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Back Where The Story Starts Save as PDF
Chapters (65)
  1. TITLE PAGE
  2. COPYRIGHT PAGE
  3. CONTENTS
  4. PROLOGUE
  5. 1
  6. 2
  7. 3
  8. 4
  9. 5
  10. 6
  11. 7
  12. 8
  13. 9
  14. 10
  15. 11
  16. 12
  17. 13
  18. 14
  19. 15
  20. 16
  21. 17
  22. 18
  23. 19
  24. 20
  25. 21
  26. 22
  27. 23
  28. 24
  29. 25
  30. 26
  31. 27
  32. 28
  33. 29
  34. 30
  35. 31
  36. 32
  37. 33
  38. 34
  39. 35
  40. 36
  41. 37
  42. 38
  43. 39
  44. 40
  45. 41
  46. 42
  47. 43
  48. 44
  49. 45
  50. 46
  51. 47
  52. 48
  53. 49
  54. 50
  55. 51
  56. 52
  57. 53
  58. 54
  59. 55
  60. 56
  61. 57
  62. 58
  63. BOOK CLUB QUESTIONS
  64. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  65. ABOUT THE AUTHOR

‘You must come to us sometime. The children can all meet each other and play in our garden,’ Grace suggested, although she really would have to clear that with Charles. ‘We’re not that far away and it would be lovely for the girls to get to know one another, seeing as they’re cousins.’

‘I suppose they are, pet,’ said Melissa, and then she smiled as if this idea pleased her. ‘That’d be champion.’

As Grace drove back to Hartsford she dissected her visit into minute pieces in her mind. When she’d set off that morning, she had only been expecting to see the house, but now how different the world looked. She had a sister-in-law, for one thing. Melissa was lovely. The two women had almost nothing in common in terms of their lifestyles, and yet Grace felt sure that there had been some sort of embryonic connection between them. Melissa was warm and open and seemed happy to chat to Grace, and once they’d got started the conversation had flowed along like the Amazon in the rainy season. And there were Clio and Leah. Children of the same age were perfect for bringing women together as long as you didn’t allow competition to get in the way. Grace had not got any competitive vibes from Melissa, which made a refreshing change from many of the circles that Grace found herself in. Melissa was a simple soul, Grace suspected, without any hidden angles (or possibly depths), but she could see the makings of a friendship if she was prepared to work at it a little.

And from what Melissa had said, Ray seemed to be on the straight and narrow. Grace was happy to ignore whatever he had done before and let him start with a clean slate, for Charles’s sake if nothing else. As she drove the frozen roads back to the Hall, Grace entertained herself with images of the four of them, taking tea on the south lawn, the children all playing happily together. She would have to work stealthily, but she thought she could probably win Charles round to the idea, and if Ray was as pleasant as Melissa then what would be the harm?

35

35

MELISSA – THEN

Melissa didn’t give her visitor much thought after she’d gone. Grace seemed nice enough. She sounded posh when she spoke, but she wasn’t a bit stuck up with it. In fact, she was quite down to earth really, the kind of woman that Melissa liked. She cleared the mugs away and put what remained of the biscuits into her Charles and Di tin, helping herself first to just one last one, and then went back into the lounge to watch cartoons with Leah. Ray wasn’t due back until the weekend and so the whole episode slipped gently from her mind.