Twenty-one
Iwasfacingadilemma.
On the one hand, this was fantastic news. Adele was overjoyed and suddenly, this wedding couldn’t happen soon enough as far as she was concerned. Although she was still a little anxious about breaking the news to Marcus, but I think we’d managed to convince her that this was the best news in the world, and he would be elated. I hoped he wouldn’t let us down.
But that was my dilemma. Jasper, Sam, and Alec were out with him right now. They were going to a pub and then for a curry, and then back to Alec’s house, because his was the closest and largest of the three. Jasper’s home didn’t count because he lived with his parents.
Honestly, how could I have fallen for a guy who wore flip flops, didn’t love coffee, rode bicycles, was making me wait to have sex, and who lived with his parents?
Okay, the last two were temporary. We’d be indulging in vigorous contact sports the second his nose was healed, and he’d told me that very morning that he was looking for a place of his own now that he had decided to return to Fairlight Bay for good. But still…
This wasn’t about him though. This was about Marcus and this wedding.
What if they hadn’t managed to talk him around and convince him that the wedding was the best thing for everyone concerned? What if he’d had more doubts? What if the things Jasper’s dad had said had hit home?
Marcus needed to hear the news about this baby, and the sooner that happened, the better.
I had to get a message to Jasper and tell him to get Marcus back to End Cottage, pronto.
But how could I do that? It was only just gone eight-fifteen. I couldn’t tell Jasper to leave the pub or the restaurant right now and get the man home. Neither could I tell him that Adele was pregnant. Marcus should be the first person to know that.
Okay, that ship had sailed. He’d be the fifth person to know, counting Adele and the three of us, but hey. That wasn’t our faults, was it? And besides, without our timely intervention, Adele would still have no idea she was carrying Marcus’ child. So I think a ‘Yay!’ was in order for us.
I could ask Lucy and Noelle what they thought I should do, but I couldn’t tell Adele, because if she knew that Marcus had also been having a wobbly over this wedding, she might go all, ‘woe is me’ again, and decide to be a single mum. Unlikely, but anything was possible as I’d recently discovered.
I also couldn’t send Jasper a text saying there was an emergency. That might cause no end of drama, and we’d had quite enough of that, thanks very much.
I finally made a decision as the kettle boiled, and I sent Jasper a text saying, ‘Hope it’s going well. Don’t panic. All good here. Just need to tell you something. Call me asap. Xx’
I don’t know why I’d added the kisses. I only added those to people I really cared about, like Lucy, but I’d hit send, before I’d realised and it was too late to take them back.
I made the tea, just the way I’d made it last time, only this time I added two packets of biscuits to the tray. One was chocolate digestives; the other was custard creams.
I was about to return to the dining room when my phone rang and Jasper’s number flashed onto the screen. I tamped down my thrill of excitement and answered the phone.
‘Hi Jasper.’
‘Hi asap.’ I heard him chuckle. ‘You told me to call you asap,’ he said. ‘But I like your name, Erin. I like you too. In case you were in any doubt.’
‘Are you a little drunk?’ Even if he was, they say people tell the truth when they’re drunk, so I was happy either way.
‘Maybe a little. I took some painkillers earlier, and then forgot, and took two more, but I think perhaps, they don’t go so well with alcohol. Or maybe I’m just a wimp who not only can’t kiss the woman he’s been dying to kiss since the moment she showered him … me ... whatever, with tea, but a wimp who can’t take hard liquor either. Cocktails do count as hard liquor. Right?’
I snorted a laugh and rolled my eyes, mentally adding, ‘can’t hold his drink’ to my list of ‘cons’ on the one I’d made for whether or not Jasper Lord was ‘The One’. Because as ridiculous as it was, since that thumb thing this morning, I had begun to think he might just be, but he ‘cons’ side was almost as long as the ‘pros’ side now.
‘Wait. Did you just say you’ve taken four painkillers at once?’
‘Not at once, no. There was about an hour in between, I think.’
‘Jasper. How strong were they?’
‘Stronger than me, it seems.’
‘Listen to me, Jasper. Taking more than the prescribed dosage is dangerous, and can be life-threatening, especially so recently after an accident. No more than two should be taken within four hours. What did you take and how many milligrams were in each tablet.’
‘I don’t know. I’m fine though. Just tired, and woozy, and a little off balance. Those cocktails are strong. I hadn’t realised how strong until I stood up. I’m going to go and sit down, again.’
‘Jasper. Give your phone to Marcus right now.Right now, Jasper.’
‘O-kay. There’s no need to shout’
