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.
They should never have crossed that line when they were young. That was where it went wrong. But this was just a good buddy situation. Norah had much less to fear under these circumstances.
So why was she still anxious about it?
‘Where’s my toy box?’ Freddie asked.
‘I’ll get it next,’ Norah assured her son.
‘I know exactly where it is. I’m on it,’ said Poppy. ‘You guys chill for a minute.’
‘Thank you,’ Norah said. She turned to Freddie. ‘Give me another hug, you!’ she said.
He jumped up into her arms, and she squeezed him. Her back would pay the price later, but she didn’t care. She desperately wanted him to feel minimal upheaval. That’s why it was probably good they were moving to his grandma's for a bit, at least for him.
He knew the house, and his grandma was a comforting presence. She bought him sweets and made a fuss of him. Nothing complicated there. For Norah, it was a little different, of course. But you couldn’t have everything.
‘Toy box coming in hot,’ said Poppy not a minute later, staggering into the house with Freddie’s very full and pretty heavy toy box. ‘Fuck me!’ she yelled as she dropped it.
‘That is a swear,’ Freddie pointed out.
