Carrying Clover
Purchase Link
UK - https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09BZZHNHH
US - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09BZZHNHH
Excerpt
George, Camille’s boyfriend has spent Christmas at Lou’s B&B.
It’s boxing day and George is due back at Camille’s apartment as planned...
She looks at her phone 10am
dam! He hates mess, I better tidy, he could be back at any moment. She dresses and starts cleaning through their
apartment. As she picks up the present Lizzie had got her, she shakes her head.
She knows I can’t eat chocolates because of my allergy, oh well, George will
eat them. She puts them next to the kettle.
She walks over to the lounge and slouches back
onto the sofa, willing the time to go faster, a lightness in her chest. She
glances up at the clock, 12:55. Where is he? I hope he isn’t much longer. He said he would be back this
morning.
She pads to the bedroom, and peers out of the
window, no sign of his car, her forehead creases. She picks up her phone noting the time again, taps on his
name to call him,
‘Hello, you have reached George, please leave a
message.’
He must be driving, or his battery might be dead. She rolls her eyes.
Right, I can’t clock watch anymore, I’ll make something to eat, it might occupy my mind for a bit. She places some left-over turkey into two slices of bread, not bothering to butter or cut it, and sits down on the bar stool, her elbows resting on the island. Her stomach churns over and she pushes the plate away, she tries his number again, Voicemail. With her thumb hovering over the keyboard, she pauses, then quickly types a text, ‘Hi, it was nice to spend time with you, George isn’t home yet, MEN! XX’ Pressing send, she hopes Lizzie will text her back or even ring, she needed to talk someone to help pass the time, and to reassure her that George is safe and will be coming home. I can’t think straight.
She makes her way over to the sofa and sits down, she flicks on the TV to try and pass the time, losing count of the times she’s checked her phone. What if he has left me, gone off with someone else. He wouldn’t do that would he?
After crossing and uncrossing her legs, she stands
and walks around the apartment, tapping her phone into the palm of her hand,
willing it to ring, she looks out of the window every time that she passes. He doesn’t have social media, so she can’t try
and contact him through that. He doesn’t believe in it, says its nothing but
trouble. She starts to bite the skin around her nails.
14.45, she exhales looking at the clock. She
tries his phone – Voicemail again, then tries ‘Lou’s B&B’, three beeps, silence
The lines dead? Letting out a sigh she calls Lizzie, continuous ringing, no
answer. Her breathing intensifying, a pounding pressure crushing her head, fuck, what’s happening, why isn’t anyone
answering?
She re-reads
his text, over and over. Her
heart thumping louder. Where are you?
Maybe he
didn’t even go to Lou’s. It’s like my heart is being grabbed so tight it can’t
beat anymore.
Her mouths dry, her eyes are unfocused, limbs
tingling, her chest tight and painful. She gasps for breath. She rushes to the
front door; her sweaty hands slide on the door handle. She pulls the door open.
Looking up and down the corridor her blurry eyes land on her neighbour’s door; Joanna. Banging on the door hard and
fast, it fly’s open, she nearly falls over the threshold.
‘Camille? What unearths a matter?’
Her breathing is fast and shallow she is
clutching her chest and bent over.
‘You need to help me, the pain’
Author Bio – Lorey Durston is an
author of thriller and suspense novels.
CARRYING CLOVER is her debut novel.
She is currently working on her next suspense novel to be released
late 2021.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Lorey-Durston-Author-101764481996748
Instagram: loreydurstonauthor
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