Chapters (67)
- Cover
- Dedication
- PROLOGUE
- PART ONE
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- TWELVE
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- PART TWO
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- TWENTY-SIX
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- PART THREE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- THIRTY-THREE
- THIRTY-FOUR
- THIRTY-FIVE
- THIRTY-SIX
- THIRTY-SEVEN
- THIRTY-EIGHT
- THIRTY-NINE
- PART FOUR
- 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
- FIFTY-FOUR
- EPILOGUE
- Mailing list
- A Letter from Kathryn
- Acknowledgements
- About the Author
- Also by Kathryn Croft
‘I’m in the living room,’ she says.
‘I’ll head off in a minute. Are you sure you’re okay with me staying at Mum and Dad’s for a few days? I’ll drive straight to work from theirs on Monday, so I’ll see you in the evening.’
Today is Friday. She has a whole weekend to deal with Sienna. ‘It’s fine,’ she says. ‘I’ll carry on with the redecorating.’
‘Removing every trace of Sienna.’
‘If you want to see it that way.’
‘I don’t want to, that’s just how it looks.’
She doesn’t have the energy to argue with Rob right now; she needs every ounce of what she has to handle Sienna when she comes.
‘What I don’t understand is,’ he says, ‘why you hate her so much.’
‘I don’t hate her at all.’ There’s no point explaining that Sienna is the one who turned on Abby. It will all become clear to Rob soon enough.
‘What did you talk about, anyway? At the funeral?’
They haven’t mentioned the funeral since they got home. It’s not as though Abby has avoided talking about it – Rob is the one who changed the subject when she tried.
‘She’s not out to get you, Abby. I wish you could see that.’ He walks over to her and gives her a brief kiss. ‘I’ll see you later.’
It’s another hour before Sienna turns up. Abby knew she would feel nervous, but she hadn’t expected her stomach to somersault just witnessing her stepping out of her car. She’s still dressed in black, although her clothes are different: leggings and a floaty, long, sleeveless top. The only colour on her is the dark red hair clip holding her fringe back from her face.
‘Thanks for coming,’ Abby says when they’re inside.
‘Don’t thank me. I haven’t come for you. I’ve come here for me.’
‘Well, all that matters is you’re here.’
‘Where’s Rob?’ Sienna asks. ‘Surely he’s not working this late?’
‘He’s gone to his parents’. I thought it would be better to talk alone.’
Sienna walks through the hall, gazing around at the freshly painted walls. ‘Something you weren’t happy with?’ she asks.
‘It just felt like the right thing to do. Sorry if you’re offended.’
‘Actually, that’s the least offensive thing you’ve done, isn’t it?’
Sienna is right, but Abby needs to extinguish her hostility. ‘I know, and I’m sorry, but I’ll get to that. Please, will you just sit, and we can talk about everything?’
Sienna does as Abby asks, folds her arms across her body and waits silently for her to continue.