BooksBarbecue
Back With or Without You Save as PDF
Chapters (84)
  1. Chapter one
  2. Chapter two
  3. Chapter three
  4. Chapter four
  5. Chapter five
  6. Chapter six
  7. Chapter seven
  8. Chapter eight
  9. Chapter nine
  10. Chapter ten
  11. Chapter eleven
  12. Chapter twelve
  13. Chapter thirteen
  14. Chapter fourteen
  15. Chapter fifteen
  16. Chapter sixteen
  17. Chapter seventeen
  18. Chapter eighteen
  19. Chapter nineteen
  20. Chapter twenty
  21. Chapter twenty-one
  22. Chapter twenty-two
  23. Chapter twenty-three
  24. Chapter twenty-four
  25. Chapter twenty-five
  26. Chapter twenty-six
  27. Chapter twenty-seven
  28. Chapter twenty-eight
  29. Chapter twenty-nine
  30. Chapter thirty
  31. Chapter thirty-one
  32. Chapter thirty-two
  33. Chapter thirty-three
  34. Chapter thirty-four
  35. Chapter thirty-five
  36. Chapter thirty-six
  37. Chapter thirty-seven
  38. Chapter thirty-eight
  39. Chapter thirty-nine
  40. Chapter forty
  41. Chapter forty-one
  42. Chapter forty-two
  43. Chapter forty-three
  44. Chapter forty-four
  45. Chapter forty-five
  46. Chapter forty-six
  47. Chapter forty-seven
  48. Chapter forty-eight
  49. Chapter forty-nine
  50. Chapter fifty
  51. Chapter fifty-one
  52. Chapter fifty-two
  53. Chapter fifty-three
  54. Chapter fifty-four
  55. Chapter fifty-five
  56. Chapter fifty-six
  57. Chapter fifty-seven
  58. Chapter fifty-eight
  59. Chapter fifty-nine
  60. Chapter sixty
  61. Chapter sixty-one
  62. Chapter sixty-two
  63. Chapter sixty-three
  64. Chapter sixty-four
  65. Chapter sixty-five
  66. Chapter sixty-six
  67. Chapter sixty-seven
  68. Chapter sixty-eight
  69. Chapter sixty-nine
  70. Chapter seventy
  71. Chapter seventy-one
  72. Chapter seventy-two
  73. Chapter seventy-three
  74. Chapter seventy-four
  75. Chapter seventy-five
  76. Chapter seventy-six
  77. Chapter seventy-seven
  78. Chapter seventy-eight
  79. Chapter seventy-nine
  80. Chapter eighty
  81. Chapter eighty-one
  82. Chapter eighty-two
  83. Chapter eighty-three
  84. Chapter eighty-four

I ease myself from the boulder. Every joint I have has stiffened up and I think the pan of water would only be any good if it was two feet deep and six feet long and I could lie in it for an hour with some muscle-soothing bubble bath and a glass of fine white wine. ‘Ooo,’ I say as my knees object to standing up again.

Dean smiles. ‘You’ll be fine,’ he says. ‘Really you will.’

I wonder if he can tell I’ve come here with a heavy heart. I start to hobble away, trying to look as if I’m not ninety-two years old. Dean takes my rucksack from me with a grin. ‘You’ll loosen up.’

I’m not sure if he’s talking about my body or me in general. We fall in step next to each other—okay, he slows down to my pace—and we walk across to the tents. ‘I took the liberty of having Sanjeev pitch my tent next to yours,’ Dean says. He suddenly comes over all shy. ‘I want to look after you.’

I sigh heavily with something that I think is relief and say, ‘Thanks.’ What I should add is that it sounds like a rather nice prospect.

Chapter thirty-one

Chapter thirty-one

Edie chewed her lip as she looked at the clock. ‘I wonder if Lyssa’s all right.’

Lee dragged his attention away from his Southern-style curly chips and the elderly episode of Star Trek—The Next Generation that was on television. ‘She’ll be fine. Your sister’s a very capable woman.’

‘She’s not thinking straight at the moment,’ Edie countered. ‘I’m worried for her. I wish I could ring her.’

‘It’ll do her good to get away.’