I nodded and there was a brief silence as we contemplatedthis.
‘So... are things okay between you andDarren? I mean is... well, I hope he’s good to you andPoppy?’
She looked at me with a quizzical frown. ‘Of course he is.’
My heart sank at her slightly defensive tone. But I ploughedon. I had to. ‘Right. That’s good. That’s really good. It’s just...’
‘It’s just what?’ She set down her glass on the sidetable andsat up straight.
I sighed. ‘It’s just I saw the three of you in town theother day, and... well, you didn’t look happy.’
‘What?’ She stared at me. ‘The other day? I never saw you.Why didn’t you come over?’
‘I don’t know. I was going to but I felt...uneasy.’
‘Uneasy? What on earth are you talking about, Kenzie?Uneasy?I thought we were supposed to be friends?’
‘We are. Of course we are. I was just...well, it didn’t look like a happy family outing, that’s all, and I was a bitworried.’
She gazed at me incredulously for a second. ‘Well, you canstop worrying, because we’re absolutely fine. I mean, maybe we’d had anargument about something. I can’t recall. But things can’t be sunshine androses all the time, as we were just saying.’
‘I know, but...’
‘Oh, hang on.’ She touched her temple. ‘Yes, I know what hadhappened. Poppy was being a nuisance, trailing behind us. She was doing itdeliberately, I could tell, and Darren naturally got annoyed.’ She shrugged.‘That was all it was.’
I nodded. ‘So Poppy likes him?’
‘Yes, of course. Why would you ask that?’
‘Oh, no reason. Just she’s always had you all to herself andkids sometimes find it hard to share when someone else comes on the scene.That’s all.’ I tried to shrug it off. The last thing I wanted to do wasalienate Rachel.
‘Look, I appreciate your concern, Mackenzie. I really do.’She looked me steadily in the eye. ‘But Darren and I are fine, okay?’
‘Okay,’ I conceded. ‘Good.’
‘You’re just being overprotective, which is only natural. I’llprobably be the same when you have someone inyourlife. We look out foreach other. That’s what best friends do.’
‘True.’ We smiled and went back to chatting about more neutralthings, like good dramas on TV and how Poppy was doing at school. And I toldmyself I was overreacting. Rachel and I had always told each other everything –the good bits and the bad. If Darren really was being a bully, that was theperfect opportunity for her to confide in me. And she was right, of course. Iwas always going to be super protective of her and Poppy. It was probably justan overreaction on my part...
The fact Rachel was saying that everything was okay had setmy mind at rest.
Almost.
CHAPTERELEVEN
After my chat with Rachel, I felt more hopeful thatthings would be all right.
I’d been so worried – about Poppy mainly, because she wasthe one who wouldn’t be able to defend herself if Darren was rough with her,the way he’d been when I saw them that time.
But I comforted myself with the fact that Rachel had alwaysbeen sensible. Of the two of us, she was far more direct with people, while Itended to be the diplomatic one. I told myself that Rachel would never standfor any nonsense if Darren wasn’t treating them the way he should.
And for a while, it was fine.
I missed Rachel but I looked forward to the times Poppystayed over and we always had fun together. Once, when we were baking an apple andcinnamon pie, I casually asked her if she liked Darren.
She was making holes in the pastry top with a fork, doing itvery carefully, her tongue sneaking out in concentration.
‘Uh-huh,’ she murmured when I asked, and continued what shewas doing.
