CHAPTER TWO

Emma and Sutton sat on top of adjacent desks. Mr Beattie was perched on the edge of the teacher's desk directly in front of them. "It appears that the school has a problem,"he noted. "A large number of the tests and assignments that we believed were the work of Miss Mercer here were actually the work of Miss Becker."

"Miss Mercer,"Emma corrected.

Mr Beattie looked at her in confusion. "You're Sutton Mercer?"

"No, I'm Emma Mercer. I've decided to use my birth father's name."

Sutton looked surprised. "Since when?"

Emma shrugged. "Since now, I guess. Becker was just the name Social Services had on a file. It was never really me."

Mr Beattie irritably crossed information out on the sheets in front of him and made a correction. "The fact remains that this school looks dimly on one student's work being passed off as that of another, however unusual the circumstances. There has been talk of having all your work for the period declared void and forcing you to repeat it. Fortunately for you, we've decided to take a less extreme course of action." He produced two large piles of sheets, both of them stapled together, and handed them to the two girls. "These tests will help us determine exactly what level each of you is at and your scores will be calculated accordingly. Begin when ready."

"It was so embarrassing,"Emma complained later. "I know they've got to do it but…"

"Hey, look on the bright side,"Ethan suggested, his mouth close to her ear. "You get to stay in school and you've probably got a better chance of graduating at the right time than I have."

"So are we nearly there yet?"Emma asked, dragging the conversation back to the fact that Ethan had his hands over her eyes and was leading her goodness only knows where.

"You can look…now." Ethan removed his hands.

Emma saw two horses tethered to a post. She looked at Ethan. "We're going to ride them?"she asked, making sure she hadn't misinterpreted the situation.

Ethan nodded. "Just the two of us."

"You do know I grew up in Vegas, right? I've barely even seen a horse before, much less ridden one."

"I can teach you. We rode them a lot back at my father's place." Ethan sensed her unease. "Hey, look, it was just an idea. If you're not comfortable…"

Emma realised that he was trying to do something special for them and felt guilty for her objection. She smiled at him, putting her arms round the neck. "I think it is the perfect romantic surprise from my perfect romantic boyfriend." She kissed him lightly. "So, ah, what do we do then?"

Ethan led her over to the horses and handed her a helmet. "Well, first you'd better wear this." Emma nodded in agreement as she took it from him. "And then you…get on."

Emma tried her best to keep the nervous smile in place as Ethan helped her to mount the horse. "Right, erm, that feels okay,"she managed to say.

Ethan untied the two horses and clambered onto his own mount. "Don't worry. We'll take it slowly."

Sutton cautiously twirled a long wooden spoon in circles in a bowl of cake mix. She eyed the contents suspiciously, as if afraid they were going to jump out and bite her.

"You need to do it faster than that, Sutton,"Kristin told her gently.

Sutton reluctantly increased her pace, trying to ignore the few splatters that landed on her. She'd baulked slightly when Kristin had offered her an apron but at least it stopped her clothes being ruined.

"Not that I mind,"Kristin continued,"but why did you want to help me with the baking? You never have before."

Sutton sighed, trying to think of a way she could say what was on her mind without hurting her mother's feelings. "I just thought…Emma and Laurel both did this with you and it's the sort of thing mothers and daughters do together. And maybe if I'd done this with you before, I'd have accepted you more as my mother. So I thought…better late than never."

Kristin smiled at her. "Well, I appreciate the thought."

"So, are you going to get back with Dad?" Sutton saw Kristin's smile disappear at the same moment that she looked downwards, breaking eye contact. She continued anyway. "It's just…it's kind of ironic if I work out who my family are at the same moment they split up."

Kristin looked back at her. "It was Emma I spoke to about this before, wasn't it?" Sutton gave a shrug that indicated it probably was. "Ted was the safe option. I married him because I thought he was a good man who would never hurt me. And he did. And I'm not sure that I can ever go back to feeling the same way I did about him."

"I know he let you down but…look at me, I've let pretty much everyone down and they're still talking to me."

Kristin thought for a moment, trying to put her feelings into words. "Deep down, I do believe that Ted's a good man. But he's not the man that I thought he was. And I don't think I can stay married to the person he turned out to be."

Ted fiddled with his car keys, desperately searching for a reason to stay in the flat. "You know, maybe I should give Sutton and Emma a call, see if they want to come over."

Laurel rolled her eyes. "Dad, I don't need a babysitter!"

"I just feel kind of guilty leaving you here on your own after you moved in to keep me company. Maybe I should call into work and tell them I can't make it."

Laurel sighed. "Dad. Seriously. I've got the TV, the computer and my phone." She gestured to the items in question in turn. "That's everything a teenage girl needs to keep entertained."

Ted eventually conceeded the point. "Okay. I'll see you this evening." He kissed her on the top of the head. "Love you."

"Love you back!"Laurel called after him.

Ted exited the flat, heading down the stairs to street level. He paused just outside the building, fiddling with his keys again, looking for some excuse to stay. When nothing came to mind, he sighed and headed to his car.

He didn't notice the car parked opposite nor did he notice that the driver was watching him with a keen interest. Thayer kept a close eye on Ted until the car was off the drive and out of sight. Then he got out of his own car and headed to the flat.

Laurel sighed as she heard the knock at the door. Expecting Ted to have come up with some pretext to come back, she opened it to find it wasn't Ted at all. "Thayer!" She looked at him in confusion. "Were you looking for someone else?"

Thayer managed a smile. "No, actually, I was looking for you. Can I come in?"

"Oh. Yeah. Sure." She stood aside to let him into the flat, unsure how to treat her unusual guest. "Did you want a beer or something? Dad's got some in the fridge but he might think I drank it…"

"Juice is fine."

"Right, sure." Laurel hurried into the kitchen and filled up a glass, offering it to him.

Thayer took it, making sure he touched her hand a little bit more than necessary as he did so. He saw the momentary look of shock cross Laurel's face at the spark of contact before he withdrew.

"So, er, what was it you wanted?"Laurel asked.

"I just wanted to thank you for being so nice to me lately. I mean, now that Emma and I have broken up, you could have not wanted to have anything to do with me but you've always gone out of your way to make sure I'm all right."

Laurel shrugged. "Look, I know you cared about her and I pretty much encouraged her to go for it, I thought you two would have been great together. But you can't help who you fall for, can you?"

"No, you can't." Thayer looked her in the eye, gazing at her intensely. He saw her meet the gaze and hold it for a few moments before she looked away. He opened his arms in an invitation. "Friends?"

She smiled and hugged him. He held her there, letting her get used to the feeling, then he tilted her face and kissed her softly on the lips. She accepted the kiss, caught in the moment, until her brain clicked in and she pulled away from him. "Woah."

Thayer immediately came over apologetic. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do that."

"Well, yeah, I didn't really figure you'd been dreaming of kissing me."

Thayer paused, adopting an awkward look. "I didn't say that."

Laurel looked at him uncertainly. "What do you mean?"

Thayer continued to stammer, perfecting the look of a nervous suitor. "I mean that you're…you're gorgeous and you've got a great heart, Laurel, and…and any guy with any sense would want to kiss you." He paused before adding,"Or be your boyfriend."He saw that that got a reaction out of her and smiled inwardly. "But you know, I get that you don't see me like that so I'm sorry."

Laurel took hold of his hands, feeling them awkwardly in her own as she closed the gap between them. Thayer put his arms round her waist, holding her there. Her own arms travelled up around his neck, pulling him down for a kiss. He kissed her softly at first, letting her get used to the feeling, gradually making it more intense and passionate. His hands travelled to the small of her back, reaching up underneath her top to feel the curves of her skin as she responded to the touch. Her own hands gripped his back through his clothes, hang onto him with an intensity born of longing.

He let her take the lead, manoeuvring their embraced bodies through the clutter of the flat to her room. She pushed the door open with her foot and they stepped inside. He felt the desire in both their bodies and knew she would make no objection as he lowered her onto the bed.