Contents ( 71)
- THE
- DAUGHTER
- MICHELLE FRANCES
- PROLOGUE
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- TWELVE
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- TWENTY-SIX
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- THIRTY-THREE
- THIRTY-FOUR
- THIRTY-FIVE
- THIRTY-SIX
- THIRTY-SEVEN
- THIRTY-EIGHT
- THIRTY-NINE
- FORTY
- FORTY-ONE
- FORTY-TWO
- FORTY-THREE
- FORTY-FOUR
- FORTY-FIVE
- FORTY-SIX
- FORTY-SEVEN
- FORTY-EIGHT
- FORTY-NINE
- FIFTY
- FIFTY-ONE
- FIFTY-TWO
- FIFTY-THREE
- FIFTY-FOUR
- FIFTY-FIVE
- FIFTY-SIX
- FIFTY-SEVEN
- FIFTY-EIGHT
- FIFTY-NINE
- SIXTY
- SIXTY-ONE
- SIXTY-TWO
- SIXTY-THREE
- SIXTY-FOUR
- EPILOGUE
- AUTHOR’S NOTE
- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
‘You ever think of telling her where to get off?’
‘Katie!’ he admonished.
‘Do you?’
‘She’s lost four babies.’
‘Foetuses. And one “baby” is still very much around.’
He said nothing, and her eyes still blazed.
‘Did you ever consider . . . it might be difficult for her?’ said her dad gingerly. ‘Trying for all those babies and failing, then you get one by accident?’
Her mouth dropped open with hurt and incredulity. ‘So, she’s jealous of me? Is that what you’re saying?’
‘No . . .’ He shook his head, giving up. ‘I’ll write and send you things,’ he said.
Kate nodded. ‘She won’t like it.’
‘She won’t know.’ It was a rare moment of defiance from her father. If only they weren’t conducted in secret, she thought angrily. If only he had the balls to stand up to her.
Her father indicated the crib. ‘Can I hold her?’
‘She’s sleeping right now. Don’t wake her.’ Even as she said it, she knew that one day she’d regret her childish stubbornness. But she didn’t retract her words.
He left soon after and, seemingly in protest, Becky began to cry. Kate picked her up and, as she fed her, Becky quieted.
‘It’s just you and me now,’ said Kate to her daughter’s tiny head, her voice catching. She swallowed back the tears, determined not to cry. Who was going to mop her tears anyway? It was a waste of energy. ‘I’m not going to leave you,’ she said fiercely. ‘Not ever. We’ll do it, eh? Me and you.’
FIVE
2017
‘Would you like to know more details about the accident?’ Sarah, the Family Liaison Officer, perched on the sofa, not too comfortable, not too formal. Her mug of tea sat on the table. She linked her fingers together on the tops of her knees and her voice was soft with empathy.
It was what Kate had been dreading, and yet she had to know. She nodded.
‘Stop me at any time. If it gets too much.’
Kate quickly rubbed her face with her hands and realized she was holding her breath. She made herself exhale.
‘Becky was on her bicycle cycling south on Red Lion Street—’
‘Where’s that?’
‘It’s just north-west of Chancery Lane underground station.’
‘So, it was near her office?’
‘Yes, about a mile away. A lorry was driving along the same street. The lorry turned left in front of her path and . . . she was trapped underneath. Are you OK?’
Kate blinked back her tears and nodded quickly. Get it over with, she thought; I need to know.
‘You are aware of her injuries?’ said Sarah, carefully.
‘They told me she . . . she suffered massive internal injuries.’ Kate’s hands started to shake, and she held them tightly in her lap. Then she forced herself to ask the thing she’d been dreading. ‘Was she . . . was she conscious? When she was under the lorry?’
Sarah paused. ‘I’m sorry. Yes, she was.’