The Night She Disappeared Quotes
"The baby is starting to grumble. Kim sits still in her chair and holds her breath. It’s taken her all night to get him to sleep."
"Kim has never really liked babies. She liked her own well enough, but did find the early years testing and ill-suited to her sensibilities."
"For the most part, despite it happening ten years before she was ready for it, having a grandson has been blessing after blessing."
"Kim goes upstairs to Noah’s cot, her heart heavy with the prospect of another hour of rocking and soothing and sighing and whispering in the dark."
"She collects him up and places him against her chest and says, ‘What’s all the fuss now, baby boy, what’s all the fuss?’"
"Sophie and Shaun have only been together for six months. They met when Sophie came to Shaun’s school to give a talk about publishing and writing."
"‘Thank you,’ he says. ‘Thank you so much.’ ‘What for!’ ‘You know what for.’ He takes her hands in his."
"And now, as the sun shines down through the tops of the towering trees, Sophie starts to feel the beginning of happiness."
"Scarlett Jacques is standing next to Tallulah in the queue at the canteen. She is five foot ten, thin as a stick, her bleached hair is dyed pale blue."
"‘Yes, but then he might try to talk me round and I haven’t got the energy for it.’ Tallulah’s so tired all the time."
"‘Phew,’ says Scarlett, pulling earbuds from the pocket of her oversized raincoat and starting to put them in her ears."
"‘I mean,’ she says, ‘I’m sure it’s nothing. I’m sure they just, you know, kids, they just …’ But she peters off because she’s not sure of any such thing."
"Ah, yes, of course. Stupid of me. I did know that. Miss Beck. Peter Doody. Executive Head."
"Detective novels! Well, well, well! I’m sure you’ll find lots to inspire you here at Maypole House. There’s never a dull day."
"‘You do deserve me. I’m "sloppy seconds", remember?’ They smile wryly at each other."
"‘Maybe,’ she says. ‘Maybe I will.’ Shaun and Sophie have only been together for six months."
"Well, just for future reference, the local pub is superb. The Swan & Ducks. Does a kind of Mediterranean, meze, tapas type of menu."
"‘Thank you so much.’ ‘What for!’ ‘You know what for.’ He takes her hands in his."
"You may see some strangely dressed folks around; there’s been an external residential course running here all week, some kind of Glee-type thing."
"Well, anyway. I’ll let you both settle in. All the codes are here. You’ll need this one to let the van in when it arrives and this one is for the front door."
"I’m big in Scandinavia." She laughs the laugh she always laughs when she has to explain to people why they’ve probably never heard of her.
"I could tell you some really, really hair-raising stuff."
"Cheers," she says. "To my fifth head teacher! And to you, too, Sophie, my first head teacher’s significant other!"
"The series is called The Little Hither Green Detective Agency. I write under the name P.J. Fox."
"What will you do today?" asks Shaun. "Will you go for another epic walk?"
"It’s not what I’m used to. I mean, I’m a Londoner, born and bred, I’ve never lived outside London before."
"I doubt you’d have read them. They’re quite niche."
"Life has been nothing but packing and unpacking and saying goodbye and saying hello."
"I haven’t been in the right headspace to get any work done. But now I have no excuse."
"Absolutely not. They’re devoted to their son. Both of them. Particularly my daughter. Absolutely devoted to him."
"Men don’t know, she thinks, they don’t know how having a baby makes you protective of your skin, your body, your space."
"Cheers," she says. "To new beginnings and old friends."
"He’s happy to sit and peel through the same fabric books time after time after time, repeating the same words again and again."
"‘I most certainly do!’ He pats the cover of a large leather-bound ledger on the desk to his left."
"‘Everything is in there from the day I got the keys to this shop back in 1979.'"
"‘No,’ she says, ‘no. Not really. I mean, no, not at all.'"
"‘It’s not your fault. Please don’t worry. And this. This is great. Honestly.'"
"Thank you for taking the time to find this, to find us. To give it back."
"I can’t deal with how good-looking you are."
"‘I’m not going anywhere,’ he said lightly. ‘I’m going to be right there.’"
"‘What are you doing here?’ ‘Had a headache,’ he says. ‘Asked to leave early.’"
"‘I’ve got time for Noah. I’ve got time for college. And that’s it. I don’t have time for us.'"
"It’s the only theory that makes any sense."
"It's nothing. I'm all over the place right now and I can't get into work so it's good to have something mindless to focus on."
"I'm so grateful to you. You really didn't need to."
"I didn’t go today. I only go three times a week."
"Well, I don’t know when I was going to do it. I’m so grateful to you."
"It’s clearly not a topic he wants to give any oxygen to."
"The woods aren’t technically school property and as far as Peter’s concerned it’s nothing to do with us."
"I never felt that sense of connection with him, like I have with my other grandbabies."
"I thought you were going to say something else."
"I can't quite believe that we might finally find out what actually happened."
"I am not going anywhere, Tallulah, I am not going fucking anywhere."
"Because people don’t care. Everyone goes around thinking they’re the centre of the fucking universe and that people miss them when they don’t come to things, but nobody gives a shit."
"You’re so lucky. Imagine being me for just a minute and having to make do with this."
"I thought, well, I wouldn’t be feeling that way if it wasn’t mine. I thought I’d know. I’d know if he was someone else’s."
"That’s exactly what you want. Of course it is. You’re nineteen. You’re beautiful. You’re good. You want to be free."
"I mean, you’d never want to do it again because it’s gross. But that was the thing. Neither of us was thinking."
"I’m not beautiful. My mum is beautiful. But I, unfortunately, look just like my dad."
"I’d be like a nun for you. I’m going to be like ten nuns for you."
"You know my mum doesn’t even think Noah is mine."
"I thought, well, I wouldn’t be feeling that way if it wasn’t mine."
"You’re so lucky. Imagine being me for just a minute."
"He’s very perceptive and he will have picked up on her energy."
"They chat for a while about Noah, about Zach’s sister who’s just fallen pregnant with her first child."
"‘Eat some chips.’ He tips a pot of massive, oily-looking chips towards her."
"‘More,’ he says. And that edge is back in his voice."
"‘What does she want?’ ‘Just asking if we were having a nice time?’"
"‘Yes,’ she says. ‘We’re having a lovely time.’"
"‘Cheers,’ she puts out her champagne glass to his and says."
"‘Go on. Peel it for me, will you? I’m too lazy,’ and she hits him with the best smile she can muster."
"‘I’m going to get dressed,’ she says, collecting her shorts and Zach’s shirt."
"‘She’s not ugly. She’s beautiful,’ He clutches his head."
"You know you can’t be Noah’s mother any more. Not now."
"No court in the world would let a person like you raise a child."
"No, no, no, no, no, not my beautiful baby girl."
"I didn’t want to disturb you two while you’re having such a gorgeous romantic evening."
"I promise you, that I have cleaned every last inch of this cottage and there is not one solitary tiny weeny creature anywhere in it."
"It’s just that selfie, from the Christmas party. That’s all."
"It’s going to be OK? Yes? Just hold on in there."
"You know that’s it now, don’t you? You know you can’t be Noah’s mother any more. Not now."
"He was going to take your baby, Lula! He was going to take your baby!"
"You told me you wanted him to disappear, Lula. You told me that. Remember?"
"I have no idea what it is and I don’t know how it ended up being buried there. I don’t know anything at all."