Chapters (55)
- Cover
- ANNA WHARTON
- Dedication page
- 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
- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
- Praise
- THE IMPOSTER
‘She’s been trying to reach you, apparently she’s left lots of messages – she wondered if you’d changed your number, but it’s the same one we have here, isn’t it?’ She peers her head into the office and runs her finger down a chart on the wall. Chloe had seen it once, a wall with every next of kin’s emergency contact number. Her name fitting neatly among all the others.
‘Ends in 248?’
‘Yes, that’s it, I haven’t changed my number,’ Chloe says, pulling her phone from her pocket, ‘but there’s not a great signal where I’ve been working, so maybe that’s why her calls haven’t been getting through?’
Miriam nods. ‘How’s it all going?’
Chloe shuffles her feet on the coarse matting in front of the door. She had been almost out of there when Miriam had called her back.
‘Didn’t you say that you had to go away for work?’ Miriam says. ‘I haven’t seen you around as often.’
‘Oh that, yes, it’s going well.’
‘Good,’ Miriam says. ‘I know your grandmother is really proud of you, well . . . during her more lucid moments. How did she seem to you today?’
The automatic doors open and close as Chloe shifts on the carpet in front of them, stuck between Park House and the outside world.
‘Yes, she seems good. I mean, forgetful but . . .’
‘Yes, well, you know that inside she knows you still. They say that even though people with dementia might not recognize you or remember your name, they still remember the love they feel for you and still feel the love you have for them.’
Chloe nods. The doors close behind her.
‘Grace has been wandering again, she likes the bottom of the garden for some reason. I don’t know what attracts her to the copse but the builders are moving into that area now so we’re going to need to cordon it off somehow. Perhaps it’s the lake she wants to get to. The staff walk out with them sometimes, but it’s not the same as being able to go for a walk whenever you like, is it?’
Chloe shakes her head. She’s going to be late for Hollie.
‘You should take her sometime, she’d like that,’ Miriam says. ‘You don’t have to always be stuck in here with all these old folk.’
‘Oh yes, I will, I’ve just got to get off now.’ She points to the doors which open on cue.
‘Of course, I didn’t mean now. Anyway, it’ll be dark soon. I’ll let you go, but see you soon, OK? Remember that your grandmother remembers you in here.’ She pats her chest and Chloe feels the urge to roll her eyes because it’s such a cliché, but of course she doesn’t.