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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

It didn’t take long to get the kitchen clean. Not only was it therapeutic but it also gave me the feeling that somehow re-establishing order meant something bigger. New slates. Fresh starts. And it kept my mind busy.

When everything was washed and dried, the rubbish binned, a cloth with Jif rubbed around the worktop to make it shine, I flicked the kettle on.

‘We never had that cup of tea,’ I said as I put the mug down on the terrace table. ‘It’s got three sugars in.’

I sat in the chair beside him and pulled my knees up to my chest then rested my chin on them.

‘Thank you.’ He turned the mug a quarter rotation. Then turned it again. ‘She used to be so much fun, you know. Life and soul of the party. But something happened. I’ve done things I’m not proud of. She’s right about that.’ He ran his finger around the rim of the mug once, then laid his hand flat on the table. He looked out over the sea. ‘It’s beautiful here, isn’t it? I loved it here from the moment I saw it. This is what I want. I don’t know what Eleanor wants but I do know it’s not this. And I also know it’s not me. Our love has faded and now, well, we’re both stuck with each other, wanting different things. Miserable.’ He caught himself then. Glanced at me with a tight embarrassed smile. ‘Sorry. You don’t need to hear all this.’

I leant over and rested my hand on his, curled my fingers around him and squeezed. He returned his gaze to the sea and for a long while we sat there like that in silence.

CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR

CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR

Tamsyn

September 1986

I spent my days watching from the rock.

When I was in the house, when I wasn’t out on the cliff, I confined myself to my box room. I’d covered the bed with the tartan blanket from Max’s study, the one he’d draped around my shoulders to keep me warm, and every night I slept in the tracksuit he’d leant me, ignoring the staleness which soon seeped out of it. I decorated the walls of my room with the pages torn from my scrapbook: the dried gunnera, the daisy, the sea glass and the rest. The only thing I didn’t stick up was the bracelet, which I kept beneath my pillow. To help me sleep I’d grasp hold of it and think of The Cliff House as I touched each ruby in turn like a Catholic praying a rosary.