It didn’t matter that Pete told her he would take care of things. In fact the nicer he was, the worse she felt about nipping off to London. He had given her some spending money, urging her to get herself ‘something nice’. She attempted to assuage her guilt by leaving things as ordered as possible...
Its occupants stayed inside, trying to find the strength to leave its familiar confines. The house looked decidedly gloomy without its usual array of lamps and lights beckoning to them from within. The curtains were drawn and the windows no longer sparkled. It was a house in mourning, unloved and...
A large ship painted gun-metal grey was moored against the jetty and its unwieldy hawser stirred and scraped against the wall as the Lightermen’s barge made the water swell. The clouds were dark and threatened to burst at any moment. Dot Simpson and Barbara Harrison perched on the flat-topped bol...
She was on edge. ‘What’s the plan, Bea?’ Flora called from the bathroom as she brushed her thick hair. ‘I’m feeling a bit nervous. Aren’t you worried that he might see you?’ Bea looked at the reflection of her granddaughter’s back in the mirror on the dressing table. ‘Not really, no,’ she lied, h...
A strategically knotted pale pink pashmina covered her neck. The house was very quiet. ‘Where’s Celeste?’ she whispered. ‘She’s staying at Amelia’s house. Amelia’s mum took her home with her straight from school, she seems very nice.’ Romilly nodded. Even that small movement hurt her head. She ha...
One THE MAJOR YANKED first at one cuff and then the other, ensuring three-eighths of an inch was visible beneath his tunic sleeves. With his thumb and forefinger he circled his lips, finishing with a small cough, designed to clear the throat. He nodded in the direction of the door, indicating to ...
She waited until they had both left before washing out her pants in the sink. With only one other pair, she was going to have to rotate their use. She smiled; contemplating the fact that only she would travel to the other side of the world in a daring rescue attempt, to liberate her husband from ...
Day and night were indistinguishable; hours were bunched together and blurred, punctuated with catnaps and the occasional intake of flavourless food that tasted wooden in her mouth. Words were somehow distorted, colours muted and sound muffled. She felt something akin to weightlessness. Of the th...
She slipped down to the basement. This she did on occasion when the bakery was closed, usually in the dead of night when sleep proved elusive and always with the snap of excitement at her heels as she did so, covertly. Her alarm would not pip-pip for another three hours, yet instead of resting he...
She had overslept for the first time in as long as she could remember. It felt wonderfully decadent. She thought about the previous day’s catch-up with Barbados. She had not only made out to Milly and Pru that she was still in New York, but she’d also failed to mention that she had a lodger for t...
She slipped down to the basement. This she did on occasion when the bakery was closed, usually in the dead of night when sleep proved elusive and always with the snap of excitement at her heels as she did so, covertly. Her alarm would not pip-pip for another three hours, yet instead of resting he...
It wasn’t as if she had a winter and summer wardrobe. She put her summer frock in, a couple of fine-knit cardies, her vests, pants, socks, a nightie and one pair of cropped trousers. In London, any variation in the weather simply meant wearing more or fewer layers: the actual clothes remained pre...
It made a pleasant change for Milly to be so involved, taking the helm. Apart from Milly flicking the V at a rather persistent photographer, they simply ignored the dwindling throng of reporters. Thankfully, the new season of a reality show had just started, which meant that the general public ha...
But then I remembered the time she took me shopping when I was about seven. We went into the only children’s clothes shop on the High Street, run by a woman she knew from slimming club. I didn’t really like the clothes – they were fussy and impractical, with too many buttons, itsy-bitsy ribbons a...
She slipped down to the basement. This she did on occasion when the bakery was closed, usually in the dead of night when sleep proved elusive and always with the snap of excitement at her heels as she did so, covertly. Her alarm would not pip-pip for another three hours, yet instead of resting he...
Marley came to the kitchen doorway with his large sports bag slung over his shoulder. ‘Dunno. I’ve got college this afternoon and then me and Digsy are going to his to play FIFA.’ ‘Well, I don’t want you out late. You’ve got college in the morning and you need to call your nan tonight. It’s Wedne...
It was still with a great sense of sadness that she recalled her husband’s and best friend’s reactions to her account, confident that if it had been them that had come to her with such shocking revelations, she would have supported them. Phil had seen the girls only twice since, once at Mo and Ke...