Jed sat on the sofa, her hands on her belly, waiting for labour pains. Shock brought on labour, didn’t it? She should have asked Scarlett to come home now. She should ring Nancy or Blue, and ask them to come over.
But if she did that, she’d have to explain. But she didn’t want to explain! Explaining would make poor scared Janet Skellowski real again. And she was upset enough to give details too, the kind she hoped no one would ever know about the woman who was now Jed McAlpine-Kelly . . .
Gradually she began to relax. No labour pains, just a couple of healthy kicks from The Bulge. Merv was hopefully crawling back to wherever he had come from.
An engine muttered down the drive. Jed felt sudden panic, then calmed down as Maxi’s tail wagged. Sam, coming home early.
She heaved herself off the sofa and waddled out to the kitchen to meet him as he took his boots off at the door. ‘You look like something the dog dragged in. Don’t you dare hug me till you’ve had a shower.’
Sam grinned. ‘You look like a beached whale. I’m not sure I could even reach your lips to kiss you.’
‘Well, don’t try till you’ve washed.’ Should she tell him?
No. Merv was gone. Gone! And Janet Skellowski was gone too. Sam had married strong, independent Jed Kelly. Janet Skellowski had no room in this marriage. But then why did she feel like a terrified fifteen-year-old again, wanting to lock every door in the house?
‘I love you!’ yelled Sam from the corridor, already stripping off his filthy shirt.
‘I love you too!’ she called back.
She was right not to tell him. Not to tell anyone. They’d have leftover stuffed lamb shoulder with salad, and she’d bake a couple of potatoes in their jackets, no, three, because Maxi liked baked potato too and she had been a good dog, exactly the kind of dog Matilda would have trained for her.
And then they’d have fruit salad and ice cream, and watch the movie on TV, and Sam would go to sleep halfway through, and it would be a good evening in a wonderful, fulfilling life . . .
. . . one that neither Merv nor Janet Skellowski had any part in.