Page 1 of Will You Stay Another Day?
PROLOGUE
17 OCTOBER 2024
Lili and Em ambled into the local park, arms linked. They’d started the weekend early, on a Thursday evening, and taken a laptop to the pub near their cottage. After a couple of drinks, they’d finally booked the accommodation for the holiday they’d talked about for ages: four nights at the Pleasure Star Hotel on the Las Vegas strip in December 2025. The trip was to celebrate their thirtieth birthdays the following January. They both agreed that a full-on Vegas experience had to take place during the extra-glitzy festive season.
As she sat on the swing, Em stared down at her ripped psychedelic tie-dye trousers that lay on top of her Doc Martens. ‘Do you think Vegas is ready for a punter not dressed in a tux or sparkles?’
Lili put down her laptop bag, collapsed onto the swing next to her and squinted through the night. ‘It’s not exactly our usual kind of holiday, but we deserve a luxury break with food we aren’t likely to gag on.’
‘Come on, Lili, you loved that corn fungus I got you to try when we backpacked around Mexico. It must have been a bug that made you sick.’
‘Ha! You told me it was truffle!’ Lili swung forwards and backwards, propelled by her feet and indignation.
Em’s laugh rang through the air.
Oh.
How lovely.
Lili’s heart lifted.
She’d missed that sound, in recent months, when Em had drifted through each day like a deflated balloon. Lili glanced sideways as Em soared into sky, higher and higher, against the backdrop of frosty starlight. Vegas had been Lili’s suggestion, a project she’d hoped would cheer up her housemate.
Her soulmate.
Maybe the worst times were over for Em. They must have been if she was prepared to go to that houseboat party tomorrow and prove to lowlife Sean that she was living her best life. Em didn’t want Lili to go with her, insisting she needed to show Sean she was an empowered, strong, independent woman, who wasn’t going to let a broken heart break her spirit.
‘Remember how we used to jump off the swing whilst it was still moving when we were little?’ asked Em.
‘Only when our parents weren’t around.’
‘After three.’ Em counted down and, whooping, the two of them plunged onto the ground. Good thing it was soft tarmac.
‘Aaah! I think I’ve twisted my ankle,’ said Lili, having landed right next to Em with a groan.
‘Oh, God. I can’t… breathe…’ Em sat up and placed a hand on her chest. She jumped to her feet, pulled up Lili and they both grinned. ‘I keep waiting for us to grow up.’
‘Paying rent and the bills on time, holding down jobs, hardly ever getting drunk, cooking from scratch and mowing the lawn… I’d say the wait’s over.’ Lili picked up her laptop bag. ‘Well, I mean, almost. Racing doesn’t count. Last one back to the cottage makes the hot chocolates.’
‘Lili, I don’t think so. As you’ve just proved, we aren’t children any more,’ said Em haughtily before her eyes twinkled and she began to run.
‘Oi! That’s a false start!’ hollered Lili.
It was good to see the old Em back.
Things would get better now.
Forget running after her friend; Lili skipped all the way.
1
Tomorrow was the anniversary of the worst day of Lili’s life. Worse than Mum and Dad’s divorce, the flood in the cottage and – she gave a wry smile – that Christmas she’d discovered Santa wasn’t real and reindeer couldn’t fly. She sat in her car and turned off the engine. The ancient tape deck ejected the 80s mixtape. Parked up outside Colin and Shirl’s house, Lili shivered and peered through the October twilight, the Cornish crisp air sneaking through the gaps in the vents. Twelve long months had passed since their only child had died. They’d always treated Lili more like one of the family, but then she and Em had been like sisters, growing up in Manchester. Lili hadn’t visited Colin and Shirl much this last year, unable to face their grief in case it triggered a return to the pain of those darkest days – the call about a houseboat accident, the investigations, a funeral that was decades too early.
When the news had first hit, Lili had cried enough to fill all the freezers in Cornwall with tears instead of ice cream. What a travesty, vanilla-cone fan Em would have declared. On impulse, this lunchtime, she’d rung Em’s parents from work. Shirl had insisted Lili come around for pizza with garlic-sprinkled stuffed crusts tonight. Another favourite of Em’s.
Her phone pinged and Lili took it out of her coat pocket. A text from the travel agency. Did she and Em want to reserve a taxi from the airport to the hotel they’d booked on the Strip? Lili shoved the phone in her bag and berated herself for not cancelling the December Vegas break. It wasn’t a typical trip for either of them. Em loved authentic culture, Lili loved nature, but a luxury, festive trip to one of the most glamorous spots on the planet had unexpectedly appealed to both of them. After booking the hotel they’d beamed at each other with carefree mischief in their eyes, like they used to in school when the mean girls failed yet again to make them cry.
She went to get out of the car and knock on Colin and Shirl’s front door, but paused as a pleasant flutter tickled her insides. Em did love a good Knock Knock joke. The two friends would frequently send them to each other. One of their favourites was:
