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Back The Lies We Told Save as PDF
Chapters (44)
  1. Title Page
  2. Copyright
  3. Table of Contents
  4. Dedication
  5. 1
  6. 2
  7. 3
  8. 4
  9. 5
  10. 6
  11. 7
  12. 8
  13. 9
  14. 10
  15. 11
  16. 12
  17. 13
  18. 14
  19. 15
  20. 16
  21. 17
  22. 18
  23. 19
  24. 20
  25. 21
  26. 22
  27. 23
  28. 24
  29. 25
  30. 26
  31. 27
  32. 28
  33. 29
  34. 30
  35. 31
  36. 32
  37. 33
  38. 34
  39. 35
  40. Acknowledgements
  41. Keep Reading…
  42. About the Author
  43. Also by Camilla Way
  44. About the Publisher

‘She’s due in two months!’ she cried. ‘Two months! Oliver said he’s only known a month, that he couldn’t face telling me before, but he’s lying, of course. And now she’s started calling the house. She won’t leave us alone. She said that unless he leaves me for her, she’ll tell everyone about their affair.’ She shook her head in dismay. ‘His career will be over, Beth, we’ll have to leave, everyone will find out at the hospital – everyone will know. All our friends and colleagues and family … oh, Beth, what shall I do? Everything, our lovely life, our lovely family, it will all be ruined! It will be so humiliating, so utterly humiliating.’

She was beside herself. I tried to comfort her the best I could, but I didn’t know what to say. After that night I didn’t see her for a while. She took some time off work and then, what with one thing and another a few weeks slipped by, though I worried about her constantly. Occasionally I’d see her but she was always busy or rushing off somewhere. When, finally, we did arrange to meet I thought she seemed calmer, more resigned to it all, as though she’d begun to come to terms with it a bit. I knew the girl – Nadia – was due to have her baby in late March, and when the date came and went I was surprised when Rose didn’t ask to meet me. I assumed she’d decided to accept it, to get on with her life.

And then, one night, at around nine o’clock when Doug and I were just settling down to watch TV, there was a knock on the door. We looked at each other in surprise and when I went to answer it, Rose and Oliver were standing on our front step, Emily beside them asleep in her buggy. ‘What’s the matter?’ I asked. ‘What’s happened?’ They looked so odd, staring back at me like that, their eyes so big and frightened.

It was Rose who spoke first, and her voice was strange, not like her usual one at all. ‘Beth,’ she said. ‘You have to help us. You’re the only one who can.’

25

Suffolk, 2017

For a long moment in the living room of The Willows, no one moved, as though frozen by Oliver’s words. It was Tom who spoke first. ‘What?’ he said faintly. ‘She’s your what?’

At this, Rose made a low moaning sound and dropping her head began to cry bitterly into her hands. Nobody moved to comfort her. Clara looked at each of their faces, shock reverberating through her. This, surely, was some sort of joke? She glanced at Mac, but he, too, was staring at Oliver in astonishment.