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Back Love, Accidentally Save as PDF
Chapters (41)
  1. Dedication
  2. 1
  3. 2
  4. 3
  5. 4
  6. 5
  7. 6
  8. 7
  9. 8
  10. 9
  11. 10
  12. 11
  13. 12
  14. 13
  15. 14
  16. 15
  17. 16
  18. 17
  19. 18
  20. 19
  21. 20
  22. 21
  23. 22
  24. 23
  25. 24
  26. 25
  27. 26
  28. 27
  29. 28
  30. 29
  31. 30
  32. 31
  33. 32
  34. 33
  35. THANK YOU!
  36. MORE FROM PHOEBE MACLEOD
  37. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
  38. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  39. ALSO BY PHOEBE MACLEOD
  40. Boldwood Ever After
  41. About Boldwood Books

‘Mm. The really strange thing is that I couldn’t see how miserable she was making me, and how controlling she’d become.’

‘What happened?’

‘Mum, of course. She didn’t say anything to me – she knew it would just drive a wedge between us – but she could see that I wasn’t happy, even if I couldn’t see it myself. Cass was clever; she always turned on the charm around Mum and Dad, but she started to get careless. One day, she made a disparaging remark to me in Mum’s hearing.’

‘Uh-oh.’ I may never have met the famous Geraldine, but you don’t need to be a genius to work out that she wouldn’t have reacted well.

‘Yeah. Mum told her firmly not to talk to me like that, and Cass completely lost her shit with her. She screamed a load of vile stuff that I’m not going to repeat, but the gist was that I was a waste of space, she’d basically been carrying me for months, she’d talk to me however she liked and my mother should be grateful that anyone was prepared to take on her charity case of a son.’

‘I’m surprised your dad didn’t throw her out.’

‘I think he would have, if she hadn’t stormed out before he got the chance. Anyway, it opened my eyes at last.’

‘So you ended it.’

‘I was going to, but I had to deal with Mum and Dad and the fallout first. By the time I got back to the flat, she’d packed all her stuff and gone. That was six months ago and I haven’t seen her since.’

‘I’m so sorry, Will. You didn’t deserve that.’

‘Thanks, but can you understand why I’m wary? You’re not dyslexic and, although I’m sure you’ll do your best, I worry that you’ll just end up getting similarly frustrated when I can’t fill in what looks like a basic form to you, or look up one of my dad’s ex-girlfriends online. I like you, Tilly, I really do. But I’m not sure I can go through the wringer again.’

Any remaining reserve I feel about him fades away as my heart melts. But then I check myself. Am I falling into exactly the trap he’s talking about? Is this the beginnings of something deeper, or am I just feeling protective, like he’s some kind of wounded animal that I need to take care of? If it’s the second, he’ll see through me and we’re just heading for disaster.

Fuck. Why is everything always so bloody complicated?

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