‘Yeah, sure you do,’ Norah said.

Was that a compliment? Poppy wasn’t sure. Even if it was, she had to pretend she hadn’t noticed it, or she was gonna get all embarrassed and silly. She needed to make some attempt at seeming vaguely cool.

Norah suddenly pieced something together. ‘Wait, are you back on Orchid Road?’

‘Yeah, my mum’s old place. You didn’t know? I’ve seen your mum around. I thought she might have mentioned it.’

‘She never said a word,’ Norah said.

‘She doesn’t say hello to me,’ Poppy noted.

‘Don’t take that too personally,’ Norah said. ‘Her eyesight is shocking these days. She probably didn’t realise it was you.’

‘She looked in rude health to me,’ Poppy observed.

‘So, umm... Can I ask...’ Norah began, her voice wavering with slight anxiety.

‘Yes?’

‘How come you’re back?’

Poppy was glad of a chance to dispel whatever myths were in Norah’s head about her living some wealthy life. ‘I was renting in London, and I stopped being able to afford it. And I never sold my mum’s house, so it made sense to move back into it.’

‘You had to come back?’ Norah asked.

‘Yeah. I’m broke.’ Poppy gestured around her at the cafe. ‘You thought this was an eccentric hobby?’

Norah looked embarrassed. ‘Sorry. None of my business.’

Poppy actually wouldn’t have hated talking more about it. She’d been alone with all this, and it might have felt good to be able to speak to someone. But apparently, it was a dash too real for Norah. There was a limit to how personal they were going to get.

‘Hey, what time does your shift end?’ Norah asked.

‘We close at four.’ Poppy checked her watch. It was half two. Though things were quiet enough now, around three would come a last push of people. She wasn’t sure what she was going to do without Freddie to occupy Luna.

‘Well, if you like, Luna can come home with us,’ Norah offered. ‘You could pick her up after. We’re not far from you.’

Poppy was very careful about who she left Luna with, but she had no reservations about Norah. ‘That would be brilliant.’

Norah smiled. ‘Great.’ She drained her coffee. ‘Oh, you need an address, don’t you?’

‘Text it to me. I’m in the group chat now, so you can find my number there.’ She tried not to put her displeasure at that fact into her tone, but Norah heard it anyway. She rolled her eyes. ‘Get ready to put that on mute every day of your life.’

Poppy smiled. ‘I’m on it, trust me. I don’t need to know about every child-friendly event in a ten-mile radius.’

‘Yeah, it’s banal. But now and then, there’s a pretty entertaining drama.’

‘Yeah?’

‘Yeah. Last time, it was because Susan’s kid’s very expensive water bottle went missing, and she went bonkers on the chat, demanding answers, pointing fingers, the whole thing.’

‘Did she find the culprit?’

‘Of course not. But that’s not the point for Susan. She’s just demonstrating her tiny amount of power.’ Norah immediately looked like she regretted her words.

‘She’s one of those, is she?’ Poppy said.

Norah relaxed. ‘Oh, I thought you were friends.’

Poppy shook her head. ‘I’ve been a bit busy to do the mum friends thing. And even if I wasn’t, I wouldn’t choose Susan.’

Nora nodded with a small smile. ‘Me too. To both of those points.’

Poppy considered hinting that she wouldn’t mind being Norah’s friend, but she swallowed the words. What was the rush? If it was going to happen, it would. They were in each other’s lives now. And if a real friendship wasn’t on the cards, then Poppy couldn’t do much about that.

‘Right, better get this pair back,’ Norah said. ‘See you later.’

‘Yeah, see you later. And thanks,’ Poppy replied.

Norah gave her a shy shrug. ‘No bother.’

As Norah corralled the kids and led them out of The Sugar Cube, Poppy wondered if she had a shot at having Norah back in her life.

Twenty Years Ago

Poppy was late. Her late-night adventures with Norah had caused her to sleep in. Her composition class had already started, and she was harried as she stood on the doorstep trying to lock the front door, which, of course, was sticky and uncooperative. As Poppy wiggled the key, she wondered if she could find the time to go and visit Norah today at school.

She didn’t know her schedule, but there was only a handful of places she’d be. If Poppy wanted to find her, she could. And she wanted to find her. She wanted to hold her hand and gaze into her eyes and all that gooey stuff she’d never been interested in before now.

Poppy had to suppose that was simply because she’d never liked anyone properly before Norah. She wasn’t sure she’d ever felt such pure happiness at the thought of another person.

Poppy finally got the bastard door locked, but at the moment of the click, someone behind her coughed in a way that seemed designed to catch attention rather than release a frog from a throat. Poppy turned to see Mrs Cauldwell at the bottom of her path, standing behind the gate.

‘Poppy. I need a word,’ she said flatly.

Poppy was immediately nervous. ‘Hi, Mrs Cauldwell. Err, I’m running late. Maybe we could talk later?’

‘I need to talk now,’ the woman said coldly.

Poppy had never seen Mrs Cauldwell be so direct with her. She barely made eye contact usually.

‘Is your mother in?’ Mrs Cauldwell asked.

‘No, she left for work already.’

‘Good. Let’s go inside to talk,’ Mrs Cauldwell said.

Poppy considered saying no. But there was something in the woman’s tone that said that wouldn’t fly. Poppy opened the door she’d just taken forever to lock, making peace with being crazy late.