Before she went to her classroom, Rory stuck her head in the door of Penny’s.

‘Thank goodness you’re here,’ Penny breathed out. ‘I’m panicking about being observed tomorrow.’

Rory walked in and gave her a quick hug. ‘Don’t be. You are very unlikely to get a visit. Think of us poor English teachers; they’re always all over us.’

Penny smiled. ‘Looks like it’s too late to give Nathan Finch a taste of his own medicine.’

‘What do you mean?’ Rory sat down behind one of the pupil desks and placed her splayed palms in front of her. ‘Getting him to teach a lesson in front of the inspectors would be perfect.’

Penny’s hand went to her neck. ‘Surely not, Rory. We can’t do that to him.’

Rory winked and then ran her eye over Penny. ‘How’s your stomach been today?’

Before Penny could answer, they were interrupted by a knock on the – open – door to Penny’s classroom. ‘Ah, there you are, Ms Wilson. Can I have a word?’

---

At Nathan’s request, Rory followed him to his office, leaving her open-mouthed colleague behind her. How much had he heard? He motioned for her to precede him into his office and then closed the door firmly behind them. There was no offer of coffee.

Now seated behind his desk, he looked distinctly uncomfortable. ‘I’m sure I don’t need to tell you how important this inspection is to the school.’

He meant to him, but it was important for all of them. ‘Of course.’

He tapped his fingers on the surface of the desk. ‘And if anything should go… badly. It would not be good for any of us.’

This was ridiculous. If he had overheard her, Rory wanted to know. ‘What are you trying to say?’

Nathan almost crumpled before her eyes. ‘I heard what you were saying to Penny just now, Rory. And I know what’s happened. I know you’ve rumbled me. And I wanted to say, it’s fine. You win.’

This was a side to Nathan that she’d never seen before. A vulnerable one. ‘Sorry. What do you…’

He held up a hand to stop her. ‘I confess. I'm not a natural teacher. I'm better at the bigger picture. As soon as I could get out of the classroom into a management role, I did.’

But this didn’t explain how he had got those management roles if he couldn’t perform in the classroom. ‘You still taught lessons before that. You must be able to teach?’

‘The school I was in had a very prescriptive curriculum. We were given lesson plans to follow. Textbooks to work through.’ He sighed. ‘Rory, what you have, this teaching ability – not everyone has it. That’s why we need strict rules that everyone can follow. Consistency makes for better teachers.’

He still didn’t get it. ‘That’s just not true, Nathan. I agree that some teachers have an extra something. But anyone can improve. And making people teach like robots is not the way to do it.’

Nathan loosened his tie. He looked like it was choking him. ‘My remit here is to improve teaching and learning. I can put new procedures and processes into place – I’m good at that. But the touchy, feely stuff… The coaching and cajoling of staff into doing things the right way…’ He looked intently at Rory. ‘That’s where I was hoping you would come in. That’s why I was in your classroom so frequently. I was checking you out.’

Rory choked back a laugh at his expression. Nathan flushed. ‘Sorry, bad choice of words.’

‘No, I’m sorry. It’s just that 10-G thought you were checking me out for a different reason.’ The atmosphere in here needed lightening. It felt like Nathan might cry. It was unsettling.

But Nathan didn’t laugh. ‘No, it wasn’t you I…’ He suddenly remembered himself. ‘I mean, my interest in you was purely professional. I needed to work out if you could bring the skills that I was lacking. I was supposed to put together an action plan for improving teaching. But now the inspectors are coming in the morning and I haven’t had time to…’ His elbows thumped onto the desk and he planted his face into his palms. Was he trembling? ‘I’m going to lose my job. No one will take me on this late in the year. Who’ll take on a failed deputy head who only lasted two months?’

Rory shuffled in her seat. ‘They’re not going to fire you.’

A haunted face came out of Nathan’s hands. ‘How do you know? The governors were very specific. I gave them a whole raft of ideas about improving teaching practice and now…’ He offered her his open hands. ‘And now the inspectors are coming and I’m not ready. Nothing is ready.’

Rory may not have known how to install a kitchen or plumb in a bathroom, but when it came to teaching, she was confident. It was time for her to be the helper. On her terms. ‘Well, it can be. I will help you. I can write a coaching programme for tomorrow. But only if I have your word that you will be more flexible on some of these new ideas. If you want teachers to be professional, you need to treat them like professionals. Let them decide what works with each of their classes.’ 

Nathan groaned and sat back in his chair. ‘I don't know, Rory. How will I measure their progress?’

He still didn’t get it. ‘Not everything can be measured in numbers on spreadsheets. Sometimes you've got to use your own eyes and ears.’ 

Nathan ran his fingers through his hair, so that it was standing up in tufts. He looked like a young boy. ‘But the inspectors are coming in the morning.’

Rory nodded and stood. ‘If I have your word on this, I can spend tonight writing up a coaching programme which will knock their inspectorial socks off.’

Nathan stared at her for at least fifteen seconds. Then he nodded.

---

As the next day dawned, the school was unnaturally quiet. The caretakers had cleaned the place with a toothbrush; there wasn’t a crisp packet or a piece of chewing gum to be found. Teachers stood in their doorways, ready to hook in any badly-behaved corridor clowns. The worst-offending pupils were being traded like the last day of the transfer window.

Rory had worked at school until 10 p.m. and then at home until the early hours, producing a coaching plan which would impress the most data-driven, hard-nosed school inspector. She had also knocked up a day of lesson plans which would secure her reputation as the model teacher to provide that coaching.

Annoyingly, no one came to observe any of these amazing lessons. However, an inspector did spend twenty minutes in Penny’s lesson, which he later proclaimed to be ‘innovative and exemplary’. Rory would enjoy reminding Nathan Finch of that for the rest of the year.

---

Susie and Penny came back to Rory’s for a glass of wine. ‘Do you think we did it?’ Penny was still glowing from her positive feedback.

Susie chinked her glass against Penny’s. ‘Stop worrying. It was a good inspection. We’ll get a decent rating and the parents and governors will be happy. Plus, the inspectors won’t be back again for another couple of years at least.’

‘I’m so grateful to you for your support these last few weeks. Both of you.’ Penny’s eyes filled. ‘You are good friends.’

‘Get away with you.’ Rory nudged her. ‘You’re the one who is innovative and exemplary.’

Belle wandered into the sitting room. ‘You lot seem happy.’

‘We managed to turn the bad guy into a possible good guy for once.’ Rory patted the seat beside her. ‘Come and celebrate with us.’

Susie sat up straight. ‘You’re absolutely right. We need to celebrate. Properly, I mean. Not just with this Aldi bubbly. Why don’t you have a party?’

Rory realised that Susie was looking at her. ‘A party? Here? No.’ Rory shook her head. ‘Not my thing.’

But it was Belle’s thing. ‘That’s a great idea! Oh Mum, please let us have a party. We need to have a housewarming anyway, to show everyone our new home now it’s finished.’

Finished? Rory thought of the unopened envelope on the worktop. Her stomach flipped. It would be nice to show the place off, but she wasn’t in the mood for a houseful.

‘No, Belle, I don’t think…’

But Belle and Susie were already making a list.

‘I can bring Jim. Might get him off my sofa and out. Don’t worry, I won’t bring his awful mate.’ Susie winked at Rory. ‘Unless you need a date?’

Dragon Man? Did she really have to have him in her house? What other undesirables would she have to have trudging across her nice new floors? ‘No thanks. I think I’ll pass.’

‘Can I bring someone?’ Penny was hesitant.

Susie looked at her as if she was crazy. ‘Of course! We want to meet this man of yours at long last.’

Penny smiled. ‘And can I bring Colin? The librarian? He never gets invited to work parties.’

Susie winked at her. ‘Is it because he’s too much of a party animal? Rory has just painted these walls.’

Penny slapped her with the back of her hand. ‘He’s a very nice man. Clever and funny.’

‘You lost Susie at clever.’ Rory pretended to speak behind her hand. ‘That’s never been at the top of her list. What are his arms like?’

‘I think she was talking to you, Rory; I have a boyfriend, remember?’ Susie flicked the bottom of her hair with her hand and poked her tongue out at Rory.

‘We’ll invite John Prince, of course.’ Belle was still making a list. ‘We can’t not invite him when he’s the one who’s done most of the work.’

Her over-exaggerated look of innocence made it clear that she hadn’t given up on setting up Rory with John. On the one hand, Rory was pleased that Belle’s unpleasant experience with The Nobhead – as Alfie was now unaffectionately known – hadn’t robbed of her romantic notions entirely. On the other, she wished she’d direct them elsewhere. It was almost painful. She swallowed. ‘He might not want to come, Belle.’

Susie frowned. ‘Of course he will. Why wouldn’t he? Has something happened between the two of you?’

‘No. It’s just that the work has finished now and he’s probably busy starting a new job. I mean, it’s not like we were friends or anything.’

The three of them studied her. Susie spoke first. ‘Of course. Everyone’s builder saves them from choking on an apple.’

‘Or rescues them from their upstairs window.’ Penny nodded slowly.

‘Or helps to find their missing children.’ Belle tapped the tip of her nose with the pen.

They managed to hold their faces straight for another ten seconds, then burst out laughing.

‘Ha, ha. You are all so very funny.’ Rory shook her head at them. Let them enjoy their joke. It was fine for them to assume that John liked her but, if he did, why had he never said anything? Why had he just left yesterday without even a backwards look?

Belle was still scribbling away on her notepad. ‘What about Granny? She has to come. Maybe she might want to bring a friend.’

On that one, Rory was sure. Right now, after losing Olive, and with George not speaking to her, Sheila would be the one person less keen on coming to a party than Rory was.