As they made their goodbyes she was vitally aware of the tall dark figure looking on just behind his hosts, and once in the car she maintained a cool silence until David pulled up outside their house. ‘Go on in, you two; I just want a word with David.’ There was something in her tone that caught her mother’s attention.
‘It’s been a long day, dear; why don’t you——?’
‘Mum, please. I won’t be a minute.’ Her tone was polite but uncompromising and her mother bowed to the inevitable. Candy guessed her mother had sensed what she was about to say and wanted to talk her out of it. She had been hoping for some time that she and David would become more than friends, but had known better than to come straight out with her matchmaking.
Once they were alone she turned to David with eyes that were uncharacteristically hard. ‘What have you got to say for yourself?’
‘What about?’ He couldn’t hold her gaze. His eyes dropped to the dashboard and he fiddled with the radio, settling on a loud pop programme that grated round the car.
‘You knew he would be there tonight, didn’t you? Was he there when you left to fetch us?’
‘No, of course not.’ She knew he was lying; it was in every weak line of his face.
‘Well, as far as I’m concerned you’ve let me down badly. I don’t trust you.’ She spoke in a quiet, reasonable tone, and for a moment the impact of her words didn’t strike home, and then his face turned a dull red.
‘Now look here, Candy——’
‘No, you look here.’ She still was speaking quietly, but now there was a throbbing anger in her voice that made him shift uncomfortably in his seat. ‘I happen to think that friendship is an important thing and I expect my friends to support me as I do them. You knew that man would be there tonight and you also knew all the history. I don’t happen to consider myself or my family entertainment for one of your mother’s sick schemes. What she did tonight was malicious and spiteful and you backed her all the way.’
‘This is ridiculous...’ His voice faded as she opened the car door jerkily.
‘Goodbye, David.’ She banged the car door with such ferocity that it bounced open again, but she entered the house without a backward glance.
What an evening! As she lay in bed, gazing up in the darkness to the pale glow of the ceiling, she could have almost laughed if it weren’t all so tragic. She had lost her job and David in one fell swoop, although the latter she was well rid of, and it looked as though her little band of children, more like family than anything eise, were going to be turned out of their school and forced to make the journey to Chitten. Her heart gave a little wrench as she pictured them one by one in her mind. Little Ann Cartwright was doing so well, in spite of her severe speech impediment, but she would just shrivel up in the anonymity of a big school, and Kevin... Now she couldn’t stop the hot tears from seeping out of her eyes. He had lost his father recently in a farming accident and was still at the stage where he was clinging to her all day long. He would never cope with a change of schools.
How she hated Cameron Strythe! She sat up in bed suddenly and clenched her fists in helpless frustration. The man was a monster, a cold, unfeeling monster. Well, he couldn’t just come back and wreck all their lives for the second time. She bit on her lip until she tasted blood. She would stop him. She didn’t know how, but she would stop him, if it was the last thing she ever did. She wouldn’t rest until he was crushed and broken...as Michelle had been on that night so long ago when he had left the house with his head held high and she had raced into the sitting-room to hear her sister moaning like an animal, crouched on her knees on the carpet.
She would wait until either fate or opportunity put a weapon in her hands and then she would use it, without pity and with no regard for his feelings.
He would find that the younger Baker sister wasn’t such a push-over as her big sister. She would play him at his own game—and win!
CHAPTER TWO
IN THE cold light of day Candy woke up to the knowledge that Cameron Strythe was holding all the aces and she hated Monday mornings! The school was always freezing owing to being unoccupied all weekend, and the huge, unsightly radiators that were so inefficient always took all day to get the place warm.
After fixing a light breakfast of toast and coffee she sat curled up on the sitting-room window-seat watching the rain pour down outside. ‘Come down to earth, girl,’ she muttered to herself as she sipped the hot liquid slowly. ‘You haven’t got an earthly against him.’ It would be the easiest thing in the world to close down the school; the council had been angling for it for years. It had only been Colonel Strythe’s influence on the various committees he attended, plus the big, fat allowance he made the school each year, that had kept it open this far, and obviously all that had come to an end.
‘Oh, Jasper...’ She allowed herself the brief indulgence of wallowing in self-pity for a few moments, her head buried in the warm, thick fur of the golden retriever, then squared her shoulders determinedly. Well, she might not be able to fight him with regard to the school, but she wouldn’t leave a stone unturned to make his victory as empty as possible.
‘Good morning, Miss Baker.’ For the second time since his return Cameron forced her to give an exclamation of surprise as she swung round from the blackboard mid-morning to see him standing just inside the classroom door. ‘I hope I’m not intruding?’ His eyes dared her to speak her mind with the children watching and expressed malicious satisfaction when she forced herself to speak pleasantly.
‘Not at all, Mr Strythe. What can I do for you?’
‘I just thought I would pop in and see you at work,’ he answered coolly. ‘I trust you have no objection.’
‘What a pity.’ Her eyes darted black fire, but her mouth was smiling for the little onlookers surveying them so interestedly. ‘It’s time for the children’s playtime.’ As she provided each child with a carton of milk and an apple, another of Colonel Strythe’s blessings, she was aware of Cameron taking note of the crumbling plaster and creaking floorboards, but ignored him pointedly. ‘It’s stopped raining, children. All out into the playground. Mrs Harris has just arrived.’
When the last child had left the room and she had checked that they were all safely in the small playground with Karen Harris, one of the mother-helpers, she turned to Cameron with a frankly hostile expression on her face. ‘Well?’
‘You know, you really do have the most charming way with you,’ he drawled slowly as he walked over to the empty picnic basket and flicked the lid with one finger. ‘And who provides this little service each day? And don’t tell me the council, because they gave free milk up years ago.’
‘It was never given up at this school,’ Candy answered coldly. ‘Your father always saw to it that the required number of cartons of milk and apples were delivered each morning.’
‘And who twisted his arm for that little act of generosity?’ His voice was purposely insulting.
‘I have no idea,’ she returned acidly, ‘considering I was merely a child myself at the time. Does it matter? Your father liked children, unlike some men.’ She didn’t even try to hide the meaning behind her barbed words.
‘Meaning I don’t?’ There was an element of bewilderment in his face.
‘Jamie
