The Honeymoon Sisters Read Online Free Page B

fostering. Lenny’s role is to support Mum irrespective of which child we’ve got. In fact, I’ve known Lenny for so long that sometimes she almost feels like an extra auntie or something.
    I tried not to get too excited that Lenny was phoning us. She was probably just checking up on Mum because she knows how hard Mum always takes it after a foster-child leaves. She probably didn’t have any news about Amy.
    Then Mum blurted out, ‘Oh, Lenny!’ And she sat down heavily on the sofa.
    ‘What’s wrong, Mum?’ I asked anxiously. ‘Is it Amy? Is everything OK ?’
    Mum quickly told Lenny she would phone her back.
    ‘Amy is fine. Lenny spoke to her social worker this afternoon,’ she said. Her voice sounded shaky.
    ‘Then what’s wrong?’ I demanded, because clearly something was.
    ‘Nothing you need to worry about,’ Mum told me. ‘Now go and get ready – unless you want to go to Dad’s in your school uniform.’
    ‘But, Mum –’
    ‘Poppy, you know I can’t always tell you everything straight away. I need to talk more to Lenny first.’
    ‘But –’
    ‘Go and get ready – or I’ll pack your bag myself and you’ll just have to take what I choose to put in it.’
    She always knows just what to say to motivate me.

    *

    I’m always especially choosy about my clothes when I’m going to stay with Dad. Unlike Mum, Dad is a really smart dresser and I want him to be proud of me. And the fact that I was about to meet his new – and probably very glamorous – girlfriend meant that I was even keener than usual to look my best.
    As I got changed I suddenly remembered that I’d meant to wash my hair this evening so that it would be nice for the weekend. There was no time to do it now. I’d just have to do it at Dad’s place.
    Of course Mum had to walk in on me just as I was finishing getting ready. ‘Poppy, what’s taking you so long?’ She frowned as she took in what I was wearing. ‘Those jeans are far too tight across your bottom. Why on earth are you still wearing them when we got you those new ones last week?’
    ‘Mu-um!’ I moaned. Sometimes she really embarrasses me. ‘They aren’t that tight. Anyway, Dad said these ones make me look really slim cos they pull in my tummy.’ I stood side-on to show her. ‘See?’
    ‘You don’t need your tummy pulled in,’ she said crossly. ‘And your father’s going to give you a complex about your shape if he doesn’t stop making such thoughtless comments.’
    ‘It’s not a thoughtless comment to say I look slim,’ I protested. ‘Dad told me that when he first met you , you were really slim. And he said your jeans were so tight you had to lie on the floor to do them up!’
    Mum scowled. ‘Poppy, I don’t want you getting as hung up about your weight as I used to be when I was young. It made me very stressed and unhappy.’
    ‘I know, Mum, and I’m not going to,’ I said impatiently. Mum’s told me countless times that outward appearance is only important up to a degree, and that it’s inner beauty and being healthy that really count. And of course I know she’s right. But still …
    ‘Mum, I really want a new pair of glasses,’ I said suddenly.
    ‘There’s nothing wrong with the pair you have, Poppy.’ Mum sounded impatient because we’d had this conversation before. ‘Besides, you only wear them in class.’
    ‘So?’ Sometimes Mum just doesn’t seem to understand that school is one of the places where my appearance matters most.
    ‘Poppy, if you didn’t keep losing them or breaking them I wouldn’t mind getting you another pair, but –’
    ‘I only lost them once and broke them once,’ Iprotested. I was about to promise that in any case I would be more careful in future if she would only let me have another more attractive pair, when I looked out of the window and spotted Dad’s brand new BMW parked across the end of our drive.
    ‘He’s here,’ I said. As usual he didn’t seem in any rush to get out of his car, and I