Page 47 of Now and Again

It was a bad idea. Riley had to put a stop to this, and she had to do it now. There was only one way to solve this problem. Take herself out of the equation.

Twenty-One

Juliet watched the book fly across the playroom and hit the wall hard enough to take a chip out of the paintwork. ‘Mia, if you want me to read you another book, you can just ask.’

‘I HATE IT! The bunny’s stupid!’ Mia cried.

‘Why is the bunny stupid?’ Juliet asked.

‘Because carrots are horrid,’ Mia exploded.

‘Are they?’

‘Yes, he gets all fat from eating horrible food! And he can’t move!’ Mia argued. ‘Why didn’t he eat ice cream?’

This was true. Boris the Rabbit ate too many carrots and then found himself stuck in a hole. It was a thinly veiled Winnie the Pooh rip-off, truth be told. But it was supposed to teach moderation, Juliet thought. Never a bad lesson. Only it wasn’t cutting the mustard with Mia. Though Juliet was loving how much progress Mia was making in her verbal comprehension.

‘You know how you like ice cream? Well, when Boris eats a carrot, it tastes just as good as ice cream to him,’ Juliet said, trying to spin another lesson out of the book. Empathy.

Mia was deeply sceptical. ‘No, it doesn’t,’ she said mockingly.

‘It’s just the way it works. Something you like might taste terrible to someone else too. Other people can like things you don’t like.’

Mia frowned. ‘I don’t know,’ she said with a small shake of her head. Juliet decided to let her sit with that one. ‘Well, it’s true. Anyway, shall we readGold for Penguin Pearl?’ It was a book about a penguin whose dream was to compete in the Olympics, in the freestyle swimming category. It always annoyed Juliet how much of a spoiler the title was, but Mia liked it well enough. ‘OK,’ she agreed, calming down. She went to collect the book from a bookcase that sat underneath the window. After she’d been there a while, Juliet realised she wasn’t trying to find the book. She was staring out of the window. ‘Riley’s in a pink car,’ she announced.

Juliet got up and went to the window, and there was Riley, loading a bag into a pink SUV. Behind the wheel of the salmon monster was India, watching impatiently.

Juliet wasn’t sure what to make of it. ‘Hey, shall we go and see what Riley’s doing?’ she suggested to Mia. Mia was glad of the scene change and galloped off ahead of her.

Downstairs, Mia hit the front door first and swung it open. ‘Riley!’ she screamed. Juliet was just in time to see Riley jump in surprise, almost dropping a box she was attempting to slot into the boot of the car. She placed the box down and turned to Mia. ‘Hi, cutie.’

‘Where you going?’ Mia demanded. Juliet was glad she didn’t have to ask. She noticed India eyeing her smugly.

‘Well, err…’ Riley touched the back of her neck. Juliet thought it was weird she still hadn’t looked at her yet. She was locked onto the little girl. ‘I… I’m going to stay with my friend for a bit.’

Mia was open-mouthed. ‘Why?’

‘Yeah, why?’ Juliet added, unable to help herself.

Riley finally looked up and made eye contact with Juliet. ‘I just think it’s time to… move on. I’m sorry. That I won’t be able to come to the park today,’ she added quickly.

‘Yeah,’ India said from the car. ‘She’s coming to live with me.’ Riley shot her a look that was intended to shut her up. But, of course, India missed it. ‘So you can stretch out a bit. Enjoy the luxury. For a change.’

Juliet ignored her, focusing on Riley. ‘I thought you said you’d be hanging around for Amanda?’

‘Yes, I did, but… Look, she texted me earlier; she’s back tonight. Her dad’s OK. And I need to… I mean, I’ve got to go forward. I can’t be hanging around my dad’s house.’ Juliet thought she could hear another unspoken sentence attached to Riley’s words. That she couldn’t keep hanging around withher. She wasn’t just moving on from her dad’s house, she was moving away from other bits of the past, too.

‘Hey, maybe you should come over soon, hang out? Talk about old times?’ India said, grinning. Juliet was about ready to leap through the window of the car and tear her throat out. But instead, she said flatly, ‘Yeah. I’m sure we’ll get something in the diaryreallysoon.’

Riley had the last of her stuff in the car now, and she turned to Juliet. ‘Can you do me a favour?’

Juliet was on tenterhooks.

‘Can you apologise to Amanda for me? Tell her she was… She made it nice here. Nice as itcouldbe.’

‘And what about me? What did I make it?’ Juliet heard herself ask.

Riley looked away. ‘You made it nice too,’ she said. It sounded like a lie. Juliet was sure then that she was one of the reasons Riley was flitting. Maybe eventhereason. ‘Well, enjoy living with India,’ she said to Riley. It was meant as a barb. Who could enjoy the prolonged company ofthatcreature? But actually, the insult only reflected back onto Juliet, didn’t it? Riley was choosing India, that absolute horror of a person, over having to spend another moment with her.

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