BooksBarbecue
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Chapters (61)
  1. COVER
  2. About the Author
  3. Books by Emily Barr
  4. DEDICATION
  5. Prologue
  6. 1
  7. 2
  8. 3
  9. 4
  10. 5
  11. 6
  12. 7
  13. 8
  14. 9
  15. 10
  16. 11
  17. 12
  18. 13
  19. 14
  20. 15
  21. 16
  22. 17
  23. 18
  24. 19
  25. 20
  26. 21
  27. 22
  28. 23
  29. 24
  30. 25
  31. 26
  32. 27
  33. 28
  34. 29
  35. 30
  36. 31
  37. 32
  38. 33
  39. 34
  40. 35
  41. 36
  42. 37
  43. 38
  44. 39
  45. 40
  46. 41
  47. 42
  48. 43
  49. 44
  50. 45
  51. 46
  52. 47
  53. 48
  54. 49
  55. 50
  56. 51
  57. Epilogue
  58. Acknowledgements
  59. Read on for an extract from …
  60. 12 December
  61. THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING

‘Ariel?’ Izzy had cornered me. ‘You’re doing something secret. What is it? Tell me it’s not that boy who ghosted you?’

Izzy was way too sharp.

‘No,’ I said. I tried to add some more reassuring words, but I couldn’t think of them. I hadn’t been expecting an ambush. ‘No, it’s not.’

‘No?’ She was looking at me, expectant. I was silent, scrabbling around for something to say. ‘Because you do something after school. You go into town on your own every day and you never tell me why. I just thought it might be that boy Joe?’

I shook my head. ‘I never saw or heard from him again,’ I said. ‘You win some, you lose some, I guess.’

Izzy’s face changed a bit, and she touched my arm. ‘What is it then? Are you OK?’

I sighed. ‘Yes,’ I said. ‘I promise. I know I’m a bit distracted. Sorry. Let’s do something at the weekend.’

She nodded. ‘I was thinking we could totally do a day trip to London sometime. Head into Exeter and then it’s just a couple of hours on the train? That’s nothing. How cool would that be? Would Sasha be OK with it?’

I forced a smile. ‘I could convince her. Yeah. It would be amazing.’

Joe looked terrible, but once he heard about Abby’s texts he cheered up.

‘Seriously?’ His eyes filled with tears. ‘You’re going to Gus’s house? Right now? Oh my God, Ariel. If I could come with you … Will you get photos for me?’

‘Only if I can do it when no one’s around. I guess that’ll be on Friday, not today.’

‘Pictures of the girls?’

I thought about it. ‘I don’t know,’ I said. ‘It would be super inappropriate. But I’ll do it if I can. I’ll tell you everything. Absolutely every minute of my time there. OK?’

He smiled the saddest smile I’d ever seen. ‘You’re the best.’

I walked through the little front garden with the plastic car in it, and up to the blue front door. I stood on the doorstep and took a deep breath before I pressed the bell. I was only here, I reminded myself, to meet the girls. It was only going to take maybe fifteen minutes max. It was nice that Abby wanted her daughters to meet their potential babysitter before leaving us alone together. I thought that she must be a cool mother.

I tried to put the sadness away and fixed a smile on my face as I heard footsteps approaching.