BooksBarbecue
Back What I Never Told you Save as PDF
Chapters (56)
  1. Cover
  2. Also by Dawn Goodwin
  3. WHAT I NEVER TOLD YOU
  4. Copyright
  5. Contents
  6. Dedication
  7. Prologue
  8. 1
  9. 2
  10. 3
  11. 4
  12. 5
  13. 6
  14. 7
  15. 8
  16. 9
  17. 10
  18. 11
  19. 12
  20. 13
  21. 14
  22. 15
  23. 16
  24. 17
  25. 18
  26. 19
  27. 20
  28. 21
  29. 22
  30. 23
  31. 24
  32. 25
  33. 26
  34. 27
  35. 28
  36. 29
  37. 30
  38. 31
  39. 32
  40. 33
  41. 34
  42. 35
  43. 36
  44. 37
  45. 38
  46. 39
  47. 40
  48. 41
  49. 42
  50. 43
  51. 44
  52. 45
  53. 46
  54. Acknowledgements
  55. About the Author
  56. An Invitation from the Publisher

“Not just that, but when my mother dies, the house passes straight to me, bypasses my father. It’s something that was written into one of my great-great-grandmothers’ wills – that the house can only be passed down the female side of the family and to the oldest surviving woman. She had some beef with her husband and swore that the women that came after her would never be without a home.”

“That’s cool! All this is yours and you will never have to pay rent or save for a deposit like the rest of us? You are so lucky,” she says.

I reach for the wine, rummage in a drawer under the coffee table for the bottle opener. “But it means I’m tied here. I can’t go anywhere else.”

“You could sell it.”

“It can only be sold if there is no one to pass it on to.”

“So it’s like you’re handcuffed to the place?”

“Yes, that’s exactly what it feels like. I want to go places, see the world, and I can’t.”

“Well, just because it’s yours doesn’t mean you have to live here. You could rent it out or something.”

I put the bottle to my mouth and drink long and deep. The wine is warm, thick and fruity yet bitter. I hand it to Tracey, who takes it gingerly. I can tell she hasn’t had a drink before.

“What do you want to do, after school I mean?” she says before drinking from the bottle. She coughs a little, then drinks some more, wincing.

“I want to write. Whether it’s books or journalism, I don’t know, but I want to write things that people will want to read. My father wants me to go to university and get some sort of business or financial degree and I can think of nothing worse.”

“Will they let you do what you want?”

“They will probably have something to say if they are paying the fees.”

Tracey hands me the bottle and I drink more, feeling warmth spreading through me from my toes.

“What about you? What do you want to do?”

“I think I want to do something with animals, not a vet but maybe an agricultural degree of sorts. I’ve really enjoyed the last few weeks working with my dad, but I’m sure there are ways of running the farm that would be more efficient, would make it more profitable. That side of it interests me, you know? The business side of it. I’d study locally though, to help with the farm and my brother and stuff.”

I guess that’s one of the big differences between us. I’m trying to get away from my home and she’s desperate to stay at hers.

17

NOW