Fast asleep on the bed, Courtney twitched as the dream morphed into a nightmare and she sobbed incoherent words of desperation, words she’d know nothing about once she woke and the dream scattered to the winds.
18
“Areyou sure you’ll be okay by yourself while we’re all gone?” Rosie asked for the umpteenth time.
Stretched out on the sofa, Courtney offered a reassuring nod and a smile. “I’ll be absolutely fine.”
“If I’d known we’d all be away at the same time, I would’ve changed my plans.”
“There’s no need for anyone to change any plans.”
Rosie gave her an uncertain look as she tucked her phone and sunglasses into her bag, but Courtney held up a hand. “If I needed you to change your plans, I’d tell you. But I don’t. So stop worrying.”
The entire Austin clan had made plans for the weekend and would all be gone until Sunday. Rosie and Adrian were heading to the west Dorset coast for a romantic overnight stay at a hotel overlooking the beach. Courtney’s aunt Lorraine and uncle Colin were travelling to Norfolk to celebrate a friend’s wedding anniversary. Zara was spending the weekend in Edinburgh attending a cancer research conference as part of her preparations to make a major change in her medical specialism.
It was only when everyone had gathered at Rosie’s house a few evenings earlier to enjoy a takeaway meal together that theyrealised they’d all be gone at the same time. Everyone’s concerns had immediately turned to Courtney and whether she’d be okay left behind on her own, considering she was now almost two weeks away from her due date.
Rosie had assured them all she’d be absolutely fine, and had kept repeating this truth anytime any of them quizzed her about it, which was often. Although she was more and more tired with every passing day, and more and more fed up with being pregnant and simply desperate for it to be over, she promised her cousins and her aunt and uncle that there was no reason why she couldn’t be left to her own devices for a couple of days while they all went off and enjoyed themselves.
When her aunt and uncle had suggested skipping their friend’s wedding anniversary celebrations in Norfolk in order to remain in Hamblehurst in case Rosie needed anything, she’d put her foot down and told them she’d be upset if they did any such thing.
And when first Zara and then Rosie had made similar suggestions, Courtney had insisted that they stick to their original plans. They’d all booked hotels, taken time off work, made transport arrangements and so on, and Courtney explained that she’d feel terrible if they switched their plans on her account when it wasn’t necessary.
“Promise you’ll phone me if you have any problems?” Rosie said.
“Yes, I promise.”
“And if you need help, or need something picked up from the shops or whatever, Adrian’s mum next door says you should knock on her door or ring her phone and she’ll be there for you. She’s off out for a few hours this afternoon, but otherwise will be at home.” Rosie peered across the room at her. “I gave you her number, didn’t I?”
Courtney laughed. “Yes, you gave me her number, and yes, I promise to ask her for help if I need it. Which I won’t. Please just go and have a wonderful time with Adrian—and stop worrying about me!”
“Not possible. I feel terrible that we’re all swanning off and leaving you here by yourself.”
“No one’s swanning off anywhere. You’ll all just doing fun things with your weekend. Once I’ve dealt with my work this morning for Travis’s social media pages, I’ll be sitting here watching television for the rest of the day and relaxing. I can hardly move, anyway, so I might as well enjoy being lazy on the sofa while I still can.”
Courtney marvelled at how she managed to utter Travis’s name without blushing or cringing. She’d kept to herself the embarrassing faux pas she’d committed last week in the park during the botched picnic with Travis, and Rosie knew nothing about what had happened. Courtney was too humiliated to tell her, and although Rosie had teased her a little about Travis when they’d discussed him previously, the truth was that Courtney didn’t want to risk her cousin’s judgement by confessing to almost kissing the man.
In her heart, she knew Rosie wouldn’t judge her—she wasn’t that sort of person. But she was only a matter of weeks away from having a baby that was the product of her last romantic misjudgement. Better that she keep to herself the fact that she’d clearly learned nothing from that episode and was once more catastrophically misreading the feelings and intentions of members of the opposite sex.
The front doorbell rang, and Rosie rushed off to greet Adrian. While he carried Rosie’s overnight bag to the car, Rosie returned to the living room to say goodbye.
“I’ll miss you!” Rosie said, pulling Courtney into a hug once she’d hauled herself up off the sofa.
“I’ll miss you too. Promise me you’ll have a wonderful time.”
“I will. And promise me you’ll call if you need me.”
“I promise.”
Courtney had no intention of interrupting her cousin’s exciting weekend getaway with her lovely new boyfriend, but she also knew the easiest way to put Rosie’s mind at ease was simply to agree to do as she asked.
“Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow evening,” Rosie said, releasing her from the hug and checking the contents of her tote bag one more time before hurrying to the door.
“Bye!” Courtney said, trailing in her wake. “Have fun!”
“Bye!”
With a wave goodbye, Rosie hurtled down the front path and out to where Adrian sat waiting in the car. As they pulled away from the kerb, the horn tooted and they both waved out the window, making Courtney smile.
