BooksBarbecue
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

If she was honest with herself, she had been expecting something like this to happen. It was the best possible news that Sammi had returned safely. Michelle wasn’t ashamed to say she burst into tears when she heard it on the radio. It would have been nice, a common courtesy, if someone had thought to ring her personally, but despite that, she was relieved and thankful. She had been determined not to contact Alan, Jessica and Sammi, appreciated that they all needed to take a breath. But Jessica had already texted Michelle to tell her to stay away. Sammi was in a bad way, Jessica said, and they wanted to spend time together, just the three of them, after Sammi’s traumatic experience, and so on and so forth. It was a blow, but Michelle understood that Jessica was still angry about what happened at the press conference.

Sitting at her desk, she listened now while Alan made his excuses. Sammi needed peace and quiet, she was crying all the time and afraid of outsiders – it wounded Michelle to be called an outsider – and wanted to spend more time with her parents.

Michelle sipped from her mug.

It had been a dream of hers that Sammi’s return would be a new beginning for them all. Alan and Jessica would finally tell Sammi that Michelle was her mother – maybe she had already found out. It wasn’t like she wanted Sammi to come and live with her or anything, she just yearned for her daughter to know the truth, and then they could all move forward. But she knew now that the Mannings intended to freeze her out of Sammi’s life completely, so his resignation from the company was hardly unexpected.

Still, it was a bitter pill to swallow. Alan would be difficult to replace, and he had been a comfortable presence in Michelle’s life, like a favourite pair of slippers. Men had come and gone, and in many respects, Alan had been a better husband to her than any of them.

She was getting tired of his pathetic excuses now – he felt terrible about the whole thing, he had enjoyed working with her all these years, blah blah blah – and Michelle wanted to get him off the phone. Then her assistant poked her head in the door and said, ‘There are police officers here to see you, Michelle.’

‘Alan, I’m going to have to go now.’ Michelle calmly sipped from the mug. ‘Please give my love to Jessica and… to Sammi. I’m so relieved that she’s back, Alan, you don’t know how much.’

There was silence on the other end, and she knew he felt awful. Well, good. She didn’t know when, or if, they would speak again.