Even though he’d claimed to be helping Cassie, Dylan sounded gleeful as he informed Madison of the facts.
“Why would Cassie be having a baby?”
“Well, let me see,” Dylan began. “Shall I explain? I’m not sure you would understand.”
Abruptly, Cassie snapped. “Stop it!” she screamed, so loud that Madison took a step back.
“Dylan, you will not behave like this. Stop taunting Madison. It’s not fair and it is not kind. And I am furious with you. You know the rules on stealing. I told you, you’re not allowed to. Not for me, not for anyone, not just because you can. You’re going to get into so much trouble. This is putting your entire future at risk. You have to stop doing it. Now!”
Cassie felt lightheaded after her outburst—with rage, and also because she’d been hyperventilating.
Dylan’s lips were clamped together and he was looking just as angry as her. Staring at his face—those blank eyes and that shut-down expression—she felt a thrill of fear.
“Go to your room,” she ordered, trying not to show him how afraid she was. “I’ll speak to you in a minute.”
She had no idea whether he would do as she asked, or even listen to her at all, but after a pause that felt like an eternity, he turned and walked away. Cassie let out a shaky breath, bitterly regretting her outburst.
“What is that thing, Cassie?” Madison asked again. She sounded tearful but her voice was full of determination.
“It’s a test women can do, to find out if they are having a baby,” Cassie said, knowing that her response was pathetically incomplete, but she had no idea how much Madison knew about the facts of life and this was certainly not the time or place to enlighten her.
“How do you tell?” Madison sounded worried.
“You pee on the stick,” Cassie told her. “Your pee is different if you’re going to have a baby, and the stick can tell the difference.”
“So why did you take the test?”
“Because I wasn’t feeling well, and I wanted to check this wasn’t the reason.”
“Do I need to take it?” Madison looked worried. “I was feeling sick yesterday. Mum’s food always makes me ill.”
“No, no, feeling sick from food is different. Besides, you can only take this test when you’re older,” Cassie said.
“Oh.”
Madison still sounded confused but Cassie thought she had managed to give her enough information for the subject to have lost its fascination.
“Maddie, you can choose supper tonight,” Cassie said. “Go and have a look in the kitchen and decide what you’d like me to cook.”
“OK. I will.”
Brightening up, Madison turned and left the bathroom.
Cassie collapsed on the edge of the bath and buried her face in her hands.
Madison’s honesty and outspokenness meant that she was like an echo chamber. The chances of her mentioning this, or repeating what Cassie had said, in front of her parents were extremely high. In fact, it was a certainty.
Never mind that she’d told Ryan she’d been single for months; Cassie knew she’d better dream up an alternative story about an ex-boyfriend she’d met up with while in London.
This bare-faced lie would be essential to prevent Trish from suspecting the truth.
The problem was that it wouldn’t wash with Dylan.
He knew what the pregnancy test was and he’d seen her going to Ryan’s bedroom in the night. Dylan knew exactly what was going on, and by screaming at him, Cassie had made him angry. Dylan held all the cards now, and she could only imagine what his revenge might be.
She couldn’t use the threat of telling his father about this theft. Cassie was sure Dylan knew exactly why she wouldn’t do that now.
When Cassie knocked on his door, hoping to smooth things over, Dylan refused to answer.
There was no lock on the inside. She could have flung the door open and marched in and demanded that they discuss this. But she decided not to, because it would only make Dylan angrier.
Instead, she said, softly, “Dylan, I’m sorry I shouted. We need to talk about this. Tell me when you’re ready.”
Cassie waited, hoping for an answer, but when none came she turned away, feeling cold with fear and utterly alone.
She headed to the kitchen, unable to stop thinking about the furious words she’d screamed at Dylan, and the way he had shut down; his face blank and immobile, his eyes emotionless.
She should never have snapped at him that way. His behavior had proved to her that he was not normal emotionally, and that he would make a dangerous adversary. The only reason she had lost control was that she was petrified by the consequences of a pregnancy.
Her emotions felt like a toxic melting pot, and she’d let them all out on the one person who, in his own twisted way, had been trying to help her.
She’d had one ally in this house. Now, thanks to her own actions, she had nobody.
She heard his bedroom door open a few minutes later, but he didn’t speak to her or come through to the kitchen. Instead, he headed outside and when she hurried after him, she found he had set off into the darkening evening on his bicycle.
Now, worry about him was added to her emotional burden. She had no idea which direction he’d gone, and doubted whether he should be riding so late. If he wasn’t back by the time it was fully dark, she’d have to go out and look for him.
In the meantime, Cassie started preparing the roast chicken that Madison had asked for, but she was so distracted that she got the oven settings totally wrong.
When she opened the oven, black smoke billowed out.
The bird was charred on top, but when she carved it, she found it was still raw and bloody inside.
“Oh, hell,” she said, staring down at the inedible meat, thinking of Madison’s disappointment and her own incompetence.
She should have ordered takeout. Why had she attempted to cook when she was so distracted, and when she felt actual physical pain visualizing Ryan and Trish on their
