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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

She doesn’t know, Clio had thought. If she did, Clio would have been able to tell. She was certain of that. She knew both her parents almost better than she knew herself, and there was no way that they could keep things hidden from her. Or at least she’d thought she did.

And yet . . . One of them appeared to have done precisely that. If her suspicions were true, her father had been having an affair for a large portion of his marriage without anyone even suspecting. Her poor, naive mother, absorbing his lies without question, assuming that he was where he said he was and questioning nothing beyond what she was told. In many ways it was admirable. Her mother had simply trusted, as she had vowed to do. But surely that made her weak? This trust did not reflect the strength of their marriage, but rather its frailty. Clio would never be so blind, she had sworn to herself then. If ever she got married she would question everything, take nothing for granted and make sure that no one pulled the wool over her eyes. Her mother’s generation did things differently, she knew, but accepting with blind faith wasn’t for her.

The main thing now, Clio had decided as the two of them finished their drinks and stood to make their way to their own parts of the Hall, was that her mother should never find out what her husband had done. Clio would destroy the notebook and not tell a soul about her suspicions, and then there would be no way that her mother would ever find out about Melissa or Leah or the house in Whitley Bay.

Clio would make it her mission to keep her mother safe from harm, just as her mother had always done for her.

43

43

LEAH – NOW

It turned out that Clio was a bit of a hit behind the bar. I’d been pretty certain that she wouldn’t let me down, but it was still a relief when I called into the King’s Head and Eddie confirmed it.

‘Well, Leah,’ he said as he wiped the glasses with a damp tea towel. ‘Your mate’s the classiest barmaid we’ve ever had.’

Although this praise was aimed entirely at Clio and not me, I couldn’t help feeling a little bit proud of my part in arranging everything. I’d told Eddie that she was a risk worth taking and here I was being proved right. It felt good.

‘She’s smart, too,’ Eddie continued. ‘Never gets the orders wrong and can work out all the change in her head. She’s not like the others. If the till goes down, they have to get their phones out to tot up the tab.’