The happy-go-lucky nature of their meeting had gone and was quickly replaced by clipped mannerisms as they tried to speak without mentioning the elephant in the room.
Livvy put the suitcase next to the bags Pip had disposed of. ‘Nice place you have here.’ She looked around. ‘Are you and Doug married?’
‘No, we’ve been together for a couple of months. I met him after…’
‘Mum died,’ Livvy finished, catching Hannah’s eye then.
‘You knew?’ She sounded hurt.
‘I found out afterwards, about three months ago.’
‘Is that why you’ve come back?’ Hannah’s tone changed to an accusatory one.
‘Of course not!’ Livvy protested. ‘I told you – I had no choice.’
‘It seems convenient after all these years.’
‘Please don’t.’ Livvy pinched the bridge of her nose. ‘I’ve had a rough time from Pip, telling me about all the mistakes I’ve made. I don’t need you rubbing my nose in it too. Not yet, anyway.’
‘I do feel you owe me some explanation about why you left and never came back until now.’
‘It’s – it’s—’
‘Tea up,’ Doug shouted through to them.
Livvy dashed into the safety of the kitchen. She knew she and Hannah had to have that conversation, but thankfully she could save it for later. They needed to talk over something a lot stronger than a hot beverage.
Lunch was awkward to say the least. No one wanted to join in with chit chat until things were out in the open. So Hannah and Doug bounced questions off Pip.
‘So, how old is my niece?’ Hannah said, picking up a ginger nut biscuit to dunk in her tea.
A jolt of emotion rushed through Livvy, taking her by surprise. Ginger biscuits had always been Hannah’s favourite. Livvy liked them too and they’d often devoured a packet between them in a matter of minutes.
‘I’m fifteen,’ Pip replied. ‘I’m sixteen in two months, November seventeenth.’
‘Still more school for you then,’ Doug joined in. But Hannah threw him daggers.
Livvy watched their exchange. ‘Please don’t think you can’t ask me anything. We turn up out of the blue and I get that there are questions. Perhaps you and I could have a chat this evening?’ She looked at Hannah.
Hannah nodded. ‘Do you need somewhere to stay?’
‘Is that okay? It will only be for a few nights.’
‘That’s not what you said when—’ Pip started.
‘We won’t get under your feet for longer than a week,’ Livvy broke in. She didn’t want Hannah to know everything yet.
‘You can stay in our house, if you like.’ Hannah tittered. ‘It won’t be much different than you remember.’
‘Thanks.’ The relief brought tears, but she held them in, feeling them sting as she closed her eyes momentarily. She wasn’t a crier as such, not after what she’d been through. But sitting across from the sister she hadn’t seen since she was eighteen made her emotional. She realised she should have come back a long time ago. She would have seen her mum alive too.
But who knows what trouble she would have brought with her?
Finally, Hannah suggested they go across to settle in. She picked up a bag as Livvy hoisted another onto the pavement. Doug helped them with the suitcase and then left them to it outside number thirty-four.
‘Are things serious with you and the man across the street?’ Livvy asked as Hannah put the key in the front door.
‘I’d like to think so,’ Hannah replied as she stepped inside.
‘Good. It’s really great to see you so happy.’ Automatically, she placed a hand on Hannah’s forearm. ‘I know I’ve messed up, Han, but I’ve missed you. I really have.’
Hannah said nothing as she bustled them indoors.
Livvy tried not to be hurt by the rebuke. Hannah was bound to be feeling strange.
Hannah had been wrong when she said nothing much had changed too. Even the feel of the place seemed different. The dining table they’d sat at for many years, playing games or completing jigsaws, was still there. The carpet had been replaced by laminate flooring, giving it an airier feel, and the wallpaper was nothing like she remembered.
In the living room, she stood in the middle of the floor as Pip checked out the kitchen. She looked through the window at the walled garden, seeing herself as a young girl playing hopscotch on the crazy paving. There were plant pots everywhere, blooming with late autumn flowers. Hannah must have grown green fingers.
But worse than that, all around her she could see her mum: struggling to get upstairs, helping her into the bathroom, making her endless cups of tea. The first time she’d fallen when she and Hannah had realised that things were more serious than originally thought.
‘It’s really nice,’ Pip said, coming through to them again. ‘Homely, and it smells beautiful.’
‘Air fresheners.’ Hannah pointed to the plug-in’s. ‘I like to bring the outside in wherever possible. Right, I don’t need to show you where everything is. I’m sure you’ll find that nothing has moved.’ Hannah pointed to the door. ‘There are two rooms upstairs that you can use for now. I’m practically living across the street anyway, so it’s no trouble for you to stay.’
A completely different set of feelings rushed over Livvy then. She was right back where she started, having made a mess of her life in between. It was as if she’d never been away. And she had nowhere else to go, despite telling Hannah she was only here for a week.
She’d come clean about that as soon as possible.
Chapter Four
As soon as Hannah was back in Doug’s house, she got out her phone. Doug had gone back to work and she had about an hour before he would be home again. Her best friend, Phoebe, would still be at work but she had to talk to her.
Hannah held the phone away from her ear as Phoebe shouted down it.
‘She did what?’
‘She turned up on the doorstep,’ Hannah repeated.
‘I know, I know. I heard you the first time. What did she want?’
‘She needs somewhere to stay.’
‘Just like that?’
‘Yes.’
‘And what did you say? I bet you said she was welcome.’
Hannah sighed. ‘Phoebe, I can’t turn her away. She’s my sister.’
‘She hasn’t remembered that for the past goodness knows how many years. You’re a pushover, Han.’
‘Tell me something I don’t know.’
There was silence down the line. ‘Sorry. I’m just mad on your behalf.’
‘I know. It did seem strange to see her, I must admit. Like seeing a ghost. And she—’
‘What’s she like? Has she changed much?’
‘Of course she has. It’s been twenty years since I’ve seen her. But she looks good with it. I’ve yet to find out why she came back though.’
‘Oh.’
‘We’re meeting to have a chat this evening. She’s staying at number thirty-four. With her daughter.’
‘Oh! How old is she?’
‘Nearly sixteen.’