Page 61 of The Inn on Bluebell Lane

What about Emily? Jess couldn’t keep from texting back, bitterness curdling in her stomach. Your new BFF, she added, but then deleted it before she sent it.

Chloe sent another raft of sad-face emojis. She’s so fake. I want my BFF back.

A wave of homesickness crashed over Jess, pulling her under. I do too, she texted, and a breathy sob escaped her. So much. If I could come back there, I’d leave right now. I’m totally serious.

Why don’t you? Chloe texted back. My mom says you could stay with us for as long as you wanted. You could come back to school!

Jess’s heart turned over at the thought of it. To be back in Connecticut with Chloe… back where everything was familiar, where she belonged… why not? Why not?

Are you serious? she texted, her fingers flying, her heart racing.

Chloe sent a bunch of thumbs ups and hearts. YES!!!

For a second, hope buoyed inside her; to go back to Connecticut! To live with Chloe! It felt like the best dream ever. Then Jess sank back against her pillows, dispirited. Her parents would never agree to it. Her mother wouldn’t.

My parents wouldn’t let me, she texted, everything in her sinking.

What if you were already here? Chloe texted. What could they really do then?

Jess caught her breath.

Do you mean, like, run away?

You could leave a note. You can book a ticket online! All you need is your passport and a credit card.

Jess let herself think of it. She knew where her parents kept all their passports—in a strongbox under their bed. And she thought she knew how to book a plane ticket online; she’d seen her parents do it loads of times. She could even use her mother’s credit card; she kept it in her handbag in the sitting room. There was a bus to Abergavenny from the same place as the school bus, and from there she could take a train to London, and then there had to be a way to get from London to Heathrow.

Another message pinged from Chloe.

When you’re thirteen you can travel by yourself. You don’t even need a letter from your parents. I checked online.

Jess drew another sharp breath. Seriously?

Yep.

She held her phone in her hand, her mind spinning. Could she actually do this? Her parents would freak. But by the time they realized she was gone, she’d be too far away for them to bring her back. And once she was at Chloe’s, and they saw that she was safe and happy…

She wouldn’t even have to go to school tomorrow. She wouldn’t have to face all the sneers and smirks and stares ever again.

Or Sophie…

Remembering the look of hurt on her friend’s face when she’d walked away from her made Jess’s stomach cramp. She’d been such a bad friend.

Well? Chloe texted, and recklessly Jess texted back.

Let me see if I can get a ticket.

Chloe sent a series of hearts, rainbows, and hooray emojis while Jess reached for her laptop, her heart starting to thud.

CHAPTER 32

GWEN

Gwen could hear the loud clanking and clattering of pots in the kitchen, and suspected Ellie was annoyed, or perhaps just tired.

She was certainly tired herself—slumped in this chair, her head lolling back, she was barely able to keep her eyes open. Ellie had brought her a cup of tea that was cooling on the table next to her; Gwen didn’t feel she had the energy to so much as take a sip. Doing the puzzle with Josh and baking with Ava, pleasant as both activities had been, seemed to have exhausted her. She had so little energy these days, she knew she needed to conserve it, but even so, she couldn’t regret spending time with her grandchildren. It was so very precious.

A noise had Gwen opening her eyes; she hadn’t even realized she’d closed them until she saw Jess sidling into the room, looking guilty, or perhaps just uncertain.