Oh no.
‘Mrs Marshall, this is Mr Sutherland. His son, Charlie, started here with us at Surrey Academy today.’
‘Mrs Marshall?’ a deep, husky voice asked. ‘One of the Shaw Haven Marshalls?’
Juliet’s heart immediately started to pound. She slowly turned her head to look at the man. Everything about him was breathtaking. From his height – visible in spite of his seated position – to his broad shoulders and chest. But it was his face that made her words stick to her tongue – the sculpted bones of his cheeks and chiselled square jaw making him one of the most beautiful men she’d ever seen.
‘Um … yes. My husband is Thomas Marshall.’
The man raised his eyebrows, but said nothing.
‘Mrs Marshall, let me explain what happened between Poppy and Charlie,’ the principal interjected. ‘During recess, they were playing with the train set.’ The hushed tones of the principal’s voice forced Juliet to lean forward. ‘They had an argument about the blue train, and Poppy slapped Charlie. I’m afraid the force made him fall against the wall and caused a nosebleed.’
Juliet opened her mouth to say something, then closed it again, failing to find the right words. Blood rushed through her ears, drowning all other sound out. Principal Davies and Mr Sutherland were staring at her as if she was the worst parent in the world.
Maybe they were right.
‘Poppy,’ she finally said, the anxiety making her words wobble. ‘You shouldn’t hit anybody, you know it’s wrong.’
‘You hit Daddy’s friend when you found them at the house together,’ Poppy said. ‘You said that people shouldn’t take things that belong to other people.’
Juliet covered her mouth with her hand. How the hell did Poppy know that? For a moment she was back there, finding Thomas and his PA in the most compromising of positions. The image made her want to throw up. Her face flamed as s
he glanced at Principal Davies to see her reaction. The older woman’s face was as impassive as always.
Mr Sutherland, on the other hand, was trying to bite down a smile. He was looking at her with new interest.
‘It’s still wrong to hit people, sweetheart,’ Juliet said again. Her mouth felt drier than the desert. How could she even explain to her six-year-old child the rage she’d felt when she realised she’d been betrayed? That it was the first time she’d ever thrown a punch in her life. ‘I shouldn’t have done it and neither should you.’
‘It was my train.’ Poppy’s voice was full of that familiar stubbornness. ‘I told him it was mine and he still tried to take it. It’s always been mine. He can’t just come here and steal it from me.’
Juliet glanced at the man from the corner of her eye again. For some reason she found it hard not to keep looking at him. His cheeks were high, his jaw firm, but it was the dark shadow of beard growth on his face that surprised her. He had a rough edge to him she rarely saw around here.
Oops. He was staring straight back at her.
‘It’s not your train,’ Juliet pointed out. ‘It belongs to the school, and everybody’s allowed to play with it. You need to apologise to Charlie.’
‘No way.’
The small boy looked up at her, his eyes wider than ever. Juliet realised he hadn’t spoken at all. His sandy hair was falling over his brow, and his clothes were a little too tight for his body.
‘It’s Charlie’s first day. You should have been welcoming, shown him around. You can’t just treat people like that. Now say sorry.’ This time she was sharper. Even Poppy looked surprised at her tone.
‘I’m sorry.’
‘Now say it and mean it.’
Poppy’s bottom lip stuck out, and she started to chew it. For a moment she stared at Charlie, her eyes narrowed as if she was weighing up her options. ‘Okay, I’m really sorry. It’s a stupid train anyway. Half the wheels are missing. Next time you should play with the green one, it goes the fastest.’
Charlie nodded silently, as if she was the fount of all school-based knowledge.
‘Well, that’s a start I suppose,’ Principal Davies said. ‘But I’m sure you’ll agree that we can’t just let this go. Poppy hit another child, we need to punish her for it. We have standards we expect all our students to live up to.’
‘Hey, there’s no need to punish the kid,’ Mr Sutherland said. He really did have a sugar-coated voice. ‘She said sorry, right? Can’t we just leave it there?’ He flashed a dimpled smile at the principal.
‘No, I’m afraid we can’t just leave it there.’ Principal Davies shook her head, turning to Juliet. ‘We have a zero tolerance policy for violence here at Surrey Academy. I’ll have to ask you to take Poppy home with you today, and to keep her off school for the rest of the week.’
‘You’re excluding her?’ Juliet asked, alarmed. How the hell was she going to explain this to Thomas?