BooksBarbecue
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

Hector was chewing on his thumbnail and suddenly he looked like her little boy again, shattered by some issue at school, needing her love and support.

‘So, you think we should just let sleeping dogs lie?’ he said, his tawny eyes searching hers for answers.

‘I really don’t see that we have any choice,’ replied Grace.

57

57

LEAH – NOW

Me and the kids were invited to spend Christmas at Hartsford Hall. The invitation, written in Grace’s neat handwriting, had been folded inside the Christmas card that arrived at the beginning of December. I generally let the kids open any cards we got, and it was Noah’s turn. His eyes lit up when he pulled the heavy card out of the creamy envelope. On the front was a picture of the Hall all covered in snow, which glittered slightly when the card caught the light.

‘It’s from Clio,’ he said with a smile, without even opening it. The invitation fluttered out and he unfolded it but, faced with too many words to read, he screwed his nose up and handed it back to me to decipher. ‘What’s it say, Mum?’

‘Oh, the usual Christmassy stuff,’ I replied dismissively, slipping the paper inside the card and stuffing it to the bottom of the pile.

There was no question of us going. Christmas was a family time and that meant my family – my real family and not all this new lot. We had a carefully created set of Allen family traditions – chocolate for breakfast and looking out of the window to see if Rudolf had eaten his carrot and a race to open our presents all at once, as if someone might snatch them away again at any minute – and there was no way that I was going to trade them in for a day feeling like the poor relations at the Hall.

It had been a strange few months since the revelations on the beach. We hadn’t heard another word about us being evicted, which was a massive relief. I felt like the house was ours again, even though technically it wasn’t. It was all very ironic. The one fact that I’d known all my life and which had put us head and shoulders above everyone around me had been a lie all along. I was exactly the same as the rest of them – living in a house that belonged to a landlord, or landlady as it turned out. So much for my super-power.