Keep You Safe: A tear-jerking and compelling story that will make you think from the international multi-million bestselling author
‘If you like Jodi Picoult try Melissa Hill’–Woman and Home‘I was completely gripped.’–Sarah Morgan‘Brimming with powerful issues’–Evening Post‘This emotive story will touch your heart'–My WeeklyGood mother or bad … who decides?Widowed nurse Kate and mum of two Madeleine couldn’t be more different in their approaches to parenting.Kate knows her husband’s death has made her more protective of her daughter, but she’s not going to apologise for it.Madeleine feels there’s no such thing as a perfect mother and while her parenting style may be controversial it works for her children and that’s all that matters.But when Madeleine makes a fateful decision that upends her own family, and has devastating consequences for Kate, suddenly the world is lining up to vilify her and she must defend every parental choice she’s ever made…Why is she accused of being a terrible mother when all she did was try to keep her children safe?Praise for Keep You Safe:‘I was completely gripped. Every parent will recognize the issues raised in this book.’– SARAH MORGAN‘Emotional and cleverly crafted with well-drawn characters.’– THE PEOPLE‘Another great read from the best-selling Irish author.’– HELLO MAGAZINE‘Guaranteed to kick-start book club debates’– GOOD HOUSEKEEPING‘A rigorous yet entertaining examination of one of the most controversial issues in modern parenting.’– IRISH TIMES.‘Hill has her finger on the zeitgeist, offering savvy and well-researched points on a touchy subject. Fans of Meg Wolitzer and Emily Giffin will devour this introspective and enlightening novel.’– BOOKLIST‘With a creative balance of fact and fiction, Hill engages readers in a suspenseful page-turner that is impossible to put down.’– ROMANTIC TIMES.‘Hill writes with authority about a subject that is controversial and without much grey area. A riveting read.'– RTE CULTURE‘Brimming with powerful issues recognisable to every parent.’ – EVENING POST‘This emotive story will touch your heart … a thought-provoking take on an issue that is not all black and white'– MY WEEKLY
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An imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
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First published in Great Britain by HQ in 2017
Copyright © Melissa Hill 2017
Melissa Hill asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
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Ebook Edition © September 2017 ISBN: 9780008217150
Version: 2018-01-23
MELISSA HILL lives in Co. Wicklow with her husband and daughter. A USA Today and No. 1 Irish times and Italian best-seller, her books are translated into 25 different languages. One of her titles has been optioned for a movie by a major Hollywood studio, and another is currently in development for TV with a top US production company. Visit her website at www.melissahill.ie or contact her on Twitter @melissahillbks, or melissahillbooks on Facebook and Instagram.
With much love and thanks to Sheila Crowley
– a true force of nature.
Contents
The bell rang out and on cue they started to approach all at once, like a stampeding herd.
Standing back to let the first wave pass while shivering in late March wind and cold, I pulled my gloved hands out of my pockets and tugged my woolly hat a bit more firmly down over my ears, tucking my wispy dark hair underneath it. Another blast of wind hit me in the face, turning my cheeks an even brighter shade of pink.
I knew that I could just stay in my car and keep warm while waiting for my five-year-old, Rosie, to emerge from Junior Infants class at Applewood Primary. However, she and I have a ritual of sorts and the typically inclement Irish weather wasn’t going to stand in the way of it.
Each and every day after school, I wait for Rosie just outside the school building, a bit down the front path by the main hall. During the more temperate months we walk the half-mile home together to our two-bed cottage in Knockroe, a small satellite town about forty minutes’ drive from Dublin.
I have never failed to meet Rosie in our chosen spot since she started school seven months ago. I was determined to never let her exit the class and not have me there – at least until my daughter told me that she wanted to walk home by herself or with friends. I wasn’t one of those helicopter parents or anything like that, but, come hell or high water, I would make sure I was there – especially since Rosie was still having nightmares about that one time after preschool.
The day when no one was waiting.
Hard to believe that fateful day was almost two years ago – it still felt like only yesterday. A chill worked its way up my spine – one that this time wasn’t triggered by the cold.
In her preschool days, my husband Greg had been the one responsible for picking up Rosie. Working from home as a freelance software designer, it was he who had more flexibility and usually had the opportunity to step away from the office he kept in the spare bedroom, and head over to the preschool to pick up our daughter. Since I work as a nurse at a clinic in a nearby town, I generally keep more irregular hours.
I had long been thankful that my husband could play such an active role in Rosie’s childhood, especially while my own commitments prevented me from being around as much as I would have liked.
My commitments are different these days.
Because there had been one time when Greg couldn’t make it to the preschool at the allotted time of 12.45 to pick Rosie up. Not because he didn’t want to, had forgotten or neglected to pay attention to the time, but because he had collapsed in our kitchen earlier that morning while making himself a cup of tea.
Sudden Adult Death Syndrome had ended my beloved husband’s life in seconds; he likely didn’t even realise what was happening.
