Chapter 20
Wrestling?
Clara
“Ozzie!” The scream made everyone’s heads in the playground turn towards the beautiful blonde with her arms flung wide, wearing crazy multicoloured leggings and a high-cut hot pink jumper that showed off her flat, toned stomach.
“Auntie Poppy!” Ozzie squealed, breaking away from me to streak off towards her.
She crouched down so that he could run straight into her arms. Once they were hugging, she lifted him up and spun around in circles until she staggered to the side and I was afraid they’d fall.
She did look a little green around the gills.
I cautiously walked up to them both, not sure of the reception I would get from the now-sober Lady Sterling after I’d seen the state she was in last night.
I really liked Poppy. I’d been intimidated when I first met her at the Sterling house.
I’d seen her on the school run before when she’d been picking up Ozzie, but had never spoken to her.
We all knew who she was. Everyone in the country knew who Poppy Sterling was.
Given my shyness, it should have taken me a while to warm up to her.
But I’d never met a less threatening human being in my life.
She was like a ball of sunshine, all hugs and smiles and expensive perfume with the most adorable snort-laugh I’d ever heard.
She won me over in under a minute, which was good as I’d seen a fair amount of her over the last few weeks.
It was clear Poppy was close to her brother and her nephew.
Ozzie’s mum seemed to be out of the picture more than she was in it, and I suspected Poppy had stepped in after the divorce to support Rafe and his son.
So, yes, I liked Poppy. But I knew better than anyone how badly people can react after you’ve seen them vulnerable, and I hadn’t known her for that long.
“Uh, hi, Lady Sterling,” I said quietly, managing a small smile.
“Hey!” she said, Ozzie still in her arms. There was nothing small about her smile and I sighed in relief.
Then frowned when she flinched, her hand that wasn’t holding Ozzie up going to her head.
She must have pulled at her injury. “Clara, you naughty lady. I’ve told you to call me Poppy.
” She laugh-snorted. “Or you could call me total dickhead after last night if you wanted. It would be deserved. I should have remembered that alcohol and I don’t mix. ”
“You don’t usually drink?”
She snorted again as she lowered Ozzie to the ground. “I used to, but I’m too much of a lightweight and it stopped being fun.”
I tilted my head to the side. “Then what happened last night?”
“Well, I was nervous for one thing,” Poppy said as she straightened and took Ozzie’s hand.
“You were nervous?” There was a fair amount of disbelief in my tone. I couldn’t actually imagine a nervous Poppy Sterling.
“It was the Sports Personality of the Year awards which was why Rory was there. He has that effect on me. I’ve never been good with outright contempt directed at me.”
“Contempt?” How could anyone hold Poppy in contempt?
“Yeah, it’s a whole thing.” Poppy waved her hand as if to dismiss it as nothing, but her smile looked forced.
“Anyway, I could have sworn I only had a few glasses of champagne last night, not enough to get blotto. Not that anyone would believe me. I’ve a bit of a rep for my lack of restraint.
Rafey tells me you cleaned up my head, so thanks. ”
“It’s no problem,” I muttered distractedly as we started moving towards the car.
“What’s restraint?” asked Ozzie and Poppy giggled.
“Ask Rory Wallace,” she said with a derisory snort. “He’s the king of it.”
“He is?” said Ozzie, sounding impressed. “Rory Wallace is a legend.”
“Ugh, you would think that, you rugby-loving weirdo,” Poppy said. “All Rory’s restraint makes for a bloody boring life if you ask me. He’s lucky that I liven it up for him occasionally.”
He didn’t look particularly thrilled last night when he was holding Poppy’s hair back while she vomited, but I did what I did best, and kept my mouth shut.
“Listen, Clara, I really am grateful. I thought I’d better come to pick the little guy up and apologise.”
I gave her a soft smile. “Honestly, there’s nothing to apologise for. I’m a guest with Lord Sterl… I, I mean, I’m a guest with Rafe and Ozzie. I’m very grateful for their hospitality.”
“Let’s go,” said Ozzie impatiently, dragging Poppy along the pavement. “I’m starving.”
“You’re always starving, kid,” she said, ruffling his hair as she let him pull her along. Poppy seemed to know all the mums we passed through the school gate and on the street, greeting them with her natural charm and humour, throwing out compliments as she went, making everyone smile.
When she saw Dave, she kissed the man on the cheek and he went bright red.
I’d never seen Dave flustered before. The same happened with the ancient gardener when we arrived back at the house.
Poppy might have been the most outgoing person I’d ever met in my life.
She seemed to communicate via a combination of affection, flirtation, and genuine warmth.
But there was one big problem with Poppy.
She asked a lot of questions.
And her manner was deceptive. Behind the warmth and sunshine energy was a steely determination to rival even her brother’s, making it very difficult to get out of answering her.
So far, I’d managed to dodge or redirect a lot of her questions, but that day she seemed to be on some sort of mission.
“You don’t have any family?” she said in horror when we had arrived home and were in the kitchen, having a cup of tea and getting Ozzie his after-school snack.
“Um, n-n-no.” I stuttered, feeling guilty for lying to Poppy, but I really needed to shut down the family conversation early.
To my horror, her eyes filled with tears. “That’s dreadful,” she said in a wobbly voice. “I’m so, so sorry. I couldn’t bear the idea of not having my family.”
I cleared my throat. “Uh, really, it’s… It’s fine.”
“But how did they die? What happened?”
“Um, well…” I was feeling more and more guilty by the second. “I don’t really want to talk about it, Poppy, if that’s okay.”
“Oh God, right, of course. I’m a total dick,” she said, wiping away one of her tears before stepping forward to me and grabbing me into a massive bear hug.
“Uh, Miss Clara’s actually my friend,” said Ozzie, sounding a little put out as he looked up from his cookies. “You and Daddy shouldn’t really be hugging her all the time. I haven’t given permission to share her yet.”
Poppy let out a surprised giggle as she pulled back from me to look at Ozzie.
“Oh, she’s yours, is she?” she said, raising an eyebrow. “And she’s been hugging Daddy, has she?”
Ozzie shrugged. “Well, yeah. But that one time was ’cause Daddy was looking for her glasses.”
“What?” asked Poppy, a knowing smile on her lips. “Your daddy hugged Miss Clara because he was looking for her glasses?”
“Yeah, yeah,” said Ozzie, not picking up on his aunt’s amusement.
“He was looking for her glasses, and he tripped and fell on her on the sofa. I thought they were wrestling because that’s sometimes what I do with my friend Josh.
But Daddy said it was ’cause he fell. I’ve never really seen grown-ups do wrestling before. ”
Poppy’s eyes were dancing, and her lips were pressed firmly together.
“Wrestling?” she managed to get out in a slightly choked voice as she lost the battle with her laughter. “Yes, you’re right, Ozzie, it is a bit weird for adults to wrestle… but I bet it’s fun.”
“Right, come on then, Oz,” I said in a fake bright tone, deciding to skirt around the whole wrestling issue. “Let’s get some reading done before dinner, love.”
I had thought that Poppy wouldn’t be that interested in hanging around for Ozzie’s reading book, but she sat down on the sofa with both of us, listening intently as Ozzie stumbled through his current book, which was the next level up from what he was used to.
“That’s amazing, little man,” Poppy said, her voice shaking slightly. When I glanced at her I was surprised to see a sheen of tears in her eyes. “You’ve come on loads in the last month.”
I blinked at her. “Ozzie was reading to you?” I asked.
“Oh bugger,” she mumbled.
“That was supposed to be our secret,” Ozzie put in.
Poppy made an eek face. “Yeah, we didn’t want to hurt your dad’s feelings, did we, Oz?”
“That’s okay,” I said reassuringly. “You’re reading with Daddy now so I’m sure he won’t be upset, and I wouldn’t tell him if you didn’t want me to. But, Ozzie, why could you read with your auntie and not with Daddy?”
I looked at Poppy and she bit her lip. “Well, I think it’s because Ozzie knows I’m not… Well, I find reading a bit of a bugger if I’m honest.”
“Auntie Poppy can’t read very good,” Ozzie put in.
“Can’t read very well, short stuff,” Poppy corrected automatically.
“That too,” Ozzie said. “So I didn’t have to be worried when I read to her, because I knew she’s not gonna think I’m stupid. And anyway, sometimes Auntie Poppy can’t read the words either.”
Poppy shifted on the sofa, her face flushing red. It was the first time I’d seen her even slightly embarrassed. “Yeah, well. I’ve no chance now, have I? You’re getting so good you’ve shot up above my reading level now.”
“Ah, okay,” I said, giving Poppy a soft look.
“Oz, lovie, why don’t you go and get vegetables out of the fridge?
You know, you can choose the ones you like.
” I’d found this was the best tactic with Ozzie.
If he thought he was choosing to eat broccoli, he would normally partake in more than just a cursory nibble.
With kids, it was all about choice and autonomy.
Ironically, something I’d never had as a child.
Ozzie grinned and shot to his feet to run to the kitchen.
I suppressed a sigh. The last time I asked Ozzie to do this, he’d told me there were no vegetables, and I later found a cauliflower in the airing cupboard.
But at least it bought me a few moments alone with Poppy.
“Hey, um, Poppy, you know there are some resources I could show you if you were keen?” I turned to her. She was the one to break eye contact this time.
“I won’t waste your time, Clara,” she said in a small voice, so far from her normal self that it was almost jarring. “I’m a bit of a lost cause.”
I frowned. “I’m sure that’s not the case, hun,” I said carefully, but Poppy just shrugged and fiddled with the hem of her jumper. “Does Rafe know?” I’d found that a lot of people with severe dyslexia managed to hide it quite successfully. Even close family members could be unaware.
“He knows I’m thick as two short planks if that’s what you mean,” said Poppy defensively, her normal sunny expression clouding over with pain.
“Poppy, you––”
“He knows I’m dyslexic, but he also knows I’m a lost cause.”
“I could help, you know?” I said very quietly.
Poppy rolled her eyes. “I’ve had tutors before, Clara.”
“Not like me, you haven’t,” I told her. I wasn’t a confident person in general, but knew down to my bones that I was a good teacher. And when it came to helping people to make sense of the muddle dyslexia made of letters and numbers, I was fucking amazing.
Poppy’s eyes flickered with interest for a moment, but then her expression blanked as she looked away.
“Dyslexia doesn’t make you stupid, Poppy,” I said.
“Of course it doesn’t,” shouted Ozzie from the doorway. He was scowling over at us with his arms crossed over his little chest, looking very much like his father. “You don’t think I’m stupid, do you, Auntie Poppy?” he said accusingly.
She looked horrified. “Of course I don’t think you’re stupid, Oz. You’re the cleverest little shi… I mean sugarlump I know. But I’m not like you.”
Ozzie stamped his foot. “Who says? Just because you find your letters hard doesn’t mean you’re not clever. Isn’t that right, Miss Clara?”
“Yes, that’s quite right, Ozzie,” I said with a firm nod.
“It’s just that our brains work different,” Ozzie went on. “It gives us super brains.”
“Super brains?” Poppy asked, her eyebrows going up.
“Sometimes dyslexic people can have more creative flair,” I told Poppy softly. “And they can be more spatially aware, more likely to be visual thinkers. It can give them advantages in all sorts of fields.”
Poppy looked between me and Ozzie, a little of that sunniness leaking back into her expression as she tilted her head to the side.
“Okay,” she said softly. “I guess if my brother and Oz trust you, I can try it too.”
My chest tightened as I looked back at her, feeling that twinge of guilt deep in the pit of my stomach.
Trust.
They were trusting me, the Sterlings.
And they shouldn’t, not really.