“Lu,” I say gently. “Would it be okay if Christa came to help us?”
She rolls her head to look at me. “Does she have nice hair?”
“She does.”
“And will she be cross?”
“No,” I say immediately. “She’ll help.”
Lucy considers this, then nods once. “Okay.”
That feels like approval.
I look back down at my phone.
Right then.
I tap Christa’s name and lift it to my ear, already rehearsing how to explain that I’ve accidentally allowed my niece to reinvent herself.
The phone rings.
Please answer.
6
Ambitious and Deeply Uneven
Christa
Geoff opens the doorlooking like a man who has recently realised he is out of his depth and the tide is still coming in.
His dark hair has been run through too many times to be accidental. There’s a faint smear on his sleeve. Tomato, I think.
“Oh, thank fuck you're here,” he whispers.
That’s my cue.
Lucy is on the sofa, arms crossed so tightly she’s practically hugging herself. Her fringe is… present. Ambitious. Deeply uneven. She is staring straight ahead like someone who has been unfairly accused by the universe.
Right.
Only then do I notice how amazing Geoff’s flat is. Big. Calm. Exposed brick and high ceilings doing their best impression of a place that does not usually host small emotional crises. Everything looks chosen. Thought through.A home designed for one adult man who likes things to stay where he put them.
And yet here we are.
“Hello, Lucy,” I say lightly, crouching to her level without making a production of it. “I hear there’s been some creativity this afternoon.”
Lucy does not look at me.
“She’s upset,” Geoff whispers, hovering like a man waiting for a verdict. “And Theo is going to murder me.”
“We’ll circle back to Theo,” I murmur. “Later.”
I keep my focus on Lucy.
“Ivy’s fringe is nice,” Lucy says suddenly, voice thick.
“It is,” I agree easily. “I like Ivy’s fringe too.”
