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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

Clio pointed towards the door and the two women backed off. As Stacey left she flicked a dirty middle finger at me, just as Eddie reappeared. He took in the situation with an experienced eye but didn’t say a word. Clio nodded in my direction to check that I was okay and then went back to the bar.

I sat back down, fighting to get my breathing under control. As the adrenaline ebbed away I was left wanting to cry like a baby but I couldn’t do that, not in front of Marlon. He sat down, too, but he pulled his chair up closer to mine and reached out to take hold of my hands, which were still shaking.

‘Are you all right?’ he asked, and he sounded so concerned that it made me want to cry even more.

All I could manage was a tight little nod, but I smiled at him and hoped he could see that I was grateful. The sketch was still sitting on the table in front of us. Marlon picked it up and whipped his pencil out of his pocket. Quick as a flash, he added a few strokes to the image and then turned it round for me to see. Now I had a crown of laurel leaves on my head, like an ancient Olympic champion.

45

45

MELISSA – THEN

Melissa liked her job in the King’s Head. Granted, it wasn’t as exciting as working in Newcastle had been back when she’d first met Ray, but it got her out of the house now that Leah was old enough to look after herself, and the money came in handy. Punters were punters the world over and Melissa was good with the crowd that stumbled in there, no matter who they were. She put people at their ease, or so Eddie the landlord said. Ray had once told her that she was good at her job, too, and she had never forgotten, treasuring his praise like a precious jewel. There weren’t many things that she did well enough for others to pass comment on: she wasn’t bad at ten-pin bowling and she made a mean raspberry trifle, but that was about it.

But what about being good at the important things in life? Melissa wasn’t so sure about that. How good a mother was she, for example? Melissa considered this as she ran a damp cloth over the optics in the empty bar. She was certainly better than her own mother had been, so that was something, at least; not that her own mother had set the bar very high.