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Back The Cliff House Save as PDF
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

I grabbed my jeans and sweatshirt from the floor and pulled them on. I took hold of my trainers and crept downstairs, and let myself quietly out of the front door.

I walked along the coast path in the dark as if being dragged by an invisible rope. There was enough light from the moon for me to see, but the ground underfoot was sodden after all the rain. A couple of times I slipped, and once fell, banging my elbow on a large stone at the edge of the path. However, as soon as I was seated at the rock, using my bag to keep the wetness from soaking my jeans, the tension immediately seeped from my body. It was like a drug, calming my anxiety, smoothing my head out.

The moonlight bounced off the house and turned its whiteness spectral. The windows were dark apart from Max and Eleanor’s bedroom and the sitting room. The curtains and blinds were open and the lit windows turned to cinema screens showing Eleanor asleep on the settee. She rested her head on her arm. Her legs were curled beneath her. White trousers. White top. The blue headscarf discarded on the floor beside her golden sandals. Max walked down the stairs. I wondered why he was still up. Maybe he’d fallen asleep then woken to find she wasn’t there, come down to look for her. As he stood over her I imagined him gazing on her beauty, remarking to himself how perfect she was. He bent to pick her up, an arm under her knees, the other hooked beneath her shoulders. Her hair trailed over his arm as he walked her up the stairs. They were out of sight for a moment or two then appeared in their bedroom. He walked her to their bed and lowered her onto it as if she were made of glass. After he’d covered her, he left the room and moments later the living-room light went out, then a little after that the one in their bedroom. The house plunged into darkness.

I waited sufficiently long for sleep to take hold of them. Then I walked carefully along the coast path and pushed through the gate. I held my breath when the hinges creaked. The image of my mum kissing Gareth filled my head but I chased it away. I didn’t want their treachery anywhere near me. Not here. Not at The Cliff House.