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 scratches the back of her neck, cursing the unzipped bag, the clothes spilling out of it, wondering why she’d even mentioned it to Hollie. If she hadn’t, she wouldn’t be having to answer any of these questions. The bag stares at her from the end of the bed.
‘Really?’ Silence. ‘Go away where?’
‘I don’t know . . . maybe the coast, just . . . I don’t know . . . a change of scenery.’
She shakes her head to the air. It’s the best she can come up with.
There’s a pause on the other end of the line.
‘You don’t have to keep doing this, Chloe. You could come and stay with me and Phil . . .’
Chloe rolls her eyes.
‘Chloe? Are you still there?’
‘Yes, I’m still here.’
‘I mean, well, if you’re feeling a bit lonely. I’ve told you before, we’ve got our box room and—’
‘I’m fine,’ she says, perhaps too cheerily. She curses her own mistake. She tries again. ‘I’m fine.’
‘We’ve just done up the box room, I got this lovely duvet cover and matching lampshade from . . .’
Chloe thinks then of the blue and green duvet in the Kyles’ spare room. She can imagine Maureen picking it out, making the bed, ironing out the creases with her hand and standing back to admire her work.
‘. . . and you don’t want that happening again, do you?’ Hollie is still talking.
‘Sorry, what?’ Chloe says.
‘I was just saying, about the last time and all that trouble wi—’
‘Hollie, I’ve just got another call waiting, can I call you back?’
‘Yes, yes, of course, I’ll sp—’
Chloe hangs up and flops back on the bed. Her phone slips out of her hand onto the floor. She started packing this morning as an experiment – just playing with the idea of moving to Low Drove. She wasn’t really going to go, of course she wasn’t. She just wanted to see what it felt like, being Maureen and Patrick’s lodger. The whole thing is ridiculous. She stands up and starts taking the clothes out the bag, just like she has done several times that morning. She can’t move to Low Drove. She pauses. Can she? Chloe returns the clothes to the bag. But moving there, that’s not the same as simply investigating. No, it’s much more intrusive, deceitful even. She takes the clothes out again. But how can it be? It’s not like she’s there to do harm to the Kyles. Quite the opposite. She wants to help them.