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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

‘Damn! He can put shelves up too? How unfair is that. Great sperm and handy with a hammer.’

‘Look, Lyssa,’ my sister says, and she has her serious voice on so I’d better take note. ‘You’ve been pretty hard on Jake these last few months.’

I open my mouth to deny it, but her look silences me.

‘Men don’t like to have their virility questioned and I bet even your hairdresser knows what Jake’s sperm count is.’

‘Er…’ I hate to admit this, but she does actually. Only because she asked.

‘Give him a break, Lyssa. If you really want him back, be nice to him. He must have been feeling very pressurised.’

And I’m not!

‘Perhaps some space is a good idea.’

‘I’ve been awful, haven’t I?’

‘Not awful.’ My sister slides onto my seat and cuddles me. ‘Just a bit desperate.’

She rocks me backwards and forwards, like she does to Archie. And I know that things must be bad. This is a very unusual situation because all of my life I have been more like a mother to her than a sister. There’s only a few years between us in age, but sometimes it feels like twenty-five. Motherhood is the one thing my sister excels at.

Edie smooths my hair from my forehead. ‘You okay now?’

I nod. Not really, but I don’t want to make this into a bigger deal than it already is.

My sister untangles herself. ‘I’d better go and see where my dear husband is putting this shelf.’

I reluctantly ease the dead weight of Archie from my lap, kissing his soft, warm baby head, and lower him into my sister’s arms. I could be good at this, really I could, but I’m not going to go there now.

‘I think I’ll head for home.’

‘Stay,’ Edie says. ‘I don’t want you to be alone.’

‘Jake might have come back.’ He might have. And I want to be there waiting in case he does. ‘I’ll push off. I’d better check if my electrics have dried out.’

‘What if he’s not there?’

‘I don’t know,’ I say with a heavy heart. ‘I might go round to Pip’s and try to talk to him.’

‘Are you sure that’s the right thing to do?’

‘No, I’m not sure at all,’ I admit. But I’m going to do it anyway.

Chapter fourteen

Chapter fourteen