been her son’s best friend.
He was a lesson in making the most of every day, no matter what it might bring, and she wished there was something she could do that would really make a difference for him.
‘Knock knock.’ A voice behind Rowan made her turn around. It was an older woman with a blonde bob, carrying a huge cake tin. ‘Sorry, Bex, I just wanted to get into the meeting room to get set up.’
‘Oh my God, Gwen, have you made lemon drizzle?’ Bex took the cake tin off the other woman and inhaled the air, answering her own question before Gwen got the chance. ‘You have, haven’t you, it smells divine.’
‘I put extra lemon and sugar on the top just for you, but I might also have left a big bit of eggshell in the slice I’m going to give Keith if he turns up.
’ The woman dropped a perfect wink and then turned to Rowan with a smile.
‘Sorry, I probably shouldn’t have said that in front of the new headteacher.
I’m Gwen Jones, treasurer of the PTA. Sorry I missed the last meeting but I was on a belly dancing retreat in Morocco. ’
As the woman stuck out her hand and Rowan took it, she tried to work out whether or not she was joking, but Bex saved her from having to guess.
‘This is the woman whose belly dancing classes have given God knows how many women their body confidence back. I know she gave me mine after I had the kids. Not only that, but she delivered them all too, before she retired as a midwife.’ Bex looked over her shoulder.
‘She also has the measure of Keith Hounslow and is the only one who can get him to shut up when he needs to. All of which are reasons why I want to be Gwen Jones when I grow up.’
‘Me too.’ Rowan smiled, already knowing that she was going to like the woman standing in front of her every bit as much as Bex did.
‘Being like me can get you into quite a bit of trouble girls, but it’s lots of fun and it would certainly keep you very busy.
Although I’m only volunteering in the hospital shop for fifteen hours a week now.
’ Gwen made it sound as if she was taking it easy, but she was clearly involved in lots of different things and Rowan could imagine what an asset she was to the PTA.
‘I fit in as much as I can, but dancing is probably my biggest passion. I know your mum from line dancing actually, Rowan, and she’s no shrinking violet either. ’
‘She never has been and I used to find that embarrassing as a kid, but I’m seeing the appeal more and more these days.
’ As Rowan spoke she realised it was true, at least to a certain extent.
After enduring so much gossip when her parents had split up, she’d actively tried to blend into the background in life, making sensible decisions and the ‘right kind’ of choices, instead of following her heart.
Just look where that had got her. Lately a big part of her wanted to be bolder and to say what she meant, and do what she wanted like her mum and Gwen, instead of what everybody else expected her to do.
But she was the headteacher of a village primary school that was always going to mean not overstepping the line of what was acceptable, and she had her own kids to think about too.
Embarking on a relationship with Nathan was for the version of Rowan who knew she had the right to grab happiness and be part of something that felt real, after so many years of make believe.
But keeping it secret was for the version of Rowan she had to be, the one who didn’t want her children to become the topic of everyone’s conversation.
She might have a long way to go before she was anything like as authentic as Gwen or her mother, but Rowan Adams was finally coming out from behind Rowan Bellamy’s shadow and she deserved a bit of time in the sun.
Even if she and Nathan were the only people who ever knew about it.
* * *
The weather had been perfect for the half marathon.
Dry and warmer than average for the time of year, but not so hot that it made the run trickier than it already was.
It also meant the kids could make the most of the giant inflatable course on the green behind the row of shops and cottages that flanked the harbour on one side.
Rowan and Bex had decided to source their picnic from Mehenick’s Bakery, who had pledged to donate all the profits from the takings that day to Nathan’s fundraiser for research into muscular dystrophy.
‘I didn’t expect you back so quickly. Bobby did brilliantly; was he completely worn out?
’ Rowan turned towards Toni, as runners continued streaming past them heading towards the finish line situated just before the mouth of the harbour.
The course ran from Port Agnes, around the far edge of the neighbouring village of Port Kara and then back across farmland before dropping down into the village again.
The children’s course had been confined to a much shorter 2 km route around the village itself.
The adults’ race started an hour after the children’s one and the runners in the full half marathon were just beginning to cross the finish line, one of the first of whom had been Toni’s husband.
‘He’s thrilled that all the training has paid off, but as for being tired, it doesn’t sound like it.
’ Toni flopped back into the chair she’d vacated only moments earlier to go and congratulate her husband on finishing in the first ten runners.
‘The reason I’m back so early, is because he’s already headed off to see if he can join in with the kids on the inflatables.
I told him Mum and Dad have got it all under control, but I’ve got a feeling he’s really going to check out the barbecue they’re doing for the children too. ’
‘I think he’s earned a burger after that.’ Bex handed Toni another drink. ‘And here’s to having husbands who not only race in half marathons, but actually want to spend time with their children.’
‘Cheers.’ Bex tried to clunk her plastic glass against Toni’s but it didn’t have quite the desired effect. ‘Do you think we should feel like we’ve let womankind down for not entering the race ourselves?’