On the First Day of Christmas
Chapters (33)
Cover
ON THE
FIRST DAY
OF
Christmas
ALSO BY FAITH HOGAN
My Husband’s Wives
Secrets We Keep
The Girl I Used to Know
What Happened to Us?
The Place We Call Home
The Ladies’ Midnight Swimming Club
The Gin Sisters’ Promise
Title Page
ON THE
FIRST DAY
OF
Christmas
Faith Hogan
Copyright
First published in the UK in 2022 by Head of Zeus Ltd,
part of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Copyright © Faith Hogan, 2022
The moral right of Faith Hogan to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
This is a work of fiction. All characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN (TPB): 9781804542477
ISBN (E): 9781803287751
Head of Zeus Ltd
5–8 Hardwick Street
London EC1R 4RG
Dedication
For my family – thank you.
Contents
Also by Faith Hogan
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Author’s Note
Acknowledgements
About the Author
An Invitation from the Publisher
Prologue
The Past
Jade, emerald, lizard, lime, shamrock, seafoam and chartreuse: so many colours, blending and pinging into each other while drumming out their own tattoo from far across the North Sea. It was as if a celestial realm had opened up a window in the sky and with every heartbeat it was tearing up the familiar black, wider and wider, so you could almost believe that very soon, heaven itself would be visible to the naked eye. Liv shook herself out. The last thing she wanted to be thinking about now was heaven, or any kind of paradise that felt no more real than pie in the sky. Or death or dying. She could do that every second of the day if she allowed her mind to wander, even just a fraction from the steady path she’d worn out with wishful thinking. It was really blinkered hopefulness that she knew no oncologist would ever encourage in the face of what was inevitable. It was just a matter of time and not very much of it at that. More nights than she cared to admit now, Liv found herself – in the darkest hours, when sleep raced like a rapid fox just always out of reach – even resorting to prayer.
‘Whoever said there were only forty shades of green obviously hadn’t seen aurora borealis.’ Rachel yawned as she snuggled further beneath the heavy blanket Pete had wrapped around them.