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

If it hadn’t been for Mrs Newman at the church, I don’t know what I would have done. Thank God there are still some good people in the world. She picked me up and helped to put me back together. We met every couple of weeks. I’d tell her how I felt and what I was struggling with. She explained practical stuff to me, like how to pay bills and what rates were, and she listened to me when I cried. She never judged Mum or Dad like other people did. She just looked out for me unconditionally. To be honest, I don’t think I’d still be here today if it hadn’t been for her.

I wondered whether I should have shared any of this with Clio, but I decided that if she was going to be my friend there’d be plenty of time for all that. I’d tell her when the moment was right. I was pretty sure that she wouldn’t judge me, that she’d be kind like Mrs Newman had been. When I was younger I used to worry that people would think that Mum’s death was my fault, that I should have done more to stop it from happening. I actually believed that myself for the longest time, but I didn’t any more. What Mum did was Mum’s issue. It wasn’t anything to do with me. I was pretty sure that Clio would get that straight away.

It was ironic, I thought, that Poppy had seen straight through to the potential of my relationship with Clio when her own teenage friendships were so turbulent. I should probably work at getting on with Clio, if only to show Poppy what a decent relationship was supposed to look like, but actually, being friends with Clio was going to be no problem. It just felt right.

Wiping the stray tears from my cheeks, I pulled my phone out of my bag and typed a quick message. Hi Clio. Thanks for today. We had a great time. Let’s meet again soon. L x

17

17

MELISSA – THEN

It was something that Melissa’s Auntie Kathleen said that changed everything. Kathleen wasn’t really her aunt, merely a friend of Melissa’s mum, or was it her grandma? Melissa couldn’t remember which now, but she’d always been required to call her ‘Auntie’ for reasons that had never been entirely clear. That said, Kathleen was an interesting old lady and Melissa wouldn’t have minded if they had been related. There was always a tale to tell with her, high jinks from her youth or something she’d witnessed in the post office queue the day before. Melissa could never quite work out how much was true and how much was created just for the telling, but it really didn’t matter; she just soaked up the stories regardless.