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
Jackson. Greg’s son. A thirteen-year-old boy who can barely find a word to say to Sienna, even though she had nothing to do with the break-up of his parents’ marriage. What irks her the most is that Holly was the one who left Greg, so it’s not as though Greg deserted them. When Sienna came along later, all she did was pick up the pieces, try to help Greg put himself back together again. There is no reason for Jackson to resent her.
‘He’s a hormonal teenager,’ Greg is always pointing out. Yet Jackson had only been nine when she’d met Greg – a long way from the teenage years. Greg never has an answer for this. She admires the way he jumps to his son’s defence though – that’s exactly how it should be.
‘He’s been having some trouble at school,’ Greg says, ‘fighting with some boys in his class who’ve been bullying him.’
‘Oh? You never mentioned that.’ This shouldn’t surprise Sienna. Greg rarely volunteers information about his son: she is always the one pushing him for details.
Greg frowns. ‘Didn’t I? I thought I had. Holly’s dealt with it all, though, so best not to bring it up unless Jackson mentions it. Anyway, I’ll be home before we have to leave for dinner,’ he says. ‘It might be a bit tight, though, so we’ll have to leave straight away.’
‘It will be fine,’ Sienna says, because that’s her nature – always trying to focus on the positive.
It’s nearly half past five and Jackson sits on the sofa, hunched over his iPad, flicking his long fringe from his eyes. Sienna has no idea what he’s doing on it and contemplates checking to make sure whatever he’s looking at is suitable, but from the little she knows of Holly, she’s confident parental controls will be in place.
She tries to hide from Jackson that she’s anxious, but it’s been boiling in her stomach since Greg called five minutes ago. He’ll be late, he’s stuck in horrendous commuter traffic, so he’s had to ask Holly to pick up Jackson instead. It’s Sienna’s instant reaction to offer to make her own way to the restaurant, so that at least one of them is there on time.