How to Kill with Kindness by S. R. Masters

Author:S. R. Masters [Masters, S. R.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780008520144
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers

She ate breakfast with Andy. He was chirpy, oblivious to everything that had gone on yesterday, and he kissed the top of the head before heading out to fix the pub’s broken light. Of course, Aaron would tell Andy everything, and once he came home things would really hit the fan. She had better prepare for it, then.

She tidied the kitchen, still somewhat dazed by the incredible mess she’d made of things. Andy, Kath, Jayden, the committee – she’d managed to upset them all. She deserved her very own tree of black hearts for such an achievement. She dragged herself upstairs, tired and slightly nauseous, and wandered from empty room to empty room. So much space, and still no children to fill it – because that had been her secret hope, hadn’t it? To trick her body into action, or some other irrational bollocks. She’d never really believed she wouldn’t have children, had she? Not like she suddenly found herself believing now.

She grabbed some tissue from the bathroom. Dried her eyes in the mirror. Stupid woman – who found it so easy to criticise bullshit, yet couldn’t avoid her own childish magical thinking.

What she needed now was sleep. And to wake up six months ago and stay at home the day they first found Nether Appleford. Instead, she opened the cabinet above the sink to grab her toothbrush. It was a small unit, and everything was crammed inside, which was why Andy’s toothbrush fell into the sink, dragging with it a reel of floss and a long-forgotten pregnancy test.

Her heart lurched. She stared at the cassette.

It was not a sign.

Yes, she was three days overdue. But so what? So what? She’d been here a million times before. Three days was nothing. And yesterday she’d been convinced her period was coming on around lunchtime, but what she’d taken as the first twinges of cramp eventually abated. Or had she simply not noticed in all the drama?

No. This wasn’t a bloody sign.

Still, she dropped her underwear anyway. Used the test.

But because she knew it wasn’t a sign, she put the test down on the sink, brushed her teeth, and almost forgot about it.

Downstairs she heard the key in the door, footsteps in the lounge.

‘Tess.’

Andy, back already. His voice boomed in the stairwell. Tessa smirked. Aaron must have told him. He hadn’t even waited to finish up the job before having it out with her. Here went nothing, then.

The stairs began to creak, and she stepped out to stand in the hall to meet him. She stood in the doorway. He stood on the top step, face red like he’d been running.

‘What’s the matter?’ she said.

‘Tess, I’m so sorry. I just spoke with Aaron. The boy, he was up at your friend’s cottage—’

‘The boy? Jayden.’

He nodded. ‘He was up at Kath’s this morning apparently, and he said he looked through the window and saw some boxes had come down. In the corner of the house. He got an ambulance out, and they’ve taken her away.

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