‘Of course, I’m being completely thoughtless!’ I made a shooing notion with my hands. ‘Get back to the Ringwraiths and Frodo!’
A few minutes later, I left a glass of lemonade and a Magnum beside her blanket before settling back on my own patch of the lawn with a brand new thriller.
Later that evening, once I’d eaten a chickpea salad （Mum hated chickpeas） and was doing some follow-up admin from Trev’s first session, there was a loud banging on my door.
I knew it wasn’t Steph, because she wouldn’t turn up without letting me know. A spike of anxiety lodged itself beneath my breastbone. Surely Mum hadn’t somehow found out where I lived?
Tiptoeing to the front door, I slowly eased it open, feeling a whoosh of relief when I saw someone much younger than Mum. The anxiety muscled its way back in again when, opening the door wider, I got a better view of the woman’s body language.
She stood there in cut-off jeans and a pink vest top, arms folded, flip-flop tapping the pavement as she chewed the side of her mouth.
‘Hello?’ I asked, immediately clearing my throat to try to clear the rasp.
She reached out one hand, yanking into view what turned out to be Joan. I noted the resemblance, then. This woman’s hair was several shades darker than Joan’s, but she had the same grey-green eyes, and a mouth slightly too big for her face. She was small and wiry and wound up like an angry wasp.
‘This one says you gave her some books,’ she snapped, in a much stronger accent than Joan’s.
‘I said she lent me them,’ Joan said through gritted teeth, her eyes on the ground.
‘I thought it seemed a bit suspicious, a complete stranger giving three massive books like that to some kid.’
Oh crap.
Was she going to accuse me of something awful?
‘Wouldn’t be the first time she’s nicked something, so I thought we’d best come and check if your interpretation of events matches hers.’
Oh! Okay…
‘I’m not the type of mum who lets her child get away with that kind of behaviour.’ Joan’s mum folded her arms and glared at me. ‘Just want to be clear so no accusations can be made at a later date.’
‘No!’ I said, loud enough to make Joan jump. ‘No, I mean. She’s right. I did lend her the books. I was working at the library and the manager, Irene Jenkins—’
Joan’s mum sneered. ‘That old bat! I might have known she’d have something to do with it.’
‘Right. Yes, well, she wouldn’t let Joan check out the library copies, so I lent her mine.’
The woman’s eyes narrowed.
I swallowed hard, and pressed on regardless…
‘I mean, I’ve been meaning to pop round and say hello since I moved in last weekend. I don’t know anyone in Bigley yet – apart from Irene – and, well, I appreciate I should have asked you first. But they’re amazing books, and Joan was right at one of the most exciting parts, where, well… have you read The Lord of the Rings?’
She jerked her chin. ‘I’ve seen the films.’
‘Right. Great! I love the films, too. Anyway, I hope that’s okay?’
‘She even checked out the library books too, just to wind up Irene,’ Joan added.
Her mum raised one eyebrow. ‘Okay. But for the record, my daughter’s name is Diamanté Butterfly. Please don’t forget that.’
Joan hunched her shoulders, mouth pursed angrily.
‘Mine’s Ollie,’ I said, as the woman started to usher her back around.
‘And hers is Annoying Dumbhead Liar,’ Joan, or Diamanté, muttered, just loud enough for me to hear.
At that, her mum stopped dead, three steps from my front door. She dropped into a squat and looked her daughter right in the eye. I’d have probably wet my pants facing that expression from only a few inches away. ‘What was that?’
Joan shuffled her scruffy trainers back and forth a couple of times. ‘Sorry, Mum.’
When her mum didn’t move, she opened her mouth and closed it a couple of times, before blurting, ‘I like Ollie and she did something nice for me and then you told her I steal stuff and she has to call me my stupid old name.’
Her mum waited for a few seconds. ‘Do you have anything else to say to anyone?’
Joan darted her eyes up towards mine for a microsecond. ‘Sorry, Ollie.’
‘That’s better.’ Her mum sighed. ‘I’m sorry, too.’
She straightened up, nodding her head in my direction. ‘Leanne. Thanks for lending the books. And forget what I said about her stealing stuff. That was… something different.’