Not My Mother
Page 25
Amelia, on the other hand, will likely spend the rest of her life there. Assault. Home invasion. Witness tampering. Murder. Even though she is fighting every charge with a pricey lawyer at her side, she won’t return to the real world. It seems fitting; she stole Mom’s life, forced her to live her best years in hiding. In more ways than one, everything appears to be coming back around.
The boards on the pavilion creak as another person comes walking toward us. A woman. Mom and I both stand.
“Is that her?” I ask.
A smile spreads across Mom’s face. “I think it is.”
The woman has dyed red hair and is wearing a black crochet top. As she gets closer, she holds out her arms. Mom walks to her and the two women embrace.
Jamie’s decision to come forward was crucial. Once she heard there was an update in the Baby Caroline case, she was conflicted about what to do. When the media began reporting Mom had been attacked, it was the push she needed to reach out to me. She’d been calling the hospital asking for me for days, too afraid to contact me another way; she wasn’t sure what my reaction might be. She and Mom have been in touch in recent months, but this is the first time they have seen each other in over thirty years.
They walk closer.
“Jamie, I’d like you to meet my daughter. Marion,” Mom says.
There are tears rolling down Jamie’s cheeks as she smiles. “She’s absolutely beautiful.”
She pulls me in for a hug, smelling like expensive perfume and cigarettes.
“Thank you. Thank you for everything,” I say.
It wasn’t just how she helped in the aftermath of Mom’s arrest, after all. She played a crucial role in helping Mom avoid detection all these years. She believed in her when many others would have chosen to look the other way.
“It was nothing,” she says.
Jamie and Mom walk along the shore, catching up on a lifetime spent apart. Every so often, Mom will throw her head back and laugh. Jamie will lean over, slapping her leg. It feels good to see them happy.
As promised, Evan arrives just as we are preparing to open gifts. He stands behind me, his hand on my shoulder. After Ava opens the last one, he leans in to kiss my cheek.
“Great party, Mom,” he whispers.
Carmen and Des help wrangle up the trash and consolidate the remaining food in Tupperware. Eventually, everyone scatters out across the sand, the children fruitlessly chasing birds and the adults having their own conversations. I watch the entire scene, feeling a warmth inside. Growing up, it never felt like I had a whole family. Someone was always missing, it seemed. Now I realize I have more support than most people, and I can share all that love with Ava.
Mom walks over, her arms crossed, and stands beside me.
“You know, it seems like I spent most of my life trying to avoid people,” Mom says. “I went about it the wrong way.”
“What do you mean?”
We don’t bring up the case often, or even her past. But when we do have a conversation about it, there is no longer that barrier there. We talk about our lives openly and honestly.
“For so long, I believed people were out to hurt each other. And all that is true. That’s why I made it my life’s mission to protect you.” She looks at Ava, then me. “But I forgot to appreciate the good in people. People like Jamie and Des. I never would have survived if it weren’t for them. And I wouldn’t be here today if Carmen hadn’t fought for me. They show me a different side to people. A better side.”
“You were lucky to have them,” I say, squeezing her hand. “And we’re lucky to have you.”
I’m aware our time together is limited. All our time is limited, whether you lose your life in an instant, like my father, or slowly to a disease, like my mother. It is why we have to make the most of the moments we have.
“Cake,” Ava says, stumbling toward us. She has been patient enough.
“I’ll cut three slices,” Mom says, holding her hand as we make our way back to the pavilion.
We sit and we eat. We enjoy the fantastic breeze and the beautiful view. We appreciate this moment together, which has always been, and will always be, enough.
If you were gripped by the twists and turns of Not My Mother, you’ll love What I Know. Della knows what monsters look like—even if no one is prepared to believe her. Order the tense and compelling psychological thriller here!
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What I Know
My brother was thirteen the first time he tried to kill me.
These days, Della is a loving wife, a dedicated teacher, a woman trying to do her best. She has put her past far behind her. But she hasn’t forgotten the lessons she learned.
It’s just a regular morning when Della welcomes Zoey to her English class. She treats her like any other new student: assigns her a desk, hands out the work. But then she meets Zoey’s cold, calculating eyes and freezes as terrifying memories threaten to overwhelm her.
Della knows what evil looks like when it hides behind a confident smile. Her own brother, the town’s darling, couldn’t keep his true nature hidden for ever. Della has been watching out for people like him ever since, determined to stop them before it’s too late.
When a student is viciously attacked and Della is sent a detailed account of the crime, she’s more convinced than ever that Zoey has darkness inside her.
But to make people believe her, she needs proof. Will she risk everything to get it? And without it, can she be sure she’s right?
Prepare to be hooked by this dark, gripping crime thriller, perfect for fans of Karin Slaughter, Gillian Flynn and Rachel Caine.
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Hear More from Miranda
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Books by Miranda Smith
Not My Mother
The One Before
What I Know
Some Days Are Dark
Available in audio
The One Before (Available in the UK and the US)
What I Know (Available in the UK and the US)
Some Days Are Dark (Available in the UK and the US)
A Letter from Miranda
Dear Reader,
Thank you for taking the time to read Not My Mother. If you liked it and want information about upcoming releases, sign up with the following link. Your email address will never be shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.
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What I love about the crime genre is the opportunity to take ordinary scenarios and explore them a step further, to a desperate and dangerous place. For this book, the scene of a woman being arrested at her granddaughter’s birthday party stuck out to me, and the rest of the story developed from there.
I was fascinated by each character’s determination to be a mother, whether it be Marion, a single mother by choice, or Amelia with her obsessive manipulation. I’d also like to mention that I’m a huge supporter of adoption, and I hope none of the themes in this fictional story suggest otherwise.
If you’d like to further discuss the novel, I’d love to connect! You can find me on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter or my website. If you enjoyed Not My Mother, I would be thrilled for you to leave a review on Amazon. It only takes a few minutes and does wonders in helping readers discover my books for the first time.
Thank you again for your support!
Sincerely,
Miranda Smith
www.mirandasmithwriter.com
The One Before
I love him. I trust him. But what if I’m wrong?
My life should be perfect.
I’ve moved to my fiancé Cooper’s hometown on the shores of a beautiful lake. His family have welcomed me with open arms. We’re planning the summer wedding I’ve always dreamed of.
But the week after I arrive, one of Cooper’s classmates
corners me at the store. She says that Cooper’s not fooling anybody. Everyone in town remembers what happened to Celia Gray…
Celia was Cooper’s high school sweetheart, who died in a tragic accident the year they graduated. But some people think it was no accident. That my kind, loving husband is a killer.
I don’t believe it. But the only way to be sure is to find out what happened to the woman before me…
A dark, gripping suspense novel with a brilliant twist, The One Before is perfect for fans of Lisa Jewell, Gillian Flynn and The Girl Before.
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Some Days Are Dark
I was happy my husband died, but I couldn’t admit it, otherwise people might think I killed him.
Before
Olivia knows she is lucky. She has a loving husband, Frank, an adorable son, Jake, and a beautiful new home. It couldn’t be more different from her childhood on the outskirts of Whitaker, dirt poor and dreaming of getting out. But at the end of long days with no one to talk to, always feeling like she’s not quite good enough, she starts to wonder if there’s a better life waiting…
After
Everyone in Whitaker knows who Olivia is. She’s the woman who left her family for no-good Dane Miller, and the one who most likely shot him. Now, there’s gossip about her everywhere she goes, she’s too scared to leave the house most days, and she barely gets to see her beloved son.
But if the police and the world think she’s guilty, there’s only one thing she can do—prove her innocence herself. Even if that means putting her own life in danger…
An absolutely gripping, heart-pounding suspense novel about bad choices and second chances. Perfect for fans of Gone Girl, Karin Slaughter and Lisa Gray.
Get it here!
Acknowledgements
Thank you to the Bookouture team for continuing to publish and market my books like no other, especially Jenny Geras, Kim Nash, Noelle Holten, Sarah Hardy, and Alex Holmes. Special thanks to Jane Eastgate and Liz Hurst for fine-tuning my manuscript and finding any mistakes I missed (of which there were several, I’m sure).
As always, thank you to my fabulous editor, Ruth Tross. Your attention to detail takes each story to the next level. Thank you for helping me work through the plot, even when I felt quite lost in it.
Huge thanks to the book promoters and reviewers who continue to praise each novel. I appreciate every tweet, comment, share and recommendation. To my readers who continue to follow me from book to book, thanks for joining me on this journey. I hope the ride isn’t too bumpy.
Thank you to my very supportive family, both near and far. So much of this process consists of being locked away in my room alone. It’s thrilling when we get to celebrate the finished product together. I’m hoping for many travels and gatherings in the near future!
Thank you to my parents for believing in me. Chris, thank you for helping me juggle the madness. You are the best hype man ever.
This story is about mothers and daughters, and for that reason, I’ve dedicated it to my daughter, Lucy. All my children are too young to read anything I write, but I continue to thank them in each book because they are a fundamental part of who I am and what I do, in all aspects.
Harrison, Lucy and Christopher: I hope one day—much like when Marion reads her mother’s letters—you’ll read my books and feel proud. If I can do this, you can do so, so much more.
Published by Bookouture in 2021
An imprint of Storyfire Ltd.
Carmelite House
50 Victoria Embankment
London EC4Y 0DZ
www.bookouture.com
Copyright © Miranda Smith, 2021
Miranda Smith has asserted her right to be identified as the author of this work.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publishers.
eBook ISBN: 978-1-80019-309-3
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places and events other than those clearly in the public domain, are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.