Chapter 20
TWENTY
Jemma swings her front door open as I approach it. ‘You look absolutely shattered,’ she says, a worried frown creasing her brow. ‘Come on, in you come. You need to take the weight off those feet.’
Stepping back, she ushers me inside and steers me into the kitchen. ‘Grab a seat.’ She nods towards the table, and I sit gratefully as she goes to put the kettle on. ‘So, how is she?’
‘She had something called a stroke mimic,’ I tell her. ‘She has low blood sugar levels, which caused her to pass out. She also had some heart palpitations, apparently, so they erred on the side of caution and did all the tests.’
‘Well, that’s reassuring, I suppose.’ Jemma comes across with the biscuit barrel. ‘For energy.’ She smiles, offering it to me.
I decline, mindful of my baby and my own blood sugar levels. I’m feeling a few palpitations myself, especially when there’s a sudden loud thump overhead, causing me to jump.
Jemma presses a hand to her chest, clearly also startled.
‘It’s Noah,’ she says. ‘I’d almost forgotten he was there.
Tummy bug. Either that or he fancied a day off school,’ she adds with a roll of her eyes.
‘Kids, what would you do with them?’ Obviously noting my averted gaze, she sits quickly opposite me and takes hold of my hand.
‘Sorry, Kara,’ she says, giving it a squeeze. ‘That was thoughtless of me.’
‘It’s okay,’ I assure her, though her comment jarred me.
I don’t know why now particularly. I miss Kai every day, achingly, but I don’t feel his loss like a physical blow any more when people talk about their children.
I guess I’m more sensitive at the moment because my emotions are close to the surface.
‘Ignore me.’ I smile wearily. ‘I’m just tired. ’
‘You should get some rest,’ Jemma advises, glancing sternly at me as she goes across to make the coffee.
‘Set aside some time for yourself. Taking on a man with a teenage daughter plus baggage is bound to take its toll, no matter how lovely he is, especially now you’re carrying a precious little one of your own. ’
I glance down, placing a hand protectively over my tummy.
With Lina about to move in, there’s not much chance of my getting even a moment to myself for a while.
I don’t tell Jemma that, sure she’ll think I’ve taken leave of my senses.
‘He is lovely,’ I say, reminding myself that Jack is everything I could want in a man.
That before Lina crashed into our lives, everything had been good between us.
‘He’s obviously very worried about the effect all this will have on you,’ Jemma says.
‘When he said you were at the hospital, my heart almost stopped beating. I think you might be overdoing it a little. Jack does too. You need to look after yourself as well as everyone else.’ She gives me an admonishing scowl as she comes back with the coffee.
‘I know. I will,’ I promise. ‘Can I ask you something, Jemma?’ I go on tentatively. She’s known Jack longer than I have and she must have known Natalia. We haven’t really talked about her, because it felt wrong, I suppose, but she might have some idea of what their relationship was like.
‘Ask away,’ she says, placing the mugs on the table.
‘Jack and Natalia, were they happy together? I only saw her that once,’ I remind her, forcing from my mind the memory of how tragically the night of Jemma’s party had ended for me, ‘but I never really got to talk to her.’
‘She was a bit of a social butterfly flitting about, wasn’t she?
’ Jemma says reflectively and takes a sip from her mug.
‘I can’t say I knew her that well, but from what I saw of them together, they appeared to be happy.
You never know what goes on beneath the surface, though, do you? ’ she adds with a sigh.
‘No.’ I nod. ‘It’s true we all put on a show for other people, I suppose.’ I hesitate, sipping my own coffee thoughtfully, then ask the question I need to. ‘Do you think Jack might have been unfaithful, Jem? That he might have had an affair? I wondered, after what happened, you know…’
‘Jack?’ Jemma’s eyes shoot wide with surprise. ‘No,’ she says with an adamant shake of her head. ‘He’s just not the type. Well, not in my estimation anyway. If he did, it certainly wasn’t with anyone local. It would have been all over the village in one second flat. I mean, it’s possible, but—’
She stops as her phone rings. ‘Sorry,’ she says, a deep furrow settling in her brow as she jumps up to answer it.
She doesn’t speak, listening instead. It’s a woman calling, I glean from the strident female tones emerging from the phone.
A client? I wonder, as Jemma attempts to say something.
‘No,’ she manages eventually, a panicky edge to her voice. ‘Don’t do that.’
She glances quickly at me and then goes back to her call. ‘I can’t talk right now,’ she says. ‘I have someone here. Yes, I do. Yes. Look, could you just hold on for a second, I…’
Sensing there must be some kind of emergency and that she might need privacy, I get to my feet. Jemma starts when I place a hand on her arm. ‘I have to go,’ I mouth, indicating the door and giving her a reassuring smile.
She nods, looking relieved. I sense that there’s something else behind her eyes as they lock briefly on mine, a wariness almost. I assume it’s an emergency – a patient needing an urgent consultation?
But I can’t help thinking that her wariness and the panic I’d sensed was because she didn’t want me overhearing the conversation.