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Chapters (64)
  1. Cover
  2. Booklist
  3. Title Page
  4. Praise
  5. Dedication
  6. Prologue
  7. CHAPTER ONE
  8. CHAPTER TWO
  9. CHAPTER THREE
  10. CHAPTER FOUR
  11. CHAPTER FIVE
  12. CHAPTER SIX
  13. CHAPTER SEVEN
  14. CHAPTER EIGHT
  15. CHAPTER NINE
  16. CHAPTER TEN
  17. CHAPTER ELEVEN
  18. CHAPTER TWELVE
  19. CHAPTER THIRTEEN
  20. CHAPTER FOURTEEN
  21. CHAPTER FIFTEEN
  22. CHAPTER SIXTEEN
  23. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
  24. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
  25. CHAPTER NINETEEN
  26. CHAPTER TWENTY
  27. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
  28. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
  29. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
  30. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
  31. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
  32. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
  33. CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
  34. CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
  35. CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
  36. CHAPTER THIRTY
  37. CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
  38. CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
  39. CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
  40. CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
  41. CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
  42. CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
  43. CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
  44. CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
  45. CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
  46. CHAPTER FORTY
  47. CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
  48. CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
  49. CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
  50. CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
  51. CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
  52. CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
  53. CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
  54. CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
  55. CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
  56. CHAPTER FIFTY
  57. CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
  58. CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
  59. CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE
  60. CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR
  61. CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE
  62. Epilogue
  63. Acknowledgements
  64. About the Publisher

‘Are you…’ Angie asked hesitantly, ‘okay?’

Eleanor nodded. ‘Yes. Yes, of course, I am. Why wouldn’t I be?’

They held each other’s gaze for a number of seconds. Eleanor’s eyes appeared to soften and her mouth twitched as if she might be about to speak. But she said nothing.

Angie crouched down and began to put the larger pieces of mirror in the dustpan. Then Eleanor did the same and the two women worked in silence to clear up the mess. Angie winced as she caught Eleanor’s haunted reflection repeated many times over in the pieces of broken mirror, her eyes bloodshot, skin blotched and lips taut. Angie wrapped the newspaper around the bits of mirror then swept the area thoroughly to clear it of smaller slivers and glass dust.

When she was done she sat back and looked at Eleanor. ‘Can I get you anything?’ she asked.

Eleanor turned her gaze on Angie. Any softness that might have been there a few moments before had retreated and her eyes were glazed with familiar hardness. ‘Like I said, I knocked it by mistake.’ Then she stood and looked down at Angie. ‘Please hoover the floor. We walk around with bare feet up here and don’t want to get cut.’

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Tamsyn

July 1986

As usual I watched the clock all morning and as usual it limped around like a wounded soldier. ‘Hurry up,’ I whispered, but it didn’t move faster; if anything it seemed to slow.

I needed to see Edie. I’d phoned yesterday to see what time I should go up and she’d said she was shopping with her mother. Apparently Max had to meet with his editor in Exeter, and she and Eleanor were going too, in the hope of finding some half-decent shops. Tamsyn had suggested she come up for supper, but Edie had said they might stay the night in a hotel because the publisher was paying after all. She must have picked up my fear because she then added she would definitely see me on Wednesday after work. When I put the phone down my vision blurred with a fizzing worry. I went back to our house and grabbed my bag with the binoculars, and spent the rest of Tuesday with my sights trained on the The Cliff House, praying they’d decide not to stay in Exeter and I wouldn’t have to wait another day.