Page 16 of Coming Home to Hope Street

‘I mean, who in their right mind wouldn’t want to get reacquainted with old friends on their return?’ Phoebe added.

‘You weren’t exactly the best of pals when she left, if I remember rightly. You used to call her my irritating little sister.’

‘I did, didn’t I?’ Phoebe laughed.

It lightened the mood between them.

‘Seriously, Han. Do you think she’ll stick around?’

‘I have no idea.’ Hannah’s shoulders drooped. ‘We’ll have to wait and see. I think she’ll be here for a while though. She has nowhere else to go.’

The front door opened, and the first customer of the day came in on a gust of wind. It was Ellen, the proprietor of Somerley Stores.

‘Crikey, ladies. I’ve only come from a few doors down and I was nearly blown into next year. Let me take my coat off and I can catch-up with the gossip.’

Hannah and Phoebe shared a look. Phoebe rolled her eyes, which Hannah thought was hypocritical but so funny.

‘What?’ Ellen said. ‘It’s written all over your faces that you know something I don’t. So who’s going to enlighten me?’

‘Sometimes’ – Hannah stood up – ‘it’s not all about everyone else.’

‘What’s up with her?’ Ellen cried, shaking her head in annoyance.

‘She’ll be fine once she gets another mug of coffee inside her,’ Phoebe replied. ‘So what’s it to be, your usual?’

Hannah didn’t want to get interrogated by Ellen as well, so she hid in the back room for the next twenty minutes until her first appointment was due. Phoebe could be quite overwhelming at times on her own. She knew she didn’t mean to be, but often, without thinking, she went over the top. It was the one thing they constantly bickered about.

But as Phoebe said, that was the reason she worked in a hairdressers. A gossiper’s paradise in Hope Street, that’s what she called it. And as she was the manager, nothing much got past her.

A message came in from her phone. It was from Livvy; they’d swapped numbers the night before.

Thanks for everything yesterday. Perhaps we could meet for a coffee soon to discuss Mum’s letter?

Hannah sent a message back.

Sure. There’s a coffee shop in the square. The Coffee Stop. I can meet you there any time you like.

Great. Looking forward to it.

Hannah put her phone away and gave herself a stern talking to. She would have to get used to someone new in her life. Livvy was here for the foreseeable future. It wasn’t going to be easy having her around again, but she’d try her best to keep her emotions in check.

Because she had to get to the bottom of why Livvy had stayed away for so long, and why she had come back now.

Chapter Eleven

Even though she desperately wanted to see Livvy, Hannah had left her alone for a couple of days while she and Pip settled in. They’d messaged quite a lot – the new and easy way to tiptoe around each other. So she was pleased when Livvy rang her, asking when they could go for that coffee. They arranged to meet after her shift in the salon finished.

Just before midday, Hannah spotted Livvy hovering on the pavement across the road. She removed the plastic apron she’d used while she was applying colour to one of Phoebe’s clients and shoved it in the disposal bin.

‘That’s me done for today,’ she told Phoebe who had her tongue stuck out in concentration as she cut a customer’s long hair in a line at the bottom. ‘Alma needs twenty minutes before she’s ready to come out from under the dryer.’

‘Okay. See you tomorrow but I want to know all the gossip this time,’ she mumbled as she passed her. ‘I’ll call you later.’

If Phoebe had been the only one in the salon, Hannah would have given her the finger but instead she smiled sweetly before leaving.

‘Hi,’ she said as Livvy joined in step beside her on the pavement. ‘How are things?’

‘Okay, thanks.’ Livvy smiled shyly.

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