‘People are welcome to come and walk it,’ I said.
‘Are they? What, not run it? Well, that would be something at least. I hadn’t thought of that.’
‘Yes,’ I said with feeling, realising there might be lots of people like her who needed a reassuring nudge. ‘We want everyone to feel they can join in. Walking, running, or volunteering to help. You should come to the meeting.’
‘Oh, I don’t know about that. I won’t know anyone. I’m not sure. All those people. Probably lots of proper runners. You’re not going to want people like me there. No doubt it will be very busy.’
‘You know me,’ piped up Ava. ‘And Auntie Claire, now.’
‘Oooh, I don’t know.’
‘Do come. You can come with us.’
I needed every bum on a seat I could get. ‘We’ll be leaving at quarter to seven next Thursday night.’
‘Oh. Right. Quarter to seven. Good. Yes. Well, maybe. Yes. We’ll have to see. Bye Ava, nice to talk to you.’ Walking backwards as she spoke, she retreated into her house as if she wasn’t sure she wanted to end the interaction but wasn’t sure how to keep it going either.
I really must encourage her, I decided as I led Ava back into the house for tea. She was exactly the sort of person we needed and who needed us.
The kitchen needed a little navigation. A lot of stuff was packed away, as Hilda’s friend’s son was coming in the morning and was doing me a huge favour coming on a Saturday. He was going to decorate the whole room and put down a new floor. He seemed to think him, his mate, and his flooring guy could get it all done in one day, which was a great relief as I was due back at work on Monday and I wanted to get as much done before then as possible.
Between us, Hilda, the girls, and I had finally opted for the Farrow and Ball green rather than the grey I’d originally envisioned and a wooden-style Karndean floor instead of the smart, unforgiving black slate I’d planned. With the existing glossy cream cupboards, the colour scheme was going to be smart and homely, especially with all the new cosy accessories I’d already bought.
‘It’s messy,’ complained Poppy, her eyes darting nervously around the semi-bare kitchen as I served tea up on the round wooden table.
‘Yes, but it’s only for a couple of days and then it will be lovely. And the new sofa will arrive the day after tomorrow.’ The kitchen-diner was about to become the heart of the house and the thought of it filled me with pleasure. Since the girls had arrived, it had already become the room we all used the most and I’d been tempted to move one of my sofas from the front room but then decided that I wanted a big L-shaped sofa that we could all pile on together with a small TV opposite.
We’d settled into a good routine after school and it was difficult to believe that the girls had only been here for nearly three weeks.
‘So how was everyone’s day?’ I asked as we sat down to tea.
Ava bounced to her feet, ‘Guess, guess, guess! I got a gold star.’
‘Well done, sweetie. That’s great.’
‘I got eight in my spelling test.’ Her eyes shone with pleasure. ‘Only two wrong and Miss Parr said my star was for hard work and best provement. And Lucy Chambers didn’t get one.’
A little sunshine burst of pride lit up inside me. It was lovely to see her delight in her achievement, especially as she really struggled with reading and spelling. We’d put in a lot of work, practising every day and I’d made sure I read with her every night.
‘Huh!’ sniffed Poppy. ‘Eight.’
I sent her a quelling look and she quietened. ‘What about you? What did you learn today?’
‘We built a circuit from our homework and the light switched on.’ She paused and a smile broke through. ‘It was kind of cool. It was the design Ash helped with and ours was the best.’
‘Well done, both of you.’ I rested my elbows on the table, suddenly proud of both of them. They were brilliant kids; they’d adapted so well to the news that their mother was going to be away for longer. ‘You put me to shame. All I did was pack up the kitchen and go for a run.’
‘How far did you run today, Auntie Claire? Further?’ Bless her, Poppy liked to keep tabs on my running stats because she knew I was desperate not to show myself up once we got the parkrun set up.
‘4.4k without stopping once.’ I bent at the waist with a little bow. Both girls began to clap and Ava hopped down from her chair and ran over to the tally chart we were keeping on the fridge door. She tugged it down and brought it over for me to fill in today’s total.
‘That’s good. Only point six to go,’ said Poppy with her usual precision.
Only point six. All of us had come quite a long way in a few short weeks.
So it was a heck of a surprise when, ten minutes later, halfway through tea, Poppy suddenly announced, ‘I don’t like broccoli,’ and pushed the vegetable to the side of her plate and let her fork drop with a clatter, folding her arms with mutinous teenage sulkiness.
‘I’ll have yours.’ Ava launched a rescue mission and stabbed at the broccoli with her fork, sending Poppy’s oven chips all over her lap and the floor.
In response, Poppy jabbed at Ava’s hand with her own fork. Ava screamed, threw her cutlery down, and began to wail.
‘Poppy!’ I glared at her and put down my own knife and fork, picking up Ava’s hand. There were three neat little dents in the pudgy flesh but the skin wasn’t broken. ‘Calm down, Ava, she didn’t really hurt you, although, she shouldn’t have done that.’ I rubbed at her hand. ‘Poppy, that was unnecessary.’ Poppy shrugged and her mouth flattened in a recalcitrant line. ‘You need to apologise to your sister.’
There was a small battle of wills as I continued to glare at her.
‘Soz,’ she said, her eyes meeting mine with a definite now-what-are-you-going-to-do look.
‘That’s not an apology,’ I snapped, irritated by her uncharacteristically unhelpful attitude. ‘What’s got into you?’
She stared down at her plate. This was unchartered territory and I didn’t know what to do. I tried to think what Hilda would suggest. ‘I’m very disappointed.’ That struck a nerve. I saw her flinch. ‘You know better than that. How would you like it if I did that to you?’
Poppy’s mouth tightened and she lifted one shoulder. I thought asking for a proper apology was pushing it, so I left it this time.
‘Right, let’s tidy up. Poppy, you can stack the dishwasher. Ava, go and get ready for your bath and no messing about.’
I ran up the stairs quickly and set the bath going. When I came downstairs, Poppy was putting the plates into the rack but her movements were stiff and awkward and she kept glancing at the counters where I’d stacked all the things out of the way for the painter in the morning.
‘Is it bothering you? The mess?’ I asked gently.
She lifted her narrow shoulders but didn’t say anything. With a flash of unexpected insight, I realised I’d come to know the girls far better than I could have guessed I would. It wasn’t just the mess; it was the uncertainty of everything in her young life. She was living in a strange house that wasn’t quite home, her mother was absent, and she was living with a woman who had no proper child-rearing experience. My heart clenched at the sight of her pale, stern face and I put my arms around her and pulled her into a hug. ‘Come here, you.’