The water was boiling but I liked the sting of it. I lowered myself down, forcing my body into the scalding water in an effort to rid my mind of Edie’s horrified face. I lay back in the heat and closed my eyes. She’d been my last hope of staying close to the house and now she hated me too and would never want to see me again. I felt sick, bile scraping the back of my throat. She’d tell her parents I’d been breaking into their house. They’d demand Mum’s key back, change the locks, be ready to call the police at the first sight of me. What had I been thinking? And why – oh, God, why – had I kissed her?

After my bath I wrapped my hair in a towel and tied my dressing gown tight around my waist then unlocked the bathroom door.

Granfer’s strained breathing pushed through the paper-thin walls. I poked my head around his door to check he was okay.

‘Ah, hello… love. You feeling… all right?’

I nodded. Though it was a lie. My temperature might have gone back to normal, but I felt anything but all right. ‘You?’

‘A bit sore… today…’ And he gestured at his chest.

I rubbed his hand and pulled over the stool, then tapped the jigsaw table. ‘Come on, let’s help you get this bugger finished.’

A while later, as we were sorting pieces, he said, ‘She came here… you know… to see you…’

‘Who?’

‘The girl… from the white… house.’

‘She was here? When?’

Surely he was wrong? Edie had been at the house? This meant everything. Maybe she wasn’t angry with me? Maybe Eleanor had changed her mind? Maybe she’d come over to invite me back?

‘Are you sure? It was definitely her?’

‘She was… like… you said.’

I waited while he caught his breath.

‘Short white hair. All… in… black.’

‘When?’

‘Beginning of the… week. You… were in bed…’

‘What did she say? Did you speak to her?’

‘Jago… did. Told her you… were sleeping. I heard… her say tell her… I’m sorry…’

My heart leapt. Everything was going to be okay! I jumped up and ran back to my box room, covered my face with both hands, and sobbed with overwhelming relief.

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

Jago

August 1986

He folds the money and slips it into his back pocket then checks the street irrationally for his mum. Mind you, it’s not just her he’s worried about. He can feel his father’s judgement from beyond the grave. His disappointment.

You bastard, he thinks.

Edie is leaning against the bike, smoking. Looking at her brings a hot rush of pleasure. White-blonde hair framing her face. Eyes blackened. An exotic punk panda. Since their first kiss she is all he can think about. He longs to touch her, to hold her against him, to explore every inch of her.