New Girl in Little Cove by Damhnait Monaghan (fun books to read for adults .TXT) 📕

told Eddie I’d been finding notes like that on my car all year. “The little bastard,” he said. “I’m ashamed of him. Come on, get in the truck.”

We drove back to the school and Eddie came inside with me. “I think we should tell Patrick,” he said.

“No!” I didn’t want to see Patrick right now.

“Well, someone needs to be told,” said Eddie.

“Someone needs to be told what?” said Doug, who had appeared in the hall.

Eddie handed him the note. “Ron Drodge left this on her car this afternoon.” He jerked his head at me. “She says she’s had a few of these notes.”

Doug read the note. “Let me get my keys,” he said.

“Where are you going?” I asked.

“To have a chat with Ron.”

By now, I was shaking and couldn’t face the drive back to Clayville. “Can you drop me at Lucille’s?” I asked.

“She’s gone to Clayville,” said Eddie. “Drove her there meself.”

“I’ll bring you to our place,” said Doug. “Mudder would love to see you.”

During the short journey to his house, he kept starting to speak, then stopping. He brought me inside the house and called out to his mother.

Grace wheeled herself into the hall and her face lit up. “Rachel, grand to see you,” she said. “We can all have tea.”

“I needs to go out, Mudder,” said Doug jingling his keys.

“Off you go, then,” she said. “Rachel and I can manage without you just fine.”

“I can make the tea,” I said. “If you give me some direction.”

I put the kettle on and Grace told me where to find mugs and milk. The water splashed onto the burner as I poured.

“Sorry,” I said. “I’ve got the jitters.”

“Bad day?” she asked

She looked so sympathetic that I ended up telling her about the note and how Doug was gone to talk to Ron.

“I don’t understand why he hates me so much,” I said. “I’ve never even met him. I’ve been getting these notes since my first day of teaching.”

Her expression changed. “Oh, Doug never told me that.”

“I didn’t tell him,” I said. “I didn’t tell anyone.”

“No one?” Her tone was one of surprise.

“I didn’t know who it might be, so I was afraid to tell anyone.”

My dear,” she said, “I’m some disappointed to hear that all of Little Cove was a suspect in your eyes. Do you not trust any of us?”

I looked down at my lap. Why hadn’t I told anyone about the notes? Had I really suspected everyone?

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I wasn’t thinking.”

“Well, never mind,” she said. “But if you’d mentioned it to Lucille, she would’ve sussed the culprit right quick. Anyway, I’m not surprised it was Ron. He’s bad news. I expect he was doing it for Brigid.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. Perhaps in his mind, you took her job.”

We’d drunk our tea and Doug was still not back, but I was suddenly anxious to leave Little Cove. I said goodbye to Grace and she put her arms up for a hug.

“I’ll never forgive Ron for doing that to you,” she said. “You were an innocent party.”

As I walked down the road to get my car from the school, I found myself wondering how much longer I could lay claim to that label around here.

35

Over the next few days, I dragged myself through lessons. Every time there was a knock on my door or a note on my desk, I felt sick. The wait was over when Judy arrived at my classroom all business and said that Mr. Donovan wanted to see me and she would cover my class. So, this was it. I was about to be fired.

I grabbed my purse from the back of chair in case I was asked to leave immediately. Through the open doors of the other classrooms, my fellow teachers were carrying on as normal. Doug was sitting on the edge of his desk talking to his class. He stopped talking, and the class laughed in unison. What had he said? I wondered. Sister Mary Catherine’s room was silent. The students were diligently working and she was at her desk, reading.

I knocked on Patrick’s door, then stuck my head in.

A woman who looked a few years older than me sat opposite him. She had wavy blonde hair and violet eyes. Her skin was so pale I could see blue veins running beneath it.

“Oops, sorry,” I said. “I’ll come back later.”

“Come in, Rachel,” said Patrick. His face was red and blotchy under his beard. “Come and meet Brigid. She was the French teacher here before you.”

“Hello,” she said softly.

“I’ve heard so much about you,” I said. And we both blushed. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

She inclined her head slightly. “It’s all right.”

Then she said to Patrick, “I’ll be off. I’ll wait to hear.”

Patrick walked around his desk. “I’ll see you out, Brigid.” When they reached the door, he called over his shoulder. “Sit tight, Rachel, I’ll be right back.”

After a minute I saw them in the parking lot. Patrick walked Brigid to her car. He leaned into the window and talked to her for a few minutes. He waited until she drove away, then he looked up at the sky for a minute before walking slowly back towards the school.

“Christ on a cracker,” he said, sitting down heavily in his chair. “Sorry about that. She pitched up here just now to ask for her job back. Said she heard you were on a one-year contract.”

“What were you going to talk to me about?”

Patrick picked up a big ring of keys from the desk, weighing them in his hand. “I don’t know. I was hoping to come up with a plan, but now Brigid’s complicated things. I told her I had to confirm your intentions seeing as you’re the incumbent now.”

“But what about Father Frank?” I asked, faint stirrings of hope rising in my heart.

“I don’t know,” said Patrick. “I needs to have a word with him and now we got this complication. I don’t think he’ll want Brigid back, but I didn’t