See You Soon

by NC Marshall

  When Lucy wakes a couple of hours later, we lie on the sofa and watch films. I order a pizza for us and we chat just like we always do. She tells me the truth about her trying to track down Jake and I tell her the truth about where I have really been for the last four days. We swear we won't lie to each other ever again. Things once again start to feel a little more normal and I silently praise my daughter for her undeniable resilience.

  Later that night, I show Lucy the photos I took whilst I was in Sandbroke and when one flashes up of Tom taken on the night we went out, I feel my heart flutter. I silently curse myself for leaving him the way that I did, knowing full well I’ve lost out on the chance of something special. Lucy tells me he’s gorgeous and playfully teases me as I flush madly with embarrassment. She asks me to tell her all about him, so I do, right from the start all those years ago. She listens intently as I speak. Mark told me on the phone earlier today that Tom is doing well after he was pushed from the balcony by Rose and is now out of hospital recuperating at home. I am pleased. Tom is a good and decent man, and he will always hold a special place in my heart—which he has never really left.

  It starts to get late. Lucy has clearly developed a second wind, but I am exhausted. She pulls a blanket over me as my eyes grow heavy. My body is too weak from tiredness and the stress of today to fight against it.

  “I love you,” I manage to say through a sleepy haze that beckons me as she kisses me on the forehead just as I had done her a few hours ago.

  “I love you too, Mum,” she replies, as she switches off the light. I'm asleep by the time she passes me again, with my phone in her hand, already texting Tom Logan’s number.

  Epilogue

  I pull the woolen blanket around my shoulders as a nip in the air presents itself. The fire has started to pick up now, and crackles against the dimming evening light. Night is fast approaching. In the distance, my best friend playfully skips in and out of the water, once again back to the fun-loving and carefree girl I remember so well. Music plays quietly, accompanied by the wonderful sound of laughter as people enjoy themselves on a pretty late summer’s evening.

  “So, do you think you made the right decision moving back to Sandbroke?” asks Mark, as he passes me a lager from the cool bag resting on the sand at his side. I take a sip, then nod. He doesn’t even need to ask. Sandbroke is my home; I was always going to end up back here, somewhere down the line. Destiny had this chapter of my life written for me well before I even knew it existed.

  More people continue to join the party, some familiar faces and some new ones that I look forward to getting to know. I smile and wave as I spot Lucy through the crowd, where she stands outside Logan’s Tavern laughing. She’s joined by the two girls she met when we first arrived here that she now classes as her best friends. She’s recently completed her first year of an art course at college. Seems she has a real flare for it, and I've never seen her happier. Her watercolours of Ceaders Bay, which take pride of place on the walls of our new home, are nothing short of phenomenal. She has recently painted one to send as a house warming gift to my parents, who are now living up the coast from us in their beloved village of Pemblington.

  Ali races back up the beach where Mark wraps his arms around her and swings her in a full circle before she drops down next to me on the sand. She grabs the corner of my blanket and pulls it around us both. The diamond engagement ring on her left hand catches in the setting sun and Mark winks as she smiles at him through the fire. The ring he once wore on his left hand is now gone.

  “Glad you’re back, Em,” she says, as she rests her head on my shoulder.

  “Me too,” I reply.

  We sit in silence, watching the waves as people continue to dance and laugh around us. Our friendship is stronger than ever, bonded tighter by the time that has passed with the absence of each other in our lives.

  “Em, I could do with a hand. Do you mind coming up and helping behind the bar for a bit? We are swamped tonight,” Tom whispers into my ear from behind me. His lips brush against my cheek as he crouches down and kisses me lightly, then wraps his arms around my shoulders.

  “No problem, boss,” I answer. He pulls me to my feet and then turns to make his way back to the bar and the party he is hosting tonight to celebrate its three-year anniversary.

  “Slave driver,” says Mark, punching his brother on the arm jokingly as he passes.

  Tom laughs, ignoring Mark’s sarcasm. “You don’t mind if I steal her for a bit, do you?” Tom asks Ali. She catches his eye and gives him a bright smile.

  “Not at all. Mark and I are heading off now anyway, we have to get back to the boys,” says Ali, as she rises to join us. Mark’s two sons are as much a part of Ali’s heart now as she is his.

  I smile and give my friend a tight hug.

  “Bye, Ali.”

  She waves as she and Mark finish saying their goodbyes and make their way along the beach hand-in-hand. “See you later, Em,” she turns to shout to me, before they disappear into the night. I throw up my hand and wave back. Tom meets me and puts an arm around my waist as we walk in the opposite direction, “Yes, Ali,” I shout back to her, “see you soon.”

  About the author

  NC Marshall was born and raised in the North East of England, where she still lives with her fiancé.

  As a keen reader, she has always wanted to write a novel of her own and has held a dream of doing so since she was young. She enjoys travelling, and likes to get inspiration for her writing from the various places that she has been lucky enough to visit.

  NC Marshall’s debut novel, ‘Sleep Peacefully’ is listed as an Amazon UK Kindle bestseller in its categories and reached the number 1 chart position in the Paranormal Suspense genre. Her second novel ‘See You Soon’ was released in 2016. The novel quickly became a bestseller in its Amazon UK categories and reached number 1 in Contemporary Short Stories.

  Thank you so much for reading this book. If you have enjoyed See You Soon, it would be great if you could spare a few minutes to leave a short review on Amazon. Reviews play a major part in book visibility and overall success.

  Also, feel free to connect with NC Marshall online. She would love to hear from you:

  Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/NC-Marshall/687071924758804

  Twitter: http:/twitter.com/nc_marshall

  e-mail: ncmarshall15@yahoo.co.uk

  Acknowledgements

  I would like to thank everyone who has supported me by purchasing, reading, reviewing and recommending my books so far, and for all the amazing messages and words of encouragement you have kindly taken the time to send. It's nerve-racking putting your work out there for the world to see, particularly within such a hugely competitive industry, but you have made it all so much easier.

  A big thank you to Christie for jumping to my rescue, completing the edit in time for my desired publish date and for sharing some brilliant words of wisdom.

  Last but never least, thanks once again to my lovely family and friends for supporting me throughout. Here’s to book number three!

  Before you go

  Enjoy See You Soon? Here is a sneak peek at the prologue of NC Marshall’s debut novel, ‘Sleep Peacefully’ available on Amazon now!

  Praise for Sleep Peacefully

  “Sleep Peacefully is a fantastic novel full of suspense and mystery, with many twists and turns which are sure to keep you guessing. I look forward to reading more from this talented author.”

  -Fresh Fiction

  “This is a phenomenal debut from NC Marshall that had me gripped from start to finish!”

  -The Book Magnet

  “Without doubt, this is an extremely well-written and cleverly crafted novel that I could not put down and did not want to be parted with in the slightest!”

  -Hannah’s Book Reviews

  “The best book I have read in a very long time. I look forward to the authors next. She has a definite wonderful gift!”

  -Amazon customer

>   “You start with questions, and through Nat’s pursuit you pass secrets, lies, dramatic revelations and a wisp of mortal danger. NC Marshall deserves credit for her well thought out and provoking tale.”

  -Bloghound

  Sleep Peacefully

  NC Marshall

  Sleep Peacefully

  Prologue

  It’s the night that I will always remember as if it were yesterday. I can still recite every moment, running it through my mind like scenes extracted from a well-written play. I can recall every last detail with remarkable clarity. Unfortunately, though, this wasn’t a play; there was no set, no cast or props, and I had no understudy to step in and seamlessly take my place if required. This was reality. It was my reality, it was my life, and in less than ten minutes time it was going to change forever.

  It was approaching the middle of January, the tenth to be exact. It was the early hours of the morning following the coldest day we had experienced in a while, and had just turned twenty-three minutes past two. I knew this because I hadn’t slept a wink. I’d been awake all night, with an awful dose of a winter flu bug that had struck everyone I knew. I’d had it for a number of days, but it wasn’t easing in its ferocity and I couldn’t seem to shake it. Even though the temperature in the room had dropped drastically since I’d gone to bed a few hours earlier, I lay with the covers thrown back, hot and bothered, growing increasingly more aggravated.

  The illuminated digital numbers on the clock next to me gradually increased. I lay watching them slowly roll by, the seconds crawling forward one by one. I counted them silently as they passed, wishing them to move faster so that the daylight would break and the long night would be over.

  I wriggled my body, trying to loosen my aching muscles, then shifted from the cramped-up position that I had adopted, moving my legs and spreading them out across the other side of the double bed, which was cold and empty. I was alone that night; my husband had been working away that week, like he often did. It didn’t bother me, not anymore, I was now used to sleeping alone. My arm had gone dead from staying in the same position for too long. I removed it from underneath my pillow and wiggled it, resulting in a rush of pins and needles running from my elbow to my fingertips.

  I’d pretty much given up on the idea of getting any rest at all that night, and had been contemplating going downstairs to get myself a hot toddy. It was a cold and flu remedy that my dad had always sworn by. The welcome haze of alcohol induced slumber seemed appealing, and I was just about to make a move when my mobile phone rang from somewhere beside me.

  I glanced once again at the clock. It was two-thirty a.m. on the dot, and even though I was wide awake, the shrill tone of the phone ringing out into the silence still made me jumpy. I searched around, blind in the darkness, moving my hands in the direction of the sound, and eventually found the phone buried under the bedclothes.

  I remember squinting my eyes at the caller display, its brightness making my vision go momentarily blurry. However, my eyesight quickly returned to normal, enabling me to make out the caller's identity; it was Matt, my brother-in-law. Before I even held the phone to my ear, a terrible and gut-wrenching feeling of dread hit me. It was almost as if I’d half-guessed his reason for calling. Of course, there was no way I could have possibly known. I hesitated a few seconds and tried to clear my throat before I finally answered.

  “Hello,” I whispered, my voice croaky. My throat felt like I’d swallowed a pint of broken glass as I spoke. The line was silent. I was just about to hang up, assuming that Matt had called my mobile by mistake, when I heard the faint sound of breathing coming from the other side of the line.

  “Matt, is that you? What’s wrong?” I felt myself physically tense up, my whole body freezing from head to toe as I waited for his reply.

  “Natalie, something’s happened, it’s Jess, she...” Matt stopped mid-sentence and paused for a while before he continued. It was obvious something was terribly wrong. His voice barely resembled the one I knew, his words coming out rushed and muddled. I could tell he was in shock. I waited. He was trying to speak while choking back quiet sobs. He wasn’t making a lot of sense at first. Then he managed to compose himself a little and said three words that hit me like a forceful blow, three simple words that I won’t ever forget.

  “Jess is dead.”

  I remember thinking I’d misheard him at first, surely I had? But then the harshness of reality kicked in, and I knew I hadn’t. My left hand shot up to cover my mouth, desperately trying to hold back a scream that threatened to escape from my lips. My right hand lost its grip on the phone and it dropped to the floor. It landed silently on the carpet face down. I could still hear the sound of Matt’s muffled, distraught voice coming up from it.

  I pinched at my bare arms, digging my nails deep into my skin, desperate to wake myself from the nightmare I had entered. In the dim light, I could see the marks I had created, but I didn’t wake up, I couldn’t wake up. Putting my hands over my ears, I shook my head, trying to block out the sound of Matts's voice. This can’t be happening. I’m dreaming, I must be dreaming. Wake up Nat, for God's sake wake up!

  Reluctantly, I removed my hands from my ears, my already foggy head grew heavier, and the bedroom started to swim around me. Everything felt strangely dreamlike and progressed in slow motion. My lungs were burning and my heart hammered at lightning quick speed. I clenched my chest, trying to inhale more air, I felt as though I couldn’t get enough, as though my airways had closed up. I'm going to stop breathing. Do something!

  After a few moments of frantically trying to catch my breath, I reached down to retrieve the phone. But as I did I knocked over a full jug of water from the bedside cabinet, which was still there from my bedridden day before. It fell to the floor, some spilled out over my bare feet and the remainder settled in a large pool near them. I steadied myself against the bed, blood pounding in my ears and stood up shakily, feeling lightheaded. I tried to move my legs, but my knees buckled and I wobbled backwards. Eventually, I found my balance, rooted my feet to the spot, and bent down to scoop up the phone. Pressing it back to my ear, I prepared myself for what Matt had called to tell me.

  Jess had fallen from a cliff top earlier that night. The police had shown up at Matt’s apartment shortly after discovering her body on the rocks below. Her handbag and ID hadn’t been far from where she had landed, so it had been easy to contact her next of kin.

  I think he told me more, he’d gone into detail about what the police believed had happened, but at that point I couldn’t take in any further information. My brain had stopped working, it simply couldn’t absorb anything else. My little sister was dead.

  I can’t recall much after that brief conversation with Matt. After I hung up I remember feeling totally numb. I’d slid to the floor, sitting cross-legged on the wet patch of carpet near the bed. Water soaked up through the thin material of my pyjama bottoms, but I remained in the same position, staring at a blank space on the wall of the room, unable to move. My skin felt cold and damp, and my body shook profusely.

  The almost full moon outside shone brightly through a gap in the curtains, creating a perfectly straight line of white light, which settled on a chair at the far side of the room. For a brief moment, I even thought I saw her. Jess. She was sitting on the chair, her posture relaxed, with one foot up on the seat tucked under her leg and her head cocked to the side, as if carefully studying my state of despair. A look of concern clouded her delicately featured face. I shook my head and she disappeared.

  I sat there in the dark for quite a while before realising that I was going to have to call my mum. Matt had found it hard enough to tell me; he wasn’t going to be making any other calls. My hands trembled violently as I tried to find her number on my phone. I was still conscious enough to know that it was my responsibility to alert the rest of my family about Jess’s death.

  After two botched attempts at making the call I was successful. Mum answered on the third ring, and I took a deep breath t
o steady my voice before I slowly started to tell her that her youngest daughter was dead. To this day, it’s the most difficult thing I've ever had to do.

  We soon found out that Jess was drinking heavily that night. She had been going through a few personal problems at the time, and turning to drink to kill the pain wasn’t out of character for her. The police had carried out a brief investigation, but nothing suspicious was found. They believed that she had been up on the cliffs alone, probably just walking, which she used to do on a regular basis so it was nothing out of the ordinary. She would have been unsteady on her feet under the influence of alcohol, and had roamed too close to the cliff edge. The surface there was very unstable and she could have easily lost her footing, sending her into a sheer drop to the rocks below.

  For over eight months now, I have lived with the pain and persistent torture brought on from losing my sister that night. For all this time, I have had no reason to believe that her death was anything more than a tragic accident... until now.