‘Oh, you know… It’s… well…’ She shakes her head and stares down at her feet.
‘Tia, what’s wrong?’
At that moment the door tinkles, and a group of women come into the shop, chatting and laughing. Tia gives a forced laugh. ‘It’s nothing. I’m fine. Probably hormones or something.’
I lower my voice. ‘You and Ed okay?’
‘Yeah, we’re fine.’ Her voice cracks. ‘Leo, don’t touch that, your fingers are sticky.’
Her cheeky son is under the table rummaging through a basket of toys.
‘He’s fine, don’t worry about it. It’s all second-hand stuff,’ I say.
‘Sorry, thank you. Actually, I was wondering if you had time for lunch?’ She must sense my reluctance, because she puts her palms together and begs me with a puppy-dog look in her eyes.
I feel so bad for saying no, but I have to get back to check on Sophie. ‘Tia, you know I’d love to, but there’s some stuff I have to take care of at lunchtime. Could we maybe meet a bit later instead? What about this evening?’
‘I really need to talk to you, Kels. Just a quick sandwich at Ida’s? I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important.’ Her eyes glisten as though she’s about to cry.
Guilt tugs at my chest. My friend needs me. ‘Yes, of course, okay.’
She exhales. ‘Thank you!’
Maybe I’ll have time to race back home to check on Sophie for a few minutes after our lunch. ‘Is twelve too early?’
‘Twelve is perfect. Thanks, Kels. I really do appreciate it.’
An older lady comes up to the counter asking to try on a dress.
‘I’ll leave you to it.’ Tia kisses my cheek and tries to coax Leo away from the toys. Eventually she waves goodbye and I receive a sticky hug from Leo. I’m panicking about how I’m going to fit everything into my forty-five-minute lunch break, but I’m soon forced to turn my attention back to work. The shop appears to have filled up and there are people everywhere, rummaging through the rails and peering in all the baskets. I manage to make a few decent sales, so at least Derek will be pleased. It makes me happy too. The more money we raise, the better it is for our little community.
Half an hour later the shop has emptied out again. It looks like a tornado has whipped through the place. Why did I agree to have lunch with Tia today? There’s no way I’ll be able to make it home to see Sophie as well as having time for a chat with my friend. I’ll have to skip the home visit and trust that Sophie will be okay on her own all day. I’m sure she’ll be fine. I had to leave her alone yesterday and nothing bad happened. I should stop worrying about it.
Sophie doesn’t have a mobile phone, but I gave her my number and told her to use the landline to call me if she needs to. I wonder whether I should call the landline now to let her know that I won’t be home until later. But I’m not sure she’d even answer it. And what if she gets freaked out by the phone ringing? No. I’ll leave it.
I tidy the shop, check my watch and see that it’s already eleven thirty. I’m antsy, fidgety. I feel useless, which is ironic because I volunteered here to feel more useful. I nip into the stockroom and fetch my phone. Hopping up onto the stool behind the counter, I do a Google search for missing persons called Sophie. I don’t even know her surname. As I type in her first name, I realise that it could very easily be fake. I never asked to see any ID. Although it didn’t look like she had anything on her anyway. She wasn’t carrying a bag or a purse. In fact, the more I think about it, the chances are that she probably has given me a different name.
The Google search results show quite a few missing people called Sophie. There are Facebook posts and tweets of missing girls, and online news stories of families searching for loved ones all over the world. I click on the Images results and scroll through all the photos. It’s heartbreaking to see so many missing people. Where could they all have gone? But there are no pictures of the Sophie I know.
The girl is still a mystery.
Fourteen
FIONA
Molly’s at the reception desk updating the online diary. ‘Marion Scott called this morning about her bedroom