Contents (57)
- Prologue
- 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
- Fifty
- Fifty-One
- Fifty-Two
- Fifty-Three
- Acknowledgements
- About the Author
- Also by Sharon Gosling
Rachel looked at Toby and shrugged. ‘I saw one of his television appeals, where he was going on about me being mentally ill and vulnerable. It wasn’t true. I mean, I was depressed and yes, I was certainly vulnerable, but that was why he’d picked me in the first place, wasn’t it? But he was the one with the voice. I was just the one being spoken about. It took me a long time to stop looking over my shoulder. I thought I’d finally stopped, but when you brought it all up—’ Rachel looked away. ‘Now I know I probably never will. It’ll always be there. He’ll always be there, taking up space he never deserved.’
They were silent for a while. Really, what could Toby say?
‘You should stay,’ Rachel said eventually. ‘In Newton Dunbar, I mean. Don’t leave because of me, because of this.’
Toby took a breath. He wondered what the chances of them being able to really move past this were if he could do just that. An hour ago he would have said zero, but now…
‘I’ve said yes to the job I told you about,’ he said, regretting it for the first time since he’d accepted the position. ‘I start on Monday.’
Rachel nodded slowly. ‘Well. I’m glad you’ll be working again.’
He smiled a little. ‘Me too.’
‘Will you be able to come back for the wedding, at least?’
‘Wedding?’ Toby frowned. ‘What wedding?’
Forty-Eight
‘The dress,’ Gilly said. ‘We’re less than a month away and I haven’t heard you talk about what you’re going to wear. Have you even thought about it?’
‘I’m sixty-seven, for goodness’s sake,’ Edie said. ‘I’m getting married in a council register office and the reception is in a bookshop. It’s not going to be lace and ruffles, is it? I’ve probably got something in my wardrobe that’ll do.’
‘Edie, you can’t!’ Gilly said, appalled by this suggestion. ‘It doesn’t have to be white, but it’s got to be special!’
Edie might have agreed to the wedding, but she seemed rather less excited about having to actually do anything for it, or for the marriage that would follow. She would not, for example, be changing her name (‘No, of course I’m not. I did that once and it was a stupid thing to do. Never again. Besides, all my customers know me as Strang.’). Ezra was not bothered by this in the slightest, but Rachel had been surprised to find that Gilly was. Gilly was also disturbed by Edie’s complete lack of ‘putting in an effort’ (her phrase) for the wedding, which was why the three women were currently gathered around the table in the print room with snacks and drinks. The evening had been convened by Gilly, who was using it as a sort of intervention.
‘It might be nice to find something new, Edie,’ Rachel suggested. ‘It doesn’t have to be a wedding dress.’
‘It won’t be a wedding dress,’ Edie said firmly. ‘And – ugh – I can’t bear the idea of having to traipse around shops. You know how much I hate clothes shopping.’