Page 40 of Second Verse

‘She’s one ofthose,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 shewantedto 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 thedoor she’d just taken forever to lock, making peace with being crazy late.

Poppy walked into the hall, Mrs Cauldwell right behind her in the small space. ‘Do you want a cup of tea?’ Poppy asked automatically, her mother’s training kicking in.

‘No,’ Mrs Cauldwell said, standing in the hall. ‘We don’t need to go any further. This will be quick. I want you to stop.’

‘Stop what?’

‘This thing. With Norah. It’s done.’

Poppy blinked. ‘What do you m—’

‘I know what you’re up to. It’s over, OK?’

Poppy had a lot of responses jump into her head, but in the end, she settled on a simple, ‘Why?’

Mrs Caldwell’s face shifted from cold to angry. ‘Don’t treat me like a fool. I’m much older than you, and I can see what you’re up to.’

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