Chapters (87)
- Cover
- Praise
- Dedication
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- 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
- Fifty-Five
- Fifty-Six
- Fifty-Seven
- Fifty-Eight
- Fifty-Nine
- Sixty
- Sixty-One
- Sixty-Two
- Sixty-Three
- Sixty-Four
- Sixty-Five
- Sixty-Six
- Sixty-Seven
- Sixty-Eight
- Sixty-Nine
- Seventy
- Seventy-One
- Seventy-Two
- Seventy-Three
- Seventy-Four
- Seventy-Five
- Seventy-Six
- Seventy-Seven
- Seventy-Eight
- Seventy-Nine
- Eighty
- Epilogue
- Acknowledgements
- Extract from To Keep You Safe
- About the Author
A little settled, I turned my attention to what I hoped would be our new home. The stretch of the driveway suggested that there might be a grand house at the top, but there wasn’t; instead there was a small brick cottage of simple design. Its roof was low, like a hat that’s been pulled down too low on a head, with two eaves popping out at each end. Although I’d never been in it, I knew it had two bedrooms. I had assumed they were both upstairs, but now, seeing the smallness of it, I wasn’t so sure. I didn’t know because there was no floor layout on Rightmove and I was glad: it meant that no one could Google it and find out.
Another plus, I realised, was that I could hear the sound of the estate agent’s car before I could see it. A silver Micra pulled into view, passed the scrub of small trees and stopped in front of me. A young man, with the engine still running, lowered the window: ‘Miss Law?’
‘Lisa, please.’
‘Do you want a lift up to the cottage?’
‘Thanks, but I’ll walk up. I was just having a poke around.’
He drove on to the cottage and I strode up to meet him.
‘Great for views!’ he said, opening his door. ‘You’ll be king of the hill up here!’
And it was. The two acres of garden fell gently on all sides, with a flattish lawn to the west of the cottage and on the east, a sloped, shrubby area with a steeper gradient down to the road. The gardens could give Jack something idyllic in his childhood, I thought – perhaps the access to nature would make up for losing his school friends.
The man grabbed his iPad from the passenger seat, just as his phone rang. ‘I’ll ignore it.’
‘I don’t mind if you take it,’ I said, wanting to let Jack sleep on just a few minutes more. ‘I’ll walk around the property.’ To the right of the cottage, a bay window overlooked the best views of the valley. Neglected flower beds edged the walls. I wondered if I would ever be the kind of person to rescue them – I wanted to, I wanted so much to be better than I had been.
I knew as I listened to the gentle, mournful sound of the wind-chime tied outside the kitchen window, I knew we could be happy here.
Here, we could finally be safe.
Three
three:
– before –