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Back The Cottage Save as PDF
Chapters (82)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. ONE
  4. TWO
  5. THREE
  6. FOUR
  7. FIVE
  8. SIX
  9. SEVEN
  10. EIGHT
  11. NINE
  12. TEN
  13. ELEVEN
  14. TWELVE
  15. THIRTEEN
  16. FOURTEEN
  17. FIFTEEN
  18. SIXTEEN
  19. SEVENTEEN
  20. EIGHTEEN
  21. NINETEEN
  22. TWENTY
  23. TWENTY-ONE
  24. TWENTY-TWO
  25. TWENTY-THREE
  26. TWENTY-FOUR
  27. TWENTY-FIVE
  28. TWENTY-SIX
  29. TWENTY-SEVEN
  30. TWENTY-EIGHT
  31. TWENTY-NINE
  32. THIRTY
  33. THIRTY-ONE
  34. THIRTY-TWO
  35. THIRTY-THREE
  36. THIRTY-FOUR
  37. THIRTY-FIVE
  38. THIRTY-SIX
  39. THIRTY-SEVEN
  40. THIRTY-EIGHT
  41. THIRTY-NINE
  42. FORTY
  43. FORTY-ONE
  44. FORTY-TWO
  45. FORTY-THREE
  46. FORTY-FOUR
  47. FORTY-FIVE
  48. FORTY-SIX
  49. FORTY-SEVEN
  50. FORTY-EIGHT
  51. FORTY-NINE
  52. FIFTY
  53. FIFTY-ONE
  54. FIFTY-TWO
  55. FIFTY-THREE
  56. FIFTY-FOUR
  57. FIFTY-FIVE
  58. FIFTY-SIX
  59. FIFTY-SEVEN
  60. FIFTY-EIGHT
  61. FIFTY-NINE
  62. SIXTY
  63. SIXTY-ONE
  64. SIXTY-TWO
  65. SIXTY-THREE
  66. SIXTY-FOUR
  67. SIXTY-FIVE
  68. SIXTY-SIX
  69. SIXTY-SEVEN
  70. SIXTY-EIGHT
  71. SIXTY-NINE
  72. SEVENTY
  73. SEVENTY-ONE
  74. SEVENTY-TWO
  75. SEVENTY-THREE
  76. SEVENTY-FOUR
  77. Suggested topics for reading-group discussion
  78. Keep Reading …
  79. Lisa Stone also writes under the name of Cathy Glass.Don’t miss her latest book …
  80. About the Author
  81. Books by Lisa Stone
  82. About the Publisher

She felt very sorry for the couple – their grief was raw. But the mystery of the disappearing baby had been solved. There’d been no foul play, their baby had tragically been born dead. Of course the midwife would have covered its body with the blanket in the Moses basket while she’d carried it out, and then secured it on the rear seat of the car as she drove to the morgue. It was awfully sad, but it appeared no crime had been committed and in this respect Beth was pleased.

SIX

It shouldn’t be this frigging difficult to start a lawn mower! Jan cursed.

Taking hold of the starter cord again, she summoned all her strength and gave it a sharp pull. The engine turned once, the cord sprang back into place, and then nothing.

‘Bloody hell!’

Her right arm was aching from repeatedly pulling the starter cord, and now there was a strong smell of petrol! She’d probably flooded the engine, she thought, with all the attempts she’d been making to get it going. An electric lawn mower, like her parents had, would have been much easier. You just plugged it in and off you went. Chris had said Camile’s mower could be temperamental in damp weather, but the weather wasn’t damp. The day had stayed fine, which was why Jan had decided to cut the grass after she’d returned from the village store.

She pulled the cord again and the smell of petrol grew stronger. If she had flooded the engine, the only solution was to leave it to dry out. Then, if it still wouldn’t start, she’d have to phone Chris, which might not be such a bad idea anyway.

She may as well put the time to good use while she waited, she decided. Taking the rake from the shed, she began raking up fallen leaves. Tinder was indoors as he was scared of the lawn mower. Once she had a decent-sized pile of leaves, she scooped them up and dumped them on the compost heap, which was at the bottom of the garden to the left of the shed. The garden had a large central lawn flanked by borders of shrubs, so there wasn’t much to do at this time of year. Camile had written in her notes that if Jan could cut the grass and clear up the leaves that would be great. She didn’t think Camile would be impressed by her efforts so far to cut the grass, but then Jan had never had to do it before.