Picnics in Hyde Park by Nikki Moore

Author:Nikki Moore [Moore, Nikki]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780007583249
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2015-07-23T15:18:14+00:00

11

Zoe’s fingers clenched around the steering wheel as she swung the BMW onto her aunt’s driveway. Nerves fluttered in her stomach. The whole way here she’d had the windows down and music turned up high, a summer hits dance album filling the car as the breeze fluttered her hair around her face. Usually she’d find the taste of freedom relaxing, but two of the tracks had been by artists of Matt’s. There was just no getting away from him.

She’d hidden like a coward on the top floor this morning, making a coffee in her lounge area with the small pod-based drinks machine. Waiting until Matt and the kids had left the house, unable to bear facing him just yet. She had slept like crap and there were dark circles under her eyes when she’d been brushing her teeth in front of the mirror. There was no doubt about it, she looked and felt fragile and should definitely be in a stronger frame of mind for the conversation ahead. However, she kept her commitments, so here she was.

Grabbing her handbag and locking the car she smoothed down the navy dress with the flock of white birds dotting it and squared her shoulders. Gazing up at her aunt’s imposing three floor house with the black railings leading up to the open porch, she traced uneasy eyes over the dark, old-fashioned dormer windows in the roof and the twin curved towers at either end of the property. The place reminded her of the Bates Motel for some reason. There were other similar properties a few roads away that’d been converted into hotels or bed and breakfasts, but Ruth had always been steadfast that this was her home and she wasn’t letting people traipse through it and certainly wasn’t selling it to developers.

The front door swung open. ‘Are you going to stand there all day, or were you planning to knock on the door at some point?’ her aunt asked.

Zoe jumped, putting a hand to her chest. ‘Jeez, you scared me.’ Taking a deep breath and summoning all of her patience and courage, she walked forward and climbed the wooden stairs, stopping in front her. Ruth had aged over the past few years. Her pale skin looked sallow, new lines fanning out from her dark eyes. Zoe was shocked. The woman had always seemed so solid and unchanging. ‘Hello, Aunt Ruth. It’s good to see you.’

‘Zoe.’ She inclined her head and stepped back, holding the door open for her niece to pass. ‘Come in.’

No response about it being nice to see her too, Zoe mused dryly as she ambled into the hallway and back into the past. Nothing had changed. The corridor was still dim, the skirting boards and high ceilings painted an immaculate but dull white, the carpet the same violent swirl of dark reds, the mahogany banister gleaming with polish. The scent of beeswax filled the air.

‘Through to the front room,’ Ruth directed behind her, and obediently Zoe swung to her left, pushing the glossed wooden door open and going into the lounge.

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