Time After Time by Hannah McKinnon Read Free Book Online Page B

looked around. ‘Where’s Mark?’ She couldn’t face having a heart-to-heart with him there.
    ‘He popped out with Morgan. You okay?’
    ‘No. No I’m not, I …’ Big fat tears started rolling down Hayley’s cheeks.
    ‘Oh dear. Things not great with Chris then?’
    ‘What? You
knew
? How did this happen? I know we had a few drinks last night but I didn’t think I was that pissed. Oh
god.
’ Hayley pressed her hands over her eyes for a second, then looked at Ellen. ‘When did you get a spray tan? No, never mind. Do you know where I went after I left?’
    ‘Left where?’
    ‘Here,’ Hayley said, her voice louder than she’d intended.
    ‘You were here last night?’ Ellen asked. ‘When? Greece was fabulous by the way. You were right. We needed a holiday. The weather, the food, the
sex
.’ She winked at Hayley. ‘Heaven.’
    ‘What holiday?’
    ‘Ours. Bloody hell, you must have got really hammered last night.’
    ‘Yes. With
you.
After my argument with Rick, remember? I got a taxi home but I woke up with Chris.’
    ‘Who’s Rick? What are you …?’
    The front door opened and Mark came in, followed by a glossy-coated black Labrador with a chunky red collar covered in silver rivets. The dog bounded over to Hayley, barked and wagged its tail while its paws slipped across the floor, making a clip-clipping noise.
    Mark kissed Ellen and hugged Hayley. ‘I think she’s pissed off at us for sending her to the kennels. Aren’t you, you daft dog?’ The dog barked again. Mark bent over and the dog immediately fell to the floor, belly side up in a tickle-me-now gesture, moaning quietly.
    ‘Where’s Morgan?’ said Hayley, as she looked around. ‘And since when do you have a dog?’
    Ellen and Mark exchange glances. ‘That’s Morgan.’ Ellen pointed at the Labrador, who was busy gnawing on a spit covered slipper with the
Star Wars
logo.
    Mark frowned. ‘Hayley, are you feeling okay? You’re acting weird.’
    A shiver travelled down her spine and she took a step back.
    Something’s wrong. Really wrong.
    ‘Guys, come on,’ she said. ‘Did you get the dog today? Why would you call it the same name as your daughter?
That’s
weird.’
    Ellen moved towards her and gently took her hands. ‘You gave us a puppy for Christmas. Six years ago. We called her Morgan.’ Her slow and deliberate tone made Hayley feel like a child. ‘We don’t have a daughter. Are you okay? Why don’t you sit down?’
    Hayley snatched her hands away and took another couple of steps back, shaking her head and her right hand at them at the same time. Their expressions didn’t change – they were still looking at her with frowns and narrowed eyes.
    ‘What? Hilarious, ha ha ha. I never gave you a puppy and if you don’t have a daughter, then what do you call this?’
    She stomped over to Morgan’s bedroom and flung the door open, drawing her breath sharply as she looked inside. A desk with a computer screen, a pile of papers and a pen holder were where Morgan’s bed had been. A slightly chewed, brown wicker dog basket with a green plastic hedgehog lay to the left of the desk. The bookcases weren’t filled with
Little Miss
or
Angelina Ballerina
books. Instead there were novels and some quirky bird ornaments. Hayley noticed Mark’s guitar in the corner.
    How the hell?
    The empty floor had none of Morgan’s squishy cuddly toys. Soft grey paint, not girly pink, covered the walls. The pretty pastel curtains were now dark green and there weren’t any pictures of Ellen, Mark and Morgan. Instead a framed photograph of Stonehenge and another of the London Eye at night hung on the wall.
    No Morgan. Then what about Millie and Danny?
    It was incomprehensible, simply too much to take in. The room started spinning, faster and faster, like a psychedelic merry-go-round on speed. As her legs gave way beneath her, Hayley thought she saw Ellen and Mark rush towards her, arms outstretched, trying to catch her as she slid silently to the