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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

‘Under no circumstances,’ Grace continued, ‘under no circumstances whatsoever must you ever, ever . . .’ She wasn’t sure how much longer she could keep this up. She concentrated on maintaining her serious expression. ‘Hang a pair of fluffy dice from the mirror.’

Relief washed over Charles’s face. ‘I solemnly swear that I will attach no dice, gonks or other fluffy items to any part of any of the cars,’ he recited with his hand over his heart.

10

10

LEAH – NOW

I leant down and stroked Poppy’s golden hair. My beautiful girl, so feisty and determined when she was awake, looked little more than a baby when she was asleep. Her face lost all those angular, sarcastic expressions of a teenager and became entirely soft and smooth.

There had been an issue at school that day and Poppy had been in trouble, which didn’t often happen. I’d expected the usual teenage dramas, but it turned out that she had been in an actual fight with another girl, Cindy Waters. Just her name was enough to send shivers down my spine. Her mother, Stacey, had made my life hell when we’d been at school together, and now it seemed that history was repeating itself. It was yet another downside to living in the place where you grew up. You couldn’t start again no matter how hard you tried.

Of course, I’d made Poppy apologise even though I was certain it would have been the Waters girl who started it, and it was all smoothed over. But now as I stroked Poppy’s hair, the thought of Stacey Waters made my scalp prickle.

I planted a kiss on Poppy’s forehead and turned off the bedside light. Then I pulled her bedroom door ajar and headed downstairs to the empty lounge.

Sometimes it was hard, being single. Evenings were the worst. During the day, I kept busy, running at life so fast that there just wasn’t time to feel lonely. And I really wasn’t that lonely because I had the kids and they were great company. But once I locked our front door at night and the children were tucked up in bed, that was when I really missed having someone there to be with.