Free Where the Memories Lie by Sibel Hodge Page B

Go and help yourself.’
    She leaped off the sofa. ‘Oh, did I mention that the school is
    having a car boot sale soon to raise money for charity?’
    ‘No. Which charity?’
    ‘It’s going to the Dorset Wildlife Protection Trust. I’m going to
    help out and do a stall. Have we got anything I can sell?’
    ‘We must have loads of stuff we don’t need anymore. You can
    start by clearing out your wardrobes. I bet there are tons of things in there.’
    ‘Yeah, I’ll do that later. What about your things? And Dad’s?’
    ‘I’ll have a look. Check the loft, too. There are probably still
    boxes of stuff we haven’t even unpacked since we moved in. And if
    we haven’t missed it by now, we probably don’t need it.’
    ‘Wicked.’ She followed me into the kitchen, grabbed a plate,
    piled it with two brownies and a slice of cake. ‘I’ll get Emma to
    come round tomorrow and help me. She’s going to do it, too.’
    ‘OK. Why don’t you ask her to stay for dinner? You’re always
    going to her house for tea. I’m sure I can rustle up some chicken
    nuggets and chips.’
    ‘Yeah, that’s why I prefer going to my friends’ houses for dinner.
    Because their mums cook real food.’
    I pulled a face at her. ‘Cheeky.’
    She gave me a goofy grin and disappeared into the lounge.
    I spotted Ethan through the kitchen window walking on the
    wooded side of our boundary fence. A few minutes later he and
    Poppy burst into the utility room. She took one look at me
    and leaped up, planting her forepaws on my chest.
    I ruffled her fur and flapped her ears.
    Ethan stared at me from the doorway, thick eyebrows fur-
    rowed. ‘So go on, then, tell me what happened. Did they think you
    were mad?’
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    Where the Memories Lie
    ‘There is a Georgia Walker who lives in Abbotsbury, but she’s very much alive.’ I gave him a sheepish smile.
    Poppy jumped down and headed for her water bowl.
    ‘There. I told you, didn’t I? Told you it was a complete waste of
    time.’ His face instantly relaxed, softening out the tense lines. He walked towards me and hugged me tight.
    ‘You were right. Somehow he’d become confused about her.
    Tate construction had done an extension for her years ago, so he’d
    obviously met her before and must’ve remembered her name for
    some reason.’
    He pulled back. ‘Really? Odd that he’d remember a customer
    after all this time.’
    ‘Who knows? He remembers all sorts of strange things but fre-
    quently forgets important things or even how to do everyday tasks.’
    ‘Well, at least this means we can get back to normal now. It’s
    been a stressful week and a stressful weekend so far.’
    I ran my hand through the hair at the nape of his neck. ‘And
    how might we fix that?’ I raised a seductive eyebrow.
    ‘Early night?’ He grinned.
    ‘Absolutely.’ I winked.
    63

Chapter Seven
    On Sunday morning Ethan and I took Poppy for a walk
    along Chesil Beach while Anna raided her cupboards
    for things to sell at the car boot sale with her friend
    Emma. We leisurely strolled along, hand in hand, laughing at
    Poppy chasing seagulls. The sex last night had been amazing!
    Granted, sex was always going to be a little less adventurous
    now we had Anna, who was old enough to hear and understand
    everything. There was no doing it on the kitchen table or having
    a quickie while I was in the middle of washing up anymore, in
    case Anna came home unexpectedly, but we still hadn’t settled
    into that boring married routine of the missionary position on a
    Sunday night with the lights off. We were still adventurous, and
    it was still exciting and sexy and fulfilling. Probably better, even, over the years because we knew each other’s likes and dislikes so
    intimately.
    I thought about Nadia and Lucas again. Maybe she’d made a
    mistake about the texts she’d seen. Lucas had been attentive and
    loving towards her on the beach, just like he always was. If she hadn’t told me, I would never have guessed