BooksBarbecue
Back The Sleepover Save as PDF
Chapters (72)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. PROLOGUE
  4. 1
  5. 2
  6. 3
  7. 4
  8. 5
  9. 6
  10. 7
  11. 8
  12. 9
  13. 10
  14. 11
  15. 12
  16. 13
  17. 14
  18. 15
  19. 16
  20. 17
  21. 18
  22. 19
  23. 20
  24. 21
  25. 22
  26. 23
  27. 24
  28. 25
  29. 26
  30. 27
  31. 28
  32. 29
  33. 30
  34. 31
  35. 32
  36. 33
  37. 34
  38. 35
  39. 36
  40. 37
  41. 38
  42. 39
  43. 40
  44. 41
  45. 42
  46. 43
  47. 44
  48. 45
  49. 46
  50. 47
  51. 48
  52. 49
  53. 50
  54. 51
  55. 52
  56. 53
  57. 54
  58. 55
  59. 56
  60. 57
  61. 58
  62. 59
  63. 60
  64. 61
  65. 62
  66. 63
  67. 64
  68. EPILOGUE
  69. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  70. MORE FROM KERI BEEVIS
  71. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  72. About Boldwood Books

She couldn’t live like this and something had to give.

When Bill finally witnessed her explode one weekend, he realised it too.

Before he returned to work the following week, he made her a promise. ‘I have a plan. I’m going to fix this. Just give me a few days.’

And so she waited.

4

Hannah told him he was a vulture. That was a new name for the list.

Liam Quinn had been called callous, intrusive, overly persistent, and an insensitive bastard before, but never a vulture. He had also never had a door slammed shut in his face quite as quickly as when Hannah Cole had told him to get lost. He was obviously losing his touch. Which was why he was up early the following morning and had parked his car a short distance down the road from her block of flats, waiting for her to make an appearance.

He wasn’t callous or a vulture, at least he didn’t think he was, and he tried not to be too intrusive. An insensitive bastard? Okay, maybe on occasion, but he was working on that. Persistent though? Yeah, that was him spot on. And Hannah was about to find out just how persistent he could be.

She hadn’t been quite as he had imagined. Yes, she was blonde, like in the picture on her website, and of course her face was the same, but the woman he had encountered yesterday had a tougher exterior and frown lines that had deepened when he had told her who he was. And what the online image hadn’t captured was just how startling her wide green eyes were when you were caught in their gaze. He suspected she didn’t suffer fools easily and wasn’t going to be quite the pushover he had hoped.

One bonus was she hadn’t been alone. Liam had recognised Rosie Emerson immediately and had for a moment thought his job was going to be easy with the pair of them in one place. Two birds, one stone and all that. Of course, that had been before the vulture calling and the door slamming.

He got it. Of course he did. And perhaps in hindsight, given what they had been through, showing up on Hannah’s doorstep hadn’t been the smartest move. This wasn’t his first non-fiction book and he should have known better.

Hannah and Rosie had been scarred by experiences no thirteen-year-old should have to face, and now here he was, some bloke wanting to dredge it all up for a book he was writing. It was understandable they were going to be wary. They thought he was doing it to make money out of their tragedy. And okay, yes, he had bills to pay, but it wasn’t the only reason.

He had been wanting to tell this story for a long time and the need to do so was personal.