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Back The Village Save as PDF
Chapters (62)
  1. TITLE PAGE
  2. COPYRIGHT PAGE
  3. DEDICATION
  4. CONTENTS
  5. START READING
  6. PROLOGUE
  7. CHAPTER ONE
  8. CHAPTER TWO
  9. CHAPTER THREE
  10. CHAPTER FOUR
  11. CHAPTER FIVE
  12. CHAPTER SIX
  13. CHAPTER SEVEN
  14. CHAPTER EIGHT
  15. CHAPTER NINE
  16. CHAPTER TEN
  17. CHAPTER ELEVEN
  18. CHAPTER TWELVE
  19. CHAPTER THIRTEEN
  20. CHAPTER FOURTEEN
  21. CHAPTER FIFTEEN
  22. CHAPTER SIXTEEN
  23. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
  24. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
  25. CHAPTER NINETEEN
  26. CHAPTER TWENTY
  27. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
  28. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
  29. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
  30. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
  31. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
  32. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
  33. CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
  34. CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
  35. CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
  36. CHAPTER THIRTY
  37. CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
  38. CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
  39. CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
  40. CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
  41. CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
  42. CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
  43. CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
  44. CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
  45. CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
  46. CHAPTER FORTY
  47. CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
  48. CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
  49. CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
  50. CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
  51. CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
  52. CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
  53. CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
  54. CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
  55. CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
  56. CHAPTER FIFTY
  57. CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
  58. CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
  59. CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE
  60. CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR
  61. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  62. ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Susan Harper had been baking when she disappeared into thin air. Grace’s wheelchair had been found empty in the corner, and her father Martin had left his car keys on the kitchen side. Two cups of tea were found half-full, a teapot on the table.

Naomi stared at the granite counter, imagining that day. She had memorised the photos of the original scene, so she could overlay them on the new kitchen, still recreate the scene. Renovations had been on the cards, but she’d wanted to be here when they dug up the flooring and threw out the old cupboards.

She tuned back into her husband’s narrative. She still had the rest of the house to explore.

‘I made a call,’ Ed said. ‘I didn’t have a lot of time. I wanted to make up for not being here for the viewing. I wanted it to be nice for you.’

Naomi smiled. The kitchen renovations explained the layer of dust that had fallen in the rest of the house since she was last here.

‘It’s my first time to see it,’ Ed continued, his eyes roaming around the room. ‘I’m impressed. They did a good job.’ He rested his hand on the small of Naomi’s back. ‘I told them to leave the rest of the house as it was. I wanted it to be a surprise.’

It certainly was. The kitchen was amazing. She opened the American-style chrome fridge-freezer to find it jammed with food. In the cupboards were enough fresh ingredients to start a whole bakery.

‘You’ve thought of everything,’ Naomi said, wishing she could return such an extravagant gift. ‘You’ve not done the loft, have you?’ she said. ‘There’s some stuff up there . . . I was looking forward to rooting through it.’

‘God, no,’ Ed said. ‘Although why you want to sort through someone else’s crap, I don’t know.’ He looked at her intently. ‘You do like it, don’t you?’

‘Yes, of course, I love it!’ she said. ‘It just feels surreal, all my plans coming to life. I couldn’t have asked for a nicer kitchen.’ A thought occurred. ‘Just a minute.’ She strode to the living room and picked up her snow globe.

‘There,’ she said, placing it on the kitchen window sill. ‘Now it’s perfect.’

The pitter-patter of rain tapped on the newly painted kitchen windows. She should tell Ed about the history of the house. She took a breath to speak. ‘Look, I . . .’

Morgan’s footsteps approached. ‘The fire’s going out.’

‘Well, give it a poke.’ Naomi smiled, swerving the confession.

They needed this happy moment. The first night under their new roof. Perhaps she didn’t need to say anything. Ed didn’t need to know yet.

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER NINE