Page 76 of Coming Home to Hope Street

‘But I feel like my life is a lie. I had a family that I didn’t know about. You’re not telling me the truth about Dad. What else are you keeping from me?’

‘Families fall out all the time, over silly things,’ she said, hoping to change the subject.

After a few minutes of Pip’s angry words followed by silent glares, Livvy couldn’t take anymore. She grabbed her keys and raced to the front door.

‘Where are you going, Mum?’ Pip followed after her.

‘I don’t know but I need to be as far away from this house as possible.’

‘You can’t leave me here on my own.’

‘Oh, please, you’ve been old enough to be left for some time, and especially when it suits. So don’t come that now.’ It was her turn to glare. ‘I think you’ve got some growing up to do, though. You need to stop blaming me for everything and take your dad down from the pedestal you’ve put him on.’

Pip screwed up her face. ‘I hate you.’

‘Yeah? Right now that feeling is mutual.’

Livvy opened the door, and without another thought for her daughter, slammed it hard behind her on the way out. She ran along Hope Street and into the town. By the time she stopped to catch her breath, she found herself in Church Square.

She sat down underneath the oak tree. Why was she so useless at everything? Being a wife, being a mother. Even coming back to Somerley had been the disaster she knew it would be. Maybe she’d be better leaving altogether.

Looking to her right, she could see The Coffee Stop and The Book Stop, nestled together looking inviting. To her left, the high street was lit up but there weren’t many people about. A few customers were in the chip shop, and a man and his dog were walking past the square.

Somerley was really quiet during the evenings, something she was grateful for after the hustle and bustle of Manchester. Sometimes she hadn’t got a wink’s sleep if the tenant below her cranked up his music. Here, it was a world away, like a different world even. And she realised she’d missed it. She hadn’t just come back to get away from Kieran. She’d come to start again, with Pip.

Yet she was in danger of it all being ruined if anyone found out what Kieran had done. She wasn’t sure that Hannah would keep it to herself, nor did she blame her if she didn’t. Hannah had more loyalty to the people of Somerley. After all, they hadn’t let her down.

Even so, the police would have told Robin, who owned the community centre, that they had a suspect and her name would be mud.

How had everything gone so wrong? It was Kieran’s fault for coming back just as she was getting settled. If Pip hadn’t told him they were here, none of this would have happened. He hadn’t returned any of the messages Livvy had sent after she’d arrived in Somerley. Trust him to act upon the ones where there was something in it for him.

She sat upright defiantly. No, they were staying. No matter what, they had to live their life without Kieran. Pip would be better off without him, she knew that, but that couldn’t be her choice if he kept turning up unannounced.

But then she shook her head. It was her fault too, for trying to get Kieran to change. Every time he came back to her, she thought it would be different. Except for the last one when she didn’t want him to stay, she’d always played up to him, let him have his way. He’d dropped back into her life as if he’d never gone. Maybe that had been more harmful for Pip to see – keeping the bad stuff away from her seemed to have done more harm than good.

But how could she tell her daughter that her father was a gambler, and now a thief? If she told her the truth, it would break her heart. Pip might not even believe her; say she’s making things up and turn against her.

A horn beeping on a car made her jump. She watched as a woman waved and crossed the road towards it. She got into the passenger seat and kissed the driver with a passion that Livvy could clearly feel from her voyeurism.

Why couldn’t she have been lucky in love, like Hannah? She’d never be able to meet anyone as nice as Doug, and she’d blown it with Callum. She couldn’t expect him to wait around until her heart was ready for a relationship.

Would she ever settle down with someone else? Sure, she didn’t need a man to feel fulfilled, but she was ready to love again. She felt trapped, unable to move on to her future because the past wouldn’t let her. She was stuck in a rut, desperately trying to fight her way out from it, but getting nowhere. And it wasn’t a very nice position to be in.

What the hell was she going to do now?

Chapter Forty-Seven

Hannah almost jumped out of her skin when someone banged on her front door. She opened it to find Pip standing on her doorstep, tears pouring down her face.

‘Dad’s left this morning and now Mum’s gone and it’s all my fault.’ Pip flew into her arms.

‘Come on, let’s get you inside.’ Hannah guided her to the settee, and they sat down.

‘Where’s Doug?’ Pip asked, wiping her nose with the palm of her hand.

‘He’s still at work, so it’s just us girls.’ Hannah pulled a couple of tissues from the box at her side and passed them to her. ‘Do you want to tell me what’s happened?’

As Pip spoke about her side of the conversation, Hannah held in her anger. This was all because that lowlife Kieran had come back and stolen the money, and Pip didn’t even know about that. Now he’d gone, she couldn’t let Livvy take the blame any longer. It might not be Hannah’s place to tell Pip, but she was old enough to understand. Livvy needed her daughter on her side, not working against her.

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