The Cosy Christmas Teashop by Caroline Roberts

Author:Caroline Roberts
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780008212674
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2016-09-30T04:00:00+00:00

19

Ellie spent the next day baking shortbread, brownies and gingerbread stars for her gift packs for the Craft Fayre. It was a Sunday. There were a few visitors in, and when Mavis and Jim called through for a spot of light lunch, Ellie had a chat with them, but generally it was quiet. So at four o’clock, she sent Doris home early and she decided to have a good tidy up without interruptions.

She made sure the kitchen and the tearooms had a thorough disinfectant-spray wipe down. She then felt a sudden burst of energy so scrubbed the two big ovens, which she hadn’t had chance to do for a while, then carefully mopped the floors right through. By five o’clock, her back was beginning to nag. Maybe her cleaning efforts hadn’t been quite as leisurely as she’d imagined. She sat herself down on a stool in the kitchen for a moment.

She decided to call it a day and head up and find Joe. Hopefully he’d get an early finish too. They could chill out – bliss. She had some salmon defrosting, ready to pan fry for a cosy supper later.

Her stomach started grumbling, along with a dull ache in her lower back. Damn, maybe she’d got some kind of tummy bug coming on. She tried to think if she’d eaten anything unusual. But she’d been extra careful lately to be fair, making sure her eggs were well-cooked, avoiding pâté and soft cheeses.

She stood up, suddenly feeling like she’d better head for the loo; a warm wetness starting between her legs. What the hell was going on? Jeez, this was some bad tummy upset. She’d never lost control like that before. She had no time to get to the apartment, so she headed for the ladies toilets that were down the corridor next to the teashop.

Outside the door of the teashop she started to feel a bit giddy, held on to the stone wall to steady herself for a second, then carried on walking. She entered the ladies, found a compartment, where she sat down still feeling a little woozy.

‘Oh, no, no, no, no, no.’ She wasn’t sure if she said the words aloud, or if it was all in her head.

There was blood. Bright red blood, all over the tissue paper.

This was no stomach bug.

She sat a while, afraid to move, afraid of what was happening within her body. Though deep inside she already knew. The flow was heavy, like a bad period. A couple of big cramps, that snatched her breath, and then a clot or two.

Her baby. She was losing her baby.

She should try and get some help, but what could anyone do? She’d left her phone on the counter in the teashop, anyhow. She just had to try and stay calm, sit it out, the last thing she needed to do was to get up, and faint or something. She’d sent Doris home, the lads and Deana had probably gone by now too. There was no one

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