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Back The Bad Place Save as PDF
Chapters (72)
  1. Cover
  2. THE BAD PLACE
  3. Contents
  4. Copyright
  5. Dedication
  6. Epigraph
  7. 1
  8. 2
  9. 3
  10. 4
  11. 5
  12. 6
  13. 7
  14. 8
  15. 9
  16. 10
  17. 11
  18. 12
  19. 13
  20. 14
  21. 15
  22. 16
  23. 17
  24. 18
  25. 19
  26. 20
  27. 21
  28. 22
  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. 36
  43. 37
  44. 38
  45. 39
  46. 40
  47. 41
  48. 42
  49. 43
  50. 44
  51. 45
  52. 46
  53. 47
  54. 48
  55. 49
  56. 50
  57. 51
  58. 52
  59. 53
  60. 54
  61. 55
  62. 56
  63. 57
  64. 58
  65. 59
  66. 60
  67. 61
  68. 62
  69. 63
  70. Acknowledgements
  71. About the author
  72. An Invitation from the Publisher

Her face burned. She was intensely annoyed that he’d been lying to her all this time. ‘I don’t understand. Money has been coming into our joint account.’

‘From our savings. I was waiting for you to notice, but you never did.’

She shook her head, incredulous. ‘And what have you been doing all this time?’

‘I’ll come and sit here, mostly. They’re nice, they let me stay for as long as I want, or I’ll walk around town. Some days I do nothing but walk.’

She wanted to be nice, to be sympathetic, he was in pain, he wasn’t well, but she didn’t understand why he’d been lying to her all this time. They were a team; they used to be a team.

‘If you wanted to give up work, why didn’t you tell me? I wouldn’t have stood in your way.’

‘I didn’t want to because, I don’t know…’ He shrugged. ‘You’re busy and I didn’t want you to worry.’

All the anger and frustration drained from her and was replaced by a terrible sadness. She thought again of the rambunctious guy she’d married. The devil-may-care optimist, the charming joker, the keen sportsman, the tender lover – the brilliant, loving dad. And she wondered again what had happened to that man, what had become of them both.

She pulled her fingers across the surface of the table, giving herself a moment to ensure that, when she spoke, her voice was steady.

‘And why here? Why this café?’

‘You know why,’ he told her softly.

Sasha looked around again and the place became more familiar. The tables and chairs in the long white room were a refreshing aquamarine colour, and the huge windows at the front gave a magnificent view of the estuary.

‘Why don’t you tell me?’

He smiled. ‘I remember we used to come here as a family, before…’

She was about to interrupt, but shook her head, go on, knowing he was about to say something she needed to hear.

‘We never talk about what happened,’ he said. ‘But I think about it all the time now. All the time. Why do we never talk about it?’

Her eyes met his. ‘Because it’s hard.’

‘There’s something I need to tell you and you’re going to hate me for it.’

‘I’m not going to hate you, Kev.’

‘You will.’ Emotion made his voice tremble. ‘You’re going to despise me. There’s something I never told you. And all these years the knowledge of it has… I’m finding it… hard to live with.’

‘Tell me,’ she urged him.