The Birthday Weekend: A totally unputdownable psychological thriller by Lesley Sanderson

Author:Lesley Sanderson [Sanderson, Lesley]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781800190788
Publisher: Bookouture
Published: 2020-12-17T18:30:00+00:00

Just before six, Amy knocks on our door.

‘If you want to go down now to prepare, you can. I’ve finished in the lounge.’

I head downstairs with Theo to help him set up his bar area. I’ve changed into a black dress and Theo is wearing a suit. Not a stuffy, office kind of suit, but a more casual-looking one, with a long-sleeved crew-neck T-shirt underneath. He looks gorgeous.

‘Wow,’ he says, coming to a halt in the lounge doorway, making me bump into him. ‘I take it this is Hannah?’

Amy has put a framed photo of Hannah in the centre of the mantelpiece. I pick it up with a quick intake of breath. She used to have this photo in her room. It was one Amy took of her on campus, standing in front of the sports centre, laughing, her hair blowing in the wind. Tea lights are placed around it.

Hannah’s eyes look at me and it gives me a weird sensation inside.

‘I’m not sure I should be here,’ Theo says. ‘I didn’t even know her.’

‘You’re fine, don’t be daft. I want you here.’

Theo goes through to the kitchen while I take in the scene. It feels over the top. This is meant to be Amy’s birthday celebration. Thank goodness Kat organised the present and I ordered a cake.

‘Did you pick up the birthday cake?’ I ask.

He nods. ‘It’s at the bottom of my bag. What do you want me to do with it?’

‘Let’s hide it in the kitchen somewhere.’

Amy clears her throat behind us, and I spin around hoping she hasn’t overheard.

‘What do you think?’ Her eyes shine as she looks around the living room.

‘What about Daisy? Isn’t the picture a bit much?’

‘She’ll be fine, leave Daisy to me.’

‘It’s certainly eye-catching, but this evening is supposed to be about you.’

‘And it will be. Indulge me, please. It’s like an exorcism, getting this out of my system. It will help us all, I’m sure it will.’

‘You’re the boss. And you look lovely, by the way.’ She’s wearing a figure-hugging red-and-white dress and her hair is loose. Hannah looks lovely in her photo too, and I wish I could rid myself of the sense of foreboding I feel about the evening ahead. Despite being amongst my oldest friends, this can’t end well, no matter how Amy tries to dress it up.

Amy leaves us to set up the bar. Theo clears a counter and lays out his ingredients while I chop up strawberries, lemons and limes and pick mint leaves from a bunch. He produces a small whiteboard on which he writes a list of the cocktails on offer.

Bloody Amy

Mojito

Manhattan

Cosmopolitan

Strawberry Daiquiri

Virgin Any of the Above

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.