Troy
Valentine?’
Trish
threw her head back and laughed aloud. ‘You must have been reading
my mind! Well look, I’d better grab this pastry and get going. Oh,
Nina it’s brilliant to see you back. Having you home will be just
like old times. You should come to the awards thing with me and
we’ll drink loads of champagne. I’ll give you a call later to
arrange the plans, OK?’ she said, before breezing out the
door.
‘ Sure,’ Nina agreed, although Trish’s words had ruined the
light-heartedness of the moment and brought her screaming back to
reality.
Ella was
off serving customers, and deciding she’d already taken up enough
of her time, Nina left some money on the counter and stood up to
leave. Ella gave a friendly wave as she left but once outside, the
weight of all Nina’s problems returned. It was nice to feel just
normal and carefree for a moment with Trish and Ella she thought,
sighing. And while she’d be happy to go to Ruth Seymour’s official
homecoming with her friend, there would be no champagne for
her.
Nina
couldn’t well be partying it up and drinking bubbly in Clancy’s
hotel, not when she was twelve weeks pregnant.
Chapter 5
Back in
Dublin, Jess worried over what had happened at Emer’s. She felt
hurt and betrayed that her so-called best friend would lie in order
to keep her away from her Happy Families party.
So now
that Emer had a child and Jess didn’t, it was easier to just cut
her out of her life? Why? What difference did it make, and why
should it make a difference at all?
It
certainly made no sense to Jess anyway, and she couldn’t believe
that Emer seriously felt the need to purposely leave her out of the
celebrations. And to think she even offered to baby-sit.
Earlier
that day, Emer had tried her best to smooth things over when her
neighbour left, by being overly chatty and offering to share the
bottle of champagne she’d been so reluctant about
before.
‘ Oh, go on then, you’ve twisted my arm,’ she’d said cheerily,
as if nothing at all had happened.
‘ No, it’s fine, maybe you should just keep it for your next
party,’ Jess murmured, before eventually making her excuses and
leaving.
While
she’d tried her utmost not to betray her feelings about the
situation, it was difficult. On the one hand, she felt a bit silly
for being so upset about it, but on the other there was no question
that she had been deceived. By someone who was supposed to be her
best friend, the person with whom she’d shared pretty much
everything over the last fifteen years. Well, clearly Emer wasn’t
interested in sharing her new life with her, Jess mused unhappily,
not while she remained childfree in any case.
And that
wasn’t on the cards, not yet anyway. She and Brian would like to
have children someday of course, but the time wasn’t quite right.
Granted they’d been married for seven years and together for over
ten, but somehow the idea had never really occurred to them. Their
careers probably had a lot to do with it; Brian was away so much
with the executive travel agency he managed, and Jess had been
working her way up the corporate ladder at Piccolo.
Thinking
about it now as she moved through their Dublin townhouse, she
wasn’t quite sure why they’d never thought seriously about going
down that route; goodness knows enough of their immediate circle
had done it. Emer and Dave, Deirdre and Kevin, and many of the
other couples they socialized with.
Or used
to.
Jess knew
Brian would be an amazing dad and she hoped she’d be a good mother,
as she adored babies and liked spending time with children; Emer’s
little Amy being a case in point. Yet, she’d never really pictured
herself as a mother, for some reason feeling that there was plenty
of time for that and when the time came, she’d know about it. After
all, there was a time in every woman’s life when she just knew,
wasn’t there? Although perhaps this line of thinking was fine when
you’re twenty-four but not
Valentine?’
Trish
threw her head back and laughed aloud. ‘You must have been reading
my mind! Well look, I’d better grab this pastry and get going. Oh,
Nina it’s brilliant to see you back. Having you home will be just
like old times. You should come to the awards thing with me and
we’ll drink loads of champagne. I’ll give you a call later to
arrange the plans, OK?’ she said, before breezing out the
door.
‘ Sure,’ Nina agreed, although Trish’s words had ruined the
light-heartedness of the moment and brought her screaming back to
reality.
Ella was
off serving customers, and deciding she’d already taken up enough
of her time, Nina left some money on the counter and stood up to
leave. Ella gave a friendly wave as she left but once outside, the
weight of all Nina’s problems returned. It was nice to feel just
normal and carefree for a moment with Trish and Ella she thought,
sighing. And while she’d be happy to go to Ruth Seymour’s official
homecoming with her friend, there would be no champagne for
her.
Nina
couldn’t well be partying it up and drinking bubbly in Clancy’s
hotel, not when she was twelve weeks pregnant.
Chapter 5
Back in
Dublin, Jess worried over what had happened at Emer’s. She felt
hurt and betrayed that her so-called best friend would lie in order
to keep her away from her Happy Families party.
So now
that Emer had a child and Jess didn’t, it was easier to just cut
her out of her life? Why? What difference did it make, and why
should it make a difference at all?
It
certainly made no sense to Jess anyway, and she couldn’t believe
that Emer seriously felt the need to purposely leave her out of the
celebrations. And to think she even offered to baby-sit.
Earlier
that day, Emer had tried her best to smooth things over when her
neighbour left, by being overly chatty and offering to share the
bottle of champagne she’d been so reluctant about
before.
‘ Oh, go on then, you’ve twisted my arm,’ she’d said cheerily,
as if nothing at all had happened.
‘ No, it’s fine, maybe you should just keep it for your next
party,’ Jess murmured, before eventually making her excuses and
leaving.
While
she’d tried her utmost not to betray her feelings about the
situation, it was difficult. On the one hand, she felt a bit silly
for being so upset about it, but on the other there was no question
that she had been deceived. By someone who was supposed to be her
best friend, the person with whom she’d shared pretty much
everything over the last fifteen years. Well, clearly Emer wasn’t
interested in sharing her new life with her, Jess mused unhappily,
not while she remained childfree in any case.
And that
wasn’t on the cards, not yet anyway. She and Brian would like to
have children someday of course, but the time wasn’t quite right.
Granted they’d been married for seven years and together for over
ten, but somehow the idea had never really occurred to them. Their
careers probably had a lot to do with it; Brian was away so much
with the executive travel agency he managed, and Jess had been
working her way up the corporate ladder at Piccolo.
Thinking
about it now as she moved through their Dublin townhouse, she
wasn’t quite sure why they’d never thought seriously about going
down that route; goodness knows enough of their immediate circle
had done it. Emer and Dave, Deirdre and Kevin, and many of the
other couples they socialized with.
Or used
to.
Jess knew
Brian would be an amazing dad and she hoped she’d be a good mother,
as she adored babies and liked spending time with children; Emer’s
little Amy being a case in point. Yet, she’d never really pictured
herself as a mother, for some reason feeling that there was plenty
of time for that and when the time came, she’d know about it. After
all, there was a time in every woman’s life when she just knew,
wasn’t there? Although perhaps this line of thinking was fine when
you’re twenty-four but not
Similar Books
