‘Look, her hair matches her face!’ Felicity had taunted as they all laughed, and Elle’s face grew hotter by the minute. It never took much. In class, any time the teacher singled her out for a question she would feel her face go red, then of course someone would draw attention to the fact, and that would make her feel even more embarrassed.

So, there she’d been, her face red and blotchy, verging on tears, when the new kid—a skinny, curly-haired girl named Lilly—marched up and dragged Elle away from them.

‘If you wanna pick on my friend, you pick on both of us!’ she’d yelled at Felicity.

‘Don’t worry,’ she went on to say quietly as they stormed through the playground, ‘it’s only scary when you’re by yourself. You’ve got me now.’ It was as simple as that. The two had remained best friends ever since. Curly-haired girls had to stick together.

Elle had nothing but admiration and pride for the way her friend was raising gorgeous Rose. Everything Lilly did was for her daughter. She didn’t go out like most people their age; she had no interest in dating or drinking. She worked hard to provide for them, without any help from Tommy, who’d been Lilly’s boyfriend for almost two years through high school, and the drummer in a local band. Lilly’s pregnancy announcement could not have come at a worse time, with Tommy and his band due to leave for Sydney to make their mark on the world. Despite Lilly assuring him a baby wouldn’t interfere with his plans—a girlfriend and a baby weren’t the kind of image Tommy was looking for—he’d promptly left town when Lilly refused to terminate the pregnancy. Elle found it maliciously satisfying to hear that he was now a roadie for a tribute act who sang Billy Ray Cyrus covers.

‘I can’t hang out with my best friend when I feel like it?’ she said a little too casually as she leaned against the bar.

Lilly eyed Elle silently for a few moments after she handed her a glass of her usual white wine. ‘Okay, what’s going on?’

Surely, she couldn’t be that easy to read? Lilly gave her a look that Elle had seen her use on Rose when she’d tried to talk back, and Elle instantly felt like a naughty five-year-old. ‘I was just given three weeks’ notice from Brown’s,’ Elle admitted grudgingly.

‘What? Why would they do that?’

‘Apparently that new supermarket’s doing more damage than they’d anticipated.’

‘Well, people had been trying to tell Brown’s they’ve been getting expensive. Maybe they should have listened before the competition moved in.’ Lilly took Elle’s hand and squeezed it gently. ‘But that really sucks.’