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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

My hand shot to my mouth to stop myself gasping out loud. I felt my skin burning red and my knees buckled. Their skin glistened as if they were slicked with oil. Him and her. Edie and my brother. Naked. Her back arched. His hands on her waist, moving her back and forth. The water made gentle undulations, reflecting the moon, in time with their movements. He leant forward. Pressed his face to the space between her breasts. They blurred again. Not the mist this time, but angry tears. Why were they doing that? I didn’t understand. How had this happened? I hated them both and I wanted them out of the pool. How dare they? How dare they do that in my pool?

Get out. Get out. Get out.

I stayed longer than I should have done. Frozen in horror, desperate not to be seeing what I was seeing, yet unable to tear my eyes off them. Eventually, I forced myself away, then dazed and confused, crept silently back through the shadows and down towards the gate. With each step the image of them together hit me like a blow to the stomach. When I made it onto the path I broke into a run, tripping and stumbling over rocks and tufts of grass. I couldn’t stop myself crying, though I tried, not altogether successfully, to muffle my sobs until I was far enough away that I could collapse on the path and draw my knees in tight.

It was as if each of them had stabbed me through the heart.

CHAPTER FORTY-SIX

CHAPTER FORTY-SIX

Angie

August 1986

She was feeling weary, lids heavy, limbs creaky. Joints like a pensioner. Surely she shouldn’t feel this old and stiff at her age. Stress, perhaps. She was still spitting with rage about what Eleanor Davenport had accused Tamsyn of. It was unforgivable. And then to forbid her from showing her face at the house? Heartless. She was a prize cow. Surely as an adult she could see how delicate Tamsyn was. How finely balanced. It was irresponsible of her to fly so fast and loose with the feelings of a child, to draw Tamsyn into their lives, then pull away like a rug from beneath her.

She laid some of the blame at Rob’s feet. Why he’d built it up in her mind as some sort of fairy-tale castle was beyond her. Shoving that damn house into her head and heart as if it was perfect.

‘Perfect, my arse,’ she muttered, as she vigorously scraped old batter off the fryers.