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Back When I Lost You Save as PDF
Chapters (81)
  1. Cover
  2. About the Author
  3. Dedication
  4. Prologue
  5. One
  6. Two
  7. Three
  8. Four
  9. Five
  10. Six
  11. Seven
  12. Eight
  13. Nine
  14. Ten
  15. Eleven
  16. Twelve
  17. Thirteen
  18. Fourteen
  19. Fifteen
  20. Sixteen
  21. Seventeen
  22. Eighteen
  23. Nineteen
  24. Twenty
  25. Twenty-one
  26. Twenty-two
  27. Twenty-three
  28. Twenty-four
  29. Twenty-five
  30. Twenty-six
  31. Twenty-seven
  32. Twenty-eight
  33. Twenty-nine
  34. Thirty
  35. Thirty-one
  36. Thirty-two
  37. Thirty-three
  38. Thirty-four
  39. Thirty-five
  40. Thirty-six
  41. Thirty-seven
  42. Thirty-eight
  43. Thirty-nine
  44. Forty
  45. Forty-one
  46. Forty-two
  47. Forty-three
  48. Forty-four
  49. Forty-five
  50. Forty-six
  51. Forty-seven
  52. Forty-eight
  53. Forty-nine
  54. Fifty
  55. Fifty-one
  56. Fifty-two
  57. Fifty-three
  58. Fifty-four
  59. Fifty-five
  60. Fifty-six
  61. Fifty-seven
  62. Fifty-eight
  63. Fifty-nine
  64. Sixty
  65. Sixty-one
  66. Sixty-two
  67. Sixty-three
  68. Sixty-four
  69. Sixty-five
  70. Sixty-six
  71. Sixty-seven
  72. Epilogue
  73. Acknowledgments
  74. Read More
  75. Prologue
  76. One
  77. Two
  78. Three
  79. Four
  80. Follow Merilyn online
  81. Dedication

Carla nodded, gave his familiar hand a squeeze, suddenly full of gratitude he was there. They sat like that, watching staff fence off the area where she fell with chairs, trying to keep the chill of shock at bay. A group behind them were talking quietly, huddled close, they stood beneath a printed sign pinned to the wall, bold black letters – THE REUNION – indicating the space they occupied was prearranged, and it struck her as odd there were only three of them; surely a reunion of three didn’t need to be planned? Distracted, it took Carla a few seconds to realise that the group were talking about the woman who fell from the roof, as if they knew her.

‘Are you sure it was her?’ The woman speaking was tall, long brown hair tucked under a hat, and her expression matched the concern in her tone. ‘Are we sure it was Alice?’

‘I knew we shouldn’t have come,’ the man’s voice was posh, deep, agitated. He kept running his hand through his blonde hair, glancing over at the spot where the woman had fallen. ‘It was a set-up,’ he went on. ‘Alice got us here and this is the ultimate payback.’

‘For God’s sake, Simon,’ the woman snapped. ‘Are you seriously telling me Alice organised this whole thing, just so she could kill herself in front of us for something stupid that happened years ago?’ She sounded more frustrated now, than upset – but whether by the comments made or the woman’s death, Carla couldn’t tell.

‘I agree with Hannah,’ the second male said; softly spoken, the slight wobble in his voice made Carla think he was frightened.

‘I can’t imagine anyone doing that,’ he went on, ‘not even Alice.’ He was shorter than the rest, slight, and Carla got the impression he was the outsider in the group from the way the man snapped back.

‘Then what were we invited for, Ash?’ Simon replied. ‘The Facebook event made it clear that this was all about Alice – that she would be here too. We came to see what she wanted, and clearly this was it.’

They fell silent for a few seconds and Carla glanced briefly behind her; Simon – white, he was dressed in chinos and a pink shirt, which seemed to match the accent. The second man, Ash, was a good foot shorter: thin, Asian, he wore glasses behind which darted worried eyes. And Hannah, taller than the men, long dark hair and skinny jeans, was staring crossly at the spot where Alice had fallen. Carla sensed they were very familiar with each other, their bodies turned inwards, not away from the group, and it made her feel they were close – certainly closer than needing a reunion as an excuse to meet up. So what was it about Alice that had brought them here?