BooksBarbecue
Back Afterlove
Chapters (86)
  1. Title Page
  2. CONTENTS
  3. Love
  4. Before
  5. One
  6. ONE
  7. Two
  8. TWO
  9. Three
  10. THREE
  11. Four
  12. FOUR
  13. Five
  14. FIVE
  15. Six
  16. SIX
  17. Seven
  18. SEVEN
  19. Eight
  20. EIGHT
  21. Nine
  22. NINE
  23. Ten
  24. TEN
  25. Eleven
  26. ELEVEN
  27. After
  28. One
  29. ONE
  30. Two
  31. TWO
  32. Three
  33. THREE
  34. Four
  35. FOUR
  36. Five
  37. FIVE
  38. Six
  39. SIX
  40. Seven
  41. SEVEN
  42. Eight
  43. EIGHT
  44. Nine
  45. NINE
  46. Ten
  47. TEN
  48. Eleven
  49. ELEVEN
  50. Twelve
  51. TWELVE
  52. Thirteen
  53. THIRTEEN
  54. Fourteen
  55. FOURTEEN
  56. Fifteen
  57. FIFTEEN
  58. Sixteen
  59. SIXTEEN
  60. Seventeen
  61. SEVENTEEN
  62. Eighteen
  63. EIGHTEEN
  64. Nineteen
  65. NINETEEN
  66. Twenty
  67. TWENTY
  68. Twenty-One
  69. TWENTY-ONE
  70. Twenty-Two
  71. TWENTY-TWO
  72. Twenty-Three
  73. TWENTY-THREE
  74. Twenty-Four
  75. TWENTY-FOUR
  76. Twenty-Five
  77. TWENTY-FIVE
  78. Twenty-Six
  79. TWENTY-SIX
  80. Twenty-Seven
  81. TWENTY-SEVEN
  82. Twenty-Eight
  83. TWENTY-EIGHT
  84. Eleven Months Later
  85. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
  86. Copyright

I ignore her and turn to Poppy with a patient smile. ‘Stay here, OK?’ I know Esen and Dev think I’ve lost it, but as much as I don’t want to leave Poppy out here by herself, even in the self-destructive mood that I’m in, I’m not foolish enough to take her into the bookshop with me. ‘Don’t move, OK? I’ll be right back.’

I prepare for Poppy to put up a fight, but she just smiles at me then nods before I stride off.

I’m almost at the door to the bookshop when I feel someone reach for my arm. It’s Esen, but she doesn’t let go this time.

‘It’s Poppy’s time, Ash. You know it is,’ she says when I whip my head round to hiss at her. I try to shrug her off, but she holds on tighter, pulling me to her. ‘Do you really want to go in there? ’ She nods at the door then lowers her voice. ‘And risk Deborah finding out? You’ll make whatever time Poppy has left even shorter.’

That makes me falter for the first time since we left the cemetery.

‘What do you think Deborah is going to do when she finds out, Ash?’ Esen shakes me so hard I swear I feel something in me come loose. ‘Do you think she’s just going to let you two skip off into the sunset?’ She shakes me again. ‘She’s going to send Poppy straight to Charon and you to, God knows where. We’ll never see you again.’

When Esen finally lets go, I stagger back as Dev runs over.

‘What am I supposed to do?’ I ask and it comes out as a howl.

‘Just wait,’ Dev says softly, her palms pressed together. ‘I know you’re scared, Ash, but we’ll work it out.’ She looks at Esen who exhales through her nose then nods. ‘Between the three of us, we’ll work it out. I promise.’

I look between them, then back at Poppy who is standing outside the Komedia, watching us, and sigh.

‘Fine,’ I say, adjusting the sleeve of my leather jacket

‘Thank God.’ Dev looks so relieved that if I didn’t know better, I’d think she was going to faint. ‘Everything’s going to be OK.’

Will it? I think as I follow them into the bookshop.

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If Deborah was concerned about me going AWOL earlier, she doesn’t show it as she emerges from the door behind the counter when the bell rings. She’s carrying a pile of books, which she puts down next to the till. It never ceases to amaze me how busy she keeps herself. She’s always fussing over them, arranging and rearranging them and running a feather duster over the shelves, even though I’ve never seen a single customer come in here.

Not once.