A Summer to Remember. Victoria Cooke
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Название: A Summer to Remember

Автор: Victoria Cooke

Издательство: HarperCollins

Жанр: Современная зарубежная литература

Серия:

isbn: 9780008310264

isbn:

СКАЧАТЬ target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="#litres_trial_promo">Chapter 21

       Chapter 22

       Chapter 23

       Chapter 24

       Chapter 25

       Chapter 26

       Chapter 27

       Chapter 28

       Chapter 29

       Chapter 30

       Chapter 31

       Chapter 32

       Chapter 33

       Chapter 34

       Chapter 35

       Chapter 36

       Chapter 37

       Chapter 38

       Chapter 39

       Chapter 40

       Chapter 41

       Chapter 42

       Chapter 43

       Chapter 44

       Chapter 45

       Chapter 46

       Epilogue

       Acknowledgements

       Extract

       Dear Reader …

       Keep Reading …

       About the Publisher

       For my nanna, Lillian.

       For your sense of humour, strength and determination.

       xxx

       Prologue

      2010

      The black and white chequered floor whizzes past. Like a psychedelic trip, it isn’t real. I know that I’m running. I can’t feel my limbs moving, just the vague sensation of the air resistance caused by the motion. I’m on autopilot, and the only thing tying me to the reality of where I am, is the pungent smell of disinfectant that’s been with me at every turn.

      I stop abruptly, almost colliding with a person dressed head-to-toe in baggy green scrubs. My heart pounds in my chest. I look down at my hand, the knuckles white, still clutching my phone from when I got the call. It can only have been twenty minutes ago. It’s hard to tell because it feels like a lifetime has passed. The surgeon seems to understand that I can’t speak; his features are barely displaced, neutral, but there’s something lurking in his earthy eyes. Sympathy? ‘Mrs Butterfield?’ he asks. I nod, my mouth like Velcro, my brain too disengaged to speak.

      ‘Mrs Butterfield, I’m sorry. We did everything we could.’

       Did?

       You can’t have.

      The blood pumping in my ears is deafening. Barbed wire is wrenched from the pit of my stomach, right up through my oesophagus. I’ve never felt pain like it. My legs give way, unable to bear the weight of the surgeon’s words and my knees crash to the floor.

      I’m vaguely aware of a low, drawn-out wail. It’s me. The surgeon crouches down and looks me directly in the eyes. The warmth of his chestnut-brown gaze anchors me, and I’m able to gather tendrils of composure. I take a breath.

      ‘Mrs Butterfield, is there anyone we can call for you?’

      I shake my head. I only have one person, and now he’s dead.

       Chapter 1

      2018

      ‘Eurgh.’ I slam the pearlescent invite down by the kettle. ‘Plus one,’ I say in a mocking tone. Coco cocks her head to the side like she’s trying to understand me, and I cup her fluffy face.

      ‘I know, I don’t get it either.’ My cat’s emerald eyes are still intent on me so, glad of an audience, I carry on.

      ‘Why Bridget has to assume I need someone by my side is beyond me. As if I’m not capable of going to a wedding without a plus one. It’s not nineteen blooming twenty. I don’t need a chaperone. Perhaps I’ll take you, Coco. That’ll teach her.’ I tickle her under her chin and she stretches out lazily. I’m only half joking.

      As I pour my first coffee of the day, my phone rings. ‘Someone’s ears are burning,’ I say on answering.

      ‘Really?’ Bridget also ignores the need for pleasantries.

      ‘I got your wedding invite,’ I say dryly.

      ‘Well, СКАЧАТЬ