Excerpt: I Invited Her In

Synopsis:
Imagine the worst thing a friend could ever do.

This is worse.

When Mel receives an unexpected email from her oldest friend Abi, it brings back memories she thought she had buried forever. Their friendship belonged in the past. To those carefree days at university.

But Abi is in trouble and needs Mel’s help, and she wants a place to stay. Just for a few days, while she sorts things out. It’s the least Mel can do.

After all, friends look out for each other, don’t they?

I Invited Her In is a blistering tale of wanting what you can’t have, jealousy and revenge from Sunday Times bestseller Adele Parks.

Excerpt

Liam turns to his dad and playfully asks, “What are you wait­ing for? I’m ready.”

They’re out the door and in the car before I can ask if he has his football kit, whether he’s getting himself home from train­ing this evening or hoping for a lift, whether he has money for the vending machine. It’s probably a good thing. Me fussing that way really irritates him. I usually try to limit myself to just one of those sorts of questions per morning.

The girls, however, are still young enough to need, expect and even accept, a barrage of chivvying reminders. I check the kitchen clock and I’m surprised time has got away. I gulp down my tea and then shout up the stairs. “Girls, I need you down here pronto.”

As usual, Imogen responds immediately. I hear her frantic footsteps scampering above. She starts to yell, “Where is my hairbrush? Have you seen my Flower Fairy pencil case? Who moved my reading book? I left it here last night.” She takes school very seriously and can’t stand the idea of being late.

Lily is harder to impregnate with any sense of urgency. She has picked up some of the vocabulary that Liam and his friends use—luckily nothing terrible yet, but she often tells her older siblings to “chill” and she is indeed the embodiment of this verb.

I drop the girls off at school with three minutes to spare be­fore the bell is due to ring. I see this as a bonus but honestly if they’re a few minutes late, I don’t sweat it. I only make an ef­fort with timekeeping because I know Imogen gets stressed and bossy otherwise.

I’m aware that it’s our duty as parents to instil into our chil­dren a sense of responsibility and an awareness of the value of other people’s time, but really, would the world shudder if they missed the start of assembly?

I wasn’t always this relaxed. With Liam, I was a fascist about timekeeping. About that and so much more. I liked him to fin­ish everything on his plate, I was fanatical about him saying please and thank you and sending notes when he received gifts. Well, not notes as such, because I’m talking about a time be­fore he could write. I got him to draw thank-you pictures. His shoes always shone, his hair was combed, he had the absolutely correct kit and equipment. I didn’t want him to be judged and found lacking.

It’s different when you’re a single mum, which I was with Liam. I met Ben when Liam was almost six. Being married to Ben gives me a confidence that allows me to believe I can be two minutes late for school drop-off and no one will tut or roll their eyes. I didn’t have the same luxury when Liam was small.

Suddenly I think about Abigail Curtiz’s email and I’m awash with conflicting emotions.

There are lots of things that are tough about being a single parent. The emotional, physical and financial strain of being en­tirely responsible for absolutely everything—around the clock, a relentless twenty-four-seven—takes its toll. And the loneliness? The brutal, crushing, insistent loneliness? Well, that’s a horror. As is the bone-weary, mind-wiping, unremitting exhaustion.

Sometimes my arms ached with holding him, or my back or legs. Sometimes I was so tired I wasn’t sure where I was ach­ing; I just felt pain. But there were moments of reprieve when I didn’t feel judged or lonely or responsible. There were moments of kindness. And those moments are unimaginably important and utterly unforgettable. They’re imprinted on my brain and heart. Every one of them.

Abigail Curtiz owns one such moment.

About the Author:
Adele Parks one of the most-loved and biggest-selling women’s fiction writers in the UK. She has sold over 3 million books and her work has been translated into 25 different languages.

1500+ 5 star reviews have kindly been written by her fans on Amazon.co.uk 🙂

She has published 15 novels in the past 15 years, all of which have been London Times Top Ten Bestsellers.

Adele was born in the North East of England, in 1969. She enjoyed a traditional 1970’s childhood, watching too much TV and eating convenience food because nobody minded if kids did that in those days. Since graduating from university, where she studied English Language and Literature, she worked in advertising and as a management consultant. In 2010 Adele was proud to be awarded an honorary doctorate of Letters from Teesside University.

Visit Adele online:
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Thanks to TLC Book Tours for including us in Adele's blog tour. Visit all the stops on the tour.