Hooked on You

by Jenn Matthews

  Table Of Contents

  Dedication

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  About Jenn Matthews

  Other Books from Ylva Publishing

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  www.ylva-publishing.com

  Dedication

  As this is my first novel, of course, I must dedicate it to my wonderful wife. She continues to support me through everything. I think she’s more excited than I am about having my book published!

  My parents have also been a driving force, always encouraging me to be creative and strive for success in whatever I am passionate about. Paul and Ann, thank you.

  And finally, to my granddad Matthews, who died in 2008. He was a significant support to me in my early days of writing.

  Prologue

  Chalk & Silence

  “Sami.” Ollie ignored the smell of burning rubbish that, as usual, hung in the air. She held up her hand to the dark grey, scratched wall behind her. Who needed a blackboard when the walls themselves were just fine? “Can you complete these sums?”

  Sami rounded his desk, grinning at his friends. He rubbed his hands together.

  Ollie swept her arm outwards across the wall, as if the sums were a grand painting that Sami was allowed to add to. The rest of the children whooped as he arrived in front of the numbers and saluted Ollie, who returned the gesture.

  She was glad she was able to treat the children with such enthusiasm—Iraq wasn’t the most peaceful place, and she hoped she could bring some joy to their lives, even if it was just during school hours. The dwindling number of children each week made it difficult to retain her sunny attitude some days though—the boys collected into gangs as soon as they could hold a rifle, the girls lost to marriage to a man twice their age.

  Why can’t I do more? They deserve to be taught everything. Ollie supposed she would have to stick to maths and English as the British Army had prescribed. Some small dribbles of science where it didn’t interfere with their beliefs. I wish I could take them all home. The collection of children, from the ages of five to twelve, all learned the same things at the same time. Sometimes, teaching such a mixture of ages was difficult, but it worked well. Ollie made sure she gave each child work they were able to do, and she encouraged the older children to help the younger ones in a sort of buddy scheme. The older kids got to express what they had learned, and the little ones had one-to-one tuition, something they usually would not be able to afford.

  One of the oldest pupils, Sami stuck his tongue out of the side of his mouth and completed the maths problems on the wall. When he finished, all the children clapped, a response Ollie had encouraged from the first day, and something she made sure each child got in an equal measure, a collective appreciation of anyone who made an effort.

  “Very good job,” Ollie said, giving them all her widest smile. As inadequate as their curriculum was, they at least took joy from what little she was giving them.

  Sami skipped back to his seat.

  All her children looked at her with curious eyes, eager to learn. She explained the results Sami had chalked up and then looked across the class. A field of confident faces shone back at her.

  I did that.

  When the lesson was complete, Ollie sent all the children outside to play and dig up worms from the dusty ground. Their next lesson would be to study them and see who could find the longest one. Using things they could find in nature was a good way to get something simple like using a ruler into a lesson. She stood in her classroom, taking in her surroundings anew: a cement building with no glass in the windows and no doors in the frames. The sky out the window was cloudy today, and the hills in the distance were more grey than green. The little town of tents, old caravans, and makeshift huts sprawled across the valley, power lines stretching overhead.

  Ollie startled at the sight of Zoe hanging around just outside the classroom doorway.

  She entered the classroom and strode up to where Ollie stood trying not to smile too brightly. Her heart thudded in her ears, louder than the tatty football the kids were bouncing against the exterior wall of her classroom.

  Zoe wore beige linen trousers and a plain white polo shirt. Her sturdy boots, the colour of the sand floor, had frayed laces. There was a smudge of mud on her face. Her hair was scraped back into a ponytail, a few wisps of it tickling her face.

  Ollie kept her distance and relaxed a little as she realised Zoe was doing the same. She reached out, wanting to rub the mud from Zoe’s face, but they were too far apart.

  Zoe tilted her head to one side, her eyes shining.

  We can’t. Ollie dropped her hand.

  “Great lesson.” Zoe leaned against one of the more sturdy-looking desks. “They really respond so well to you.”

  A shy look passed between them.

  “I know.” Ollie flicked her hair back.

  “Mad isn’t it? You a PE teacher and now look at you.” Zoe’s eyes shone. “Teaching maths and spelling.”

  Ollie shrugged. “They don’t need to learn the finer rules of netball or how to run to a bleep test. They need the basics.”

  In the moment of quiet, Ollie continued to wish she could take them all away—Zoe, Sami, all the kids outside on the concrete somehow finding a way to still be kids in a place like this—to somewhere where 2 a.m. raids didn’t happen.

  Zoe shook her head. It was as if she knew where Ollie’s thoughts were. “The radio said there was an airstrike this morning. Not far away.” Her face was tight.

  Ollie’s gaze travelled down her body. Zoe’s knuckles were white as she gripped the desk. It made her reach automatically for Zoe again. Huffing to herself, Ollie dropped her hand. “It’s all right. Fadhil said they won’t go near the schools. Not the new ones, anyway. Some kind of unspoken rule, apparently.”

  “I know.” But she folded her arms over her chest.

  Silence spread between them. Ollie leant against the opposite desk.

  The loud, exuberant voices of a group of children playing on the concrete courtyard caught her attention. They had no need for unbroken toys, or mobile phones, not like Kieran and Helen, who had always wanted the next new thing growing up and who now relied on tablets and smartphones to entertain themselves. They seemed overly privileged compared to the children here.

  Zoe shuffled closer until the side of her boot touched Ollie’s. Ollie dropped her head and looked at her own boots—army issue and the only part of her uniform she wore while in her teaching role. When she looked up again, Zoe’s eyes were dark.

  “Tonight?”

  Ollie’s mouth opened but no sound came out.

  “I’ve missed you.” Zoe chewed her lip.

  “I’ve…” Ollie toed the floor. “I’ve missed you too.” Then she shook her head and stared straight at her. “But it’s… I shouldn’t.”

  Zoe pressed her lips together and closed her eyes for a beat. “I feel like the bubble’s bursting around us. Snapshots of your husband and family keep breaking through.”

  Ollie winced and nodded. She didn’t trust herself to speak.

  “It’s not the same for me. I know it isn’t. I don’t have a spouse or kids or…” Exhaling, Zoe gestured in the dusty air “And I’ve never cheate
d on anyone. Not in my whole life. But I can imagine, at least.”

  “I love our bubble.” Ollie’s voice was thin, breathy, as if she had no energy to push it out of her. “But you’re right. Things keep getting through.” She pushed her fringe back out of her eyes. “Every time I think of my kids…” Tears squeezed her throat.

  “I’m sorry. I’m sorry we got into this mess. But I can’t help the way I feel about you.”

  “I can’t help the way I feel about you.” She felt stronger these days, like Zoe’s presence was building her up, brick by brick.

  It’s wrong, though. All this lying. All this deceit. But she makes me feel like I’m actually alive. I’ve never felt like this at home. Ollie studied the woman across the space between them. Maybe I’m at home when I’m with her.

  “All right,” she said in the end, tremors washing over her as she felt sick for a heartbeat. She gripped the side of the desk and closed her eyes. “Tonight.”

  The old football thumped against the wall. Kids laughed.

  “Those textbooks will be here tomorrow,” Zoe’s tone brightened.

  I feel better, too, knowing we’ll be together tonight. “That’s fan—fantastic. The kids will be so excited.”

  “They will. Tota was telling me yesterday that she’s never held a new book—always old, scrappy ones with half the pages missing.” Zoe rubbed the rubber sole of her boot against Ollie’s.

  They couldn’t. Not here. Ollie was about to speak, but her thoughts were interrupted by a low moan.

  “What is…?” She lifted her head.

  The noise was continuous and getting louder. The walls began to shake, the floor too, and they both stood properly. This was all too familiar.

  It felt like slow motion, the missile hitting the town the school nestled inside. The noise that erupted and then the screams. And then such silence.

  I’m looking down at the sky. Something hurts.

  Then there was only blackness. Then, a bit later maybe, the feeling of being carried. She heard the unmistakeable whirring of army helicopter blades. What time is it? Why don’t I hear the kids anymore? Where am I?

  Ollie felt herself being turned sideways, hands skimming her spine from top to bottom. Her eyes focused finally. The school was no longer there. In its place concrete pieces blocking the view of the grey hills. Where am I?

  She was turned onto her back once more. A warm, soft hand held hers and pressed her fingers against a wet cheek as they rose into the air, heading for safety.

  Chapter 1

  Chain Stitch (ch)

  Five years later

  Anna pulled into the driveway and smoothed her hair down against the back of her head. A good day at school. And perhaps a lovely meal out tonight. Her heart beat quickly and she checked her make-up in the rear-view mirror. Twenty minutes until dinner. Just enough time to get those less-than-hardy begonias into the greenhouse.

  As she swung into the house, Bethany appeared from the living room. “Mum, seriously, Timothy’s gonna do his nut in. You’re ten minutes late.”

  “Oh shush, will you?” Anna hung up her coat and exchanged her work shoes for her gardening shoes. “It’ll be ready in a few minutes. So long as his fish and chips are on the table at six, he won’t ‘do his nut in’, as you put it.”

  Bethany scowled and shuffled into the garden with her mother, her mousy-brown long hair catching the fading sunlight. “Gardening? Again?”

  Chuckling, Anna set about lugging the hefty pots with various plants in them over the lawn to the greenhouse, moving them one by one inside. “Darling, I like to garden. And these little sweeties won’t survive unless they’re somewhere a bit warmer.”

  “You literally just finished book club. Can’t you sit down for five minutes?” Bethany had her arms folded. She scuffed a concrete paving slab with her slippered toe.

  “Things to do, plants to move.” Anna groaned, and her back ached as she pulled a particularly heavy pot over the threshold.

  Bethany made no move to help her. “Why don’t you go out? Call some of your friends? Don’t you have any friends? What about Jack? Or Patricia? Meet up with one of them.”

  “Jack will be happily at home on his backside with a beer. And Patricia is busy, and too far away for any kind of impromptu get-together.” She thought about her best friend, living so far away these days. And then Jack, her gentle colleague, with fondness. Actually I had better text him and remind him about tomorrow’s staff meeting.

  “You’re as bad as one another.” Bethany tilted her head to one side, and her long hair dropped forward over her shoulder. “And Liam?” Her nostrils flared.

  “Liam is on training, away for the week.” Anna looked up and brushed her hands together to rid them of the dust she’d collected. “I told you that.”

  “Oh. Right.” Bethany looked out over the garden. “I must have forgotten.” When she turned back to Anna, her gaze had softened. “I usually zone out when you talk about him.”

  Anna pretended to smack her around the back of the head as she passed her on the garden path, and they grinned at one another.

  “So, fish and chips, and then what?”

  “More Agatha Christie tonight, I think.”

  Bethany rolled her eyes. “I’m going to go out on a limb and reckon you’ve read whatever book it is at least…” her hand flew through the air as if in search of something, “…eight times?”

  “Nine.” Anna poked her tongue out.

  Bethany returned the gesture. “You really need to get a life.”

  “I don’t.” Anna continued into the house and went to the kitchen to turn on the oven. She stooped down for a moment. Her knees needed a heartbeat or two to gather themselves. She rose with a half-grimace.

  Precisely ten minutes before teatime, Timothy arrived in the kitchen to set the table. He did this every night they ate together. It was his way.

  “Anna,” he said, “you look happy. Did you have a nice time at the book club?”

  “I did, thank you, Timothy.” Her hand hovered by his shoulder waiting for permission, which he gave with a nod. Their silent language. She squeezed his shoulder and then moved away.

  “What books are the kids reading at the moment?”

  She smiled more broadly. He’s making small talk. How very polite of him. “Some C.S. Lewis. We started where you’re supposed to, and that is, of course, the first book he wrote, not the first in the series.”

  “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.” Timothy placed the mats, cutlery, and glasses on the table with pinpoint accuracy. I never had such a neat table before he moved in.

  “That’s right.”

  “You really do need to get a life.” Bethany still had her arms folded.

  Anna tipped chips and fish onto two trays and slid them into the oven. She checked the temperature quickly, then leaned against the work surface. “My life is just fine.”

  “Aren’t you bored?” Some of the derision had faded from her eyes. She seemed genuinely curious.

  Anna pulled at her bottom lip. She sighed deeply. “Maybe. I don’t know. I just have so much on, what with the book clubs and work and the garden…”

  “Get a man in. And Jack could do half the book clubs. He’s English, too, you know. He does know books.”

  “I don’t know.” Anna pushed her fingers through her short hair. It would take hours to explain how I run my things. I might as well simply carry on doing them myself.

  “At least think about actually leaving the house and going to do something that involves people your own age.”

  Anna narrowed her eyes at her daughter, only half-jokingly.

  “You know what I mean.” Bethany threw up her hands. “Or at least…maybe learn something new? Go do a craft or…buy a kit.” Their eyes locked. A standoff. Bethany stepped into Anna’s arms and wrapped her own
around her. “Please, Mum. Just…find something that isn’t work.”

  With her nose buried in her daughter’s hair, Anna allowed the familiar scent of hair dye and hairspray to flow through her. When she pulled back, she plastered her best serious-mother look onto her face. “You’ve been on about this for weeks. If I say yes, will you be quiet about it?”

  “I will.” Bethany squeezed her triumphantly.

  “I’ll try, okay?” Perhaps I do need something new. Something to instil a sparkle of something exciting into my life again. It’s been nicely quiet, but it does feel like things have been dragging the last few years.

  When Anna properly pulled back, Timothy was seated at the table, turning from one to the other with a quizzical look. “It’s seven minutes to six and you haven’t poured your wine yet.”

  She smiled fondly at him and went to the cupboard for a bottle. She could practically hear Bethany’s eyes rolling behind her.

  The hedgehog key ring Ollie was constructing stared up at her with large friendly eyes. She plumped it up and attached the key ring finding to the small hoop she’d made in the top. Some kid is going to love this.

  With a sigh, she looked around her shop. For over two hours no one had come in. I suppose no one has extra money at the end of the month.

  The bell over the door tinkled.

  Maybe if it was one of her regulars she could engage in some kind of conversation. Ollie looked up. Nope, nobody she knew. She relaxed back in her chair. No one wants to be bothered the minute they come in. The shop was a little overwhelming to some people. I’ll offer my assistance if she looks lost.

  The redheaded customer was standing stock-still with her chin in her hand, gazing around the floor-to-ceiling shelves, looking like she’d stepped into Aladdin’s cave. Ollie reckoned the woman was about her height, perhaps an inch or so shorter. She looked curvy under her big red coat, and her hair was short but neat. Cinnamon-coloured freckles dusted her cheeks and her neck. Ollie blinked when her gaze trailed lower, and she stared out of the window for a moment to gather herself.