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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

‘It’ll be a mistake,’ said Clio again. ‘Some idiot clerk getting hold of the wrong end of the stick. Of course you’re not going to be evicted. It’s your home. The whole thing is ridiculous. Listen, we can’t do anything about this right now but as soon as the offices open in the morning I’ll ring them and sort it out for you.’ She hesitated. ‘Only if you want me to. I mean, obviously it’s your house and you should make the call if you want to . . .’

‘No,’ I said anxiously. I gave her the phone number on the letter. ‘Please help me, Clio. I don’t know what to say to them. You’ll be so much better at that stuff than me.’

‘Fine,’ said Clio. ‘So, in the morning I’ll ring them and find out what they think they’re doing, and we’ll get this whole mess sorted out. Does that sound okay?’

I nodded down the phone. I felt about ten years old.

‘Oh, Leah, please don’t worry,’ Clio said so gently that it made me want to cry. ‘It’ll just be a mistake. I’m certain of it. We’ll speak in the morning. Okay?’

‘Yes,’ I said, my voice barely audible, even to me. ‘Thank you, Clio.’

When I hung up, I felt slightly less dreadful. Clio was going to sort it all out for me. She knew what to do, who to speak to. She’d be used to dealing with solicitors. She probably did it all the time. Like she said, it would be a mistake and everything would be fine. What other outcome could there possibly be when this was my house?

Something was nagging at me, though, something that Clio said that hadn’t seemed quite right. I tried to rerun the conversation in my head to uncover what it was, but it had gone. Well, there was no point fretting over it now when there was nothing that could be done. I poured myself a large glass of wine and ran the bath deep and hot.

It was when I was drifting off to sleep that I realised what my mind had flagged up. Clio had said, ‘I won’t let him evict you.’

Who was she talking about?

52

52

GRACE – NOW

The following day Grace and Clio were sitting at one end of the huge mahogany dining table polishing the silver. The table could seat twenty-four guests so they probably looked a little comical, huddled as they were at one end of it. Technically, the polishing of the Hall’s huge collection of silverware came under Marguerite’s list of responsibilities. However, ever since she’d been a girl Grace had found the task remarkably soothing and would happily undertake at least some of it herself, when she had time.