Chapter 12
It had taken Carrie a while to get to sleep after her conversation with Michael the night before.
She’d gone over everything that had been said and the feelings she was left with.
It had felt good to tell Michael about Tony, a topic she didn’t share easily.
She was still thinking about it when she opened up the shop the next morning, going over that oh so comforting hug.
She was so thankful that she had him as a friend. Him and Layla. Yes, if their situations were different, she strongly suspected she and Michael would be together, but that wasn’t their reality at the moment, and it didn’t mean they couldn’t still enjoy each other’s company.
Carrie’s thoughts turned to what Michael had said about Layla and the issues she was experiencing with her mum and the daughters of the new love interest. She felt terrible that she wasn’t telling Michael what she knew about Layla, but knew that she couldn’t betray the teen’s confidence.
Carrie decided she should have a chat with Layla herself. Poppy was going to tea at one of her new friend’s houses directly after holiday club and wouldn’t be home until seven thirty. Carrie also had a big delivery of books that needed to be put out in the shop after close today.
Carrie messaged Layla, asking if she’d be interested in helping stock the shop after close — if she wasn’t too tired from her sleepover of course. Layla replied a few minutes later to say she’d be very happy to help.
* * *
Layla arrived at five on the dot and they got the boxes out of the stock room and cut them open.
“So how was the sleepover last night?” Carrie asked.
“It was really fun. We watched Austin Powers. It was hilarious and Jules’s mum made us tacos. We ate so many sweets.” She giggled.
“I think it’s obligatory to eat too much sugar on a sleepover.”
“Dad said you guys had Chinese takeaway.” Layla made a pile of historical romances ready to take over to that section of the shop.
“We did. It was delicious. Then, after Poppy went to bed, your dad and I talked.” Carrie figured she could skirt around the issue for the next couple of hours or get straight to the point and give them more time to chat about it before Poppy got back.
“He told me about how you were supposed to be spending the summer with your mum, but you changed your mind.”
Layla looked pointedly down at the books she was sorting. “Yeah. It’s been a bit weird at Mum’s.”
“With her new boyfriend?”
“Ian’s OK,” Layla said. “He’s nice to me and I like that he makes Mum laugh.”
“What about his daughters?”
Layla was silent for a long moment. “They’re . . . just not really my type. We’re not friends,” she finally said.
“Do they get in the way of you spending time with your mum?” Carrie asked. “I can imagine that would be frustrating.”
“A little, but not really. I mean, Kara and Esme don’t come round to my mum’s that much. They live mainly with their mum and see their dad at the weekends and in the holidays.”
“So, why didn’t you want to stay at your mum’s?”
“I do . . . just when they’re not going to be there,” explained Layla. “And they would be coming over more during the summer.”
“What is it that you don’t like about them?” Carrie asked, gently. “It’s such a shame that whatever it is is ruining your time with your mum.”
Layla finally looked up at Carrie. “They’re mean to me.”
Carrie put down the invoices she’d been pretending to be studying and moved to be next to Layla. “How are they mean to you, sweetie?”
Layla was quiet for a moment before she said, “They tease me.”
“In what way?”
“They say I’m babyish because I don’t wear a lot of make-up and I don’t have a boyfriend. I just don’t really like make-up and most boys my age are idiots.”
“There’s no rush to do those things or to do them at all,” said Carrie.
“And they tease me because I wouldn’t steal stuff when we went out together . . .” Layla said.
“Aaah,” said Carrie, now understanding what had led to the incident in the chemist shop.
Layla hung her head. “When we first met, I was trying to build up the nerve to take something. Somehow it seemed better to do it from a big company like Boots. I don’t know why.
Less personal than taking something from a little shop .
. . I’m really grateful to you for stopping me. ”
Carrie opened up her arms and gave Layla a hug.
“Thank you for feeling that you can confide in me about this,” Carrie said. “You’ve been put in a really difficult position, haven’t you?”
Layla nodded.
“I know that your mum would want to know that you don’t feel comfortable with Ian’s daughters. You’re the most important person in the world to her and she must be missing having you with her for the holidays. I bet she was really excited to have you around during the summer.’
“She was,” said Layla. “I was looking forward to it too. We had loads of fun things planned.”
“Hopefully you can still do at least some of them. I really think you need to speak to your mum about what’s going on.”
“I don’t want to upset her.”
“She’d want to know what’s going on,” said Carrie, kindly. “Maybe it might be better to speak with your dad first and then you can talk to your mum together?”
“Do I have to tell Dad about what happened in Boots?”
“That’s completely up to you,” said Carrie. “He won’t hear about it from me,” she reassured.
Layla gave a little smile.
“I’ll talk to Dad about Kara and Esme,” she said.
“I know this is a really hard thing for you to deal with. Know that I’m always available if you need to chat about it or anything else.”
“Thanks, Carrie,” Layla said, now being the one to instigate the hug.
Layla was quiet for a moment before she spoke again. “I wish you were staying here and that you were Dad’s girlfriend. Then it would be like Poppy was my little sister.”
Carrie didn’t know what to say. This was definitely not the way she’d expected the conversation to go.
“And I think you’d be a really cool stepmum. Plus, you make my dad happy.”
“I do?” Carrie croaked.
“Oh yeah. He’s always in such a good mood now. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him smile so much.”
Carrie fought to keep her face from breaking into a grin.
“I’m glad you told me that, thank you,” she said.
She had no idea Layla felt this way, and after her conversation with Michael the night before, she knew neither of them was looking for a relationship.
Layla was being lovely, but who knows how she’d feel if her dad was actually dating Carrie, and she could more than understand Michael not wanting to risk it after what had happened with Georgia dating Ian.
“So . . . do you think you and my dad . . .?”
“I really like your dad,” Carrie said, “and I’m grateful to have him as a friend, but Poppy and I will be returning to London in a few weeks.”
Layla’s face fell and Carrie gave her a squeeze. “We’ll be back to visit, I promise. And I bet we can fit in loads of fun stuff before Poppy and I leave.”
“I figured it was worth asking,” Layla said, making Carrie laugh.
“If you’re OK shelving those for a few minutes, I’ll go and make us a cup of tea,” Carrie suggested.
“Sure,” said Layla. “I’ll be fine.”
Carrie headed into the bookshop’s kitchen and filled the kettle. She needed a couple of minutes to herself to process the conversation. She felt so sorry for what Layla was going through. How could those two girls have been so unkind to her?
She also felt for Georgia. The conversation she and Layla were going to be having was not an easy one, and she wouldn’t want to be in her situation.
Of course, what was also going through her mind was what Layla had said about her and her dad.
She loved that Layla thought that she made her dad happy, and for a moment she allowed herself to imagine being with Michael.
But no. There was no guarantee that Layla would continue feeling that way, and the poor girl was already going through enough.
Plus, Carrie would be back in London in just a few weeks.
Starting something with Michael would only make that harder than she already knew it would be.
That didn’t stop her imagining what they’d be like together though.
She took as long as she reasonably could making the teas and processing everything that was going on in her mind before she went back out to help Layla.