‘Okay. Nice to see you again, Shirley. Have a lovely Christmas.’
‘Will you be joining us at the pub for Christmas dinner tomorrow?’ Shirley asked.
‘Don’t you have to book?’
‘Nah, they’ll squeeze another one in. Especially if I say you’re my date.’ She nudged him with a bony elbow and gave another cackle.
‘I’ll think about it,’ he said, touched at her offer. ‘Take care going down the hill, Shirley.’ He had visions of the trolley setting off with her flying behind it. He picked it up and set it down outside for her.
She held up a hand as she shuffled off. He’d nearly shut the door when he heard her call his name again. He opened it a fraction. ‘In case I never said. I was very sorry to hear about your parents.’ She gave a firm nod and then carried on down the hill.
Joe was going to respond but she’d caught him unawares. Instead he just stared after the retreating figure. Eventually he took a steadying breath, closed the door and went in search of a much-needed beer.
Emily observed that the blue room was large, and indeed, extremely blue: the walls, carpet, curtains, bed covers and even a throw across the end of the bed were all in various shades of the same colour. The only exception was a procession of large dark wood wardrobes and a matching dressing table, like an indoor wooden Stonehenge. Emily unpacked her things whilst Zach and Jessie set about putting up the camp bed where the little girl would be sleeping for the next couple of nights. Emily hadn’t realised they’d besharing a bedroom with Jessie – this obviously ruled out anything physical. Normally this would have put more than a dampener on her Christmas but, given the fix she might be in, sex was the furthest thing from her mind. Thoughts of the pregnancy test and Lottie in the village shop dominated her thoughts. She wasn’t sure if it was a good thing or bad thing that Lottie hadn’t outed her immediately. Initially she’d been relieved, but now she was waiting for it all to blow up. Her own sister would definitely not have kept quiet and, despite what Zach had said about his sister being a good egg, it was hard not to assume that Lottie would be the same.
Zach and his daughter seemed to be having fun pretending the sleeping bag was a tunnel, so she opened up Zach’s case and started to take things out and hang them in the antique wardrobe.
‘Hey!’ said Zach, his tone uncharacteristically sharp. ‘There’s no need. I’ll unpack later,’ he added, in a much softer tone. ‘Why don’t you go and find Lottie? Have some one-to-one time. Get to know her before the rabble arrive?’
Emily really didn’t want to spend any one-to-one time with his sister. In fact, she was intending to spend the whole of Christmas avoiding exactly that. The last thing she wanted was to be confronted about her pregnancy test. Worse still, what if his sister said something directly to him about it? Actually, it probably wasn’t a ‘what if’; more of a ‘when’. She was bound to, wasn’t she?
Emily was simply mortified that the woman from the shop had turned out to be Zach’s sister. He’d never said that she worked there. But then Zach rarely said much about his family at all. She wished now she’d not been quite so keen to spend Christmas with them in a remote Cotswolds village.
‘Emily?’ Zach waved a hand in front of her face. ‘Are you okay?’
‘Sorry. Miles away,’ she said, realising she hadn’t responded. ‘No, I’m sure Lottie’s got enough to keep her busy. It’s probably best if I keep out of the way.’
‘Okay,’ he said, with a shrug.
‘Where’s the loo?’ she asked, picking up her handbag.
‘Along the hall. Last door on the left.’ And he went back to trying to capture Jessie in the sleeping bag while she giggled excitedly.
Emily left the room and tried to control her rampant thoughts. She needed to do the test and find out what she was dealing with. At least then she could work out what, or if, she needed to do anything. She scurried along the dark corridor, her heels making an echoey sound on the wooden boards as they creaked. When she got to the end, there was a door on each side. Which one was it again? She could hear voices. She leaned to the right and the door suddenly burst open, making her squeal in fright.
‘Oh my, don’t you look guilty?’ said a tall, well-made-up woman.
Emily knew she must look like a rabbit in several headlights. ‘Er, I was looking for the toilet.’ The woman cast a critical eye over Emily, making her straighten her shoulders and suck in her tummy.
‘Or listening at the door?’
‘Oh, no,’ said Emily, somewhat relieved that that was the assumption this woman had jumped to because she, no doubt, looked guilty of something.
‘I believe you,’ said the woman, offering a thin hand to shake. ‘I’m Angie.’
‘Oh, hello. Lovely to meet you. I’m Emily.’ Great, it was Zach’s mother. She clutched her handbag a little tighter.
Angie’s face was blank. ‘Hello Emily. Are you a friend of Lottie’s?’
Emily felt momentarily stunned. Was this woman trying to unsettle her? Because if she was, she was doing a very good job. ‘No. I’m Zach’s girlfriend.’Surely he’s mentioned me, she thought.
‘Then it’s lovely to meet you too. Scotty, darling, come and meet my Zach’s latest.’
Emily felt a little winded by the statement. She was in two minds whether to run back to Zach or lock herself in the bathroom. An auburn-haired man with a broad, friendly grin popped his head into the hallway. ‘Sorry, just taken all my clothes off,’ he said. Emily’s face must have registered her alarm. His grin broadened further. ‘I’m going for a shower.’ He offered a hand to shake and Emily took it briefly, looking away in case the door opened too much.
Then silence fell. Angie and Scott were looking at Emily and she felt distinctly uncomfortable. ‘Which one was the bathroom again?’ she asked.
‘Could you wait until Scott’s had his shower? Or there’s one downstairs?’ asked Angie.
