Me-Before-You-by-Jojo-Moyes

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liked to play Professor Higgins to my Eliza Doolittle. His body was just part ofthe whole package, a thing to be dealt with, at intervals, before we got back tothe talking. It had become, I supposed, the least interesting part of him.‘I just can’t believe … after all we went through … how long it took you to letme come anywhere near you … and here’s some stranger who you’re quitehappy to get up close and personal with –’‘Can we not talk about this tonight, Patrick? It’s my birthday.’‘I wasn’t the one who started it, with talk of bed baths and whatnot.’‘Is it because he’s good looking?’ I demanded. ‘Is that it? Would it all be somuch easier for you if he looked like – you know – a proper vegetable?’‘So you do think he’s good looking.’I pulled my dress over my head, and began peeling my tights carefully frommy legs, the dregs of my good mood finally evaporating. ‘I can’t believe you’redoing this. I can’t believe you’re jealous of him.’‘I’m not jealous of him.’ His tone was dismissive. ‘How could I be jealous ofa cripple?’Patrick made love to me that night. Perhaps ‘made love’ is stretching it a bit.We had sex, a marathon session in which he seemed determined to show off hisathleticism, his strength and vigour. It lasted for hours. If he could have swungme from a chandelier I think he would have done so. It was nice to feel sowanted, to find myself the focus of Patrick’s attention after months of semidetachment.But a little part of me stayed aloof during the whole thing. Isuspected it wasn’t for me, after all. I had worked that out pretty quickly. Thislittle show was for Will’s benefit.‘How was that, eh?’ He wrapped himself around me afterwards, our skinsticking slightly with perspiration, and kissed my forehead.‘Great,’ I said.‘I love you, babe.’And, satisfied, he rolled off, threw an arm back over his head, and was asleepwithin minutes.When sleep still didn’t come, I got out of bed and went downstairs to my bag.I rifled through it, looking for the book of Flannery O’Connor short stories. Itwas as I pulled them from my bag that the envelope fell out.
I stared at it. Will’s card. I hadn’t opened it at the table. I did so now, feelingan unlikely sponginess at its centre. I slid the card carefully from its envelope,and opened it. Inside were ten crisp £50 notes. I counted them twice, unable tobelieve what I was seeing. Inside, it read:Birthday bonus. Don’t fuss. It’s a legal requirement. W.
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JOJO MOYESMe Before YouPENGUIN BOOK
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Chapter 22Chapter 23Chapter 24Chapt
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To Charles, with love
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‘Right,’ he says. ‘Got to go.
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‘I didn’t catch that.’The tax
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‘Yup.’ I hung my jacket on the
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My mother’s hand stilled. Her gaz
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‘Bernard.’ Mum shot him a warni
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sure they do a grant for people lik
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He shrugged. ‘You said you liked
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‘I’ll ring them to confirm the
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I was twenty-six years old and I wa
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old days you wouldn’t have dreamt
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‘Frank - the owner - sold the caf
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the French windows. Finally, she tu
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Treena made a face. ‘I think it w
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3‘This is the annexe. It used to
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‘Then let’s go and introduce yo
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mostly my bag, but you do need to k
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‘Will it help?’I blinked, my mo
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hum of the television in the living
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His head had sunk into his shoulder
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‘Oh.’I could feel her watching
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with him, so I’d usually go and s
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I got the feeling that this was in
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Sasha? I’ve been doing a lot of w
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for you and I hope you do want to s
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Diet Cokes. When they, finally, ord
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to stick with them? To help them th
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I blinked. ‘Well … I think some
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5The thing about being catapulted i
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You said that you were hiring me fo
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‘He says you’re trying to poiso
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By the time Hunchback Man died, I w
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divided into ‘transport’, ‘in
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to lose patience. Then, finally, I
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drew closer, I could see the consul
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I took a step backwards, closed the
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I left.I read my magazine, lifting
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Nathan was crosser than I’d ever
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I could hear my father’s exclamat
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‘I suspect you’re going to.’
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lucky. And she said from the day sh
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‘Will … ’ I said, quietly.
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7Spring arrived overnight, as if wi
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It’s not that I was some kind of
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‘What does she have to be insecur
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There were all sorts of things that
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I twisted his straw round so that h
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dehumanized briskness that characte
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‘Please. Georgina.’ Mrs Traynor
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another long silence. And then Geor
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8CamillaI never set out to help kil
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It was that I could suddenly see no
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When Will first told me what he wan
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9I didn’t sleep that night. I lay
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I had been tidying the living room.
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probably ask why I couldn’t be mo
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I slid out from the porch and was d
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‘No. That’s not it.’‘Which
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whatever it is you’re going to th
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I looked at my sister hard. ‘You
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10They looked a bit surprised. Actu
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We all stared at our cups of tea.
Page 131 and 132: ‘You’re probably going to have
Page 133 and 134: ‘Can quadriplegics get drunk?’
Page 135 and 136: ‘Would you jump in my grave so qu
Page 137 and 138: Four hours later I had the beginnin
Page 139 and 140: ‘You look cheerful,’ Will said,
Page 141 and 142: I backed Will’s chair down carefu
Page 143 and 144: We watched the Sisterwood Cup, and
Page 145 and 146: fears at all that I was going to or
Page 147 and 148: Will his posh lunch in a restaurant
Page 149 and 150: ‘It’s not going to happen,’ s
Page 151 and 152: Nathan was staring at the cans of l
Page 153 and 154: badges we might have had a nice lun
Page 155 and 156: And I had ideas. Things I wanted to
Page 157 and 158: ‘You’ve never been to a concert
Page 159 and 160: ‘And it’s incredibly tedious,
Page 161 and 162: Nathan went to pack Will’s bag. I
Page 163 and 164: Will looked sideways at me, his fac
Page 165 and 166: ‘Are you all right?’ I found my
Page 167 and 168: 13Patrick stood on the edge of the
Page 169 and 170: ‘Yeah? Well it’s still better t
Page 171 and 172: ‘I get nervous when a girl says s
Page 173 and 174: ‘So … ’ Dad opened the fridge
Page 175 and 176: ‘If you do that,’ Will observed
Page 177 and 178: it’s like a brain synapse - it ca
Page 179 and 180: ‘It does, Mum.’ My eyes had fil
Page 181: ‘Good to meet you, Patrick,’ Wi
Page 185 and 186: I looked up the same piece at the l
Page 187 and 188: Perhaps it was something to do with
Page 189 and 190: Like it was some kind of contest.I
Page 191 and 192: Will was silent for a moment. I wat
Page 193 and 194: He swallowed. ‘The day we go and
Page 195 and 196: Mrs Traynor had waited until Nathan
Page 197 and 198: She and Leo’s father had been int
Page 199 and 200: television?’‘No,’ said Will.
Page 201 and 202: ‘I’d be finding out what I coul
Page 203 and 204: him twice, bringing him music and n
Page 205 and 206: I scanned down to the next one.Dear
Page 207 and 208: their lift was out of order. Others
Page 209 and 210: ‘Because your boyfriend says no.
Page 211 and 212: ‘Nathan will enjoy it. Oh, come o
Page 213 and 214: and Dad decided it would be best if
Page 215 and 216: my problems. They seemed embarrassi
Page 217 and 218: ‘Was he with someone?’I put the
Page 219 and 220: ‘Oh, well. Here’s my stop.’ D
Page 221 and 222: ‘Are you okay getting your own te
Page 223 and 224: His voice, when it came, was carefu
Page 225 and 226: he could not live without his girlf
Page 227 and 228: In the afternoon, there was a knock
Page 229 and 230: ‘The Regent Street? Nice.’‘Ye
Page 231 and 232: And then, as he left to go running,
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She blinked hard, as if trying to t
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‘How dare you suggest I would do
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‘Come on. It’s finally stopped
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moving on with their lives. I made
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to work out where I was. The tall h
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minutes, perhaps talking, and then
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world, the warmth of Will’s hand
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‘Um … nothing. Patrick’s away
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The morning of the wedding dawned b
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ground. Across the road from us in
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I just wanted to make it better.‘
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tense. They were like two dogs circ
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Will looked as if he were about to
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Something happened that evening. Th
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‘Come on. Let’s give these fuck
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19NathanThey thought we couldn’t
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propped him up, placing his legs ov
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I couldn’t really blame the guy.
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20‘You what?’We were on the hil
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‘But Will Traynor seems to take p
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Ritchie, had remembered my previous
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She glanced through it all in silen
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‘I could apply for a grant. Or ma
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‘All that said, the college idea
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sure that I didn’t lose sight of
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‘But I -’‘Nearly seven years,
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We never got to the bottom of what
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and that wretched Alicia running of
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22I ran into Accident and Emergency
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sure his own passport was still val
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I took his fingers gently in mine a
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‘How does he look?’‘Bit bette
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We sat holding our mugs. From the c
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‘I can’t.’I stared at my pass
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moved from his power chair until we
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cover of a blanket. The airline sta
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The hotel had, as promised, come up
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worked out that if he gave Will the
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I walked to the window and pulled b
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Two things happened on the last day
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‘It’s a hard place to leave.’
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Will’s mouth closed on his words.
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I … I can’t live with that know
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24There is nothing more disconcerti
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So although I looked childish - alt
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My voice broke into the conversatio
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25KatrinaLouisa didn’t come out o
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Her voice was small, like Thomas’
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‘Just leave me alone, Treen. Okay
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‘Oh, that.’ She looked distract
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goodness’ sake. You’d think a m
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her umbrella and smiled, reaching r
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Twenty-six. Twenty-six of the bugge
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26In other circumstances I suppose
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knowing what … what he’s …
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I didn’t look back. I ran all the
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things being better for him, then I
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‘I know.’And there it was. He k
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‘You look absolutely beautiful.
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Mr Traynor some questions may be as
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EpilogueI was just following instru
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You’re going to feel uncomfortabl
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Q&A with Jojo1. Tell us a little ab
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highest or lowest, or be the most t
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purpose. I sat upright in bed, drag
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shaven, impassive. Even in the dark
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terrify two women and brutalize an
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as she crouched to hug her daughter
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PENGUIN BOOKSPublished by the Pengu
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