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Back A Place to Call Home Save as PDF
Chapters (59)
  1. Cover
  2. ABOUT THE BOOK
  3. Dedication
  4. PREFACE
  5. CHAPTER ONE
  6. CHAPTER TWO
  7. CHAPTER THREE
  8. CHAPTER FOUR
  9. CHAPTER FIVE
  10. CHAPTER SIX
  11. CHAPTER SEVEN
  12. CHAPTER EIGHT
  13. CHAPTER NINE
  14. CHAPTER TEN
  15. CHAPTER ELEVEN
  16. CHAPTER TWELVE
  17. CHAPTER THIRTEEN
  18. CHAPTER FOURTEEN
  19. CHAPTER FIFTEEN
  20. CHAPTER SIXTEEN
  21. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
  22. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
  23. CHAPTER NINETEEN
  24. CHAPTER TWENTY
  25. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
  26. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
  27. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
  28. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
  29. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
  30. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
  31. CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
  32. CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
  33. CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
  34. CHAPTER THIRTY
  35. CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
  36. CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
  37. CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
  38. CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
  39. CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
  40. CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
  41. CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
  42. CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
  43. CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
  44. CHAPTER FORTY
  45. CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
  46. CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
  47. CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
  48. CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
  49. CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
  50. CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
  51. CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
  52. CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
  53. CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
  54. CHAPTER FIFTY
  55. ENDING
  56. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
  57. AUTHOR’S NOTE
  58. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  59. Also by Val Wood

Tannerson had climbed out of the back to lift the children down, and now he said, ‘It’s a long story, Harry, and will keep until later. Sufficient to say you are not in debt. Shall we go inside, for it’s a long way off summer when we can sit in the garden and chat, and I’m fairly sure there’ll be a good fire burning in the hearth.’

He came round to the passenger side and put out his arm for Harry to lean on as he stepped down. ‘Is this your doing, Mr Tannerson?’ Harry asked, good-mannered as always.

‘Not at all,’ Tannerson said. ‘Blame your lovely wife entirely.’

Ellen also offered Harry her arm but he shook his head, and understanding he wanted no mollycoddling she followed the children to the door, which was opened by Lizzie.

‘How good to see you, Harry,’ Lizzie said, standing aside to let him pass, and then she slipped out into the lobby, supposedly to speak to Tannerson but in fact to let Harry take in his first impression of their new home. She heard his gasp and his incredulous questions and then the excited chatter of the children as they rushed about showing him various special things.

‘Are they going to be happy here, do you think, Lizzie?’ Tannerson murmured, gazing at her.

She nodded and smiled. ‘Wouldn’t anyone be?’

CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

Harry’s recovery was going to take time, the doctor had said, but Ellen was relieved that he was delighted with her decision to move house. Gradually he took a longer walk on his own each day, testing out his strength and ability and regaining confidence, for whilst in hospital he had often doubted that he’d ever be useful again. He walked the short distance to the top of Queen’s Road towards the green fields of Newland, and sometimes if he felt strong enough he would walk a little way towards the western entrance of the park, though he never went in. That was a pleasure waiting for a time when Ellen and the children would come too.

On the day they brought him home he had thought he must be dreaming. It was such a luxury to sit in the parlour by a warm fire and to hear Ellen talking to Lizzie in the kitchen and the children chattering as they played upstairs in their bedroom.

That night, when Ellen slipped into bed beside him and gently kissed him, he knew he was recovering. He drew her close, running his fingers over her smooth skin from her throat to her silky thighs, and then remembered. ‘The baby,’ he whispered. ‘Were we not expecting a child?’