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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

Mrs W studied Hannah carefully. ‘That’s a shame. I guess I must have been upstairs busy with stuff. Of course, I know Hannah would never be rude enough to come upstairs without being invited, would you, love?’

Hannah’s mouth was dry, despite the ice cream. ‘No, Mrs W.’

‘I’m sorry you didn’t get to have a swim with your friends.’

‘It’s okay. I didn’t mind.’

She was finding it so hard to reconcile this friendly woman who was here with them right now with the one she had seen upstairs.

Mrs W stayed and chatted with them for a while, but there was no sign of Bill, and Hannah wondered if he was too embarrassed to show his face after what had happened.

As the six of them headed back home, she was still musing it over and talking herself into believing she had overreacted. Her mother had never hit her, but Hannah knew that other families had different rules. It seemed a bit harsh smacking Bill with a hairbrush for accidentally breaking a glass, but maybe it was a normal punishment in their family.

As for the other stuff. Was it normal for some families to share a bed and do the things Mrs W had spoken of? Hannah knew she was quite naïve. She had never had a boyfriend and her mother hadn’t ever spoken with her about sex. She should try not to judge.

So she didn’t.

Those niggling doubts never left her, though, the next time she returned to the farmhouse – because, yes, she went back again. By this point, her friends were enamoured with Mrs W and they were all going to go anyway. She didn’t want to be excluded from the group. But she didn’t realise then that things were about to get a whole lot worse.

22

It was the sound of Tank whining and pawing at the front door to go out that woke Liam and he rolled over, grabbing his phone, and swearing when he saw it wasn’t yet 6 a.m.

Rubbing a hand over tired eyes, he threw back the duvet and climbed out of bed, tugging on his jeans and heading downstairs.

‘Seriously, mate, you couldn’t wait another hour?’

Slipping his bare feet into his boots, he unlocked the door and followed Tank outside, wishing he had grabbed a top as the cool air hit him. As he waited for the dog, he looked out across the surrounding fields that led down towards the marshland. It was still dark, though the dawn would soon start to break, and he suspected, if he could be bothered to stay up instead of slipping back into bed, he would get to witness a spectacular sunrise.