Page 68 of Coming Home to Hope Street

‘Sometimes. She’s quite cool, really.’

‘Yeah, she is.’ Pip groaned. ‘I wish I thought that about mine.’

‘I like your mum, but you don’t give her much of a chance.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘I haven’t known you long but all I see is you giving her a hard time for being here.’

‘I didn’t want to come!’

‘And you would never have met me if you hadn’t.’ Tilly giggled. ‘I think that would have been a travesty. I love having you as my best friend.’

Pip smiled then. Coming to Somerley had been good in that respect. She’d left a lot of friends back in Manchester, and she’d been angry about that, but she’d made new ones here already because of Tilly taking her under her wing.

‘Talk to her,’ Tilly went on. ‘See why she doesn’t want to make another go of it with your dad. Then you’ll know for sure.’

‘He says it’s her. He says he wants to stay but she won’t let him.’

‘But that’s what your dad is telling you. You should listen to them both.’

Pip looked into the distance as someone scored a goal and a roar came out from the group of boys. Tilly was right. Maybe she had blamed her mum for too much, but she didn’t know how to make amends. She sighed. She’d have to think about what to do next.

‘I still don’t understand why Mum never mentioned anything about having family here in Somerley though. Every time I ask her about it, and then why she came back, she clams up.’

‘It’s probably something and nothing that they argued about. One of Mum’s friends fell out with her sister over a weak cup of tea and they never spoke to each other for years.’

‘That’s just stupid.’

‘I know, right! But it could have been like that for your mum. Families fight all the time. Sometimes it’s too embarrassing to say sorry. Then the argument festers over the years. The less contact they have, the easier it is to stay away. Maybe that’s what happened.’

Pip banked her thoughts for later. She spotted someone in the distance and grinned.

‘Isn’t that Ryan from your year coming across the green with his dog?’

‘Oh, God it is!’ Tilly blushed furiously. ‘Is he walking this way?’

‘He is. And I’m leaving you to it. I’m going to the shop. I’ll be back in ten minutes.’

‘Pip! No, wait with me.’

But Pip was already leaving. Tilly would thank her for it once she got back.

And it would give her time alone to think more about their conversation. Perhaps she had been overreacting about getting her mum and dad back together. It was more wishful thinking than something that she wanted to happen.

And maybe coming to Somerley had given her the normality she craved.

Chapter Forty-Two

With Kieran gone, Livvy tried to pull herself together, still unable to believe he’d slapped her. She’d wanted to get rid of him, but not this way. Now there was only one thing she could do. She couldn’t keep this to herself, and why should she? She hadn’t done anything wrong.

Under the guise of nipping into town to do a little shopping on her own, she located Hedworth Police Station and went inside. It had taken her two hours to speak to someone and get all the details down.

‘Do you have his last known address?’ the officer asked once she’d finished.

‘Yes, although I’m not sure he was living there before he came to see us.’ She shook her head as she wrote it down for him. ‘I’ve been such a fool. I thought he’d come back to see his daughter.’

‘You’ve nothing to be ashamed about. You’re not the thief here, Mrs Perkins.’

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