Freya North - Secrets

Freya North

Secrets

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.

Published by HarperCollins Publishers Ltd 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk

1

Copyright © Freya North 2009

Freya North asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

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 e-books.

Ebook Edition © 2009 ISBN: 9780007325801

Version: 2017-11-28

pillow talk:

‘Fast paced, page-turning and full of endearing, interesting characters.

I defy anyone who doesn't fall in love with it’

Glamour

‘Warm, sexy, satisfying’

Heat

‘Darkly funny and sexy – literary escapism at its very finest’

Sunday Independent

‘The novel's likeable central characters are so well painted that you feel

not only that you know them, but that you know how right they are

for each other… the beauty of the North Yorkshire countryside

contrasts convincingly with the bustle of London’

Daily Telegraph

‘North charts the emotional turmoil with a sexy exactitude’

Marie Claire

‘With a storyline packed full of teenage nostalgia and

old-fashioned romance, this is a must-read’

Woman

‘A heart-warming and witty romance’

Bella

‘North has excelled in making her latest novel fresh and exciting.

Pillow Talk is an absorbing novel which will capture and hold your full attention from the opening pages … North keeps the reader guessing to the very end’ Irish Tatler

love rules:

‘Freya North has matured to produce an emotive novel that deals

with the darker side of love – these are real women, with real feelings’

She

‘Tantrums, tarts, tears and text-sex… what's not to love about

this cautionary tale for true romantics?’

Heat

‘A distinctive storytelling style and credible, loveable characters…

an addictive read that encompasses the stuff life is made of:

love, sex, fidelity and, above all, friendship’

Glamour

‘Plenty that's fresh to say about the age-old differences

between men and women’

Marie Claire

‘Sassy, feel-good chick lit with a good sting in the tail’

Cosmopolitan

home truths:

‘An eye-poppingly sexy start leads into a family reunion laced

with secrets. Tangled mother/daughter relationships unravel

and tantalising family riddles keep you glued to the end’

Cosmopolitan

‘You'll laugh, cry, then laugh some more’

Company

‘Freya North manages to strike a good balance between drama, comedy and

romance, and has penned another winner in Home Truths … touching, enjoyable’ Heat

‘An addictive read with a realistic view of home life, sisterhood and identity crisis’

Prima

For Jessica Adams, Sarah Henderson, Kirsty Johnson – and Jo Smith –

for your unconditional and bountiful support, love and laughter. thank you xxx

I could not get tae my love if Aa wad dee The waters of Tyne cem betwixt her and me Sae thor Aa wad stand wiv a tear in my ee Till the Smoggies 1 cem and built a bridge Ower them for me

(regional version,

‘Waters of the Tyne’, trad.)

1 Geordie moniker for Middlesbrough folk

Copyright

Praise

Epigraph

Resolution

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-one

Chapter Twenty-two

Chapter Twenty-three

Chapter Twenty-four

Chapter Twenty-five

Chapter Twenty-six

Chapter Twenty-seven

Chapter Twenty-eight

Chapter Twenty-nine

Chapter Thirty

Chapter Thirty-one

Chapter Thirty-two

Chapter Thirty-three

Chapter Thirty-four

Chapter Thirty-five

Chapter Thirty-six

Chapter Thirty-seven

Chapter Thirty-eight

Chapter Thirty-nine

Chapter Forty

Chapter Forty-one

Chapter Forty-two

Chapter Forty-three

Chapter Forty-four

Epilogue

Acknowledgements

About the Author

Also by Freya North

About the Publisher

1resolve, determination, purpose, dedication, 2promise, commitment, pledge, undertaking 3answer, solution, disentanglement, sorting out, 4Captain Cook's ship for his second (1772–5) and third (1776–9) voyages of discovery. James Cook, born Marton, Middlesbrough, 27 October 1728. Died Kealakekua Bay, Hawaii, 14 February 1779.

House-sitter wanted. Sea views. Immediate start.

As Tess and Em crept soundlessly to a corner of the kitchen and crouched down to make themselves as small as possible, Tess chanted the words to herself. It helped to block out partially the banging at the front door and, like a mantra, it gave her some composure.

The banging, though, continued, almost in time to her quickened heart rate, but louder. Stronger.

Go away.

But she had known they'd be back. They were hardly likely to have had a change of heart since their last visit, never to return. She knew that. Of course she did. However, she had not anticipated them coming back quite so soon, certainly not on a Thursday afternoon, the day she didn't work. She put a smile on for Em and they continued to crouch in silence.

House-sitter wanted.

House-sitting sounded so much better than crouching. After one final aggressive barrage, the banging ceased at last, though Tess and Em remained in situ for a cautious minute or two longer until they were quite sure that the people at the front door had gone. Em didn't object, she was used to it by now, content to follow Tess's lead – going along with the silence when Tess put her finger to her lips at the sound of banging; appearing not to notice if Tess answered the phone in a cod American accent. Being silent and feigning absence were two things that Tess and Em did well. Quite the double act. After all, Tess has managed to make it all a form of entertainment, both to lighten the load and fill the loaded silences between banging or ringing. Sometimes, she'd even run through her repertoire of daft faces.