by Jenny Kane
Abi put her arm around Beth’s shoulders, ‘Well, now it’s time you started to think more logically. I suspect Jacob will be absolutely thrilled, but if he isn’t, then the only question you have to consider is, are you comfortable with being a single mum?’
Beth whispered so softly that Abi had to strain to hear her. ‘I don’t want to do this on my own.’
‘But you won’t be on your own. Whatever happens, you won’t be alone.’
‘I won’t?’
‘Didn’t you see Stan and Dora’s faces? Over the moon doesn’t even begin to cover it. Stan is going to be a great-grandad-ish, and if the excitement of the wedding hasn’t tired him out this evening, then the news he is going to have a mini-person to bounce on his knee will surely have him snoring next to Dora by now.’
Beth giggled through her waves of panic. ‘Maybe that’s why Grandad sent me to Stan.’
‘I’m sorry?’
Scooping up some sand, Beth let it trail through her fingers. ‘You’ll think I’m daft.’
‘I often think you’re daft, so give it your best shot!’
‘I could have sworn I heard Grandad talking to me earlier. Just after I’d done the test. I felt so alone, and I said aloud how much I missed him, and well. . .I sort of felt his words, in here.’ Beth rubbed her chest. ‘It was so clear that he wanted me to visit Stan. I knew I’d feel better for going.’
‘And do you feel better? Now the shock is passing?’
Beth pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. ‘I think so. My brain feels like it’s going to explode with “what ifs?” though.’
‘I bet.’ Abi smiled at Beth. ‘Well, if you want to talk, any time, I’m here. Whatever happens. OK?’
‘Thanks, Abi.’
‘And I know you’re worried about Jacob, but honestly, Beth, just the way he looks at you is enough to show that he loves you to pieces. He isn’t going to do a bunk. He’s going to be a dad!’
‘Oh my God! And I’m going to be a mum.’
Abi’s smile became a beam. ‘Yes you are! And I’m going to be a sort-of auntie.’
Beth felt the first flickers of excitement edge past her fears. ‘There are so many practical factors to think about as well. I mean, our home is so small, we’ll have to move away from Grandad’s flat, and then there’s money. I might have to leave the school as I’m unmarried, and potters don’t exactly make a mint.’
Abi put a reassuring hand on her friend’s arm. ‘Beth, love, all those problems will have to be faced in time, but not yet. How did this happen anyway?’
‘Seriously?’ Beth burst out laughing, ‘You may look like the most innocent sweet in the shop, Abi Carter, but I know different.’
Her friend stuck her tongue out. ‘You know what I mean!’
‘I forgot a pill about ten weeks ago. And then I forgot that I’d forgotten it and didn’t make sure we were covered in other ways, if you see what I mean.’
‘Ah. Easily done.’ Abi nodded. ‘Doctor’s appointment for you tomorrow, young lady.’
Jacob raised a hand in acknowledgement as he saw Max stoop to fit through the door of The Old Success pub.
‘Got you a pint of Tribute, mate.’ Jacob gestured to the table between them, where two pints of St Austell Brewery’s finest sat awaiting their attention.
‘Thanks, Jacob.’ Max landed with a satisfied thump onto his seat. ‘Just what I need.’
‘Heavy day?’
‘Busy more than heavy. I have a new client who wants me to start work asap, and as it’s a big contract, I can’t afford not to take it.’
‘But that means working above and beyond to get the current job done ahead of schedule?’
‘You’ve got it.’ Max wiped the back of his hand over his mouth, savouring the taste of his beer. ‘It’s bad enough that I haven’t seen Abi much lately, what with the conversion in St Ives, but now I’ll have to work late this week to get it done ready for the next job. At least the next one is closer to Abi’s place though.’
Jacob cradled his own pint. ‘I was didn’t think you’d be up for a pint tonight, to be honest, I thought you’d be with Abi.’
‘She’s gone to see Stan. I think the shock of the forthcoming wedding has subsided, and she’s gone to see if they want help getting it all sorted.’
‘That sounds like Abi.’ Jacob stared into the middle distance. ‘She’ll see Beth there. I found a note on the table when I got home, saying that she was going to see if she could meet the mysterious Dora.’
‘In that case, they’ll probably be hours. Once those two get talking there’s no stopping them.’
‘True.’ Jacob was quiet for a minute. ‘I don’t suppose Beth has said anything to you, has she?’
‘About what?’
‘That’s just it, I’m not sure. I’m probably imagining things, but Beth hasn’t been laughing as much as usual lately, and she is a big laugher. And she forgot she was supposed to come to see a studio with me today.’
Max shrugged. ‘I haven’t noticed anything wrong, but I haven’t been around much. Although now I think about it, she didn’t laugh on the phone the other day. But she was on her lunch break, so she probably had a small child hanging off her somewhere. Abi hasn’t mentioned a problem. If she was worried about Beth I’m pretty confident she’d have said something. I bet it’s end of term pressure, and she’ll be fine once it’s the summer hols.’
‘That’s what Beth said.’
‘Well, there you go then.’ Max picked up the menu on the table. ‘I’m starving. Steak and chips?’
Abi gazed at her friend. ‘I can’t get over it. You’ve got a tiny little life growing inside you. That is so incredible.’
Beth stroked her stomach. ‘That is one word for it, although terrifying is another good one.’
‘Go home and talk to Jacob. You’ll never relax until you’ve told him.’
‘If he flips out can I come and stay with you for a bit?’
‘Beth, love, he won’t flip out, but yes, if the very worst happens – which it won’t – my spare room is yours for as long as you like.’ Abi clambered to her feet and brushed sand from her palms. ‘Now go home! I’m going to nip back in to reassure Stan you’re OK, then I’m going to see how Max got on with the neighbour from hell.’
Beth paused as she climbed into the driver’s seat of her car. ‘What? Oh I’m sorry, that’s what you wanted to talk about, wasn’t it? I just took over the whole evening!’
Abi held up a hand. ‘Come on, Beth, compared to your news it’s nothing! Anyway, it’s a long story. I’ll tell you all about it tomorrow. Go and talk to Jacob. And then please text me to let me know you and he are alright.’
‘I never thought I’d see the day when I’d be attending Stan’s wedding.’ Jacob squirted a dollop of tomato ketchup onto this plate. ‘Yours and Abi’s, yes, but not Stan’s.’
Max, who’d been struggling with his thoughts on the same matter, said, ‘It’s very Stan though, isn’t it? Living for the day and all that. Do you remember when we took him to London for that auction at Christie’s?’
Jacob laughed. ‘I sure do. He was like a child on holiday. I hope I have half the energy when I’m his age.’
‘Me too.’ Max stabbed a forkful of chips. ‘I hope I still have Abi with me though, rather than contemplating a new model.’
‘God yeah, likewise with Beth. You going to move in with Abi?’
Max, who, even after almost a year of knowing Jacob, still wasn’t used to his open conversations, having always been happier coping with problems alone, laid down his fork. ‘I don’t know. I mean, I want to but. . . Look, mate, Abi and I need to go slower than you and Beth. Our history is less straightforward, and moving in would be a big deal for us.’
‘Sure. I get that. Actually, I thought you’d pop the question first, and then move in. Stan not inspired you in that direction? I see you as doing the decent thing, rather than living in glorious sin like me and a certain primary
school teacher.’
Hoping his smile and accompanying roll of his eyes hid how nervous he was about the prospect of ever getting married again, Max said, ‘I think we should be there for Stan and Dora before anything else happens. Anyway, I’m planning a night in a hotel for Abi’s anniversary. A getaway for the two of us.’
Jacob’s eyes twinkled mischievously. ‘Sounds good to me!’
Having left a sleepy Sadie lounging in the back of her car, Abi knocked on Stan’s door, hoping she wasn’t about to wake him up. Only a few seconds later, however, she heard him approaching on the other side, and was struck by how much more confidently he moved these days. When she’d first met Stan, living alone in the home which she now owned, he’d shuffled around with the aid of walking sticks. Now he only used them for trips into the outside world.
‘Abi, I’m so glad you came back. How’s Beth? We were worried.’ Stan ushered her through to the living room, where Dora was sat on the sofa.
‘That’s why I popped back. I can’t stay, I don’t like to leave Sadie in the car, but I wanted to let you know Beth’s OK. She’s in shock. I know she always wanted children, but I think she’d rather assumed it would be after she’d had some sort of discussion with Jacob on the subject.’
Dora nodded. ‘Is Beth genuinely worried that Jacob will do a runner once she tells him? From what Stan has told me about him that doesn’t seem to be in his character.’
‘No, it isn’t. Personally, I think he’ll be chuffed to bits, but we’ll have to wait and see. She’s gone home to tell him now.’ Abi smiled at her friends. ‘Right, I’d better go home as well; Max will be waiting for me.’
Stan and Dora exchanged a glance, which stopped Abi from heading to the door. ‘What is it?’
‘Well, actually, we wondered if we could ask a favour.’
‘You can always ask me for a favour. What is it?’
Stan looked at Dora, who smiled encouragingly. ‘Well, Abi my girl, plans for the wedding are moving fast, time not exactly being on our side and all that. The thing is, as I said earlier, Sally is less than thrilled. Would you talk to her, Abi? I know it’s a big ask, but would you Skype Australia for me and put her mind at rest?’
Beth couldn’t stop pacing. She’d found a note from Jacob, written beneath the one she’d left him, saying he was at the pub with Max. Wishing he’d hurry up and come home, so she could tell him her news before she drove herself mad with worry, she grabbed the keys to the gallery downstairs. Wandering between the quilts that hung on the walls, she stroked a finger over their softness. They were breathtakingly beautiful, and she could see why so many had a little red sticker stuck next to them, signifying that they’d been sold.
Sitting on the chair where Abi spent every weekday drawing illustrations for children’s picture books, Beth anxiously listened for the sound of Jacob’s key in the front door. Eventually, the scrape of metal against metal told her the moment of truth had arrived. Perspiration coated her palms, and her throat was so dry she wasn’t sure any words would be able to come out of her mouth anyway.
‘Jacob?’ Beth called croakily from the gallery.
‘Beth? What are you doing in here at this time of night?’ Alarm engulfed Jacob; she wasn’t about to leave him, was she? He’d expected to come in and find her curled up on the sofa, laughing at some repeated comedy on the television, a glass of wine in one hand and a packet of crisps in the other.
‘Umm, I haven’t had time to visit the gallery much lately and these gorgeous quilts will be gone to make room for the next guest artist soon. Mad, really, as we only live upstairs.’
‘But you haven’t turned the lights on.’
‘Oh, no, so I haven’t.’ Beth looked at her hands in despair.
‘Please, love, you’re freaking me out. What is it? You’re not leaving me, are you? Please speak to me.’
Beth was stunned; it hadn’t occurred to her that Jacob could think that. ‘No! Never. Never!’
‘Are you ill?’
‘No. No, I’m fine I’m. . .’ Taking a deep breath, Beth nervously blurted everything out. ‘I’m pregnant, and I’m scared. Don’t leave me, OK? Please. I know it’s my fault, I forgot a pill. It was just once. I wasn’t trying to trap you or anything. Don’t be angry, I know it’s. . .’
Relief flooded Jacob as he held Beth close, before stepping a little away from her and running his wide green eyes over her body in the pale grey light of the gallery. ‘Oh my God, I’m going to be a dad!’
‘You aren’t angry?’
‘Don’t be silly! A baby. We’re going to have a baby! Wow, oh my God! I’m going to be a daddy!’
Holding on to Jacob, Beth burst into tears all over again, but this time, every drop was one of joy.
Chapter Ten
‘What did Stan say about Cassandra when you saw him last night?’
Abi bit her lip as she passed Max his packed lunch. She hadn’t a clue how she was managing to keep the news about Beth’s pregnancy secret. ‘I never got round to telling him about her. He and Dora are so excited about the wedding.’
Her grin, which had been firmly in place since she’d had a late night text from Beth telling her Jacob was delighted with the news of his impending fatherhood, was temporarily diminished as Abi remembered the favour that Stan had asked of her. ‘Actually, they want me to talk to Sally for them.’
‘I assume she isn’t very pleased about this latest turn in events?’
‘I think wary is the word.’
‘I’m not surprised.’ Max hooked the straps to his decorator’s dungarees over his shoulders as he stood up from Abi’s kitchen table. ‘I’d be the same if I was thousands of miles away and hadn’t met the woman my father wanted to marry.’
‘Me too. I’m not sure what I can say to her that might help. It’s hardly my place to convince Sally it’s all going to be OK, is it? I mean, I can see that Stan and Dora get on well, but that doesn’t guarantee they’ll be happy, does it? All I can promise Sally is that Dora isn’t after Stan’s money as she has plenty of her own. In fact, if Dora goes first, Stan will be the one who’s better off.’
Max made a face. ‘That’s all a bit clinical, isn’t it?’
‘I know. I was rather uncomfortable when they told me about the financial stuff last night, but they think Sally will believe me more than them.’
‘Puts you in an awkward position.’ ‘Tell me about it! I am not looking forward to the call one bit.’
‘Do you think Sally will come over for the wedding, assuming she doesn’t convince her dad not to go through with it?’
‘I honestly wouldn’t like to say.’ Abi shrugged. ‘It’s not been a year since she and the children flew over to help Stan move into the flat. They only managed to afford that because Stan used some of the money he made at the auction.’
‘I’ll help you have a think about what you can say later, if you like.’
‘Thanks, Max.’ Abi smiled. ‘And I want to hear more about my new neighbour! You never did get round to telling me about your trip next door.’
Max pulled on his steel-capped boots. ‘There isn’t much to tell beyond what I said on the phone. Cassandra wants to get the place redecorated before it goes up as a holiday let. She has a good eye, I’ll give her that. Butter yellow throughout, not unlike this.’ Max pointed at Abi’s kitchen walls. ‘She isn’t so bad. A bit put out that she’s here at all, mind. I got the impression she’d been rather dropped in it.’
‘That hardly excuses the junkyard in the front garden.’
Max enfolded his partner in a hug. ‘It’s only rotten shelves, old curtains, and a couple of the original shutters that are beyond repair. I’d have chucked them myself if she hadn’t got there first.’
‘If you say so.’
‘I do say so.’ Max kissed Abi’s forehead. ‘Forget about it. Cassandra will only be here for a few weeks. She has a business to go back to London to, and she obviously doesn’t fit here.’
‘She has no intent
ion of trying to fit either, does she?’
‘Sadly, I don’t think she does, no.’
Determined not to let the evidence of Cassandra’s rough and ready approach to interior design get to her today, Abi left for the gallery, determined to see Beth before her friend left for work.
The thought of her friend’s impending motherhood was enough to temporarily diminish the fears she had about having an endless succession of unknown people living next to her on and off all year.
Jacob opened the door, his expression torn between delight and disbelief. Abi realised she should have asked Beth if Jacob knew she’d already been told the news. Her hesitation, when she didn’t quite know if she was supposed to congratulate Jacob or not, was quickly curtailed as he thanked her for taking care of Beth the previous day.
‘It was my pleasure. She told you about her wobble then?’
‘She did. Daft woman.’
‘Congratulations, Jacob. I don’t have to ask if you’re pleased, you couldn’t look prouder if you tried.’
‘Proud? God, yes! My Beth is going to have my baby. Can life get more perfect than that?’ Jacob calmed down a fraction. ‘Just when I thought I’d never find someone who was mad enough to settle down with me I found Beth. And now this! Incredible.’
Beth came into the hallway. She looked tired, but her usual air of control had returned, ready for a new school day. ‘Hi, Abi, early start?’
‘I wanted to see with my own eyes that you were OK before I got back to my pixies.’
‘Still terrified, but not about facing life alone.’
Jacob rolled his eyes, and repeated, ‘Daft woman!’ as he hooked his holdall onto his shoulder. ‘Right, I must love you and leave you for the depths of Hayle. I’ll call at lunchtime, Beth.’ He hugged his partner, and then turned to Abi. ‘Make sure she books a doctor’s appointment.’
Abi saluted. ‘Will do!’
‘Thanks, she has a crazy idea about leaving it until the school holidays.’
‘I told you, I’ll be fine until then,’ Beth protested, but to no effect. Jacob shook his head just as Abi said, ‘I’ll make sure it gets made today.’
