Later that night she woke Jacob up and told him the truth. There was no way she’d be able to keep it from him.
‘You have to sort yourself out,’ she’d told him, sitting on the edge of his bed, like she used to do when he was little. ‘You can’t go on like this. Your reckless behaviour has cost a girl her life.’
‘I don’t think I can live with it,’ he’d sobbed. ‘What if there were witnesses? Or I was caught on CCTV?’
‘If you turn yourself in, you’ll go to prison. You can make amends, Jake. You can live a better life.’
And that was what he’d promised to do.
Every now and again he’d come to her, wide-eyed and panicking, worried that he’d be found out. And she lived in constant fear, too, that there would be a knock on the door from the police. But now that Arlo has been arrested and charged, they can rest easy. Arlo is wicked. He deliberately took the lives of those girls. Jacob made a mistake. It was an accident. He doesn’t deserve the same punishment as Arlo. She feels no guilt for letting everyone assume Arlo killed Matilde too.
Now, as she watches Jacob messing around with his brother, she hopes he can live with it, that he’s telling her the truth when he says he’s not touched drugs since. She has no choice but to believe him.
Ed would have made her turn him in. She knows that. He’s always said she panders to the boys. That’s why she has to keep it from him, too.
Her and Jacob’s secret. It binds them.
She just prays it doesn’t destroy them.
But she’d do anything for the people she loves. For her family.
Author’s Note
Although the setting for Just Like the Other Girls is Sion Hill in Clifton, Bristol, which is a real (and very lovely) place, Elspeth McKenzie’s house, The Cuckoo’s Nest, is just a figment of my imagination and is not based on any house in the street.
The character of the social worker in the initial 1983 chapter was named after Fiona, who won an auction for Doctors Against Borders. Thank you so much, Fiona.
Acknowledgements
This book wouldn’t have been possible without the wonderful team at Michael Joseph, particularly my brilliant editor Maxine Hitchcock, who is always so encouraging of my ideas, always calm, kind and clever. I love our meet-ups and talks about everything from writing to must-watch Netflix documentaries. This book is so much better than it would have been thanks to her hard work and insightful editing skills. A huge thank-you also to Rebecca Hilsdon, Emma Plater, Olivia Thomas, Sriya Varadharajan, Bea McIntyre, and everyone in Marketing, Sales and Art for all their hard work, dedication and creativity. I’m so grateful for everything you do, from the amazing covers to getting the book onto shelves. I’m so lucky to work with such a great team.
As always, a huge thank-you to Hazel Orme for her meticulous copy-edits, picking up on my continuity errors and grammar, as well as her enthusiasm for my stories.
So much love to my family: my mum, dad, step-parents, sister Sam and step-sister Sharon and brothers-in-law Mark and Jeff. To my amazing husband, Ty, for his continued patience and endless support and my lovely children, Claudia and Isaac, who might now just be getting old enough to read my books – not that they want to! To my in-laws, Lu, Steve, Tam, Rick, Teresa, and my cute little nieces. To my wonderful friends; particularly Alex (who kindly let me use her name in this book), Carinne, Elizabeth, Jacq, Nicky, Esther, Tanya, Magda, Verity, Jeanine, Claire, Carey and Liz. And a special thanks to Justine for all the word races. I don’t know what I’d do without you all.
Thank you to the West Country writers crew, Tim and Gilly for all the meet-ups, chats and laughs. And to other writer friends, Liz, Jo, Fiona, Gilly, Fleur and Sarah for support, word races and WhatsApp messages.
A huge thank-you to all the amazing readers for buying, borrowing, talking about and recommending my books. I wouldn’t be here without your support. To all the bloggers, who take time to read and review my books: you do such a great job. And to the supermarkets and bookshops and libraries. I’m so grateful.
And finally, to the person this book is dedicated to, my agent Juliet Mushens.
Juliet offered to represent me back in 2013 after I won a novel-writing competition run by Marie Claire magazine, where she was one of the judges. At the time there was no guarantee my book would even be published, but as soon as I met her I could see she is a force to be reckoned with. Since then she has worked tirelessly on making sure that that book, which became The Sisters, was a stepping stone to a writing career. She has been responsible for getting me fantastic publishing deals, both here and abroad. Not only is she a brilliant agent but she’s a fabulous person: a fashion icon, funny, super-smart, supportive and loyal. And she loves cats! Thank you so much, Juliet. Six books! This wouldn’t have been possible without you.