Don't Say a Word
Page 26
Instead, it’s only my heart that’s broken. Which is enough. Because those sit-down sessions over tea and homework, they should have been mine. Please, Josh, please stay on at school until you’re eighteen. Give me those last two years to nurture you some more.
The bell to mark the end of visiting rings.
I break out of my reverie. I’m so used to just staring and thinking that I forgot how to cherish my short time with Josh.
I try not to start crying again but it’s too late.
‘Stay strong, Mum,’ Josh says. And I know then that I’m not protecting him any more. He’s protecting me.
As I watch Josh walk away, I understand Mick for the first time. What he meant about wanting that portion of his life back, the part I stole by framing him and putting him in prison. OK, you’ve shown me. I get it. I’m sorry. I should just have run away. I should just have driven off.
But here it is, Mick – I’d kill you all over again.
Copyright
An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd.
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF
First published in Great Britain by HQ in 2017
Copyright © A. L. Bird 2017
A. L. Bird asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.
E-book Edition © June 2017 ISBN: 978-1-4740-6934-2