Page 106 of Special Delivery
‘I’m not being stupid!’ James protested. ‘It’s easier this way, Poppy. I’m leaving next month. Why start something now? It’ll be easier on both of us if we stop this now.’
‘Before it’s even begun? You talk about wanting to live your life and here I am, trying to be part of it, and you’re running away.’
‘We’ve never even been on a date!’ cried James, losing his patience. ‘I’m making it easier for you.’
‘Oh my god,’ fumed Poppy. ‘If you think you’re going to break my heart because we go on a couple of measly dates then you have a grossly overinflated sense of your own charisma.’
James threw his hands in the air. ‘Do you even want to go out with me, Poppy?! Because I’m picking up on a lot of negative energy!’
Poppy glared at him. James glared back, and then, infuriatingly, he began to smile. It was small at first, creeping from the corners of his lips to his cheeks—and then a triumphant grin enveloped his whole face. He started to laugh. And damn it, now she was laughing too. She hadn’t laughed since before Mary’s accident and it was like the pressure of the past weekswas exploding from her like water from a fire hydrant. They were laughing so hard tears were streaming down their faces. James was doubled over and Poppy’s abs were aching. Every time they made eye contact they’d convulse again. Maeve looked between them, delighted and confused.
‘I honestly think this is dumb,’ said Poppy when she’d recovered her breath.
‘Agree to disagree,’ said James, wiping his eyes.
Poppy stuck out her lower lip. ‘I’ll miss you.’
‘Same,’ said James. He was serious now.
‘I don’t think I can do the friends thing with you,’ admitted Poppy. ‘At least not for a little bit.’
James nodded. ‘So what do we do?’
‘Nothing.’ Poppy sighed. ‘Go to Melbourne. Buy a trendy Akubra. Start drinking oat milk piccolos. Don’t worry about us. We’ll be fine. We don’t need anything—no texts, no calls. At least not for a while, until my head descrambles.’
James’s lips were clamped shut. ‘Okay,’ he said eventually.
‘Okay,’ replied Poppy. She wanted to reach out to him for one last hug but that would delay the inevitable. It turned out their story had ended weeks ago, and she hadn’t even realised.
CHAPTER 44
Poppy tucked her shirt into the waistband of her cropped jeans and reviewed herself in the mirror. Her hair was clean and hung loose on her shoulders, and her skin was lightly bronzed from the sun. Maeve crawled in circles at her feet wearing a striped jumpsuit. She hoped as a duo they’d give off a cool-but-not-trying-too-hard vibe. She wanted to look like a lovely but forgettable kindergarten teacher. Agreeable and, crucially, harmless.
Henry and Willa were back together. It had been indirectly confirmed by her mother who had called yesterday with the details of the long-awaited group dinner. ‘Peggy said to arrive at six, darling. She said you can bring the portacot and put it in the spare room for Maeve. I asked what we could bring and she said nothing, but I’m going to make a date slice, so if you were thinking of making one don’t. You should take something, though, darling, because it’s good manners. Maybe you could make a soup and we could pour it into paper cups andpass them around as little appetisers? I saw that once onBetter Homes and Gardensand it looked so fancy! I have a divine recipe for a potato and leek soup, if you want it? Or if you wanted to do something sweet, you could make a lemon slice and we could make a little dessert platter, which could be fun. I could buy those little toothpicks that have the flags on them so it’s easy for people to pick them up. I saw some in the party section at Big W. Do you want me to pick some up on my way home from golf? I’ll be finished at three so can whiz past there very easily.’
‘I’ve already bought some wine, Mum.’
‘Oh, right. That’s a good idea, but you’re sure you don’t want the little flags? I might just pop in and grab some anyway, just in case. We can always keep them for a rainy day if you don’t end up making the lemon slice.’
‘Mum, I’m not making a lemon slice.’
‘Okay, but I might get some anyway, just in case you end up baking. Just don’t make a date slice, though, because that’s what I’m doing, remember? But I suppose if youreallywanted to, youcouldmake a date slice and I could make a lemon slice because I’ve got so many lemons on the tree at the moment …’
‘Whatever you reckon, Mum.’
‘Okay, so I should buy the little flags?’
‘Mum, I’m bringing wine.’
‘Great, and that will be lovely. And I’ll grab the little flags in case we do the dessert platter.’
Poppy wondered if it was possible to be more explicit about not making dessert.
‘Darling, I must go, but I’ll see you at six tomorrow.’
After her mother had hung up, Poppy had spent the rest of the day avoiding thinking about the impending dinner.
Now, at twenty minutes to six, it was proving impossible to not overthink everything. Should she have baked the lemon slice? Should she have trimmed Maeve’s almost-mullet? Poppy picked up her daughter and did a final outfit check. No spew on her shoulder or sneaky mashed banana on her butt cheek, so she already looked at least thirty per cent better than usual.
