What had Trish cooked last night? Could the food have been off? Cassie wondered. In that case, the whole family would feel unwell.
Then a horrific thought occurred to her, which turned her blood to ice.
She could be pregnant.
What if she was?
Cassie closed her eyes, powerless to reason with herself and to stop her imagination from running away with worst-case scenarios.
She had never felt such fear. This brought home to her, in the most brutal and inescapable way, that her actions had consequences.
She had to check as soon as possible, because she needed to know.
She decided to ride the bus to town with the children. She could stop off at the pharmacy and pick up a test, and if she was lucky she might even be able to catch another bus back.
There was no way she could join the family for breakfast. Not the way she felt now, and definitely not after what had happened last night.
She wanted to spend the rest of the day in her room, staring at the necklace Ryan had given her, thinking of the words he’d whispered to her the previous night, and trying to convince herself that everything was going to be OK. She couldn’t bear anything to shatter the fragile hope she’d regained.
Slowly, Cassie got dressed, made sure there was some money in her coat pocket, and joined the children outside when it was time to catch the bus.
She hadn’t thought she would see them today at all and it felt strange to be continuing as normal, when she had imagined she would be holed up in a guesthouse and planning her escape from town.
“Are you coming with us?” Madison asked curiously, as Cassie took money out of her purse when the bus approached.
“I’m going to a shop,” she said.
“Who’s going to pick us up from school?” Madison asked after they had boarded the bus.
“I don’t know. I guess your mother will,” Cassie said.
She noticed that Madison didn’t brighten when she said that, as she’d expected her to. Instead she frowned.
“Mum said she was going away.”
Cassie’s heart leaped.
This was it, at last—the moment that Ryan had promised and that she’d been waiting for. Hope surged in her as she realized that there was an end in sight to this living hell, and that it would be sooner than she’d expected.
He hadn’t lied.
That necklace had come with a proper certificate, saying that the diamonds were genuine. You didn’t give genuine diamonds to somebody unless you cared. After all, diamonds were forever. They were a symbol of true love.
“Then I guess I’ll pick you up,” she said to Madison.
“Yay.” Madison’s face brightened.
Cassie felt confused, wondering if she had misinterpreted the young girl’s behavior all along. Could it be that Madison was upset about her mother being home?
For now, she had bigger worries on her plate, and her nausea flooded back as she remembered why she was heading to town.
To be pregnant now would be an absolute catastrophe.
In the pharmacy, Cassie searched for a while without success before realizing that the tests were behind the counter, where she would have to ask for them. That meant she had to wait until the shop was empty of customers. Then she sidled up to the pharmacist.
“Please, could I have a pregnancy test?” she asked.
“What kind, love?”
Cassie didn’t know. She wasn’t aware there were different kinds. Surely pregnancy was pregnancy?
“The cheapest one will be fine,” she said.
She paid for it hurriedly and stashed the box inside her coat.
The bus was only due in an hour, so Cassie walked back, feeling better after being out in the fresh, crisp air. Even so, as she approached the house, her nervousness about the pregnancy test returned.
As soon as she got into the house, she rushed to the bathroom.
From down the corridor, she heard Ryan’s voice, filled with concern and understanding.
“Are you all packed up, Trish, love? You have everything?”
Hope buoyed her as she heard his words. It was happening. After a rollercoaster ride where she’d started believing her happiness was false and her reality was based on lies, it was all unfolding as Ryan had promised.
She locked herself in the bathroom and opened the box with shaking hands. This was the only thing that could still complicate the situation. Cassie prayed that it was a false alarm, and her sudden nausea had been due to stress, or else just a stomach bug.
She read the instructions carefully before squatting over the toilet, holding the test clumsily in her unsteady hand.
At that moment there was a loud knock on the bathroom door.
“Cassie?” Ryan called, sounding anxious. “You in there?”
In her fright, Cassie dropped the test stick into the toilet bowl.
She fumbled for it in a panic.
“Cassie?” Ryan called again.
“Yes, I’m here. I’ll just be a moment.”
What an embarrassing disaster. She dried the stick as best she could with toilet paper before trying again. The test had said wait two minutes, but she couldn’t keep Ryan waiting.
Since she couldn’t exactly come out holding it, she wrapped it up in more tissue and hid it in the bathroom cupboard.
Then, feeling sick with nerves and anticipation, she opened the door.
“Good morning, Cassie.”
Ryan sounded as cheerful as ever, and she picked up from his formal tone that Trish was nearby.
She waited, heart pounding, for him to announce the news that Trish was leaving.
Then he looked around.
“Ah, darling, you’re all set?”
Trish walked past, carrying an outsize shoulder bag—but where was her suitcase? This wasn’t the departure that Cassie had expected.
Ryan caught Trish around her waist as she passed and pulled her close for a tender kiss.
Cassie felt her world shatter all over again. What the hell was happening?
Trish looked immaculate as always. Her hair was perfectly blow-dried, and she was wearing navy jeans and a crimson coat.
“See you in the car,” she said, squeezing Ryan’s arm as Cassie gaped in
