id="ua5907a0c-20e7-56ce-a340-fe1278f00a13">
Certain details in this story, including names, places and dates, have been changed to protect the family’s privacy.
HarperElement
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London SE1 9GF
First published by HarperElement 2020
FIRST EDITION
Text © Cathy Glass 2020
Cover layout design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2020
Cover photograph © Johner Images/Getty Images (posed by a model)
A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library
Cathy Glass asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work
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Source ISBN: 9780008380380
Ebook Edition © February 2020 ISBN: 9780008380434
Version: 2019-12-18
Contents
1 Cover
2 Title Page
3 Copyright
4 Contents
5 Chapter Twenty-One: Good and Bad News
6 Chapter Twenty-Two: Adoption
7 Chapter Twenty-Three: Photographs
8 Chapter Twenty-Four: Break My Heart
9 Chapter Twenty-Five: Unsettled
10 Chapter Twenty-Six: Court Case
11 Chapter Twenty-Seven: Retiring?
12 Chapter Twenty-Eight: Leaving
13 Chapter Twenty-Nine: Unexpected News
14 Suggested topics for reading-group discussion
15 Cathy Glass
17 Praise for Cathy Glass
18 About the Publisher
LandmarksCoverFrontmatterBackmatter
List of Pagesvvi216217218219220221222223224225226227228229230231232233234235236237238239240241242243244245246247248249250251252253254255256257258259260261262263264265266267268269270271272273274275276277278279280281282283284285286287288289290291292293294295296297298299300301302303304305306307308309311iii
Chapter Twenty-One
Our holiday was everything we’d hoped for. Endless days of warm sunshine, clear blue skies, azure sea, golden sands, delicious food and buckets of the holiday spirit that makes people smile. Having said that, taking a child on holiday is obviously different to adults going away, as children need to be supervised the whole time, and large parts of the day are built around what they want to do. But Paula and I didn’t mind. It was a delight to see Oskar so carefree and enjoying himself. Paula, away from her college work, had time to chill on a sunbed too. Not having to cook was a luxury for me. We were all-inclusive, so breakfast, lunch and dinner were provided, buffet-style, in the dining room. All we had to do was arrive and choose what we wanted to eat. There was a fantastic choice and Oskar found plenty he liked and was willing to try new foods, including the local traditional dishes, which were delicious.
The beach was a few minutes’ walk away from the hotel, and the hotel had three swimming pools in its grounds, one designed for children with water activities. Oskar couldn’t swim – his class would be starting swimming lessons in the new term – so he was wearing armbands at present. Paula and I went in the water with him and as well as having fun we showed him some basic swimming strokes. He didn’t mind water splashing on his face and towards the end of the week he was attempting a few strokes unaided as long as we were close by. We spent most of our time either in this pool or at the beach, but one day we went on an organized trip to see more of the island. The tour included historic sites, a church, breath-taking