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Back The Imposter Save as PDF
Chapters (55)
  1. Cover
  2. ANNA WHARTON
  3. Dedication page
  4. ONE
  5. TWO
  6. THREE
  7. FOUR
  8. FIVE
  9. SIX
  10. SEVEN
  11. EIGHT
  12. NINE
  13. TEN
  14. ELEVEN
  15. TWELVE
  16. THIRTEEN
  17. FOURTEEN
  18. FIFTEEN
  19. SIXTEEN
  20. SEVENTEEN
  21. EIGHTEEN
  22. NINETEEN
  23. TWENTY
  24. TWENTY-ONE
  25. TWENTY-TWO
  26. TWENTY-THREE
  27. TWENTY-FOUR
  28. TWENTY-FIVE
  29. TWENTY-SIX
  30. TWENTY-SEVEN
  31. TWENTY-EIGHT
  32. TWENTY-NINE
  33. THIRTY
  34. THIRTY-ONE
  35. THIRTY-TWO
  36. THIRTY-THREE
  37. THIRTY-FOUR
  38. THIRTY-FIVE
  39. THIRTY-SIX
  40. THIRTY-SEVEN
  41. THIRTY-EIGHT
  42. THIRTY-NINE
  43. FORTY
  44. FORTY-ONE
  45. FORTY-TWO
  46. FORTY-THREE
  47. FORTY-FOUR
  48. FORTY-FIVE
  49. FORTY-SIX
  50. FORTY-SEVEN
  51. FORTY-EIGHT
  52. FORTY-NINE
  53. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
  54. Praise
  55. THE IMPOSTER

She lets go of Chloe, but the words hang there between them. Maureen wraps her arms across her waist.

‘I . . . I didn’t mean . . . I meant . . . well, it’s not like you . . . and Angie . . .’

Chloe goes to speak, but there really isn’t anything to say. It has already been said. Chloe is so much more than just the lodger.

The silence is broken by the sound of Patrick’s car hitting the pebbles on the drive. Maureen lets go of her arm and spins around to fix her hair.

‘I’ll talk to him, Chloe,’ Maureen says quickly as the car door slams and they hear his footsteps heading towards the house. ‘The last thing I want is for you to feel uncomfortable here. I’ll talk to him.’

Chloe turns to go up to her room, but as she climbs the stairs, she can still feel Maureen’s grip on her arm. She reaches out to touch the pink marks that Maureen’s grasp has left. She runs her fingers across them and remembers how insistent Maureen was, how determined she was not to let go.

THIRTY-FIVE

The carers at Park House have decorated Nan’s bedroom door with two red balloons. The door is open when Chloe arrives and Nan sits on the leather chair next to her bed, two birthday cards on the bedside table beside her. Her eyes light up when she sees Chloe holding a bunch of daffodils.

‘Happy birthday, Nan,’ Chloe says, bending down to give her a kiss on the head. She no longer recognizes the shampoo she uses, or the scent of the washing powder her clothes are rinsed in here. Everyone knows the disease makes Chloe a stranger to Nan, but people forget that towards the end it works the other way around too.

‘Are those for me?’ Nan says, reaching for the flowers. ‘My daughter Stella always buys me daffodils on Mother’s Day. Is it Mother’s Day today?’

Chloe picks up the birthday cards next to her bed, both illustrated on the front with flowers and fine copperplate writing. One is signed by all the staff at Park House, and the other is from Claire Sanders. The one from Claire Sanders also has ‘85’ on the front and Chloe hates her for remembering when she had not. She hasn’t even bought a card this year. Last year had been so different when it had just been the two of them. She’d even baked a cake, Nan’s favourite, lemon drizzle. She’d decorated it with candles and encouraged Nan to blow them out and watched as she made a wish – making her own wish that they would always be together. But it is true what they say, all good things must come to an end.