A Concert for Christmas by Helen Hawkins

Author:Helen Hawkins
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Allison & Busby
Published: 2023-03-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seventeen

It was the light creeping through her curtains that woke Sophie rather than her alarm. It probably meant she had overslept …

It probably meant that she’d overslept! Again.

Cursing under her breath, she sat up, rubbing her face and realising too late that it had grown incredibly sore during the night. The brook, her phone, Liam, the solo. It all came rushing back to her and made her head hurt even more.

Stumbling to the bathroom, she looked at her watch. It wasn’t as late as she’d feared, but she didn’t have long to get ready and leave for school. The mechanic still hadn’t been out to look at her car. And now she didn’t have a phone to use to deal with the situation.

Her head throbbed like she’d downed a bottle of wine the night before. She felt hard done by to be experiencing the symptoms of a hangover without having enjoyed the merriment of wine the previous evening. It wasn’t fair. Rubbing her head in a lame attempt to get rid of her headache, she took a quick shower and readied herself for school.

She rummaged around in the pile of rice in her airing cupboard to discover that the rice thing was a myth, before opening her laptop and finding five minutes to cancel her phone and order a new one. Thankfully, they would deliver it tomorrow, and she’d still have her old number.

The world outside was far brighter than Sophie felt. It was still dark, and the way was lit with Christmas lights illuminating shop windows, the winter sun just making its slow ascent above the horizon. It was quiet, but the few people who were already braving the cold were wrapped up warm, their faces ruddy and smiling.

Sophie pulled her scarf up a little higher to mask the bruise that had spread across her cheek from the evening before. It smarted, and she wondered what she was going to tell people at work. The truth was far too ridiculous.

Turning the corner, she almost tripped over an old, greying Labrador. The owner was a homeless woman, wrapped up in layers of tatty, old fabrics and sleeping on a pile of cardboard boxes. Sophie was surprised. You didn’t see homeless people in Cranswell.

The Labrador stirred from its slumber and languidly raised its head to look at her before nestling back down again. The old lady reached out a gloved hand and rested it on her companion.

Sophie pulled a five-pound note out of her purse and rolled it up, placing it in the woman’s hand. It was freezing, even in her coat and scarf, and she couldn’t bear to see the woman suffering.

She heard a muffled, ‘God bless you,’ as she continued on her way.

Arriving at school, Sophie raced across the playground, keen to get to her classroom and set up for the day. Yesterday had not gone as planned, and she craved the normality of a problem-free school day.

A cry stopped her in her tracks. She turned, noticing one of the reception children on the floor, hands out in front and looking stunned.

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