Page 31 of Coming Home to Hope Street

‘Someone has to tell you some home truths.’ Bev went to speak again but Hannah shook her head.

‘It doesn’t have to be you,’ Callum spoke out. ‘Now, if you don’t mind, we have drinks to enjoy.’

Bev huffed. Finally, she left, muttering under her breath as she made her way back to her table.

‘Ignore her.’ Hannah turned to Livvy. ‘She’s terrible when she’s had a drink.’

‘She’s still as bad when she’s sober.’ Callum laughed. ‘She can’t help being a gossip.’

At that moment, Livvy could have taken his face in her hands, leaned forwards, and kissed him. He was trying to make her smile.

But all it did was make her more emotional and she was in danger of it spilling out.

‘Do you mind if I go home, Han?’ she said quickly, her eyes brimming with tears. ‘I’ve had enough for tonight.’

‘Of course. But please don’t let her get to you. Really, Bev has a heart of gold. She’s only protecting me. She doesn’t mean anything by it.’

Livvy nodded. ‘Night then.’ She gave Callum a half-smile and made her way quickly out of the pub.

Outside in Hope Street, she let her tears fall. The incident with Bev had been so embarrassing, and just as she was chatting to Callum too. He’d probably stay clear of her now. Up until that point, he’d most likely have thought she’d been living away rather than leaving because of the circumstances.

She got to her front door but, not wanting to go in, continued to walk to the bottom of the street. As it was a cul-de-sac, she’d spent a lot of time playing there when she was a child. Back then, it had been a mismatch of crazy paving but now it had been smartened up. There were three iron benches to sit on, square concrete flower beds, and more lighting fitted on the wall that held up the embankment.

She sat down on the middle bench, remembering some of the kids she’d hung around with, and their games. They’d line up their bikes here, and one of them would pick out numbers and they’d all swap. Then they’d race along the pavement until they were shouted back.

She and Hannah would often have their own shop. The two of them would gather together toys they’d grown out of and Dad would put up a decorating table outside the front door. They’d take it in turns to sell their goods to the other children.

Carol singing had been a doddle too. Along with Phoebe, they’d knocked on every door, one after the other, either side of the street, and had received money from everyone. Back then it would have been about ten pence per house, but they’d all felt rich afterwards, and had gone on to buy Christmas presents for their parents. Fragranced soap and boxes of fruit jellies at twenty-five pence each from a shop on the high street that wasn’t there anymore.

Happy days, she sighed. The simple things in life. Now it was all about peer pressure to have the latest in iPads and laptops, mobile phones; trips to restaurants for parties and watching films at the cinema. Everything was so expensive, but equally children today had their lives vastly improved due to ongoing technology. In a way, it made her envious. Still, there was none of that teenage angst. She wouldn’t like to go through that again.

When the sleepover across at Tilly’s had been mentioned, Pip had been excited about it. Now, though, Livvy wondered whether to ring her; see if she preferred to sleep in her own bed. Everything was still so strange that perhaps she’d want to be with her mum.

Secretly, she longed to see Pip, give her a cuddle and take her home. She didn’t relish the thought of being in the house alone, with the ghost of her mum saying, “I told you so.”

But that was selfish. She checked her watch to see it was twenty to eleven. Pip and Tilly would probably be in bed, if not asleep. She was pleased that Pip had made a friend in Tilly. In some ways she had settled in much better than her, even though she’d been the one to protest the loudest.

No, it was way too late.

The night air dried Livvy’s tears as she sat, listening to familiar noises that had been so soothing to her as a child. The traffic on the high street, although at a minimum at this late hour. Now and then, a loud voice or two as someone left the Hope and Anchor.

She imagined she could hear the trains rumbling past on the now disused track above, although they’d stopped when she was about ten.

There were far worse places she and her daughter could be.

She hoped they would settle here for a while. If they could stay in Somerley until Pip had taken her exams next summer, then Livvy could decide what to do. For now, she was her main priority.

It would be tough for a while, but they’d pull through on their own. They’d survived it several times before. Andthistime, it would be much better without Kieran to send them off track. She was determined that Pip would never find out the whole truth about her dad.

Plus, she had to show the Bev’s of this world what she was made of.

Chapter Twenty

After an eventful Friday evening, Livvy’s weekend had been quiet. On Saturday, she’d taken Pip shopping for a new pair of school shoes and a satchel, even though she could barely afford to pay for them. On Sunday, she’d walked with Pip to the cemetery and showed her where her grandparents had been laid to rest. There had been a few questions about the accident, and she’d apologised for lying about her family, but Pip had asked nothing about why she’d left so suddenly. She wondered why, after her quip earlier in the week. Perhaps Pip was giving her space to tell her in her own time. Or maybe she was growing up and realising that things in the past were sometimes hard to explain.

Monday morning found her taking a deep breath as she went inside The Coffee Stop. A burst of noise from the coffee machine hit her first, alongside the cries of a baby over the chitter chatter of customers. The mother was trying to pacify the little girl by bouncing her up and down on her knee. Livvy gave her a smile of understanding. Pip had been an extremely noisy child at that age too. The times she’d had to leave somewhere when her daughter’s face had turned puce with rage, tiny tears forced from her eyes.

Pip had been a poor sleeper as well. It probably had something to do with her father coming in at all times of the night when he was on a roll, interrupting her routine.

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