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Back One Mistake Save as PDF
Chapters (56)
  1. Books by Rona Halsall
  2. Dedication
  3. Prologue
  4. Chapter One
  5. Chapter Two
  6. Three weeks later
  7. Chapter Three
  8. Chapter Four
  9. Chapter Five
  10. Chapter Six
  11. Chapter Seven
  12. Chapter Eight
  13. Chapter Nine
  14. Chapter Ten
  15. Chapter Eleven
  16. Chapter Twelve
  17. Chapter Thirteen
  18. Chapter Fourteen
  19. Chapter Fifteen
  20. Chapter Sixteen
  21. Chapter Seventeen
  22. Chapter Eighteen
  23. Chapter Nineteen
  24. Chapter Twenty
  25. Chapter Twenty-One
  26. Chapter Twenty-Two
  27. Chapter Twenty-Three
  28. Chapter Twenty-Four
  29. Chapter Twenty-Five
  30. Chapter Twenty-Six
  31. Chapter Twenty-Seven
  32. Chapter Twenty-Eight
  33. Chapter Twenty-Nine
  34. Chapter Thirty
  35. Chapter Thirty-One
  36. Chapter Thirty-Two
  37. Chapter Thirty-Three
  38. Chapter Thirty-Four
  39. Chapter Thirty-Five
  40. Chapter Thirty-Six
  41. Chapter Thirty-Seven
  42. Chapter Thirty-Eight
  43. Chapter Thirty-Nine
  44. Chapter Forty
  45. Ten days later
  46. Chapter Forty-One
  47. Seven months later
  48. Love You Gone
  49. Hear More from Rona
  50. A Letter from Rona
  51. Books by Rona Halsall
  52. Her Mother’s Lies
  53. The Honeymoon
  54. Keep You Safe
  55. Acknowledgements
  56. *

She wondered how much her time was worth. How many meetings, how much companionship James would need before he considered the debt repaid. It could take years. The thought landed with a thud in her belly. Years before she could put her crime behind her without fear of repercussions. She looked at the man across the table, and heard Fiona’s warning to stay away, remembered the vitriol in her voice. What had he done to make her react like that?

Chapter Twenty

It was the end of Thursday – football practice done and dusted, children settled – and Sara was finally getting ready to go up to bed when Matt bounced into the kitchen. He reached into the fridge for a beer. ‘Finally,’ he said, with emphasis, ‘I’m getting there.’

She looked up, his words not really registering. Now’s a good time, she decided, having been wondering all week how to break the news of her impending weekend away without causing friction. Time was running out. Do it!

Her mouth went into action before she could chicken out. ‘I forgot to mention… I’ve been invited to a hen party with the uni girls this weekend. You remember Louise? I said no when she first asked because you’re so busy, but someone dropped out and she’s asked me again. It’s years since I’ve seen them and… well, I’d really love to go.’ She took a deep breath. ‘I’ll be going Friday night, coming back Sunday.’

I’m paying back the debt, she reminded herself. This is the only reason I’m doing it.

‘You must remember her,’ she said, when Matt’s confusion seemed to have rendered him temporarily speechless. ‘We lived next door to each other in halls.’

Matt scowled, banging his beer onto the worktop while he looked for the bottle opener. ‘I didn’t think you were in touch with any of your old uni mates. I thought you’d outgrown them.’

Her jaw clenched and it took a beat to dampen her annoyance. ‘We chat on Facebook and I fancy meeting everyone again, so I already said I’d go.’ Sara hated how defensive she sounded. Why shouldn’t I have some time with friends? Even if they were imaginary, it was the principle of the thing.

He opened his beer, took a long swig, then leaned against the worktop, giving her a hard stare. ‘And I’m looking after the kids, I suppose?’ He sounded like she’d asked him to lick the toilet clean.