The One with the White Wedding. Erin Lawless
Чтение книги онлайн.
Читать онлайн книгу The One with the White Wedding - Erin Lawless страница 5
Название: The One with the White Wedding
Автор: Erin Lawless
Издательство: HarperCollins
Жанр: Современные любовные романы
isbn: 9780008181765
isbn:
She’d contacted Sarah too, of course. She’d jacked in her job and bolted to her mother’s house in Wales (she’d literally fled the country) and the horror and the guilt and the shame of it made Bea want to rip off her own skin with her fingernails. Bea remembered how she’d used to get so annoyed by how nicey nice Sarah was. Sarah was so nice, in fact, that she’d taken the time, somewhere in the midst of the demolition of her life and her marriage, to send Bea a short but polite message, saying that while it was Cole she blamed, not Bea, she’d appreciate it if Bea would stop calling, and leave her alone. And – after a brief paroxysm of indecision about whether or not agreeing to leave Sarah alone allowed for one more response confirming that she would indeed be doing that – Bea had decided to respect her erstwhile friend’s wishes.
Bea had also heard very little from Daisy in the past few weeks. She wasn’t ignoring her, not as such, more avoiding her. Bea had been desperate for some of her American friend’s straight-talking sympathy, but after the third of fourth invitation somewhere for a bottle of something and a catch-up had been awkwardly swerved, Bea had gotten the message and stopped asking.
Weirdly, it was Cleo who was being the most normal around Bea. Maybe she was just taking her cue from Nora and refusing to get involved, but where Bea had expected only snide comments and recriminations from her best frenemy, Cleo had been kinder to her than she ever had been in the decade or so Bea had known her. So maybe that was something…
Harry called out his farewells from the flat door and Nora wandered back through to the front room, holding her handbag in one hand and her mobile phone in the other, idly checking her messages.
“I wonder what’s so important,” she mused, her thumb working the touch screen. “It’s going to be a ballache finding somewhere for dinner short-notice in the city in December.”
She was referring to Daisy’s enigmatic message of earlier that day, Bea realised. She’d messaged all four of them saying she had important news she needed to share.
“I think she’s back with Darren,” Bea shrugged, folding another Order of Service as neatly as she could manage. “It’s that time of year, isn’t it? Everyone wants someone to snuggle on the sofa with and watch Christmas films. Everybody wants somebody to kiss at midnight…” Her voice tailed off, remembering that this year, of course, when Big Ben chimed in another January, it would be signalling the end of her best friend’s wedding day. Cole would be there, of course and so – as Nora had confirmed – would Sarah. Not having anyone to kiss at midnight would probably be the least of Bea’s concerns.
Nora gracefully folded herself back down into her sitting position and grabbed up her glass of wine.
“Oh dear,” she laughed, surveying the unimpressive piles of completed Orders of Service. “We’re not being all that productive this evening, are we?”
“Oh, don’t worry, Mel,” Bea assured her, trying to keep her voice light, folding up another and adding it to the pile. “You’ve still got, oh, three weeks.”
Daisy made sure that she was fashionably late, glancing around the rammed gastro-pub as she arrived. Across the exposed kitchen bar, Nora looked up from her menu, meeting Daisy’s eye contact and waving her over. Already there was a bottle of white wine ordered, opened and empty, four equal glasses poured out. Cleo and Bea were there already too, smiling expectantly. Sarah hadn’t been able to make it over from where she was staying with her mom – December train fares were extortionate apparently (and, of course, Sarah currently had no income) – although Daisy did have to wonder if the negative RSVP had more to do with Sarah’s unwillingness to be sat around a table with the woman who’d once boned her husband and kept it secret for two years… who knew.
Daisy nervously smoothed her dress over her stomach as she made her way across to her friends. She wasn’t showing yet and probably wouldn’t for a fair while, but still, it had become somewhat of a nervous habit over the past few weeks. She might not have a bump, per say, but already her jeggings and work chinos were feeling uncomfortably tight, forcing her into dresses. At least the festive season prevented her from looking suspiciously formal.
After a round of greetings – Daisy realised that this was the first time she was seeing her friends since they’d returned from Nora’s hen weekend (she’d been a little distracted, after all…) – Daisy settled down into the chair left for her, concealing her smirk as Cleo pushed the fourth glass of wine towards her encouragingly.
“So, come on!” Bea demanded, characteristically unbothered with preamble. “What’s the big news?”
“Did you get that promotion?” Nora asked, all excitement.
“Oh, no. It’s not that.” Daisy felt a little pang – she doubted the board would be considering her for that new managerial role once she informed them that she would be going on maternity leave in half a year’s time. She rallied. “It’s more exciting than that!”
Bea and Nora exchanged a glance. “Are you… seeing someone new?” Nora tried again, after a moment.
“Or, seeing someone again?” Bea bluntly clarified their drift. Oh. So they thought she’d gotten back together with Darren. Oh, the irony.
“Not really,” Daisy smiled. “But you’re getting warmer.”
Her three friends swapped baffled looks.
“So… this isn’t anything to do with Darren?” Cleo asked, after a moment.
Daisy sighed. “Well, actually, yes. It does have something to do with Darren I suppose. And that’s why I need your help.”
“He’s not bothering you, is he?” Bea’s brows had snapped together threateningly.
Daisy laughed again. “Oh, god, let me just tell you what’s going on, before I get the poor guy in even more trouble.” Where to begin? “Well, do you remember when I had that bad norovirus thing?” It took only that for ever-quick Cleo to join the dots; she pressed her lips together like she was stopping herself from reacting. “And I’d just felt so shitty for weeks and weeks. And when we got back from Paris I thought, this is ridiculous, I’m going to ring the doctor. And when I was making the appointment, the receptionist was clicking through the booking calendar and said, super casual like, “you don’t think you could be pregnant, do you?”
The twin expressions of worry that Nora and Bea had been sporting melted away, as they realised what the truth of the matter was; Nora put her hands up to her mouth and pressed her fists against her wide smile.
“And I immediately went, oh no, no – but then I thought, actually, when was the last time I got my period?” Daisy continued, smiling. She was laughing about it now, but she’d remember that moment as one of the most defining – and horrifying – moments of her life. “And so, I bought a test. And then another one. And another one.” She laughed. “And after three positive results, it finally started to sink in.”
Nora could take no more; she leapt to her feet and threw her arms around the still sitting Daisy, squealing into her ear. “Oh my god, oh my god!”
“Wait, СКАЧАТЬ