by Vikki Patis
Derek nods. ‘It’s been more than two years, and nobody has come to collect him.’
‘Have you called Fiona?’
‘Yes, yes, several times in fact. But she never picks up.’ Derek rubs his chin. ‘I’m at a loss really. There are so many urns in there, gathering dust, so many people left behind. I don’t quite know what to do.’
James considers this for a moment, his surprise increasing when he looks up through the glass doors and sees Eleanor outside, standing a respectful distance away from the mourners. Is she here for him? He’d deliberately kept the date of the funeral quiet, not wanting a fuss, so he is surprised to see her waiting for him. Then he notices Fiona standing beside her and it clicks. The two women have grown surprisingly close over the past couple of years. Once their animosity over Richard was gone, they realised that they had quite a lot in common. To begin with, James was content with watching their friendship blossom from afar, his amusement turning to contentment when they invited him to join them for lunch or trips to the cinema. He hadn’t always gone, of course, not while he was looking after his mum. But in the future?
‘James?’ Derek’s voice snaps his attention back. He takes in Derek’s frown, the way his head is tilted slightly to the left, as if appraising him. James smiles, placing a hand on the other man’s shoulder.
‘Just leave him there, Derek. Clearly nobody misses him at all.’
THE END
Acknowledgements
I would like to preface these acknowledgements with the admission that this book was written pre-lockdown, and so I am aware that funerals have looked very different in the months since. It’s been a strange year, but I hope we are starting to return to some form of normality by the time you are reading this.
The idea for The Wake came to me in the middle of the action. I attended a funeral late last year and, like with most funerals, the eulogy was full of heart-warming memories. But it got me thinking about funerals and how they are structured, how they tell the stories of our loved (or not-so-loved) ones in a particular, often very specific, way. And so the seed was planted.
First, many thanks to all of my readers for your support. It really is true that we authors couldn’t do this without you. I hope you enjoyed reading The Wake as much as I enjoyed writing it.
A huge thanks to Isabel Russo from Humanists UK for taking the time to talk to me about her role as a celebrant and for sharing some of her wild stories with me. It was such a fun and enlightening (remote) chat! Thanks also for answering my subsequent questions. All errors are my own. Thanks to Amy Fergus (again!) and Rachel Allen for their help with the setting of Perranporth, with which I have taken some liberties. And thank you to Michaela Balfour and Chloe Osborne for being fantastic beta readers and always giving me such invaluable feedback.
Shout out to the lovely people from the Fiction Cafe Book Club and Skye’s Mum & Books for the continuous support. Thanks to Linda Chamberlin Weber for letting me borrow her beautiful dog Zeke’s name, and to everyone who shared pictures of their lovely pups! Love and gratitude to my fellow authors who have been there through it all. To name a few: Ruth Heald, Lesley Sanderson, Anna Mansell, Alex Kane, and the lovely Savvy Writers and Psychological Suspense Authors. Thanks for all the retweets! Special mention to Rona Halsall for always being the voice of reason and guiding me along this winding path.
As ever, the team at Bloodhound Books has done a fantastic job. To Betsy, Fred, Tara, Ian, Shirley and everyone else who had a hand in bringing this book to life, thank you. I’m lucky to be working with such an incredible team. Thanks also to my fellow Bloodhound authors for your kindness and support.
Last but not least, thanks as always to my partner, for giving me the space to write and edit by looking after our wild ‘golden repreiver’ puppy and assisting me in ignoring the housework. Who needs to hoover during lockdown anyway?
A note from the publisher
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