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Back One Winter Morning Save as PDF
Chapters (56)
  1. Cover
  2. About the Author
  3. By the same author
  4. Dedication
  5. 1
  6. 2
  7. 3
  8. 4
  9. 5
  10. 6
  11. 7
  12. 8
  13. 9
  14. 10
  15. 11
  16. 12
  17. 13
  18. 14
  19. 15
  20. 16
  21. 17
  22. 18
  23. 19
  24. 20
  25. 21
  26. 22
  27. 23
  28. 24
  29. 25
  30. 26
  31. 27
  32. 28
  33. 29
  34. 30
  35. 31
  36. 32
  37. 33
  38. 34
  39. 35
  40. 36
  41. 37
  42. 38
  43. 39
  44. 40
  45. 41
  46. 42
  47. 43
  48. 44
  49. 45
  50. 46
  51. 47
  52. 48
  53. Acknowledgements
  54. Read More
  55. Two Years Later
  56. THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING

‘Off you go, you pair of bitsers,’ Kit jokes, pointing towards the open doorway and grinning broadly as Tui gallops back through it. ‘And don’t get into any trouble!’ he calls after them, before turning back to face me. ‘Sorry about that,’ he says, fists on hips. ‘Tui can be a handful, but she’s a corker.’

‘She seems it,’ I say, standing up from the sofa. ‘A corker, I mean.’

I’m smiling genuinely as I say it, but Kit looks thoughtful.

‘I know Bonnie’s struggled with her at times over the years,’ he replies, his pale eyes narrowing. ‘But she loves her so much, you know? The two of them make a great team.’

As the meaning of his words begins to penetrate, it feels as if all the warmth is being drained from the room.

‘A good team?’ I repeat nervously.

Someone shouts something in the yard, and Kit glances over my shoulder, giving me a precious few seconds to steel myself for what I know he will say next.

‘That’s right,’ he confirms, giving me a look laced with even more curiosity than before. ‘I guess you didn’t know? Tui is Bonnie’s daughter.’

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10

I put the call through to David as soon as I shut the apartment door behind me, not checking or caring what time it is back in the UK. It takes him an age to answer, and he sounds half asleep when he does.

‘Genie?’

‘She’s in England,’ I say, my voice high and shrill. ‘Bonnie is in England. She left New Zealand two days ago and now she’s where I was and I’m here, on the opposite side of the goddamn world to her!’

There’s a grumble of sorts from the other end of the line.

‘It’s five in the morning, Genie – hang on a minute.’

David dares to yawn.

I am powerless to stop the red mist from descending, and I begin to pace furiously around the apartment as I wait for him to come to his senses.

‘I don’t care what time it is!’ I rant. ‘For God’s sake, Dad.’

I haven’t called David ‘Dad’ since I was about nine years old, and the word causes us both to fall silent for a moment. He decides not to comment, instead telling me again to ‘give him a minute’. There’s a rustling noise as he presumably clambers out of bed, and a short while later, I hear the unmistakable sound of a kettle revving into life.

‘I need coffee,’ he croaks. ‘Then I can think straight.’