Copyright

      Published by HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF

       www.harpercollins.co.uk

      Copyright © Freya North 2011

      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

      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 nonexclusive, nontransferable 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: 9780007326662

       Ebook Edition © 2011 ISBN: 9780007326679 Version: 2017-11-28

       Dedication

       For Mummy

       Lovely, funny, beautiful – and so very very brave. A woman of worth, indeed.

       With love,

       Your Chief Sherpa

       Epigraph

       All discarded lovers should be given a second chance

       – but with somebody else

      MAE WEST

       Contents

       Cover

       Title Page

       Copyright

       Dedication

       Epigraph

      That Shop

      Oliver and Jonty

      The Tree Houses

      Michelle and Candy

      Tinker, Spike and Boz

      Something for the Weekend

      The George and Dragon

      The Thorpe Arms

      Suzie Vs Candy

      Rick

      North London

      Location Location Location

      And So to Bed

      Sting

      Flower Man and Tree Fella

      Tim and Vita and Rick

      Helpful Unhelpful Thoughts

      Suzie Vs Vita

      T.P.O

      The Cagoule

      The Wretched Cagoule

      Suzie

      The Wasp Catchers

      Beer and Jam

      Roots

      Mr Whippy

      Post-Mortem

      Sunday

      Dermott Hogan

      Day Trippers

      Tim and Vita

      Jamie Oliver Oliver

      Jonty

      The Cowgirl

      Helping Hands

      Tristan Tree

      The Wynfordbury Taxicab

      Tim and Suzie and Vita

      Parenting

      Elsie Mackenzie

       Epilogue

       Acknowledgements

       Keep Reading – The Way Back Home

       Up close and personal with Freya

       Don’t miss Freya’s other bestsellers

       Acclaim for...

       About the Author

       Also by Freya North

       About the Publisher

       That Shop

      Sitting in her shop, That Shop, on the stool behind the counter (an old console table which was for sale and had been since she opened three years ago), Vita kept her head down, nose buried in her book, yet managed surreptitiously to watch the elderly lady whilst wondering what she’d allow her to nick today. A fortnight ago, it had been a small jar of pastel-coloured guest soaps in the shapes of seashells. Prior to that, an ashtray, brass, in the shape of a Moroccan slipper. Vita didn’t think the old lady smoked, she thought her vice might be little more than the occasional sherry and shoplifting. Fascinating. And why had she stolen that tin of mini sparklers with ‘Wedding Wishes’ embossed on the lid? Not that Vita had minded – they were on offer anyway. The most expensive thing the lady had swiped had been the small pewter noughts and crosses set – but there again, no one had expressed any interest in it.

      Sometimes, Vita could anticipate which object would be pilfered; at other times, she knew something had gone but it took her a couple of days to figure out quite what. She liked the fact that what was taken was dictated not by its value but by its desirability. Those sparklers had been cheap as chips but the little tin was so pretty.

      Vita watched and tried to guess. The Gardener’s Handcream? The light-pull in the shape of a black cat? The old lady was currently admiring the candy-coloured dustpan set. Vita thought, She’ll never get that under her jacket. A couple of months ago, perhaps, when spring was late and it was still cold and the woman was swamped by a shabby old coat in Prince of Wales check. Today, she wore a light blouson a shade darker than her lilac rinse. What would she be able to squirrel away when true summer came? Did she choose her summer clothes on account of capaciousness of pockets? It was only June but the weathermen were predicting a heatwave for this summer. The shopkeepers of Wynford hoped so. Vita thought back to last summer and all that rain that had been so bad for business. It seemed such a long time ago now.

      It was one of the animals! Vita detected a sudden lift in the old lady’s energy from near the rack at the back of the shop on which the plastic animals stood as if lining up waiting to board the wooden ark on the neighbouring table. Which, though? Which had gone?

      Gazelle. Vita reckoned it had to be the gazelle. There were plenty of them left. In her experience, the children always made a beeline for the carnivores.

      ‘Nothing today, lassie,’ the woman said diplomatically as if, on some future occasion, with new stock, or just what she was looking for, she might be happy to part with her money.