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Pieces of You.
Ella Harper
#1 CONTEMPORARY FICTION BESTSELLERAs compelling and powerful as Jojo Moyes and Liane Moriarty, PIECES OF YOU is a heart-rending, but ultimately life-affirming novel about a love tested to its limits.The perfect marriage.A devastating secret. An impossible choice.Lucy was always sure of one thing – her future with husband and soulmate Luke. But after eight long, heartbreaking years trying to have a baby, that future is crumbling before her eyes.When a terrible accident puts Luke into a coma, Lucy is forced to reassess everything she thought she wanted.Then Stella arrives. A woman Lucy’s never met, but with a secret that will change her world forever . . .
ELLA HARPER
Pieces of You
Copyright (#ulink_8fd924ea-a239-547e-9a87-262ed958e52f)
AVON
A division of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd
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London SE1 9GF
www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk)
First Published in Great Britain by HarperCollinsPublishers 2014
Copyright © Ella Harper 2014
Cover photograph © Natalie Spencer
Cover design © Andrew Cunning 2014
Ella Harper asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.
Source ISBN: 9780007581108
Ebook Edition © August 2014 ISBN: 9780007581115
Version: 2015-12-15
Dedication (#ulink_745368d6-80b7-55a6-84e7-e1ddf8dcb3a1)
This one goes to my excellent friends … you know who you are.
Table of Contents
Cover (#ud1dd1275-7641-541c-b64a-646ee6bcc4cf)
Title Page (#ube76c8d9-bb4c-5e93-a4a1-99ad54dc320e)
Copyright (#uc63c20d3-cbb1-5799-86d3-d70b13e888a0)
Dedication (#uda60e2bd-0ce5-53a3-ba20-262b7317fab2)
Chapter One: Lucy and Luke (#udbe8fceb-63fa-52d1-9d66-e398a9c65724)
Chapter Two: Lucy (#ud51d8097-0169-5f9a-bb2b-f4f7c601f897)
Chapter Three: Patricia (#u8cd1606f-5571-5ed9-b03b-14bcb4f1aa97)
Chapter Four: Lucy (#ud52b8567-102f-52b5-8d48-cbe0caef1338)
Chapter Five: Nell (#ud9ce0e79-1199-5d54-a66d-a0c894791115)
Chapter Six: Lucy (#u3024bc43-1477-5444-989f-8a922dfd599d)
Chapter Seven: Patricia (#ub92dcbec-0745-541c-ba6e-79b35f5349bb)
Chapter Eight: Nell (#uf7abde8a-14da-5d3d-86f1-45afb0b7ff57)
Chapter Nine: Lucy (#u8224d584-8bf6-50bf-984e-b2cd697577e0)
Chapter Ten: Lucy and Luke (#ua144f6e7-a186-5b79-b72e-d84e3aa3dfc7)
Chapter Eleven: Nell (#ua1d970f9-04da-5d6c-9cb8-86461ba879e6)
Chapter Twelve: Lucy (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Thirteen: Patricia (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Fourteen: Lucy and Luke (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Fifteen: Nell (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Sixteen: Lucy (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Seventeen: Lucy and Luke (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eighteen: Patricia (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Nineteen: Lucy and Luke (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty: Nell (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-One: Lucy (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-Two: Patricia (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-Three: Lucy and Luke (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-Four: Nell (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-Five: Lucy (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-Six: Lucy and Luke (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-Seven: Patricia (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-Eight: Lucy and Luke (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-Nine: Nell (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Thirty: Lucy (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Thirty-One: Patricia (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Thirty-Two: Lucy and Luke (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Thirty-Three: Nell (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Thirty-Four: Lucy (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Thirty-Five: Patricia (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Thirty-Six: Lucy and Luke (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Thirty-Seven: Nell (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Thirty-Eight: Patricia (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Thirty-Nine: Lucy (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Forty: Nell (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Forty-One: Lucy (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Forty-Two: Patricia (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Forty-Three: Lucy (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Forty-Four: Luke (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Forty-Five: Nell (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Forty-Six: Patricia (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Forty-Seven: Lucy (#litres_trial_promo)
Reading Group Questions for PIECES OF YOU (#litres_trial_promo)
Acknowledgements (#litres_trial_promo)
About the Author (#litres_trial_promo)
About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER ONE (#ulink_0427e3d7-5a86-5271-a560-76edef13e333)
Lucy and Luke (#ulink_0427e3d7-5a86-5271-a560-76edef13e333)
February
‘What are we doing here, Harte?’
If I sounded impatient, it was because I felt it. I’d been standing outside Luke’s hospital for about fifteen minutes and my toes were beginning to seize up. It was one of those crisp, frosty mornings where pavements and branches of trees looked as though demented elves had gone crazy sprinkling sugar all over them; pretty enough, but also bloody freezing.
‘Just hang on a bit longer,’ Luke frowned, checking his watch. ‘What time do you have?’
‘It’s nine-fifteen and your mother is going to be cross if I’m late for work.’ I grabbed his wrist, pulling at the battered metal strap of his watch. ‘I know you love this thing, but seriously, it has terrible time-keeping issues.’
‘I know, I know. But it’s my dad’s … you know I can’t take it off. It’s the law.’ Luke straightened. ‘Ah, here’s the person I’ve been waiting for.’
I sunk my chin deeper into the warmth of my scarf and blew on my hands as a pretty girl approached us. She was smiling and proffering a wrapped package. I felt a flicker of intrigue, but chilliness prevented me from displaying too much interest.
The girl stopped in front of Luke. ‘Luke Harte? Sorry I’m late. Here it is.’
‘Great! Thank you; you’re a life saver.’ Luke handed over an envelope which the girl pocketed. He looked ridiculously pleased with himself, in fact. ‘God, I love it when a plan comes together.’
‘What sort of plan?’
He touched my nose. ‘Don’t look so suspicious. It’s Valentine’s Day! You know that, right?’
‘I’m aware.’
I sounded prim, but there was a reason for that. I had Valentine’s Day wrapped up and sorted. I had ordered in some lovely food rather than trusting my own cooking, (for very good reasons, I hasten to add), I had wine, I had candles and I had vague ideas about a massage-type thing for Luke at the end of the night.
‘So go with it, okay?’ Luke’s eyes met mine and I could tell he was indulging me. The man knew me well.
‘Now I know we usually save things until later, but I’ve been tracking this gift down for you. It’s a good ‘un, even if I say so myself. Are you going to open it? I can’t wait to see your face.’ He thrust the package into my hands.
‘No pressure then,’ I smiled, dropping my eyes. ‘I know you and your surprise gifts. They’re usually amazing and then I worry that I’ve only, you know … thought of dinner with candlelight.’
Luke waved a hand. ‘That’s all I want, so you’re spot on … can’t wait. Open it, go on.’
I turned the package over in my hands. Was it chocolates? No, Luke wouldn’t be so obvious. Nor would chocolates require personal hand-delivery. Was it a book? I peeled back a section of wrapping paper. Books were the perfect gift for me; I adore them. Perhaps it was another copy of Wuthering Heights – I collected them; the older the better. Old novels with illustrations and dedications written in the front pages in fountain pen, scratchy, illegible marks steeped with meaning.
I tore the rest of the wrapping off, discovering a hardback with a torn, tarnished sleeve – or wrapper, as they used to be called. A Book of Delights, I read. ‘How lovely. Er. What is it, exactly?’
