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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

They made sure nobody was around then walked to the front door. She slipped her key in the lock and held her breath as she turned it. She could hear noises coming from her parents’ room. Her father talking. Pained moaning from her mother.

‘Come on,’ she mouthed and beckoned him up to her room.

He sat on her bed while she threw a few things into a small bag. She retrieved her Halifax savings book from her bedside table and waved it in Jago’s face excitedly. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her to him, wrapping his arms around her as she bent to kiss him. They fell backwards onto the bed and kissed harder. The excitement they both felt making every touch electric.

And then there was a piercing screech from the terrace. The two of them pulled apart quickly. Jago jumped off the bed and went to the window. Edie peered over his shoulder. Tamsyn was near the swimming pool. She was wet and dressed only in her underwear. Max had one arm around her shoulder. The other hand was raised like a policeman halting traffic. Eleanor stood a little way away from them, dishevelled and creased and screaming like a banshee.

‘Holy shit,’ Jago muttered.

He ran for the door.

‘No, Jay.’ Edie grabbed his hand. ‘Leave them. Don’t get involved. Let’s just go. My father will calm Eleanor down. He’s used to dealing with her when she’s in a state.’

‘But Tam’s down there.’

‘She’s fine,’ she said, picking up the bag she’d just packed. ‘Let’s just leave. Please. I don’t want them to stop us going.’

He wrenched himself from her grasp and tore out of the room. She called after him but he was already down the stairs. She swore loudly and slammed the bag back down on the bed.

CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE

CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE

Tamsyn

August 1986

Everything moved in slow motion. Eleanor stood in front of us with her face split into shards of rage. The most godawful noise came out of her.

‘What’s that bitch doing here?’ she shrieked. ‘You promised me, Max. You said nothing was going on!’

‘And I was telling—’

‘Shut up! You fucking bastard. How could you do it to me again? And with a child? With a fucking child?’

Eleanor turned the full weight of her fury on me. I shrunk behind Max.

‘You whore.’ She spat the words at me as if she were firing darts. ‘You think I’m stupid? Is that what you think? Treating me like a village idiot? Thinking you can steal him away from me?’