Tess found her sister sitting on the wall with her bag hugged to her chest.
“Come on,” she said. “Car's over there.”
Nell stood. Tess took one look at her and put an arm around her shoulders. They walked badly together, Nell's bag bumping Tess's hip, but Tess didn't let go until they reached the car.
“You can tell me or not tell me,” she said, starting the engine. “But I need to know if anybody needs hitting.”
“No.”
“Disappointing. I've had a day.”
Nell managed a small laugh. Tess drove them home.
Her place smelled of shampoo and the chicken she'd taken out of the fridge to eat before going back to work. Nell sat at the little table while Tess warmed it up. She told her about Sam. Then the money. Then the voice message, because she couldn't leave herself out of it and still explain what had happened.
Tess didn't interrupt. She put the food in front of Nell and sat down with her own plate.
“Did you mean to tell Ben?” she asked.
“If she didn't pay.”
“Would you have?”
Nell cut the chicken into smaller and smaller pieces. “I don't know.”
“It sounded like you would.”
“You haven't heard it.”
“I heard you just now.”
Nell set down her fork.
Tess reached across the table and squeezed her arm. “I'm not saying you've got to go back and be nice. Just don't get me to tell you that bit was fine.”
“I wasn't.”
“Good. Eat.”
The television was on without the sound. A man was smiling beside an enormous prize cheque. Nell looked away.
“Can I stay here tonight?”
“Of course.”
“And tomorrow?”
Tess thought. “Two nights. I've got somebody staying after that. You can still come for dinner.”
“I can go home. I'm not homeless.”
“I know. Her old room's empty now, isn't it?”
“Iris moved out.”
“Then it's quiet.”
“Everything there is ours.”
Tess didn't answer that. She got up and turned the sound on. A woman on the screen was furious about the prize, which almost made Nell laugh again.
Later they went to the flat to get Nell's clothes. Tess waited in the living room while Nell put pajamas, work things, and clean underwear into a bag. Iris's room stood open. There were pale rectangles on the walls where her pictures had been.
She had left Nell a note on the kitchen table.
Call me. Please.
Nell turned it facedown.
“Would you drop her a message?” she asked Tess. “Just say I'm staying with you.”
“You do it.”
“I don't want her calling me.”
“Then say that too.”
Nell took out her phone and typed. Iris answered almost at once, asking if she could come round.
No, Nell sent. I want a couple of days.
Then she remembered the cake tin. Iris had borrowed it when she moved, for Sunday's housewarming. It had belonged to Nell and Tess's grandmother. Nell wanted it back, and the recipe book she had left at Iris's on Saturday.
Could you leave my tin and book somewhere? she added.
Iris replied, I need the tin Sunday. Come after if you want it.
Nell stared at the message.
Tess took the clothes bag. “Ready?”
“Sunday,” Nell murmured.
“What?”
“Nothing. I'll go after the housewarming. Get my things.”
“You could get them another day.”
“I'd still have to go.”
Back at Tess's, they made up the sofa. Tess brought a pillow, shook it twice, and gave it to Nell.
“You sleep like a corkscrew. Try not to kick the table.”
Nell sat on the blanket. “Could you open at the bakery for me tomorrow? Just get the door until I arrive? I'll pay you for the hour.”
Tess looked at her.
“I can't keep going from six,” Nell said. “I need to sleep.”
“Did you ask them?”
“Yes. They said I could start an hour late if somebody covers the counter. It's the only bit you have to do.”
Tess exhaled through her nose. “I'll do it. Keep the money. One morning, though. I've got my own appointments.”
“One morning.”
Tess squeezed her shoulder on the way to bed.
Alone, Nell turned off the television. The room wasn't familiar enough to make her sad. There were bottles of hair product on the windowsill and a soft hum from the fridge. Her phone lay dark on the table.
She wanted to send Sam something. Not about the stand or the money. Just a stupid picture, something he'd laugh at. She hated that she still knew exactly what that would be.
She set an alarm and lay down.
On Friday evening Tess came home complaining about a client who'd cut her own fringe and then said Tess had ruined it. Nell sat up to listen. For twenty minutes somebody else's problems filled the room. Tess finished by showing her a picture of the fringe.
Nell laughed until she had to wipe her eyes.
“Cruel,” Tess said. “You're very cruel.”
She climbed onto the other end of the sofa, and they watched bad television until bedtime.