Book excerpt: Six years after her husband disappeared without trace, Abbie Silvas still searches for him obsessively. Unwilling to leave her Vauxhall flat for any length of time, just in case he comes back, she lives a strange, museum-like half-life, still waiting for Nick's return, still wondering what happened to him. But the fragile balance of Abbie's world is set to change, when Owen moves into the flat above. Newly separated, Owen too is dealing with the sudden loss of family life. Missing his children desperately, he becomes drawn to his lonely neighbour, intrigued by her sad story. Could Owen and his children's arrival prove the catalyst that will enable Abbie to let go of Nick, heal, and move on? But Abbie and Nick's marriage was not the perfect union she remembers. Abbie is finding it increasingly hard to paper over the cracks in her memories. And the intrusion of Owen and his children will force her to confront feelings and memories that have long been frozen . . .