The World Outside My Window by Clare Swatman

Author:Clare Swatman [Swatman, Clare]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-06-04T16:00:00+00:00

‘It’s from his dad,’ Laura says, her voice barely more than a whisper. ‘But his dad is dead.’ She feels her body start to shake. Ben longs to comfort her but is unsure how welcome a hug would be from him right now, so holds back.

‘But this is from when he was younger,’ he says. ‘It’s not recent.’

Laura shakes her head. ‘He said—’ She stops, clears her throat. ‘His parents died when he was twelve. He was brought up by his aunt, who he doesn’t speak to any more.’ Even as the words come out of her mouth she realises how ridiculous it is that she doesn’t know any more details than that. Seven years she and Jim have been together, and she has barely asked him a single question about himself.

Or is it more that he deflected any questions she did ask him, until she stopped asking him anything?

Her head feels muddled, as though all the things she thought she knew were turning to liquid and dripping through her fingers. She can’t pin anything down in her mind. Is that what he told her, that his parents died when he was twelve? Or has she got confused? Her mind has been so entirely focused on herself and her own problems that she hasn’t paid any attention to Jim.

And yet this is one thing she was fairly sure of. Jim’s parents died when he was twelve. He was brought up by his aunt, whose name she doesn’t think she’s ever known, although the name Bess is hovering at the edges of her mind. Why would she think all this if it wasn’t true? And if it is true, how can his dad have sent him a card for his thirtieth birthday – and what was it doing locked away in this drawer? She can only assume Jim had no idea it was here.

‘I don’t know what to do,’ she whispers, her voice cracking. Without hesitation this time, Ben’s arms are around her and she’s sobbing into the shoulder of this man she’s only just met, and feeling comforted and devastated all at the same time.

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.