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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

‘It’s not that.’ She shakes her head. ‘It’s funny. I thought this is where I wanted to be, but I still have this feeling.’

‘What feeling?’

‘This need to go home.’ She looks around the room again. ‘But I already am, aren’t I?’

Twenty-Two

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TWENTY-TWO

Poppy can’t leave it like this. I know she has a weird relationship with her parents – especially her father – but she has to say goodbye to them.

Some time away will help, I think as I follow her out into the street, pulling the door closed behind us. It will give her a minute to compose herself and decide what she’s going to say when I persuade her to come back later.

But, for now, she has other things on her mind.

‘Where are Esen and Dev?’

I shrug. ‘No idea.’

‘Can you call them?’

‘Why?’

She tugs on her gloves. ‘I want to play mini golf and it’ll be more fun with four.’

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Esen and Dev arrive to find Poppy and I sitting at one of the picnic benches on the roof of the café at the beach, looking out at the sea. It’s surprisingly sunny for January. Still, it’s almost ten o’clock on a Sunday morning so we’re the only ones there. Just us and an exhausted-looking woman who is sitting in the playground beneath, pushing a buggy back and forth as she sips on what I can only assume is a very strong coffee.

Poppy gets an oat milk latte, which she is finishing when Esen and Dev find us.

‘You’re here!’ she squeals, throwing her hands up when she sees them.

Esen isn’t a throw-your-hands-up-and-squeal type of person at the best of times, but given the state Poppy was in the last time she saw her, she’s understandably concerned.

‘Is she OK?’ she asks as Poppy tells us to come on and heads for the stairs down to the café.

‘What do you think?’

I hear her mutter something as I follow Poppy, then mutter something else when Dev tells her to stop being so grumpy and a few seconds later, I can hear them behind me on the stairs. The woman is still there, still sipping the coffee and pushing the buggy back and forth as the seagulls peck at the empty playground, no doubt looking for stray crisp crumbs or a discarded rice cake.

Poppy is standing by the counter of the café, practically vibrating with excitement.

Or maybe it’s all the caffeine she’s just consumed.

‘Yay, mini golf !’ She claps her hands wildly.

Esen shoots a look at me, her gaze narrowing. ‘Mini what now?’