The Heartbreak Cafe (32 page)

There was
a huge commotion as various people shouted good wishes and even
some applause as other guests swarmed to congratulate the new
mum-to-be.

Brian
approached Emer to wish her well and give her a hug, and Nina
immediately noticed how Jess was sitting stock still, watching the
celebrations play out around her. There was a peculiar expression
on her face as she watched her friend receive hugs and good tidings
from everyone at the party, and knowing how badly Jess wanted a
child, she could only imagine the disappointment she was feeling
just then.

But then
suddenly, out of the blue, Jess too stood up and cleared her
throat.

‘
Everyone…’ she said, calling people loudly to attention. ‘I …I
actually have an announcement too.’

The party
guests paused and turned expectantly towards their
hostess.

With a
brief glance towards her husband, Jess took a deep breath and
smiled. ‘Well, I hope my darling hubby doesn’t mind either but …’
she grinned sheepishly, her face reddening, ‘we might as well make
it a two for one today … because well, I’m pregnant too!’ A brief
hush descended until suddenly, praise and congratulations echoed
once more.

‘
Oh wow Jess, that is amazing news!’ Emer hugged Jess fiercely
and people once again flocked forward, this time to hug
Jess.

Nina
heard Deirdre tell her that she ‘just knew there was something
different about her lately!’ and Jess nodded, obviously thrilled
with her friends’ joyful reaction. The men duly moved to shake
Brian’s hand, and pat him on the back

But for
some reason, the whole thing seemed a little … forced to Nina and
she couldn’t help but be surprised that Jess hadn’t said anything
about it before. It didn’t seem all that long since that discussion
in M&S but of course she clearly hadn’t known then. She’d
probably just found out she figured, and hadn’t intended on telling
anyone yet, but of course then Emer’s news had pushed the
issue.

Or
perhaps the announcement was the true purpose of this party? If so,
then why had Brian seemed so put-out about it? Unless …

She
looked over at Jess’s husband, who contrary to the exuberance of
his wife, was behaving almost like a robot. He was accepting
handshakes and congratulations, but his face was ashen and the
expression of his face was one of …bewilderment?

Nina
gasped involuntarily. If she didn’t know better, she could have
sworn that Brian had just learned – at the same time as everyone
else at this party – that his wife was pregnant.

Jess’s
nerves were on edge. She couldn’t wait for the party to
clear.

What on
earth had possessed her to blurt out such a thing right in front of
everyone like that?

Granted
she’d got a bit carried away and at the time just wasn’t able to
resist – not when everyone had been so excited about Emer
…

But now
in retrospect, and especially having seen the shocked and very hurt
look on Brian’s face, she was having major second
thoughts.

Poor
Brian, how would she have felt if he’d done something like that to
her?

But
unfortunately the damage was done, and while she knew her actions
would have huge ramifications, she had no choice but to face
them.

Hopefully
he would understand why she’d felt the need to do it – although in
truth Jess couldn’t quite understand it herself. It had been a
moment of madness, a rush of blood to the head, and of course if
Emer hadn’t made her announcement, the subject matter would
probably have never even been raised.

She just
hoped Brian would be able to forgive her. It was bad enough that
they’d hadn’t been getting on all that well up to now, and she
thought back on the discussion that had ensued when she’d first
proposed the idea of the get-together.

Suffice
to say, he was less than pleased.

‘
Do you think that inviting a load of children around here will
help the scales fall from my eyes or something?’ he’d laughed, as
if the very idea was completely preposterous. ‘Jess, I’m not an
idiot, so please don’t treat me as such.’

‘
What’s wrong with wanting to spend some time with the others
and their families?’ she’d retorted. ‘We haven’t done anything like
that in ages and having some fun will do us good.’

‘
I wasn’t aware our lives had got so boring. What about our
impromptu afternoon down by the docks last weekend?’ he asked
referring to a lovely lazy Sunday afternoon they’d had enjoying
mojitos outside in the sunshine at a café bar.

And when
Jess couldn’t argue with that, he just shook his head in
exasperation. ‘All right then – I’ll go along with your little
Happy Families party. You’re right about one thing; maybe we don’t
see enough of the others at the moment. But honey, please don’t
expect me to have an epiphany just by having them here. I’ve been
around little people before you know.’

So while
Jess’s grand plan had very quickly been rumbled, she was still
looking forward to spending time with her friends, and pleased that
at least Brian was willing to be sociable.

But of
course, she hadn’t anticipated Emer’s announcement …

Eventually, the last of the party guests departed and she and
Brian were left alone.

‘
So, when were you going to tell me?’ he asked and rather than
the outrage that Jess had expected, instead his voice sounded
strange, almost guarded.

Guiltily,
she met his gaze. ‘I know, and before you say it, yes of course I
should have said something, and believe me it wasn’t my intention
to just come out with–’

‘
A bit of an understatement don’t you think? For goodness sake
Jess I’m your husband, or have you somehow forgotten
that?’

‘
Of course not,’ She moved towards him, but immediately he
stepped back.

‘
How long have you known?’ he asked, again in that odd, faraway
voice.

‘
Erm …not long.’

‘
Really? And you didn’t think it was important to let me in on
such a monumental occurrence, before making a huge announcement to
all and sundry?’

Now she
understood the undertone – Brian wasn’t just angry; he was
incensed, and Jess couldn’t blame him.

Deeply
ashamed of herself she bit her lip. ‘I’m so sorry, I know I should
have said something first … but of course, it’s all still very
early days and … I suppose I wanted to be sure. But then today with
Emer … well I sort of just got carried away.’

‘
Right, maybe I can understand that,’ he replied, looking
thoughtful and Jess was faintly relieved that he seemed to accept
this (admittedly weak) explanation. ‘But how do you think it
happened? I thought we were fully covered that way.’ He was
referring to the pill and by the tight set of his jaw, Jess figured
that now wasn’t the best time to reveal that she’d stopped taking
it a couple of months ago.

‘
I suppose sometimes these things happen …’

‘
Strange that it didn’t happen in all the years we’ve been
together up to now,’ he said dubiously. ‘Have you scheduled a
doctor’s appointment yet – just to be sure?’

She shook
her head, her heart hammering. ‘Not yet.’

‘
Well, I suppose you should get on to that then, shouldn’t
you?’

‘
Yes, I will, just as soon as I have time.’ She paused and
again went to move closer to him. ‘Brian, I know what I did today
was awful and I don’t blame you for being upset about that. But how
do you feel about … this?’

There was
a pause. ‘Well, I suppose I’m happy if you’re happy,’ he sighed,
which to Jess sounded like a complete non-answer. Then to her
surprise, he reached across and gave her a light peck on the cheek.
‘Why don’t you go and lie down for a while. I’m sure you’re tired
after today, and I’ll finishing clearing up here.’

‘
No, honestly I can do it.’

‘
Really Jess, you should be taking it easy. Seeing as you’re so
… into the idea, I’m sure you’ve read all about how pregnant women
shouldn’t inhale cleaning supplies and we wouldn’t want anything to
go wrong, would we?’ he added, studying her intently.

She found
herself eager to avoid his penetrating gaze.

‘
OK then,’ she agreed, thinking perhaps it might be a good
thing to give him some space, help him to calm down a little. ‘It
was a pretty crazy afternoon, so I suppose I might take it easy for
an hour or two.’

‘
A crazy afternoon is right,’ she heard him mutter under his
breath, as he bent down and picked up an empty juice
carton.

Jess left
the room and headed upstairs as quickly as her legs could carry
her. . Once she was inside her bedroom, she leaned against the
closed door and took a deep breath.

What on
earth she had just got herself into?

Nina was
on her way to meet Trish and Ruth. They were getting together at
the library today to go over in detail the information Trish had so
far collected for the charity book. Nina knew Trish was in a state;
she’d not been getting as much work done as she’d hoped over the
last few months, and the deadline with her publisher was fast
approaching.

Of course
she also knew why Trish was running behind, as she’d been spending
an awful lot of time with this new man of hers. Nina remembered
when she and Steve had started seeing one another at first, and
knew how all too easy it was to get wrapped up in one another. Of
course, now she knew why he’d come on so hot and heavy at first.
She shook her head, thinking again about what a fool she’d
been.

Just then
her mobile phone rang, and seeing the number displayed realised it
was her mother. ‘Hi Mum,’ she said cheerfully, putting the phone to
her ear.

‘
Hello darling; just checking in to say hello. How are
you?’

‘
I’m good, where are you?’ Nina asked, sort of hoping that her
mother would say she was on her way home. It was stupid of course,
as Cathy and Tony weren’t due back until late September but there
was a side of her that hoped they would be getting homesick by now.
Some chance.

‘
We’re in Moscow actually. Nina, you should see the place -
absolutely incredible, but really, I think I’ve drunk enough vodka
for the rest of my life.’

Nina
rolled her eyes and smiled. Typical, the party always followed her
mother.

‘
Any idea on when you’re heading home?’ she asked, trying to
disguise the hope in her voice. Things hadn’t got any better with
Patrick; he still barely acknowledged her and tended to just eye
her warily whenever he saw her. Which Nina ensured wasn’t
often.

‘
We were thinking of staying on just a bit longer, actually,’
Cathy said.

Nina shut
her eyes, almost willing her mother to understand how much she
needed her. ‘Oh really? How much longer?’

‘
Well, we didn’t expect this part of the world to be so
interesting really, so I we might extend it by a week or two …are
you OK with that?’

‘
Of course, why do you ask?’

‘
It’s just you seem a little surprised …’ Cathy sounded
hesitant and again Nina could have kicked herself for making her
worry. ‘Is everything all right with you, love? How are things with
your dad?’

‘
Everything’s great Mum, and Patrick’s fine too. How’s
Tony?’

‘
Slightly hungover,’ her mother said, a smile in her voice.
‘But he sends his love as usual.’

Nina
laughed and stopped outside the library.

‘
Well I’m delighted that the two of you are having such a great
time. Keep in touch, won’t you?’

‘
Of course. We’re going to start heading back towards that
direction soon – we might take in Germany or maybe
France?’

‘
Sounds great – at least you’ll be closer to the right time
zone.’

‘
Exactly – it’ll help us with the jetlag. I promise I’ll let
you know where we end up anyway.’

‘
Thanks Mum, great talking to you.’

Having
said goodbye to her mother, Nina entered the library, going
immediately to the back room where she found Trish already hard at
work. Ruth was sitting off to the side near a pile of boxes and
looking rather bored.

Trish
looked up. ‘Hey there,’ she said, her eyes narrowing slightly as
her line of sight trailed to Nina’s middle, and feeling
self-conscious, she quickly sat down.

‘
So, where are we at?’

‘
Oh, running behind, as usual. I don’t know why I agreed to
this bloody project in the first place.’

‘
Well, maybe you shouldn’t be wasting so time on other more …
energetic pursuits,’ Ruth teased

Trish
snorted. ‘Ha! You should be one to talk.’

‘
What?’ Perplexed, Nina turned to look at Ruth, who
blushed.

Trish
filled in the blanks. ‘High-school sweethearts reunite,’ she said
grinning.

‘
Really? That’s wonderful!’

‘
I think so,’ Ruth said, looking about ready to burst with
excitement.