Just a few short hours after meeting her cousin, Rosie, for the first time, and joining her here at her home on Foxglove Street for a surprise birthday party being held for Courtney’s uncle, Colin Austin, Courtney had accepted, under protest, Rosie’s invitation for her to stay for the weekend, and then proceeded to conk out in the guest room for three hours straight.
She’d been mortified when she woke to find it already dark outside, although her cousin had waved off her apologies, assuring her there was nothing to apologise for. She’d obviously needed the rest, Rosie assured her, and making sure she got that rest, considering she was seven-and-a-half months pregnant, was all that mattered.
That was the first time Courtney had woken in this house, disoriented and confused and wondering where she was. The second time was earlier that morning, when she’d slept until eight o’clock, despite going to bed at nine the night before. After napping so long the previous afternoon, she assumed sleep would be hard to come by.
Instead, she’d been swept under almost from the moment her head hit the pillow. She’d woken in the morning once more wondering where she was.
The pretty guest room was so different from the ugly bedsit where she’d been living lately that the dissonance was hard to shake. That it had happened a third time, too, made her wonder if the upset and trauma and upheaval of the last few months had left her brain permanently out of sync with the world.
Embarrassment flooded her cheeks at the thought of how she’d spent the entire afternoon asleep in her cousin’s guest room. What must Rosie think of her? Despite her kind words yesterday, her new cousin must surely have concluded that Courtney was a lazy mare who was taking advantage by idling away the entire weekend while stretched out in her comfortable guest bed.
Courtney hurried downstairs, as much as it was possible to hurry downstairs while so heavily pregnant, to apologise again to Rosie for staying in bed so long. When she arrived in the living room, she found Rosie cross-legged on the floor in front of a vanity mirror that was propped up against the coffee table and styling her hair with curlers. Rosie turned and offered a warm smile as Courtney entered the room.
“Hello, sleepyhead!” Rosie said. “How are you feeling?”
“I’m so sorry I slept all afternoon,” Courtney said. “I had no idea it was so late.”
“You don’t have to be sorry. You obviously need the rest. I already told you that. Sleep as much as you want. That’s why I’m doing my hair down here instead of upstairs, because I didn’t want to wake you while I was clunking my curling tongs and brushes around.” Rosie released the curler from her hair and teased a comb through the style, angling her head this way and that. “What do you think? Too many curls?”
“You look lovely,” Courtney said, and meant it.
Her cousin was beautiful, tall and long-limbed with legs that Courtney would kill for and curves that made her wonder why Rosie wasn’t pursuing a modelling career instead of working in retail. Her hair tumbled around her shoulders, and whatever products she’d used had left it supernaturally shiny. Courtney clocked the make-up Rosie had applied and then noticed the smart dark jeans and silky dove-grey top she was wearing.
“Are you going out somewhere?” Courtney asked.
“I’ve got my date tonight with Adrian, remember?” Rosie grinned. “We’re going for pizza at that Italian restaurant on the high street.”
Courtney remembered the details in a flash, annoyed that her sleep marathon had made her forget in the first place. During yesterday’s surprise birthday party, Courtney had met Adrian only briefly, with time for little more than a friendly hello, and learned he was the son of Rosie’s next-door neighbour. Once the party was over and all the guests had departed, Rosie confessed to the daft crush she’d had on Adrian for months and how she’d hoped to use the cover of the birthday party as an opportunity to get to know him better. When their attempt at having a proper conversation was thwarted time and again thanks to the excitement of the party and the various surprises sprung throughout the afternoon—including the unexpected appearance of Courtney herself—Adrian had asked Rosie out to dinner for another stab at getting to know one another.
It was obvious that Rosie couldn’t wait for the date to begin. Seeing how pretty her lovely cousin looked, all dolled up for her night out and with excitement already sparkling in her eyes, Courtney couldn’t help but smile.
“I hope you have a wonderful time,” Courtney said. “Adrian seems like a really nice guy.”
“I think so, too. Plus, he’s so gorgeous, he makes my brain go mushy.”
Courtney laughed. “If you two come back here later after your date, I’ll be sure to make myself scarce in the guest room.”
“Don’t be daft. You don’t have to hide. I’m sure I can keep myself in check and resist ripping off his clothes. Well, for the first date at least.”
Rosie winked, making Courtney laugh again, and then grabbed up her phone when it pinged with a message.
“Adrian’s on his way here to pick me up,” she said, launching herself to her feet and stuffing all her beauty items back inside the pink fabric organiser laid on the floor. Picking up the cooling curling tongs and the organiser, she turned for the living room door. “I’ll take this lot back upstairs so you aren’t tripping over my mess while I’m gone.”
Rosie darted from the room with her supplies, leaving Courtney shaking her head in amusement. Her cousin was a bundle of non-stop energy, always rushing here and there, but she didn’t have to tidy up for Courtney’s benefit. The house was already spotless and tidy, anyway.
When Rosie reappeared downstairs, Courtney was in the kitchen pouring a glass of water.
“I defrosted some homemade chicken casserole for your dinner,” Rosie said, opening the fridge and pointing to a container on the shelf. “Just zap it in the microwave and it’ll be good to go. There’s rice in the cupboard if you want to boil some up to have with it, or there’s a nice fresh loaf I picked up at the bakery this morning if you’d prefer something simpler to prepare.”
Courtney peered into the fridge at the container filled with casserole, a lump forming in her throat on account of the kind gesture. “You didn’t have to do that for me. I would’ve just made some toast for dinner.”
“Toast?You’re almost eight months pregnant, Courtney. You need to have more than just toast for dinner.”
“You didn’t have to go to any trouble for me.”
“I didn’t. I literally took a container out of the freezer and let it defrost. If I wasn’t going out on a date tonight, I would’ve stayed here to cook something for you from scratch to make sure you’re getting enough nourishment.”
“I’m fine.”
