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Back Before You Were Gone
Chapters (58)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. One
  4. Two
  5. Three
  6. Four
  7. Five
  8. Six
  9. Seven
  10. Eight
  11. Nine
  12. Ten
  13. Eleven
  14. Twelve
  15. Thirteen
  16. Fourteen
  17. Fifteen
  18. Sixteen
  19. Seventeen
  20. Eighteen
  21. Nineteen
  22. Twenty
  23. Twenty-one
  24. Twenty-two
  25. Twenty-three
  26. Twenty-four
  27. Twenty-five
  28. Twenty-six
  29. Twenty-seven
  30. Twenty-eight
  31. Twenty-nine
  32. Thirty
  33. Thirty-one
  34. Thirty-two
  35. Thirty-three
  36. Thirty-four
  37. Thirty-five
  38. Thirty-six
  39. Thirty-seven
  40. Thirty-eight
  41. Thirty-nine
  42. Forty
  43. Forty-one
  44. Forty-two
  45. Forty-three
  46. Forty-four
  47. Forty-five
  48. Forty-six
  49. Forty-seven
  50. Forty-eight
  51. Forty-nine
  52. Fifty
  53. Fifty-one
  54. Acknowledgements
  55. An Eastbourne Murder Mystery
  56. Canelo Crime
  57. About the Author
  58. Also by Sheila Bugler

She’d known Jake since he was a tiny baby. Back then, Ella had been living alone in the mobile home next door to Dee’s house. They were only two properties on this lonely stretch of beach between Eastbourne and Pevensey Bay. The two women had become friends. Dee already had a family of sorts – her cousin Louise, and Louise’s two children Ben and Daisy. But they lived the other side of town and Louise was so scarily competent she had never needed Dee in the same way Ella had.

The three of them – Dee, Ella and Jake – had formed a special bond. Not having children of her own, Dee knew the love she felt for Jake was the closest thing she’d ever get to having that feeling other women spoke about so reverentially. When Jake was two years old, Ella was reunited with his father, Tom, who had moved into the mobile home with Ella and Jake. Foolishly, Dee had allowed herself to believe they would continue living there.

Any time she pictured her future, her neighbours were always there. Jake would grow older and Dee would be there to witness every stage of his life. She would be part of it. Driving him to school and picking him up whenever his parents couldn’t do it. Being a confidante during his teenage years. Watching him grow and become a young man. It was this vision of her future that had given her the strength to break up with Ed Mitchell. She’d convinced herself she didn’t need him, that having Ella and Jake in her life was enough.

Then, just like that, this imagined future had been rewritten. And that hurt. The urge to pick up the phone and call Ed was overwhelming. She picked up her mobile, her thumb hovering over his name as she imagined telling him about Tom’s job. She knew he’d understand immediately how she felt. Just as she knew, even after all this time, he would come over if she asked him to. And he would do and say all the right things to make this news seem bearable. No. She couldn’t do it. She’d made her decision six months ago, and she was going to stick to it. Ed Mitchell was out of her life and that was all there was to it.