“I haven’t a clue what it entails, I’m afraid. Although I hope I’m not speaking out of turn when I say it probably has something to do with her daughter.”
“Probably,” I replied.Poor Annie, I thought. Emma did tend to expect an awful lot of her mother.
“Anyway, I said you’d ring at around half-ten, when you’re on your morning break.” Ruth tilted her head and smiled. “Don’t look so worried, it’ll be something and nothing.”
I smiled back, telling myself that Ruth was, doubtless, right. Emma might have only been at her mum’s for a few nights, but knowing Annie’s daughter, the odds were she simply had too much stuff and Annie needed a bit of help to shift it all.
“So, I can leave that with you?” Ruth asked.
I nodded.
“Good,” Ruth said, efficient as ever. “In the meantime, we’ve got work to do.”
17
Time usually flew by when the shop was busy. But despite dealing with one customer after another, my morning break seemed to take forever to come around. Since talking to Ruth I’d carried around a nervous anxiety no amount of self-reassurance could shift. The last thing I wanted to hear was that Emma wasn’t going home yet. My staycation couldn’t go the same way as my holiday – down the pan. Wrapped up in my coat, with a cup of coffee in one hand and my phone at the ready in the other, I could just imagine Mum’s face if I had to do a U-turn on Christmas and spend it with the rest of the Noelles, after all.
I headed for the shop exit, having decided to make the call to Annie away from prying eyes and piqued ears. I couldn’t risk the likes of Janice overhearing our conversation only to put two and two together to make six. “I won’t be long,” I called out to Ruth.
Busy dealing with a long line of customers at the till, she looked my way and stuck up her thumb in acknowledgement.
I shivered as I reached the door and stepped out into the open air. The numerous shoppers, weighed down with bags as they trudged about the square, appeared as miserable as I felt. Some kept their heads low as they went from one store to the next, while others chatted amongst each other. Their red noses, woolly hats, and sheepskin mittens reminded me that I only had lowering temperatures to look forward to that Christmas, instead of the balmy days and nights that should have lain ahead. Turning my attention to my phone, I scrolled down the screen in search of Annie’s number, all the while pacing up and down and sipping on my drink, trying to keep warm.
No sooner had I hit the call button and Annie had answered. “Holly?” she said, “Have I got news for you.”
A far cry from the doom and gloom she’d expressed over lunch a couple of days prior, the excitement in Annie’s voice surprised me. I immediately relaxed and breathed a sigh of relief, pleased to hear all was well and that I’d been fretting over nothing.
“Emma’s pregnant,” she said, before I got the chance to speak.
I stopped still. “Excuse me?” Whatever I’d expected to hear, it wasn’t that.
“I know. Isn’t it fantastic?”
“Wow,” I said, needing a second to let the news sink in. “Since when?”
“About three months, which explains why she lost the plot over a lasagne,” Annie said.
“And where her sudden yearning for ice cream came from,” I said.
“Exactly. To be honest I feel a bit guilty over that. I put it down to Emma being her usual self, the possibility of her expecting didn’t even cross my mind. Although I don’t know why I didn’t realise. The food issues I had when I was carrying… They obviously went down the lead.” Annie laughed. “Or should that be umbilical cord?”
“Maybe I should feel bad too then? I do have a pregnant sister, not to mention a very well-read brother-in-law.”
“Please tell me he’s still information sharing.”
I recalled the last time I saw Mitch. I’d called round to see Vee who wasn’t just cleaning the house when I got there, but deep cleaning it.Nesting,Mitch called it, before giving me a long-winded explanation about how mums-to-be tended to tidy and clean their house more as they approached their due date. “He is,” I replied.
“Good. Because I might need someone to hand when things get a bit much with Em.” Annie squealed in delight. “I can’t believe it, Holly. I’m going to be a grandmother. Talk about the best Christmas present ever.”
I smiled, pleased for my friend. “When’s the baby due?”
“Not until early summer, which gives me plenty of time to dust off the old knitting needles.”
My friend’s joy was infectious and imagining her clicking away with two pointy sticks and a big ball of four-ply, I chuckled in response. “I shall look forward to seeing your creations. And what about Emma? How does she feel about it all?”
“She’s happy, of course. Although admittedly it’s taking a bit of getting used to. She and Josh didn’t exactly plan on starting a family so soon.”
I couldn’t say I was surprised. Emma took a carefree approach when it came to most things in life.
