Chapters (51)
- About the Book
- About the Author
- Also by Kimberley Chambers
- Title Page
- Dedication
- Acknowledgements
- Epigraph
- Prologue
- Chapter One
- Chapter Two
- Chapter Three
- Chapter Four
- Chapter Five
- Chapter Six
- Chapter Seven
- Chapter Eight
- Chapter Nine
- Chapter Ten
- Chapter Eleven
- Chapter Twelve
- Chapter Thirteen
- Chapter Fourteen
- Chapter Fifteen
- Chapter Sixteen
- Chapter Seventeen
- Chapter Eighteen
- Chapter Nineteen
- Chapter Twenty
- Chapter Twenty-One
- Chapter Twenty-Two
- Chapter Twenty-Three
- Chapter Twenty-Four
- Chapter Twenty-Five
- Chapter Twenty-Six
- Chapter Twenty-Seven
- Chapter Twenty-Eight
- Chapter Twenty-Nine
- Chapter Thirty
- Chapter Thirty-One
- Chapter Thirty-Two
- Chapter Thirty-Three
- Chapter Thirty-Four
- Chapter Thirty-Five
- Chapter Thirty-Six
- Chapter Thirty-Seven
- Chapter Thirty-Eight
- Chapter Thirty-Nine
- Chapter Forty
- Chapter Forty-One
- Copyright
- Cover
Singing his own version of ‘Humpty Dumpty’, which included Rosie’s name in it, Eddie carried his little angel up the stairs.
Over in Rainham, Stanley was sitting in his pigeon shed talking to his beloved birds. Bertha and Sid were the only two he had left now. The others had all flown the nest and, at seventy-two years old, Stanley thought he was a bit too old to invest in any more. The thought of croaking it before his birds filled Stanley with dread, and he’d made Jock promise to take good care of Bertha and Sid if they were still alive when he was gone.
‘I’ll always look after your Joycie for you an’ all, make sure she’s OK, like,’ Jock had said sensitively.
‘Sod that wicked old witch, she can look after her bleedin’ self. You just make sure you look after me babies for me,’ Stanley replied truthfully.
Seeing his wife putting the washing out on the line, Stanley lifted Bertha up in his hands. ‘Who’s that ’orrible woman out there, eh? It’s Joycie, isn’t it?’ he said in a silly, childlike voice.
Spotting his wife glance over at the shed, Stanley ducked down quickly. They’d barely said a word to one another for the past two weeks, since the unfortunate incident with the car. Stanley hadn’t felt comfortable driving for the past couple of years, his eyes weren’t what they used to be and he was a bit doddery with his pedal reactions. On the particular day in question, he and Joycie had been on their way to Tesco in Rainham when he’d accidentally hit the accelerator rather than the brake and had ploughed into the back of a 103 bus. The Jaguar was a write-off. Joycie had gone totally ballistic. She’d called him every name under the sun and used every swear word that had ever been invented. They’d both been taken to hospital in an ambulance to be checked over and Joycie had even continued her assault in the back of that.
‘Gertcha, you brainless, bald-headed old bastard. Thinking of that fucking Pat with the big tits instead of concentrating on the road, were ya? You dirty, disgusting old pervert,’ she’d screamed at him in front of the paramedics.