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Back Stranger Save as PDF
Chapters (43)
  1. Cover
  2. About the Author
  3. Prologue
  4. SPRING
  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. SUMMER
  19. 14
  20. 15
  21. 16
  22. 17
  23. 18
  24. 19
  25. 20
  26. 21
  27. 22
  28. AUTUMN
  29. 23
  30. 24
  31. 25
  32. 26
  33. 27
  34. 28
  35. 29
  36. 30
  37. 31
  38. 32
  39. 33
  40. 34
  41. 35
  42. Acknowledgements
  43. THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING

She thought of that during the walk back to her house, that even though they’d parted – Ross to lift weights in the Y, and Eva to slip in home and up to the quiet stillness of her bedroom – some trace of her remained on him, just as he did in her.

This thought occupied the spaces in her mind, expanding to fill any pockets of doubt, drowning out the niggling whispers of conscience. And when her mother stepped out of the car that day, and went to gush over Ross and Becca in their glamorous Gatsby gear, Eva’s eyes moved to the row of cars that lined the Campbells’ driveway, her eyes seeking out the Merc, and she thought of what they had done there and it consoled her. Picturing their bodies locked together, the urgent motion of her pelvis working against him, all thoughts of his wife flown from his head.

24

On Sundays, the Hollands often went to the tennis club for the afternoon. Eva frequently had a match and it was an opportunity for Abi and Mark to catch up with friends over Bloody Marys in the clubhouse bar. Beth didn’t play tennis, and she hated everything about the club: the bar clotted with middle-aged men in Lacoste shirts and Argyle sweaters; their wives sipping G&Ts, discussing book clubs and Botox; meanwhile their offspring, a bunch of entitled brats, became hyper on the succession of carbonated drinks they consumed, while Sky Sports was projected endlessly on to the widescreen on the wall. The whole thing gave her a migraine and for the most part, she found some excuse not to go. But on that particular Sunday morning, when Abi raised the idea and Eva had chimed in that she’d booked a court for a practice match, Corinne had looked up and said:

‘Hey. Can I go too?’

Beth’s heart sank.

In her bedroom, after breakfast, she tackled Corinne on the issue, saying:

‘I don’t think you realize what you’ve just agreed to. The tennis club is like super-boring. We’ll just be sitting around waiting for hours. The whole club is stuffed with losers. Can’t we do something else instead?’

But Corinne had just shrugged, saying: ‘You don’t have to go if you don’t want to. I can go with Eva.’