‘But that doesn’t necessarily mean anything,’ Annabelcontinued.
‘Like hell it doesn’t,’saidDan.
‘After all, these things do happen from timetotime.’
Dan stared at her, in disbelief. ‘When did you plan on telling me?’ he asked. ‘I mean, does anyoneelseknow?’
She watched him jump up from his seat, not even bothering to wait for her toanswer.
‘Shit, Annabel,’ he said. ‘This could be it.’ His mind seemed to race as he began pacing up and down, all the while fumbling in his pockets in search ofsomething.
Annabel wondered what he was thinking. Was he regretting his decision to help her get pregnant? Was he simply overwhelmed with excitement? Was he thinking about his mother, relieved that he no longer had to keep hispromise?
‘We need to do a test,’ he said. Eventually producing his car keys, he seemed to be talking to himself more than her. ‘A chemist, yes, that’s what we need.’ He suddenly stopped still and turned to Annabel. ‘Where’s the nearest chemist?’ heasked.
Glad to see he’d remembered she was, in fact, still in the room, Annabel stared back at him. She didn’t know whether to find his reaction sweet or annoying. After all, this was exactly the kind of response that had prevented her from saying something in the first place. In trying to be sensible about the whole thing, she’d wanted to deal with her own emotions on the matter before having to deal with anyone else’s. And as harsh as it might be, thatanyone elsehadincludedDan.
She silently got down off her stool and headed out back, before returning with her handbag. Plonking it down on the counter, it was her turn to rummage. She found what she was looking for and pulled out a slim, cardboard package. ‘We don’t need a chemist,’ she said, holding up a pregnancy testing kit. ‘I’vealreadybeen.’
Dan looked from her, to the box. He appeared as nervous as she felt. ‘What now?’ he asked. He rubbed his down the side of his jeans inanticipation.
‘What doyouthink?’ shereplied.
Annabel opened the packet and pulled out the instruction sheet. Reading it, she finally placed it down on the counter. She took a deep breath. ‘I suppose there’s no time like thepresent.’
She strode over to the shop door and flipped the open sign to closed, before making her way out to the back. Surprised to realise that Dan was following her she suddenly stopped and turned to face him. ‘It’s okay,’ she said, preventing him from going any further. ‘I think I can take itfromhere.’
Dan blushed red. ‘Yes, sorry,’ he replied. ‘Inappropriate. I get it.’ He crossed his arms and stuffed his hands under his armpits, before taking a step back. ‘But I’m here if youneedme.’
Annabel smiled. She found his embarrassed sincerity endearing and almost felt guilty at leaving him just standing there. ‘I won’t be long,’shesaid.
Taking the test with her, she continued on her way, this time heading to the loo. Following the instructions, she thought she’d never wee. The pressure to perform was obviously having an adverse effect on her body. ‘Come on, come on,’ she said, willing it tohappen.
Job finally done, her hands shook as she placed the pregnancy test on the side of the sink. She turned on the tap and watched the warm water for a moment as it flowed over her fingers and palms, before slowly reaching for the hand soap. No matter what her increased heart rate seemed to say, she insisted she wasn’t in any rush. After all, it would take a while for the resultstoshow.
As the minutes ticked by, Annabel grabbed the towel and dried her hands, she began to feel her heart rate increase even more. She picked up the pregnancy test and took a deep breath, before daring to read its result. She looked at the image coming through on the display and gave herself a moment to absorb what it meant. She took another deep breath, calmly exhaling as she let herself out of thetoilet.
Dan hastily stepped forward. Clearly eager for the result, his eyes widened in expectation. ‘Well?’ heasked.
Despite trying to keep it together, Annabel struggled to hide her disappointment. Slowly, she began to shake her head. ‘It’s negative,’ she said. She tried to raise a smile. ‘See, I told you these thingshappen.’
Dan sighed, appearing equally as saddened, which only made Annabel feelworse.
‘Oh, come here,’ he said,regardless.
As he pulled her towards him, Annabel suddenly felt Dan’s arms wrap tightly around her. It was a gesture she readilyaccepted.
‘I’m sorry,’ he said. ‘Maybe nexttime,eh?’
‘Yep, maybe next time,’ Annabelreplied.
But that didn’t stop it fromhurting.
14
Dan lethimself into the cubicle and closed the door behind him. He dropped the toilet lid and went to sit down. He let out a heavy sigh and wondered what was wrong with him. Yes, he felt disappointed that Annabel wasn’t pregnant, a feeling that both surprised and confused him. But it was more than that. He almost laughed at himself. Most men he knew would be in their element in the company of a woman likeMaeve.
Up to now, their time together had been pleasant enough and he had to admit that Maeve had lived up to her reputation, being every inch the lovely girl his mother had described. They’d chatted, albeit awkwardly at times, and had even managed to find a few things in common other than their mothers’ friendship. Moreover, his own mum hadn’t exaggerated when she’d said how stunning his date was. Of course, thanks to her view regarding blondes, he’d expected the long, fair hair, but with a name like Maeve he hadn’t really anticipated the looks to go with it. As it turned out, she had to be one of the most gorgeous women he’d ever set eyes on and so far, seemed to have the personality to match. So why wasn’t he feeling it? He asked himself. Why was there nospark?
