The Love Solution

by Ashley Croft

  He clucked his tongue. ‘Poor baby. Try and sip your tea. It’ll keep you hydrated and settle your stomach.’ Sitting on the edge of the bed again, he stroked her arm and watched her drink the tea. It tasted like vinegar and it was all Sarah could do not to a shudder. She’d no idea that having this fulsome attention under false pretences would have been so horrible, but she kept reminding herself that while Niall had been in the wrong initially, he wasn’t responsible for his feelings now.

  ‘Better?’ asked Niall as she forced down more of the tea.

  ‘Mmmm. In fact, I think I’d be a lot perkier if I got up and had a shower. I need to get up and do some work and then pop round to Molly’s. Once she’s home, of course.’

  Niall gently but firmly pushed her back down against the bed. ‘No, you mustn’t go rushing off if you feel poorly. Molly will understand that we need time together and she might not be back until tomorrow.’ He winked.

  ‘Tomorrow?’ Sarah cried in horror. ‘She won’t stay away until then. They’ve got to get back for work.’

  Niall frowned. ‘Maybe they’ll come in late. He is her boss, isn’t he? Stop worrying about her, Sarah, and chill out. You’re not her keeper anymore. You’ve done more than enough for her.’

  Sarah forced herself to look happy. ‘You’re right but you know, I have to get up some time. I need my exercise,’ she said, as sweetly as she could. ‘The Bump needs its fresh air too.’

  ‘Hmm. I suppose so.’ Niall drummed his fingers on the bed. ‘Oh, by the way, I thought you should know that Liam bloke turned up while you were asleep this morning.’

  Sarah sat bolt upright and the remaining tea slopped onto the tray. ‘What?’

  ‘Careful.’ Niall took the tray away.

  ‘Why didn’t you wake me up?’ she demanded.

  Niall curled his lip in disgust. ‘Because it was only nine o’clock and you’d had a rough night so I left you in bed. I heard you get up a few times so I let you sleep in and anyway, there was no need to see him.’ He lifted her hair off her face. ‘It wasn’t important so I don’t know why the bloke bothered coming over when he could have emailed you. At that bloody time of the morning too! He mentioned something about you renting a craft unit across town but I told him we were back together and you were keeping the Kabin.’

  Sarah’s blood was up. Even though she’d half-guessed what had happened, she was still shocked that Niall was so blithely proud of speaking to Liam on her behalf.

  ‘I told him his services were no longer required.’ Niall’s voice hardened. ‘He’s very full of himself, isn’t he? Probably imagines the laydeez think he’s the strong and silent type with his Italian charm and his bloody flash car but if you ask me, he’s an arrogant tosser.’

  ‘I didn’t ask you to do that, Ni.’ She couldn’t keep the anger out of her voice.

  He held up his hands. ‘OK, OK. I was only trying to help you. Hormones all over the place, are they, babe?’

  ‘My hormones are fine,’ said Sarah, in despair.

  On the pretext of needing a wee, Sarah finally managed to get rid of Niall while she escaped into the bathroom and sat on the edge of the bath, trying to take some deep calming breaths. She did feel like crying but knew it wouldn’t help one bit. What must Liam think of her? How hurt and confused he must have been when Niall practically chucked him out of the house. If she hadn’t been so exhausted after her turbulent night, she wouldn’t have slept in. But if she had been down when Liam called, what could she have said? She couldn’t tell either Liam or Niall the truth because the truth was too awful.

  One thing was certain: all of this conflict and rowing was bad for the baby. He or she kicked her with its little foot or fist – probably telling her to sort out her shit, and Sarah didn’t blame him or her one little bit.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  M. Where RU? Sthing TERIBLE happened. S

  Molly stared at the text message and caught her breath.

  Ewan was in the shower, and she’d been quietly chuckling to herself as he did his best Hozier impression, which was very bad indeed. The smile had evaporated when she saw the text and she was about to press Sarah’s number to see what had happened when another text buzzed through.

  DON’t call me. I will call u.

  Oh God. Why couldn’t she call Sarah? Was she in hospital? Was she losing the baby? She stared at the phone, unable to move as a dozen scenarios whirled through her brain. Her hands trembled and she could hardly breathe.

  ‘Well, that’s not a view I see every day.’

  She looked up to find Ewan stood in the doorway of the en suite, rubbing his hair with a towel. Like her, he was stark naked and wreathed in pine-scented steam. Under any other circumstances, she would have used her last reserves of strength to shag him again but her only thought was to get to Sarah.

  She shoved her phone back in her bag. ‘I have to go.’

  He raised an eyebrow. ‘Like that? Do you want to get arrested?’

  Avoiding his eye, Molly snatched her T-shirt off the chair. ‘Sorry, but I really do have to go home.’

  Ewan, understandably, sounded confused. ‘Was it something I said? Or did?’

  Molly tugged the duvet off the bed. ‘No. It’s Sarah – there’s something wrong. Oh, where the hell are my bloody knickers?’

  ‘Whoa. Slow down.’ Ewan scooped up her pants from the rug and handed them to her. ‘Here they are.’

  ‘Thanks.’

  He knotted the towel around his waist. ‘What’s happened? Is it the baby?’ His tone was gentle and concerned.

  Molly stepped into her knickers, almost tripping over in her haste to get them on. ‘I don’t know. She didn’t say and she didn’t want me to call her …’ Molly stopped speaking.

  What if Niall had some sort of reaction to the Love Bug after all?

  Or was it just Sarah having discovered that it hadn’t worked on Niall at all?

  Whatever way you looked at things, thought Molly, the party was over and the tough times were only just beginning. Sarah would blame her for the Love Bug not working, but Molly was ready for that and ready to support her through thick and thin. She could blame the batch, her own ineptitude, anything. Nothing mattered more than saving Sarah from Niall – and herself. But at least Sarah would think Molly had tried and failed and that she had to let go of Niall for good.

  Ewan put his arms around her back and spoke soothingly. ‘Can I do anything to help?’

  ‘No, I mean, thanks but no.’

  She slipped out of his arms and tugged her jeans up. What a selfish cow she’d been, shagging Ewan and enjoying every second, while Sarah suffered the agony of disappointment.

  ‘Slow down. You can’t help Sarah in this state of mind. Let me take you to see her.’

  ‘No!’

  Ewan held up his hands. ‘OK,’ he said in his super calm voice. ‘I’ll back off but for God’s sake, take a few deep breaths before you leave here. Fasten your own life vest before helping others et cetera. You don’t know the situation yet. It might not be as bad as you’re obviously thinking. Better still let me come with you.’

  Shame piled on guilt for Molly until she staggered under the weight. She’d let Sarah down, even if it was with the best of intentions and she’d deceived Ewan and was still lying to him now.

  ‘No. That’s good of you, but no thanks. Whatever’s wrong, Sarah will be better with just me helping. I’ll get the first train I can back to Cambridge but there’s no need for you to rush back.’

  ‘I don’t want to hang around here,’ said Ewan.

  She grabbed her backpack and cycling jacket. ‘I’d rather get off as fast I can. Do you mind packing and checking out? I’ll settle up with you for the room later.’

  ‘Forget it,’ said Ewan. ‘And if it’ll help, I’ll sort things out here while you go to her but can’t you contact her ex if she’s in trouble?’

  ‘No. I mean, I don’t know. I’ll have to see what’s happened first.’

  ‘And s
he’s given you no clue?’

  ‘She just texted saying that something bad had happened and that she’d call me, but I think I should head to the cottage and try and find out more. I’m sorry to run off like this, Ewan. It’s been … it’s been good.’

  ‘Good?’ He walked over to her and held her. ‘That’s one word for it.’

  ‘More than good,’ she said, loving the feel of his arms around her but desperate to leave too. She broke away from him. ‘I have to leave. I’m sorry.’

  ‘Go on then, but please, promise you’ll let me know how Sarah – and you – are? And, Molly, can we do this again?’

  She nodded, barely able to speak past the terrible sickly lump in her throat and the panic scrambling her brain. ‘Bye,’ she muttered.

  She leapt onto the train just as the guard was blowing his whistle. It seemed to call at every tiny village and town on the way to Cambridge but there was no way she could afford a seventy-five-mile taxi ride. She was in agony until she finally got a text from Sarah, saying that it had nothing to do with the baby and that she’d meet her at her flat. As Molly ran up towards the flat, Sarah was waiting outside in her car.

  ‘What’s happened?’ she asked, the moment she was in the passenger seat.

  ‘It’s Niall!’ Sarah’s voice rose in pitch.

  ‘Oh my God. Is he OK?’

  ‘No, I mean, yes but … Molly, please don’t be angry with me after all the work you put in and the risks you’ve taken but I decided not to give it to him in the end.’

  Molly let out a huge sigh of relief. ‘I’m not angry, I’m relieved but, Sarah, there’s something I have to tell you about—’

  ‘Shh. Wait. Although I decided not to give it to him, I left the atomiser on the coffee table and Niall thought Liam had bought me some perfume and he got all arsey and started waving it around and ranting about Liam and then started spraying it … and it was everywhere, stinking the room out …’

  ‘Are you saying that he accidentally inhaled the Love Bug?’ Molly cut in.

  ‘Yes! And he was crying and asking me to take him back. It happened that quickly, I had no idea how fast it would act … He’d been behaving strangely before he sniffed it but that must have been a coincidence.’

  ‘Sarah, wait …’

  ‘You don’t realise what I’ve done. What we’ve done … You see I’ve spent so many nights longing for him to come back to me and grovel, and for things to be like they were, but it didn’t feel right and I realised I didn’t want anyone to be forced to love me. Once I’d decided, everything seemed clear: I don’t want him back like this – or like anything, in fact. Now I’m terrified it’s too late. How can we stop the Love Bug? Is there an antidote? Are we completely ruined? Am I stuck with him forever? It’s my own fault but, Molly …’

  ‘Sarah! Shut up and listen for a second!’ Molly grabbed her hand. ‘I don’t know what’s going on but it’s not possible that the Love Bug has worked on Niall.’

  ‘Why not?’

  ‘Because … the Bug I gave you was a placebo.’

  Sarah gasped. ‘What?’

  ‘I’m sorry, I started prepping a real one but then I just couldn’t go through with it. I left it at the lab and brought the placebo instead.’

  ‘A placebo? You mean a fake Bug? I … but … are you saying you lied to me? Built me up and all along the thing could never work?’

  ‘Yes. I know it was stupid but I wanted to help … I really was going to help you but I also wanted to save you from hurting Niall, and more importantly yourself. I did prepare a real Bug. It was ready to go but then I came to my senses too. Sarah, you’re my sister and I love you – and because I do love you, in the end I couldn’t do what you were asking. It wouldn’t be real.’

  Sarah gripped the steering wheel and gave a huge sigh.

  ‘Will you ever forgive me, hon?’ Molly asked, hardly daring to hope that things might turn out to be OK after all.

  ‘Yes … yes, of course I will. I was out of my mind to even ask you. It was wrong but I’ve been in a dark place. I haven’t known who I am or what I wanted. Last night, I lay awake and finally I felt something like me again. I decided I couldn’t make Niall love me, that I didn’t even want to. But …’ She held out her hands. ‘If you gave me the placebo, why is he in my house, begging me to take him back?’

  Molly held up her hands in despair. She had absolutely no answer, despite all her knowledge and training. ‘I don’t know. It must be a coincidence. What did you say to him before he sprayed the Bug?’

  ‘Loads. We had a massive row and I ended up telling him I was pregnant.’

  ‘And?’

  ‘He was shocked. Horrified. Not that I’m having a baby, but that I didn’t tell him and now he seems to be experiencing a massive guilt trip and he’s begged me to take him back.’

  Molly hugged Sarah. Niall’s remorse must be genuine. So, he’d come back of his own accord. Molly wasn’t happy about that: it hadn’t been part of the plan but if Sarah was happy and prepared to forgive him, she had to be too. Her days of interfering in Sarah’s personal life were over. ‘That’s wonderful, isn’t it? It’s what you wanted. You got Niall back without having to use the Bug,’ she said.

  ‘Yes, I suppose so, but I feel as if I’ve been run over by a train and then I feel numb. Oh God, I really don’t know how to feel.’

  ‘That’s probably the shock and trauma of the past few months. Is Niall definitely grovelling and sincere about coming back?’

  ‘Oh yes. He’s all emotional and … well, to be honest I’ve never seen him so touchy-feely and plain weird. He can’t bear to let me out of his sight. I had a job to get out of the cottage just to see you. He says he’ll do anything to make it up to me.’

  Sarah started the car and they drove the few minutes to the cottage and collapsed onto the sofas.

  ‘What about Vanessa? Has Niall already broken up with her?’ Molly asked.

  ‘That’s where he is now, or should have been. He’s gone to tell her.’

  ‘Jesus. I’d like to be a fly on the wall during that conversation. Do you think he’ll go through with it? She had quite a grip on him.’

  ‘I don’t know. I’ll find out when he gets home, won’t I?’ She hesitated. ‘Are you absolutely sure you gave me the fake one and that it couldn’t have had an effect on Niall? I find it hard to believe that he’s changed his mind so fast.’

  ‘Yes, I’m sure I did and it couldn’t have worked. I’m not surprised he had a shock when you told him about the baby.’

  ‘I keep wondering if I should have told him before but he was so adamant he didn’t want any kids, and I was angry with him.’

  ‘He’s also had time to see Vanessa for what she really is – and had it occurred to you that he was jealous of Liam?’

  ‘Yes but …’ Sarah groaned. ‘Poor Liam. He’s the innocent victim in all of this. I do like him. In other circumstances, I’d probably take things further but Niall told him I didn’t want the craft unit because we were back together.’

  ‘Oh dear … but that’s OK, isn’t it?’ Molly asked.

  Sarah sighed. ‘I’m not sure. I’m not happy that Niall took it on himself to interfere. I feel like everything in my life has been blown sky high and I haven’t known which pieces to keep or which I wanted to …’ Sarah laid her head on the back of the sofa and closed her eyes.

  Molly sat by her and held her hand. ‘It’s been very very tough but the future looks bright. You can start to rebuild things now with Niall.’

  ‘I’m not sure I want to. He’s so clingy … Oh …’ She put her hand on her stomach.

  ‘What?’ Molly asked, worried.

  ‘Feel that.’

  Sarah took Molly’s hand and placed it gently on her stomach. Molly felt awkward; it felt such an intimate thing to do, so weird … and then, wow.

  ‘You felt it?’

  Molly did. The slightest ripple against her palm then a stronger movement, a small but unmistakeable kick.
Tears pricked her eyes. Shit. She had to hold it together. She was emotional but Sarah was the one who was pregnant.

  ‘That’s amazing …’ Tears pricked her eyes.

  ‘It’s wonderful, isn’t it?’

  ‘Yes, and even though I know the theory inside out, the reality is weird and beautiful. Does it feel like Alien? Does it hurt?’ Molly asked, sensing the gentlest ripple under her fingertips. Her own skin tingled strangely in response. This was her niece or nephew. Her flesh and blood too. Their parents’ genes, their physical characteristics, elements of their personalities. Molly discovered and read about new genetic revelations every day in her work but never, until this moment, had she realised quite how amazing the creation and development of new life really was.

  Sarah laughed. ‘It doesn’t hurt. It’s more like a fluttering in your tummy. It’s gentle at the moment and it is strange but lovely.’

  Molly removed her hand from Sarah’s stomach as a thought occurred to her. ‘Did Niall give you any clue that he’d changed his mind about Vanessa before today?’

  Sarah pursed her lips. ‘Occasionally I thought he might be wavering. He sounded as if he had regrets on the phone a couple of times and yesterday before he took the Bug, he did keep going on about Vanessa making him eat healthily and sell his motorbike. I half wondered if he was having second thoughts about her.’

  ‘He must have been,’ Molly insisted. ‘All those little comments of Niall’s say a lot to me. He was having doubts and when you told him about the baby, it must have tipped him over the edge. I am so happy for you, Sarah, and you’re not going to believe this, but I’ve got some pretty awesome news too. I think I’m in love …’

  *

  As Molly cycled to the lab the next morning, she felt stiff and tired but almost dizzy with relief. The primroses seemed brighter than ever, the sky bluer and all those insane things you feel when life has handed you a second chance. She was in love and although, of course, love was only chemistry and messing with her hormones, she didn’t care. She was pretty certain that Ewan was in love with her too. What’s more Sarah had Niall back and Molly had stepped back from doing the most stupid thing she’d ever done in her life.