Roses in June Read Free Page A

into the car. “Take me to the end of the road then take the day off. I’ll meet you somewhere when I’m finished, and you can drive me back home.”
    “Very good, sir.”
    Gabe pushed back in his seat and fastened his belt. It really would be nice to get a different response to what he said sometimes.
    Peters started the car. “I’ve been meaning to visit my mother in Bramley. This would be the perfect opportunity to do so.”
    “Sounds good.” Gabe looked at him. “Tell you what. Drive to the station and hop out. I’ll pick you up there about nine-thirty tonight. That will give you plenty of time for a decent visit.”
    Peters smiled. “Thank you, sir.”
    “And not a word to my mother.”
    Fifteen minutes later, Gabe drove into the school car park. He locked the car and headed into reception.
    “Gabriel Tyler to see Miss Stannis. I’m here for the careers fayre.”
    “Take a seat, Mr. Tyler, and I’ll give her a call.”
    “Thank you.”
    Gabe turned his attention to the wall displays of the children’s work. Some of it was pretty good. Over on the far wall were cast pictures of past school plays. He didn’t need to go over to them to know which were his.
    “Lord Tyler?”
    He turned. Wow . The woman standing before him was nothing like he’d imagined or expected. Tight black plaits covered her head, perfect white teeth shone against her dark skin. Deep brown eyes sparkled as her hand extended towards him. He swallowed forcing his voice to work. “Miss Stannis, I presume?”
    She nodded. “Thank you for coming. And please, call me Dawn.”
    Gabe shook her hand. Her skin was cool against his, and his touch lingered a tad more than necessary. Her perfume was light and floral filling his senses as his gaze ran over her. Her plaid skirt and plain white shirt showed off her well-proportioned figure. A cross pendant hung around her neck, and her left hand was free of rings. “The pleasure is all mine. It’s nice to meet you. And it’s Gabe.”
    And he wanted her to think of him as Gabe, not Gabriel, or Lord Tyler, or anything else. For once, he wanted to be a normal person.
    “Thank you so much for doing this. The kids don’t think you’re coming. They reckon it’s a ruse on my part to force them to attend this afternoon.”
    “Well, here I am.”
    She smiled. “And your timing is impeccable. Assembly is just about to start. It’s a full school one, so there are a lot of kids in there, but this seemed fairer than you just seeing the year nines.”
    “Then let’s do it.” His stomach knotted worse than it did before an audition. These were just kids, right? And all he had to do was talk about something he loved doing. How hard could it be?
    He followed her down the hallway. “What did you want me to say?”
    “That’s up to you. We could do a question and answer session if it’s easier. The kids might like that.”
    “Sure.” He thought fast. “I’ll do a couple of minutes on a general theme and then take the questions.”
    “Sounds great.” They reached the hall, and Miss Stannis—Dawn led him through a side door to the back of what he knew was the stage. “Just wait here a minute.”
    “Sure.”
    She vanished behind the curtain, and the chattering turned to silence. “Good morning, school.”
    “Good morning, Miss Stannis. Good morning, staff. Good morning, everyone.”
    Gabe grinned. They still did that? Memories of standing there chorusing the same thing for years assailed him. Aside from the fact that the school had been repainted, it looked the same and conjured up the same feelings within him. It even smelled the same as it had when he’d attended.
    It was on this very stage that his love of acting had begun.
    “As you know, today is the year nine careers fayre.” Dawn continued speaking, and Gabe forced himself to concentrate not wanting to miss his cue. “And this morning, we have a special guest come to talk to all of you about his job. He’s going to speak for a