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Back Her White Lie Save as PDF
Chapters (72)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. Chapter One
  4. Chapter Two
  5. Chapter Three
  6. Chapter Four
  7. Chapter Five
  8. Chapter Six
  9. Chapter Seven
  10. Chapter Eight
  11. Chapter Nine
  12. Chapter Ten
  13. Chapter Eleven
  14. Chapter Twelve
  15. Chapter Thirteen
  16. Chapter Fourteen
  17. Chapter Fifteen
  18. Chapter Sixteen
  19. Chapter Seventeen
  20. Chapter Eighteen
  21. Chapter Nineteen
  22. Chapter Twenty
  23. Chapter Twenty-One
  24. Chapter Twenty-Two
  25. Chapter Twenty-Three
  26. Chapter Twenty-Four
  27. Chapter Twenty-Five
  28. Chapter Twenty-Six
  29. Chapter Twenty-Seven
  30. Chapter Twenty-Eight
  31. Chapter Twenty-Nine
  32. Chapter Thirty
  33. Chapter Thirty-One
  34. Chapter Thirty-Two
  35. Chapter Thirty-Three
  36. Chapter Thirty-Four
  37. Chapter Thirty-Five
  38. Chapter Thirty-Six
  39. Chapter Thirty-Seven
  40. Chapter Thirty-Eight
  41. Chapter Thirty-Nine
  42. Chapter Forty
  43. Chapter Forty-One
  44. Chapter Forty-Two
  45. Chapter Forty-Three
  46. Chapter Forty-Four
  47. Chapter Forty-Five
  48. Chapter Forty-Six
  49. Chapter Forty-Seven
  50. Chapter Forty-Eight
  51. Chapter Forty-Nine
  52. Chapter Fifty
  53. Chapter Fifty-One
  54. Chapter Fifty-Two
  55. Chapter Fifty-Three
  56. Chapter Fifty-Four
  57. Chapter Fifty-Five
  58. Chapter Fifty-Six
  59. Chapter Fifty-Seven
  60. Chapter Fifty-Eight
  61. Chapter Fifty-Nine
  62. Chapter Sixty
  63. Chapter Sixty-One
  64. Chapter Sixty-Two
  65. Chapter Sixty-Three
  66. Chapter Sixty-Four
  67. Chapter Sixty-Five
  68. Chapter Sixty-Six
  69. Chapter Sixty-Seven
  70. A letter from Jackie
  71. About the Author
  72. Also by Jackie Walsh

I walk over to Tara’s side and wrap my arms around her, coaxing her away. Tara lets go of her mother’s hand for the last time.

Chapter Forty

I’m leaning against the cold steel, the number 431 pressed against my face. I’m listening to the fun unfold behind this large wooden door when my phone vibrates in my pocket. It’s Mam, I know it is. No one else ever calls anymore. Not even my brother, because apparently he’s fed up listening to my sarcastic bullshit. When I’m ready to talk like a normal person, he says, he’ll speak to me. Huh, normal. What’s normal?

Ignoring the phone, I walk away from the door and back to the elevator. I’m pressing the button for the ground floor when it occurs to me that Andriu might arrive at the apartment for drinks. Tara said she was meeting him in a pub later but I know now she says a lot of things that aren’t true. Like when she told me Andriu was staying in Horgan’s Hotel. Now I don’t know whether to believe her. Still, my mind indulges in the possibility that I could bump into him at any minute.

The excitement lifts my mood. I check my reflection in the silver panel of the elevator door and remember my mother’s words. You look lovely, Faye. Which reminds me: I’d better ring her back. She’ll be worried. I told her I’d be home for dinner. Chicken arrabbiata no doubt. It’s the same every Friday. I happened to mention that I liked it when we were in a restaurant once, long before all this crap started, and my mother remembered.

Mam had never cooked Italian before then, except for maybe spaghetti bolognese or heating a pizza. But when I had to move back in to the house, she found a recipe in some Jamie Oliver book and now she cooks chicken arrabbiata for me every week. I think she’s trying to tell me she loves me without using words.

I step out of the elevator, my feet no longer sore. I’m looking all around the hallway but Andriu isn’t here. With my flimsy jacket pulled once more across my chest, I leave the building and walk to the far side of the street. The only thing I can do now is wait. Then I will follow them to whatever pub they go to. I will definitely bump into Andriu if I do that.