The Runaway Woman

The Runaway Woman
Josephine Cox

No-one thought she had the courage…Those looking in from the outside think Lucy Lovejoy’s life is like any other, but at the centre of her family there is a big empty hole where all the love and warmth should be. Over the years, her children have watched while their father chipped away at Lucy’s self-confidence. Now the children are following their own paths, and Lucy has never felt more alone.When tragedy strikes at the heart of the family, it’s a wake-up call for Lucy. Everyone has taken a little piece of her, and she isn’t sure who she is anymore. So when Lucy faces a betrayal from those she loves deepest, she knows that it’s time to make a choice.Is she brave enough to find herself again?

Copyright (#ulink_6e90ad47-29b7-571c-8c17-7cd6aa1e1dfd)

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 HarperCollinsPublishers 2014

Copyright © Josephine Cox 2014

Cover layout design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2014

Cover photographs © Mark Owen/Arcangel Images (woman); Mohamad Itani/Trevillion Images (house); Leszek Paradowski/Trevillion Images (path); Shutterstock.com (http://Shutterstock.com) (border)

Josephine Cox 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 e-book 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.

Source ISBN: 9780007419937

Ebook Edition © February 2014 ISBN: 9780007419944

Version: 2017-05-22

Dedication (#ulink_e4f6778d-c193-5d7f-97a3-102e8f417d2e)

This story is for every woman of every age who finds herself lost, lonely and afraid.

Remember – the sun often shines after the rain has gone.

For my Ken – as always.

Contents

Cover (#u76acc450-cf46-5958-a075-949e1a08aec4)

Title Page (#uff02030c-e13d-5070-8742-f706b8dc05a4)

Copyright (#u8af58b35-3815-5bd7-8114-4aa6b0219f45)

Dedication (#u6fe0ab52-f714-5bcc-8b1b-6de4416b3927)

A special message from Jo (#u17f2a55a-0a12-53ff-8fec-584c9ffa02e6)

Part One: No One to Turn to (#u8c7eac45-4f72-5e18-8457-b653114ae18a)

Chapter One (#u782ff894-8ee3-5307-9ea0-8823aed17593)

Chapter Two (#ub9ee8b4a-9b26-52a4-9be3-6e7ed36916b1)

Part Two: Revelations (#uc7864e6a-78f2-537c-905e-6e0a3bb7a9fe)

Chapter Three (#ub3c2ac6c-48c8-51bc-8a88-3e57bfdee2a0)

Chapter Four (#u224888ca-8a38-5d8d-a42c-9a16ec5b4434)

Chapter Five (#u551a297b-c63b-55b6-8298-255d1809667f)

Chapter Six (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Seven (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eight (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Nine (#litres_trial_promo)

Part Three: Lucy’s Brave New World (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Ten (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eleven (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twelve (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Thirteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Fourteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Fifteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Sixteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Seventeen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eighteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Nineteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Part Four: Painful Decisions (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twenty (#litres_trial_promo)