When You Disappeared Quotes
"Simon could have slept through World War Three – or worse, our kids jumping all over us like we were trampolines and demanding breakfast."
"Moving the kids from bedroom to bathroom to kitchen was like chasing reluctant chickens back into a henhouse – as frustrating as hell."
"I just wanted my rabble out of the house and into the classroom for some peace and quiet."
"It was Simon’s favourite time of the day, when he could help bathe the kids, put them to bed and read them stories about Mr Tickle and Mr Bump."
"I was up to my elbows ironing Simon’s work shirts and singing along to Boyz II Men’s ‘End of the Road’ on the radio when the phone rang."
"Our once cherished lie-ins had become a luxury dependent on the needs of three under-nines and a hungry mongrel."
"I wondered if Steven and I were mistaken, and that he hadn’t been for a run but actually had a meeting of his own to go to."
"For the first time in almost twenty years, I couldn’t feel Simon’s presence around me."
"I shook my head to make the doubts disappear and scolded myself for being daft."
"Like her, I had mourned, but silently and for different reasons."
"The key was to remain conscious of and fixed upon only the present and the future."
"I couldn’t tell anyone how sick I felt each time I thought about what might have happened to Simon."
"Parents are supposed to be the ones with all the answers, but I had none."
"Instinctively I believed my new life had the potential to be perfect."
"I made up my mind to keep her company that night – my mother had spent too many evenings on her own."
"I threw myself under the water and the sound of the waves tussling against the tide tore through my ears."
"I closed my eyes and exhaled as I muttered his name. ‘Kenneth.’"
"I was prepared for that opening scenario dozens of times in my imagination."
"My fascination with architecture remained and there was much to absorb."
"It was mainly young European travellers, keen to explore beaches away from the glamour of Cannes and Saint-Tropez, who inhabited the hostel."
"My scant smokescreen involved leaving university to spend a couple of years being part of the world, not merely studying it from the sidelines."
"You think it’s acceptable for us to hear from the police that our son is missing? We should have been told immediately."
"I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about Simon, but I didn’t want to worry you."
"Yes, so I’ve heard. It must be quite stressful spending afternoons with the children at the cinema while their father might be lying dead somewhere."
"And they’re my children, so I’ll decide what’s best for them, not you."
"You could have tricked him. A lot of women do, to get what they want."
"He hasn’t left, he’s disappeared. And it has nothing to do with our children!"
"That doesn’t rule you out as the cause though, does it, dear?"
"‘If he’s not dead, then he’s abandoned you,’ Shirley responded matter-of-factly. ‘And frankly, I’m not surprised.’"
"I’ve always said you can never repair damaged goods."
"I promise you, Robbie, no matter where your daddy is or what has happened to him, he hasn’t run away. He loves us with all his heart."
"‘You’re a liar,’ he said quietly as he retreated to the safety of his bedroom. ‘You made Daddy run away.’"
"The police are treating him as a missing person. What more evidence do you need?"
"I apologise if that sounds callous, but at the time I did what I thought was best."
"That’s the difference between you and me, Simon. I’d never have wanted to move anywhere if it wasn’t with you and the children."
"And with my baggage consigned to sealed boxes in my head, I was at ease living in a way I’d never dared to dream of."
"Of course I thought about you. I thought about you all – in time. What I’m saying is that it wasn’t beneficial for me to dwell on the past straight away."
"I’m so sorry for putting you through this, Catherine."
"But after an hour, his makeshift grave lay ready for him. My arms, weakened and jarred by fury and determination, made dragging his bulky frame to the hole arduous, but I persisted until I’d rolled him into the earth."
"I wasn’t sure how I’d do it, but somehow I would eke a confession from her."
"It was the last thing I’d expected to hear – another hammer blow to my fragile ego."
"As the months passed and the parasite in her belly grew, I resented it as much as the vehicle carrying it."
"Living with them all, I was miserable. If I walked out, I would be Doreen."
"He struggled to draw breath. His bleak, lethargic pupils fluttered to life like a loose-fitting lightbulb, then collapsed back into the murkiness of his irises."
"So much distress and sorrow could have been avoided if only he’d turned the door handle another forty degrees."
"‘You mean you thought you’d find Doreen. How dare you, Simon. How bloody dare you. That’s what you always believed, wasn’t it? That I’d turn out to be like her, because you think all women are like that.'"
"‘No, your Alzheimer’s is making you confused,’ she began faintly. ‘Let me call Edward. He can come back from the golf club and help you.’"
"‘Never.’ Her response immediately drained him of his energy and she wriggled until one of her arms came free."