Schoolgirl Missing: Discover the dark side of family life in the most gripping page-turner of 2019. Sue Fortin

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СКАЧАТЬ her face again. She gave Neve a long stare. ‘It’s gone now.’

      ‘Good, now let’s get going,’ said Neve.

      ‘Callum didn’t sit with me today,’ said Poppy, as they drove home. ‘He sat with Lydia.’

      ‘Oh, that’s a shame but never mind,’ said Neve.

      ‘Why would I not mind about it? I do mind. He promised he would sit next to me. I don’t like him anymore.’

      ‘Maybe he will sit with you tomorrow.’

      ‘I don’t want him to.’

      ‘OK, in that case, you don’t have to,’ said Neve, realising she wasn’t going to reason with Poppy at all. Some battles weren’t worth the fight.

      ‘That’s someone else who has broken a promise,’ continued Poppy.

      ‘Sometimes people make promises they can’t always keep.’

      ‘I still don’t like him.’

      They sat in silence for the rest of the journey as Neve navigated their way out of the town and onto the country lane which lead back to Ambleton. They crossed the stone bridge into the village.

      Automatically, Neve looked over towards Copperthorne Lane and her thoughts turned to Jake and what he’d said. Had he really been making her a serious offer? She couldn’t quite work it out. There was no doubt about the spark between them. She had to admit, she found him nothing short of sexy and when he had kissed her, that was something else. She couldn’t remember responding like that to Kit in a long time. And then Jake had said how much he wanted children and how he could make her happy. She’d surprised herself confiding in him, but it had seemed so natural to do so.

      Thinking about it now with her detached logical head on, could she really give up everything she had? Could she give up Kit? Could she give up Poppy? All for the promise of what … a baby? Is that what Jake had meant? Surely, she was reading too much into it all. Jake’s proposal was quite full-on, it wasn’t like they were even involved in a physical relationship yet. She paused. That wasn’t true actually. The kiss had upgraded it from an emotional relationship to a physical one and sleeping together was only a matter of time. If she allowed it to happen, that was. Just because they hadn’t slept together didn’t mean it wasn’t physical. Was his offer worth trading in what she had for what she wanted? Did she want Jake, or did she want what he could give her?

      Within a couple of minutes, Neve was pulling up outside their house, the wheels of her car crunching on the gravel drive.

      ‘Would you like a drink and a biscuit?’ asked Neve, plonking her handbag down on the kitchen chair once inside the house.

      ‘Everyone breaks promises,’ said Poppy.

      Neve was used to Poppy’s abruptness when it came to conversations. It wasn’t unusual for minutes, hours or even days to elapse before Poppy responded to a comment. Mostly, Neve and Kit were able to keep up with the disjointed way Poppy held conversations.

      Neve took the milk from the fridge. ‘I expect we all do but as I said, sometimes it’s not on purpose.’

      ‘You broke a promise to Dad.’

      ‘I did?’ Neve replaced the lid on the milk bottle and pushed the glass towards her daughter.

      ‘When you got married you said you promised to love him for ever.’

      A little flutter rose in Neve’s chest. ‘That’s right.’ She returned the milk bottle to the fridge. ‘And I will.’

      The fourteen-year-old dipped her finger into the glass and then let the drips of milk fall onto the counter.

      ‘Don’t do that,’ said Neve, tearing off a sheet of kitchen roll and wiping the work top. ‘It’s dirty.’

      ‘Your shoes are dirty,’ said Poppy.

      Back to the shoes. ‘I know. I’ll clean them in a minute.’

      ‘You got them dirty when you were down by the river today,’ said Poppy, now stirring her finger around in the milk.

      Neve stopped mid-wipe. Her heart fluttered harder this time. ‘I went for a walk. It’s nice along there,’ she said, trying to regain her composure. She dropped the kitchen roll into the bin.

      ‘Did Jake get his shoes dirty?’

      Neve, now with her back to Poppy, closed her eyes for a moment. How the hell had Poppy seen her at the river with Jake? She stalled for time. ‘I don’t know if Jake got dirty shoes today.’

      ‘Why not? You were with him.’

      Neve turned to look at Poppy and gave another smile as she went about making herself a cup of tea. Trying to sound casual, she spoke. ‘When did you see me at the river?’

      ‘Today.’

      Neve swallowed hard. ‘I didn’t see you.’

      ‘We had swimming lessons.’

      Neve filled in the missing information. It was just her luck that the St Joseph’s school bus must have gone across the bridge today at the exact same time she was with Jake by the river. The coach always took a short-cut through the village to get to the leisure centre in a different town where there was more specialised equipment and staff for St Joseph’s children. That explained it.

      ‘Ah, yes. I forgot you had swimming today.’ Neve looked up to the ceiling. Of all the days! ‘I went to pick up some paints from Jake,’ she said, grateful that an excuse had sprung to mind from nowhere. A plausible one too. ‘For my next painting. I wanted to check it was the right colour before I bought it. We had a little stroll by the river to look at the flowers.’

      ‘And to kiss.’

      Neve’s heart almost leapt into her throat. Poppy saw them kissing. Shit. Double shit.

      ‘Neve and Jake sitting in a tree. K I S S I N G,’ sang Poppy as she swirled her finger around faster in the milk.

      ‘Stop that!’ snapped Neve.

      Poppy slowly removed her finger from the milk before licking it. Then she continued with the chanting. ‘Neve and Jake walking by the river. K I S S I N G.’

      ‘Poppy! That’s enough.’ Neve slapped her hand on the work top. Sometimes Poppy would be so engrossed in what she was doing, it was hard to get her attention. A sudden noise often brought her back to reality. Neve wasn’t having any such luck today. ‘Poppy!’ She raised her voice above the repetitive verse. ‘STOP!’ Again, she slammed the counter.

      Neve could feel the panic rising in her. Poppy had to stop. Kit would be back anytime now. Before she could consider the consequences of what she was doing, Neve stormed around the island counter and grabbed Poppy by the shoulders, practically pulling her off the bar stool and to her feet. Neve’s face was inches from Poppy’s. The teenager’s warm breath pummelled her skin as she carried on chanting, her voice becoming louder and louder, the words spilling out faster and faster.

      Neve could СКАЧАТЬ