Learn to Love Again

Jenny wasn't at school on Monday - or Tuesday. She'd taken a couple of days' leave to be with Luke. By the time she returned on the following Wednesday, Jamie was beside himself. And not in a good way.

"Miss?" He ran up to her and hugged her tightly before school. She looked down at his little face, all screwed up. "Miss, can I talk to you after school? Please?"

Jenny knelt, "Of course JJ, whatever is the matter?" She was almost afraid to ask. "Has something happened?" She looked up, expecting to see Tom walk in behind him. Not this time. This time it was Granny. "Hi," she said brightly and Granny gave a small smile and a shrug. She had no idea this was coming either.

Jamie looked up and nodded, close to tears. "It's Dad. He's gone." For a split second Jenny nearly fainted, he sounded so bereft so could almost have believed he meant... at this point she looked at Diana who shook her head.

"Nothing like that!" She smiled softly and Jenny heaved a sigh of relief. "He's had to go and do some extended shoots. Won't be back full-time for a while."

Jenny nodded and looked down at Jamie. "We can talk after class JJ, maybe Granny would like to come too? I do a mean Earl Grey?"

"No, I think I'll wait in the car" she smiled warmly "sounds like this is serious grownup talk. Grannies just aren't up to the job." She winked and Jenny knew it was ok. The one thing she never wanted to do was make it look like she was trying to replace anyone in Jamie's life. She was just a caring pair of ears and the occasional hug.

As Jamie went and sat at his desk, pulling out his usual morning drawing, Diana came and stood next to her. "He's taken it badly this time for some reason. He seems worried. Won't tell me, maybe it has something to do with his mum." She shrugged "see what you can find out, please? He likes you, a lot. Truth be told, we all do. Thank you, Miss Grey."

"Jenny, please"

"Jenny" she held her arm gently "and you must call me Diana. I know we haven't spoken very much thanks to Tom's fatherly dedication, but I feel I know you already. Both of them talk about you. A lot." She smiled and walked to the door.

"See you later Granny!" A little voice called out.

"Later Jamie!" And with that, she was gone.

The day passed quite quickly, being off for a couple of days, the children had missed her and had so many things to tell her - mostly about the parent's evening and the auction.

One cheekily asked who her boyfriend was and she just laughed and said it was her brother and not to be so nosy! Jamie said nothing all day. He listened, he watched but he said nothing. Jenny became increasingly worried. This wasn't the JJ she knew at all.

Finally, it was 3 pm and the bell rang for home time. The rest of the class piled out the door in their usual mad rush but Jamie just sat at his desk, fiddling with his pencil case. Like much of the day, he looked close to tears.

Jenny closed the classroom door, walked over to the window and looked out into the carpark. She could see Diana sitting in her car and she waved to let her know she'd seen her.

Diana waved and settled back with her book. If anyone could get to the bottom of this, she knew Jenny could.

Jenny turned back and went to sit next to Jamie. She sat for a moment, waiting to see if he would speak. When he didn't, she put a gentle hand on his arm.

"JJ? What's wrong? Can you tell me? Is it something about Dad? You can tell me anything. I won't be shocked or angry or sad." She squeezed his arm.

Jamie looked at her and burst into tears. For a full minute, he just cried and she held him tightly. Maybe she shouldn't, maybe it wasn't really the done thing, but he was obviously hurting about something and he needed a cuddle.