Chapters (86)
- Title Page
- CONTENTS
- Love
- Before
- One
- ONE
- Two
- TWO
- Three
- THREE
- Four
- FOUR
- Five
- FIVE
- Six
- SIX
- Seven
- SEVEN
- Eight
- EIGHT
- Nine
- NINE
- Ten
- TEN
- Eleven
- ELEVEN
- After
- One
- ONE
- Two
- TWO
- Three
- THREE
- Four
- FOUR
- Five
- FIVE
- Six
- SIX
- Seven
- SEVEN
- Eight
- EIGHT
- Nine
- NINE
- Ten
- TEN
- Eleven
- ELEVEN
- Twelve
- TWELVE
- Thirteen
- THIRTEEN
- Fourteen
- FOURTEEN
- Fifteen
- FIFTEEN
- Sixteen
- SIXTEEN
- Seventeen
- SEVENTEEN
- Eighteen
- EIGHTEEN
- Nineteen
- NINETEEN
- Twenty
- TWENTY
- Twenty-One
- TWENTY-ONE
- Twenty-Two
- TWENTY-TWO
- Twenty-Three
- TWENTY-THREE
- Twenty-Four
- TWENTY-FOUR
- Twenty-Five
- TWENTY-FIVE
- Twenty-Six
- TWENTY-SIX
- Twenty-Seven
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- Twenty-Eight
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- Eleven Months Later
- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
- Copyright
‘Poppy,’ I say with the tone I used to use with Rosh when she was little and refused to hold my hand when we crossed the road. ‘You need to call him.’
‘Do I?’
I tilt my head at her. ‘You know you do.’
‘Fine.’ She flicks her hair. ‘I’ll talk to him when I get home tonight.’
I use the tone again. ‘Poppy.’
‘What do I even say to him?’ She throws her hands up. ‘How the fuck do I say goodbye over the phone?’
‘What did you say to your mum earlier?’
‘Nothing.’ She won’t look at me. ‘Just that I love her.’
I pick her phone off the table and hand it to her. ‘Say that, then.’
‘Fine.’
She takes it with a petulant huff then unlocks it and taps at the screen, making a show of huffing again as she presses it to her ear. I wonder if she’s hoping he won’t answer because she seems startled when he does.
‘Hey, Dad.’ She grimaces and sticks her tongue our at me. ‘Yeah, I’m good. Did you get back OK?’
She makes all the right noises but clearly isn’t listening as she plucks another pistachio from her bun.
‘How was Paris? Did you have a good birthday?’
She pops the piece of pistachio into her mouth and pretends to be riveted by whatever he’s telling her.
‘That’s nice. Where are you now?’ She frowns. ‘How come you’re back in Cambridge already?’ Then nods. ‘OK. I’ll let you go.’ I don’t know what he says, but her whole face softens and she blinks a few times, the corners of her mouth twitching. Then I see her chin shiver as she says, ‘I love you, too, Daddy.’
She smiles to herself as she hangs up, then catches herself and scowls at me. ‘Happy?’
Very.
Poppy gets the woman behind the counter at the café to put her coffee in a takeaway cup so she can take it with her. As I watch her merrily downing the last of her latte, I decide to remind her of the rules.
‘If we’re going to pass you off as a reaper,’ I tell her, lowering my voice even though we’re the only ones on the street – us and some blokes across the road, smoking outside a pub. ‘There can be none of this.’
‘Don’t worry.’ She shakes the empty paper cup at me. ‘I’m done.’
‘OK.’ I clap my hands together. ‘So the plan is: if anyone asks, you’re a new reaper from Hastings.’
‘That was my plan, actually,’ she reminds me.