The Keeper of Secrets

The Keeper of Secrets
Amanda Brooke

An emotionally-charged novella from Richard & Judy Book Club pick, Amanda Brooke. Can long-buried secrets break you apart … or set you free?On the surface, Elle has the perfect life – husband, child and a beautiful home. But sometimes a perfect facade hides the cracks beneath: Elle’s husband Rick seems determined to clip her wings at every turn, keeping her at home and away from her friends and from the world. When Elle’s father dies and she starts to clear his house, the cracks start to widen – and it’s only a matter of time before everything breaks open.On a quest for buried treasure at the house, her young son, Charlie, finds a box underneath the apple tree, with love letters from the past that could tear her world apart.As past and present collide, Elle must decide what is right – and what course her life should take.

The Keeper of Secrets

Amanda Brooke

Copyright (#ulink_4c1907d5-4326-5126-bccb-7668961dfa88)

Published by HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk)

First published in Great Britain by HarperCollins 2013

Copyright © Amanda Brooke 2013

Cover layout design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2015

Cover photograph © Laura Ward Photography / Getty Images

Amanda Brooke asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this ebook on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

Ebook Edition ISBN: 9780007522187

Version: 2015-07-20

Contents

Title Page (#u7d483e10-736c-586c-8734-ea88c51f60a3)

Copyright (#ufa542332-61c5-5113-aaf6-2162aa01a9b7)

Chapter 1 (#u82415d66-68e3-50cd-b4aa-9c6224650f7b)

Chapter 2 (#u6865b687-f739-5807-8c9f-087e735a6395)

Chapter 3 (#u795101a0-1f7f-5746-9cb8-167c89a14267)

Chapter 4 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 5 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 6 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 7 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 8 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 9 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 10 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 11 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 12 (#litres_trial_promo)

Keep Reading (#litres_trial_promo)

About the W6 Book Café (#litres_trial_promo)

About the Author (#litres_trial_promo)

Also by Amanda Brooke (#litres_trial_promo)

About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)

1 (#ulink_82ac8c45-f19d-584a-8c8c-b94497075433)

‘Mum?’

Elle Morgan had almost made it to the door before her six-year-old son called her back. ‘Goodnight, Charlie,’ she said, ignoring his latest attempt to keep her in the room that little bit longer.

Charlie wasn’t giving up. ‘If Granddad’s gone to a better place then why are you sad?’

The delaying tactic worked and stopped Elle in her tracks. She had been doing her best to put on a brave face but it would seem her false smiles had failed to fool her son for the last week so she didn’t try now. ‘Because I miss him,’ she said, ‘but Granddad’s gone to heaven to be with Nana. He’s happy again.’

Charlie’s eyes widened as if his mother’s gentle words had been some kind of threat. ‘It wouldn’t make me happy. I don’t want to go to heaven,’ he whispered.

The fear in her little boy’s voice broke her heart. Despite his tender years he was all too aware of the frailties of life. Charlie had already had to watch his granddad slowly destroyed by grief after the death of his wife two years earlier. Harry hadn’t been prepared to lose her and with good reason. He was ten years his wife’s senior and had always assumed he would be the first to go but at sixty-one Anne had suffered a massive stroke and died six months later. Her devoted husband had been inconsolable and although Elle had willed her dad to fight, if not for his sake then for hers, he had gradually faded into the shadows where she couldn’t reach him. They had buried him that morning, leaving her, his only child, bereft and alone.

‘You’re not going anywhere except to sleep, Charlie,’ she said, adding a firmness to her soft voice as she stood on the threshold. The lamp outside on the landing cast thin fingers of light across the room towards Charlie’s spaceship-shaped bed which floated out of the darkness. Her intrepid astronaut had pulled his duvet cover up over his nose and tearful eyes sparkled in the gloom, beseeching her to stay. His reluctance to go to sleep was completely out of character and Elle could feel her resolve weakening although her warning glare gave nothing away.

‘OK,’ Charlie said with a sigh. ‘Goodnight, sleep tight.’

‘Don’t let the bed bugs bite,’ she finished, closing the door while leaving a crack wide enough to peak through. She had to suppress a smile as he squeezed his eyes tightly shut. Naively she assumed he was trying to force himself to sleep but after a few seconds, he prised one eye open and then the other. Slowly, he began to peel away his covers and moved a leg as if to get out of bed.

Elle whipped the door open. ‘Charlie, go to sleep!’ she said, now more amused than annoyed.