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Certain details in this story, including names, places and dates, have been changed to protect the family’s privacy.
HarperElement
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First published by HarperElement 2019
FIRST EDITION
Text © Cathy Glass 2019
Cover layout design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2019
Cover photograph © Mark Owen/Trevillion 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: 9780008324292
Ebook Edition © February 2019 ISBN: 9780008324346
Version: 2019-01-10
Contents
Chapter Twenty: A Dreadful Mistake
Chapter Twenty-One: Waiting for News
Chapter Twenty-Two: Angry and Upset
Chapter Twenty-Three: Prosecute
Chapter Twenty-Five: Life’s Not Worth Living
Chapter Twenty-Six: The Letter
Chapter Twenty-Seven: Moving On
Suggested topics for reading-group discussion
Chapter Twenty
I checked on Stevie after everyone had left his review. He was in his bedroom, more angry than upset. There wasn’t much I could say to him about Fred beyond what I’d already said – that he loved him, but he didn’t think before he spoke. Stevie knew his grandfather far better than I did. Having made sure Stevie was OK, I told him not to sit alone brooding and to come down when he was ready. He didn’t come down until I called everyone for dinner. He was very subdued at the table, didn’t contribute to the conversation and just shrugged when Lucy asked him how his review had gone.
After dinner, as we were clearing away the dishes, I suggested to him again that he might like to invite a couple of his friends back from his class at the weekend, or go out with them – bowling, swimming, cinema or similar. Some months ago he’d mentioned he had two good friends in his class and I thought he needed to socialise, which would give him something to think about other than the police investigation. I did see the irony in what I was doing – trying to persuade Stevie to go out. When he’d first arrived, going out, staying out and ignoring his grandparents’ boundaries had been an issue, but now he wasn’t going out socially at all. He didn’t seem keen on my idea, but agreed to think about it, then spent the rest of the evening in his room. I kept a close eye on him, for while Stevie maintained he didn’t need to see a counsellor or doctor, I was worried his anxiety was building, which could spiral into a deep depression or worse. I think it is easy for teenagers to allow problems to escalate and dominate their thoughts so they can’t see a way forward. But there is always a way forward, hope and a solution, whatever the problem, which is why I wrote Happy Adults.
It was no great surprise that once Peggy had put Kiri and Liam to bed that night, she telephoned me. I took the call in the living room where – not unusually – I was alone.
‘Fred
