BooksBarbecue
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

‘And the new place is looking good – we’ve painted the spare room. It’s tiny but it looks much better, you know, fresh lick of paint. You should come over, we’re having friends around on Satur—’

‘Oh, it’s OK.’ Chloe starts slipping her arms into her coat and winding her scarf around her neck. ‘At the moment I’d rather just . . . you know, what with Nan missing . . .’

‘Of course, of course.’ Hollie looks away as she does up her coat.

Chloe stands up from her chair. ‘I’d better get back to work, but I might go to the cemetery at lunchtime, you know, just in case . . .’

‘Oh Chloe, it’s far too cold for that, and anyway, she’s got more sense than to be hanging around there. If she’s anywhere, it’ll be back at home, won’t it? You’ll probably go home after work and find her sitting there with a cup of tea.’

At the mention of tea, Chloe remembers the melted kettle she threw away. And then the fact she’s already ten minutes late for work.

Hollie stands up to hug her goodbye. ‘Promise you’ll let me know when they find her?’

SIX

After work, Chloe leaves the office and heads for the shopping centre. She walks against the tide of shoppers, scanning the crowd as she does for a navy parka, white hair and a wobbly gait she would instantly recognize. A group of teenage schoolgirls, skirts rolled up above their knees, pass her going in the opposite direction. Chloe stares at the tight circle they make. One bumps Chloe with her bag. They walk on chattering.

Chloe finds the department store and heads towards the electricals. Inside, she browses different models of kettles, walking alongside rows and rows of them. She watches the people around her, the couples taking time to choose; some pick up one kettle to test how it feels in their hand, how it feels to pour. Chloe copies them, testing kettles well out of her price range, before choosing one exactly the same as Nan’s last.

Nan’s house is a museum of her life. It makes Chloe feel safe that Nan’s world moves more slowly than the outside one, the things and people take longer to change. Chloe can relax in there. Outside the doors, the world is less reliable. The people are too.