Page 26 of Coming Home to Hope Street

‘I would have liked Nan, wouldn’t I?’ Pip said. ‘If she’s anything like you.’

‘She was – and your mum.’

Pip rolled her eyes and then giggled. ‘Stroppy, you mean?’

‘Hey, I heard that,’ Livvy said from the kitchen. ‘If you don’t watch what you’re saying, there’ll be no biscuits for you. And they’re chocolate.’

‘My lips are sealed!’ Pip shouted back.

Hannah smiled and squeezed Pip’s hand. ‘It’s lovely to get to know you. We’ve missed out on so much, but we can still catch-up.’ She lowered her voice. ‘Any time you need to chat about something you can’t tell your mum, come and see me.’ She tapped her nose twice with her index finger. ‘I won’t tell her.’

Pip grinned. She had a feeling she was going to get on well with her auntie Hannah. And it felt so good.

Chapter Seventeen

Hannah picked up her phone to text Phoebe to say she was on her way. It was Phoebe’s weekend to have the kids and they were having a Friday Night In. Hannah always loved their nights together.

Earlier in the week, Phoebe had suggested bringing along Livvy and Pip. She said it would be good for Pip to know someone at Somerley High School before she started there, even though she and Tilly wouldn’t be in the same year. She also had a couple of uniform jumpers and ties to offer.

Although Hannah thought the gesture was applaudable, she was under no illusions that Phoebe would want to get information from Livvy and had told her that she wasn’t allowed to do that; not even to come to Hannah’s defence. Hannah wanted Livvy to feel that she was safe and could settle down in Hope Street if she so wished.

Having Phoebe going on at Livvy wouldn’t be good for anyone. Besides, part of her was hoping that Tilly and Pip would get along as they lived close to each other.

She stepped out of the house to see the door to number thirty-four opening. Pip waved and came bounding across the road. Her hair was parted to one side, and the rest tucked up in a high ponytail. It swung from side to side as she walked. She was wearing dark jeans and a pink jumper, black Converse boots on her feet. She held up a carrier bag.

‘Hi, Hannah. Mum said we should take something with us, so we have wine for the ladies and goodies for us kids.’

Hannah looked inside the bag, her eyes widening when she saw a bag of her favourite sweets.

‘Strawberry bonbons! I think I’m going to be a child tonight instead of a grown-up.’

‘Still your favourites, then?’ Livvy asked as she joined them.

Hannah smiled. ‘They sure are.’ It was nice of her to remember. She and Livvy had devoured bags of them together when they were younger.

‘Mum always used to tell us to watch our teeth, didn’t she? But all we cared about at that age was sugar. Some things never change.’ She tittered, a hint of embarrassment.

Pip linked arms with Hannah as they walked. There wasn’t time to chat as Phoebe only lived three doors down at number forty-one.

‘You okay?’ Hannah mouthed at Livvy as they got there.

Livvy nodded and then grimaced. ‘Nervous.’

‘You’ll be fine.’ Hannah knocked on the door and went in. ‘Anyone in the mad house?’ she shouted.

‘Hannah!’ Elliot came thundering down the stairs and straight into her arms. ‘I haven’t seen you in ages!’

‘I know. It was such a long time since last Friday,’ she teased. ‘How’s school been?’

‘As boring as ever. I’m watchingSupermanagain. Would you like to watch it too?’

‘Not tonight. I have guests with me.’ Hannah moved aside so he could see. ‘This is my sister, Livvy, and this is my niece, Pip.’

It warmed her insides whenever she introduced either Livvy or Pip. Hannah had long ago given up on seeing her sister again and yet now it rolled off her tongue as if she’d been present in her life all the time. She was still getting used to it, but nevertheless, loved it too.

‘Pip?’ Elliott frowned. ‘Is that your real name?’

Pip shook her head. ‘My name is Abigail, but I was little when I was growing up. Mum and Dad called me Pipsqueak, which means small, and the name Pip stuck.’

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