When Norah pulled up to her mother’s house in the white rental van, an unconsidered problem smacked her in the face. Poppy was with her. Norah didn’t know if her mother had noticed Poppy was back living on Orchid Street, but she definitely didn’t know Norah and Poppy were friends again. She didn’t know because Norah had made very sure never to tell her.

The whole situation had felt a bit fraught. Despite the length of Poppy’s absence, Norah didn’t know what her mother thought of Poppy now. She’d never liked her, and she was a legendary grudge holder.

But that wasn’t exactly what was worrying Norah at this moment.

‘Just wait in the van for a second. I’m going to get my mother ready for my arrival,’ Norah said carefully.

‘But she knows you're coming?’ Poppy asked, confused.

‘Yeah, but she doesn’t know...’ Norah trailed off.

Poppy’s lips parted in horror. ‘Oh. She doesn’t know I’m coming today?’

Norah licked her lips anxiously. ‘It just might seem a bit odd to her...’ she began. But she didn’t want to end the sentence. Because the end of the sentence was, ‘If you suddenly appear, it’s going to look to my mum like I left Max for an old flame, so maybe hang back?’

But Poppy wasn’t picking up on the subtext. ‘Does she still hate me after all this time?’ she asked.

Well, that was a simpler question to answer. ‘She never hated you.’

Poppy’s brow deepened. ‘Maybe she won’t realise it’s me.’

Norah considered that. ‘Maybe.’

‘So I just... won’t introduce myself. You just say I’m your friend, your very vague friend. I doubt she’ll ask,’ Poppy said.

Norah nodded. ‘OK, let’s try that.’ Honestly, she wasn’t sure it was gonna work, but what else could she do?

They climbed out of the van.

‘Hold on,’ Poppy said, running around to the back of the van and coming back with a large rolled-up rug held in front of her face.

Norah laughed. ‘Jesus. Are you scared of her?’

Poppy looked at her in astonishment. ‘Obviously. Where have you been?’

Norah chuckled her way to the door and rang the bell. Freddie opened the door. He’d been there all morning, under his grandma’s/new roommate’s watch.

‘Hey, look at you answering doors, big kid!’ Norah greeted him and swooped in for a hug.

As Norah was squeezing him, she saw her mother step out into the hall. She looked straight past Norah, at Poppy, hiding behind her rug.

‘Poppy Jennings, is that you?’ she said immediately.

OK, so that was that.

Norah turned to see Poppy give a little sigh from behind the rug. She lowered it, fear in her eyes. ‘Hi, Mrs Cauldwell.’

‘She moved back to the area recently,’ Norah jumped in.

‘I’m aware of that. You have that ridiculous car,’ Norah’s mother said.

‘I sold it,’ Poppy said apologetically.

It was weird for Norah to see her like this—so apologetic and cowed.

‘Her daughter is in the same class as Freddie,’ Norah said, trying to steer things in a different direction. ‘That’s how we met again.’

‘And where is your child right now?’ Norah’s mum asked archly.

‘I left her in a crack den,’ Poppy replied with a smile.

Norah snorted, but her mother didn’t crack a smile.

‘She’s at kids’ camp today,’ Poppy tried again. ‘For dancers. She loves to dance, and I love her being tired out by someone who isn’t me.’

‘Right,’ said Norah’s mother. Then she arched an eyebrow at Norah. ‘So, she’s back in with you, is she? Funny timing.’

‘Mother...’ Norah warned.

‘Well, I better put the kettle on,’ her mother said coldly and vanished into the kitchen.

Norah turned to Poppy. ‘I’m sorry.’

‘That went better than I thought it would,’ Poppy said, wiping an actual bead of sweat off her brow.

‘What did you think she’d do?’ Norah asked.

‘Slap me round the face?’ Poppy suggested.

‘God, she didn’t hate you like that,’ Norah assured her. ‘She’s just like that with people. Don’t take it personally.’

Poppy went quiet for a moment, and then something struck her. ‘Hey, what did she mean about timing?’

Norah knew full well, but she wouldn’t say it without a threat to her life. ‘Beats me,’ she shrugged.

Poppy didn’t look like she fully bought that, but she only said, ‘Where the hell am I putting this rug, anyway?’ She looked down at Freddie. ‘Sorry for the swear word, buddy.’

Freddie looked confused. ‘What swear word?’

Norah snorted. ‘That curse wouldn’t even crack the top ten in our house.’

That reminded her that there wasn’t such a thing as ‘Our house’ anymore. As much as Norah believed that was going to be a good thing in the long run, it would be an adjustment for all concerned. Including her mother. She just hoped she could curb her bloody rudeness toward Poppy.

Poppy was being a really good friend. She didn’t deserve this bullshit. She’d dropped a lamp for Norah. Not everyone would have seen it as a sweet gesture, but Norah wasn’t everyone. To Norah, it beat a bunch of flowers any day.

But thinking about how much Norah liked having Poppy around automatically led to a worry. Poppy wouldn’t just vanish on her again, would she?

That was then, and this is now, Norah told herself. And it wasn’t the same anyway. They were just friends, as they always should have been.