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Back The Other Husband Save as PDF
Chapters (67)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. PROLOGUE
  4. PART ONE
  5. ONE
  6. TWO
  7. THREE
  8. FOUR
  9. FIVE
  10. SIX
  11. SEVEN
  12. EIGHT
  13. NINE
  14. TEN
  15. ELEVEN
  16. TWELVE
  17. THIRTEEN
  18. FOURTEEN
  19. FIFTEEN
  20. SIXTEEN
  21. SEVENTEEN
  22. PART TWO
  23. EIGHTEEN
  24. NINETEEN
  25. TWENTY
  26. TWENTY-ONE
  27. TWENTY-TWO
  28. TWENTY-THREE
  29. TWENTY-FOUR
  30. TWENTY-FIVE
  31. TWENTY-SIX
  32. TWENTY-SEVEN
  33. TWENTY-EIGHT
  34. TWENTY-NINE
  35. PART THREE
  36. THIRTY
  37. THIRTY-ONE
  38. THIRTY-TWO
  39. THIRTY-THREE
  40. THIRTY-FOUR
  41. THIRTY-FIVE
  42. THIRTY-SIX
  43. THIRTY-SEVEN
  44. THIRTY-EIGHT
  45. THIRTY-NINE
  46. PART FOUR
  47. FORTY
  48. FORTY-ONE
  49. FORTY-TWO
  50. FORTY-THREE
  51. FORTY-FOUR
  52. FORTY-FIVE
  53. FORTY-SIX
  54. FORTY-SEVEN
  55. FORTY-EIGHT
  56. FORTY-NINE
  57. FIFTY
  58. FIFTY-ONE
  59. FIFTY-TWO
  60. FIFTY-THREE
  61. FIFTY-FOUR
  62. EPILOGUE
  63. Mailing list
  64. A Letter from Kathryn
  65. Acknowledgements
  66. About the Author
  67. Also by Kathryn Croft

‘I’m so sorry about Leela,’ Sienna says. ‘Is that her photo over there?’ She gestures to the mantelpiece.

‘Yes.’

‘A beautiful girl.’

‘I’m sorry, I’m a bit confused. It’s been a few years, so I can’t understand what Leela might have to do with your husband now?’

Sienna takes a deep breath. ‘Mrs Hall… Kerry… My husband was murdered. I know how awful it is to have unanswered questions. It’s impossible to move on when there are huge question marks hanging over your head.’

Kerry nods, even though what Sienna has said doesn’t explain why they are here. ‘Losing Leela was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to go through. I’m still going through it. She was my baby. An only child.’ She wipes tears from her eyes. ‘Do either of you have children?’

‘No,’ Abby says. ‘But I imagine losing one is the worst thing anyone could possibly go through.’

Sienna leans towards Kerry Hall, speaks gently. ‘You don’t have to talk about this if you don’t want to, but what was she like? In that photo she looks so happy, so content.’

‘Actually, I like talking to people about her,’ Kerry says. ‘It keeps her alive for me. I don’t want to stop talking about her or thinking about her. I want to remember every detail of the person she was.’ She stares at Sienna. ‘Because it fades, you know. The memories you have of them. Soon enough you realise that what you’re remembering isn’t as clear.’

‘I know what you mean,’ Sienna says. She is already experiencing this.

‘Time erases memories of the small things,’ Kerry says, ‘as much as you try to cling on to them.’

‘That is exactly how I feel already,’ Sienna says. ‘I can’t even picture Greg’s smile in my head – it’s only when I look at photos I remember.’

Kerry nods. ‘I suppose that’s our way of coping. If our memories didn’t fade, then we’d be constantly in those first stages of grief and we’d never be able to continue living our lives.’

Abby likes this woman. She seems strong and rational, despite how her world has been torn to shreds.

‘You will find a way to live with it,’ Kerry says to Sienna. ‘That’s the only comfort I can give you.’

‘Thank you.’

Kerry stands and walks over to the photo of Leela. ‘She was only twenty-two. She had so many plans for herself, so much she wanted to do. That’s what makes it even harder to get my head around. I can’t even think of her as a woman – to me she was still a girl. She had her whole life in front of her, so it just didn’t…’ She chokes up, unable to continue for a moment.