‘I don’t know, honey,’ Juliet said. ‘But I think he’s okay. He’s busy at work, and when he comes home he has Grandma and Grandpa to talk to.’ They lived on the same land, after all. Two properties built next to each other, overlooking Chesapeake Bay.
‘And Nicole. She looks after him too.’
‘Yes she does.’ Juliet licked her lips, so dry in spite of the early fall humidity. ‘So I think your daddy is just fine.’
‘He was grumpy last weekend when I stayed with them. I heard him arguing with Nicole. Something about a party she wanted to go to.’
Juliet kept herself still, not wanting to show any reaction. But if she was being really honest she couldn’t help but feel a bit of satisfaction at the thought of Thomas and Nicole having a row. She just wished they didn’t have to do it in front of Poppy.
Sometimes she wished a lot of things. It didn’t mean they came true though.
‘Well, lots of people have arguments,’ Juliet said, trying not to remember all the ones she’d had with Thomas. ‘But then they make up again. Look at you and the new boy at school. You seem like you’re friends now.’
‘I like Charlie. He’s cool. He’s been to eleventy-hundred different countries, and he knows how to say no in ten different languages.’
Juliet smiled. ‘He sounds like a clever boy.’
‘But not as clever as me. I’m the cleverest in the class.’ Poppy smiled. ‘I got all our spellings right today. The teacher gave me a star.’
‘You did?’ Juliet turned her head to smile at her daughter. ‘You are a clever girl.’
‘I’m going to tell Daddy when I see him this weekend.’
Juliet kept the smile firmly on her face. ‘He’ll be so proud. But you know you could have called on the phone to tell him. He always likes to hear from you.’
‘I like to hear from him, too.’ Poppy stared up at the ceiling, where Juliet had fixed fluorescent stars to the plaster. When they’d first moved in, they’d decorated every room in the bungalow. It had felt cathartic, marking it out as hers. Freeing, even, as she’d stood in front of the paint chart in Home Depot, and realised that nobody was going to criticise her choice, or tell her it wasn’t in keeping with the rest of the house. She could have painted the whole place vermillion, and nobody would have blinked an eyelid.
‘Can we get a cat?’ Poppy asked.
Juliet laughed at her complete change of subject. ‘What makes you ask that?’
‘I just like them. Noah has a cat and a dog. But dogs are big and they bark too much. Cats are much nicer.’
‘I don’t think we can have a pet right now, sweetheart. I’m out at work all day and you’re at school. It wouldn’t be fair to leave it on its own all that time.’
‘Can’t you stay home like you used to? I liked that.’
Juliet’s heart clenched. That felt like a lifetime ago – she was a different person then. She’d had enough time not only to take care of her daughter, but to take care of herself, too. It had been expected of her. Regular trips to the beautician, her own personal shopper, dinner out at least four times a week, supporting Thomas as he wined and dined clients.
As much as she loved having her own business – and being her own boss – she’d be lying if she said she didn’t miss having more time on her hands, especially for her daughter. It felt as if the only time she got to sit still was when she was reading Poppy a story. Maybe that’s why they both enjoyed it so much.
‘I can’t stay at home,’ she said, her voice thick with emotion. ‘I need to be at the shop. I have a lot of customers to look aft
er, they’d miss me if I wasn’t there.’
‘I love flowers,’ Poppy said, the cat already forgotten. ‘I like it when you bring them home.’
She was sounding sleepy, her voice low and dragged out, like a record being played at the wrong speed. Turning onto her side, she nestled into Juliet, curling her legs up beneath her.
Juliet stroked Poppy’s hair, her heart full of love for her daughter. This was the silver lining to her separation from Thomas. No more missing bedtime because she had to accompany him to a dinner. Instead she got to read to her daughter every night.
Leaning down, she pressed her lips to Poppy’s cheek, feeling the warmth of her skin. ‘Good night, honey,’ she whispered, though Poppy’s steady breaths told her she was already asleep. ‘Dream sweet dreams. I love you so much.’
Sometimes that was the only thing Juliet was certain of.
3
Women may fall when there’s no strength in men