BooksBarbecue
Back Afterlove Save as PDF
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 isn’t until I’m approaching The Lanes Hotel that I notice that I’m walking more quickly and when I find myself at the top of the stairs down to the beach, I know why.

Then I’m running, my legs obeying me at last as I charge down the stairs and on to the beach, the pebbles splashing beneath the soles of my DMs as I try to remember where I was sitting with Poppy a few hours ago.

We were sitting here, weren’t we? The Pier to our right, the wind farm ahead of us. I know I can’t, but I’m sure that I can see the impression we made in the pebbles and oh God—

Why did I leave?

I should have stayed.

Poppy was right – it was only thirty-nine minutes. It wasn’t even worth it in the end, was it? It’s not like I made it home on time. If I’d stayed I could have rung in the New Year with her and none of this would have happened.

I suddenly miss her so much it’s all I can do not to sink to my knees and cry. It dawns on me then that without my phone, I don’t have her number. My parents made me and Rosh memorise our landline and their mobile numbers in case something happened. I had the chance to do the same with Poppy’s, didn’t I? When I was on the bus from town that afternoon, I stared at it until the numbers blurred together.

Furious with myself, I walk the length of the beach, right up to Dukes Mound, but there’s no sign of her.

She’s gone.

I give up, following the road up to Marine Parade. At least I know where she lives, I think, slowing as I look up at her big white house. I look up at her bedroom window and see that the light is on and I want to call up to her, tell her everything that happened tonight.

But that can wait.

I need to get home.

images

It’s the police car that finally makes me slow down. It’s parked in the middle of the street, doors open. People on my estate don’t call the police, they prefer to handle things themselves, so if the police are here uninvited, it can’t be good.

There’s a huddle of people by the car, chatting furiously. Most of them are in their pyjamas, coats thrown over the top, their bare feet stuffed into shoes and trainers in their haste to get out and see what’s going on. I can’t help it, curiosity getting the better of me as well, and I walk over to see what they’re looking at.