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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

Later that afternoon, Dee walked back into town to meet Louise. They’d arranged to meet at the West Rocks Beach Bar, one of several bars dotted along the seafront. Like the others, this one had outside seating on the beach. Louise was already there when Dee arrived, sitting at a table outside. Dee ordered a glass of Sauvignon Blanc and went to join her cousin.

The sun was blasting down, and it was too hot for Dee’s liking. But Louise was a sun worshipper and, so far, had rejected all Dee’s efforts to persuade her to sit inside.

‘It’s all right for you,’ Louise said. ‘You can spend your entire day on the beach if you want to. But I’m stuck inside an office most of the day.’

Dee didn’t point out that this wasn’t exactly accurate. As a local journalist, Louise seemed to spend most of her working life attending events, or driving around the place to interview people for the paper.

‘If you’re going to make me sit outside,’ Dee said, ‘then I’m ordering another drink. Can I get one for you as well?’

‘Just a water.’ Louise pointed at her barely touched glass of wine. ‘This will do me for a while longer.’

Dee finished her wine, and went inside to order another glass. When she came back outside, Louise was talking to someone on her phone.

‘Martin,’ Louise said, when she hung up. ‘Wanted to know what time dinner was going to be.’

Dee opened her mouth to say something, then, seeing the warning look on Louise’s face, shut it again.

‘He’d cook dinner if I wanted him to,’ Louise said. ‘He’s always offering to do it. But the truth is, I prefer doing the cooking. That way, at least, I know I’m going to get something I like.’

‘Well more fool you,’ Dee said, smiling to take the edge off her words. ‘If I had someone willing to cook my meals for me, I wouldn’t try to talk them out of it.’

‘You had someone more than willing to do that. But you got rid of him, remember?’

‘Ouch.’ Dee pretended to flinch. ‘Can we not talk about Ed for once?’

Because it was a topic Louise refused to let go. In her opinion, dumping Ed Mitchell had been a mistake, and she never wasted any opportunity to remind Dee of this fact.

‘How about the menopause, then?’ Louise said. ‘I haven’t had my period for over six months. I thought at first it was stress. You know, after all that business with Derek.’