Free The Astonishing Return of Norah Wells by Virginia Macgregor

silent, wishing that he was alone with Norah. Later, when Norah told him off for being rude, he’d complain that they looked down on him for having left school at sixteen and for his job at the recycling plant.
I’m not good enough for them,
he’d say
. Just like I’m not good enough for that friend of yours.
    â€˜Any handsome consultants in the picture?’ Norah asks.
    â€˜What? No, of course not.’
    Of course not?
 
    â€˜I’ve been busy, Norah. Families don’t take care of themselves.’
    Fay had always been on Norah’s side. She’d understood how hard Norah found giving up her concerts, looking after the girls, putting up with Adam’s inability to register that he’d brought children into the world. But Norah had walked out on her too.
    â€˜I’m sorry,’ Norah says. The word hangs between them, too small to fill the space. ‘I should have got in touch —’
    â€˜Yes.’
    â€˜But I couldn’t.’
    â€˜You
couldn’t
?’
    â€˜It was complicated.’
    Fay shakes her head.
    â€˜I wanted to…’
    Fay stares straight ahead.
    Yes, Norah had thought of getting in touch with Fay to let her know that she was okay and that she missed her. But she hadn’t trusted herself. Talking to her best friend would have made her want to come back.
    â€˜So it looks like Adam’s found someone else,’ Norah says.
    Fay takes a sharp breath. ‘Someone else?’
    â€˜The house. It’s changed, everything’s changed. It’s not Adam’s —’
    â€˜Not Adam’s what?’
    â€˜Not Adam’s style. Someone must have moved in with him.’
    Fay winds down the window and breathes in the rush of air. ‘Yes.’
    Ahead of them, the lights at the pedestrian crossing turn red.
    â€˜Is it serious?’ Norah asks. ‘The relationship?’
    Fay doesn’t slow down.
    â€˜Christ Fay – it’s red!’
    Fay slams her foot on the brake. They’re thrown forward and then jolted back into their seats. And then they sit there, silent, as a mother crosses the street pushing a pram.
    â€˜Are you okay?’ Norah asks.
    Fay raises her eyebrows as if Norah’s asked the most stupid question in the world.
    â€˜You look tired,’ Norah adds.
    â€˜I’ve had a long shift. I usually have a sleep when I get home.’
    A sleep? What was she doing at the house if she was meant to be having a sleep? None of this made any sense.
    â€˜So it’s Ella who collects Willa from school?’
    â€˜Yes.’
    â€˜So why didn’t she?
    â€˜She’s temperamental.’
    â€˜Temperamental?’ Ella was never temperamental. Norah’s little girl had a steady, generous character.
    â€˜She’s a teenager,’ Fay adds.
    Norah doesn’t like Fay’s tone. And she doesn’t get why she’s being critical of the goddaughter she loved like her own child. At times, Norah had been jealous of how natural Fay was with her, how she did all the right things, things a mother should have done. She got Ella measured for her first pair of shoes and took her to the library to get a reader’s card and helped her with her homework.
    She adores you,
Fay had reassured Norah when she shared her anxieties.
You’re the best mum in the world, remember
?
    Yes, Norah remembers. But that was a lifetime ago.
    Fay flicks the indicator.
    â€˜I’m sorry,’ Norah says again. ‘Maybe we can talk, after we’ve picked Willa up. I can explain —’
    Fay pulls up outside Holdingwell Primary, switches off the ignition and stares out through the windscreen.
    â€˜I don’t think there’s anything to say, Norah.’
    â€˜Nothing to say?’
    â€˜It’s been too long.’ Fay opens the car door.
    Willa stands alone in the playground with her teacher. When she spots Fay she smiles, hitches her school bag onto her shoulders and