BooksBarbecue
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

‘I think so,’ Fiona said. ‘Although I’m biased, as you can imagine. She didn’t really take to art until her teens. There was a teacher at her secondary school who really inspired her. By the time she was fifteen or sixteen, creating art had become her life. She studied the subject for GCSE and A-level, then went on to do her degree. She went to Central Saint Martins. I was worried about her coming to London, at first. It was a big change from the village she’d grown up in. But luckily, one of her friends was already living in London and he helped her find her feet. Oh dear, I’m forgetting my manners entirely. Can I get you something to drink?’

Deciding she’d already intruded enough into Fiona Holden’s life, Dee declined the offer.

‘Although I wouldn’t mind using your loo quickly before I go,’ she said.

‘Bathroom’s upstairs,’ Fiona said. ‘Try to ignore the mess, if you can. My daughter has many qualities, but tidiness isn’t one of them.’

The upstairs didn’t seem too messy to Dee, but then again tidiness wasn’t one of her qualities, either. Unlike Ed, who hated mess of any kind. Another reason they’d been such a mismatched couple.

A huge work of art hung on the landing wall. At first, Dee thought it was an abstract painting. But when she’d finished in the bathroom, she paused to take a closer look and saw it was a photo collage. There must have been over a hundred photos, image after image of Annie at different stages of her life, with friends and family. The longer she looked at the collage, the more Dee realised how much work it had taken to put it together.

It told a story, starting in the middle with a photo of Annie at the age she was now. As you moved out from the centre, there were photos detailing the different stages of Annie’s life. Dee would love to get a similar collage done for Jake and Ella. She wondered if Annie might do one for her if she asked her. Of course, Dee would need two copies – one for her, and one for Ella and Jake.

She was about to go back downstairs when one of the photos caught her eye. This one, older than many of the others in the collage, was of two young girls. They were smiling, their arms draped over each other’s shoulders. They looked so alike, they could be twins. Except one of the girls was half a head taller and, if you looked closely enough, you could see she had eyes that were two different colours.