The Country Village Christmas Show by Cathy Lake

Author:Cathy Lake
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bonnier Publishing Fiction

Chapter 18

Clare had stopped by the salon before heading home, to see if they’d put a poster up and to check how Jenny was getting along, and she’d been filled with concern when another stylist had told her that Jenny had phoned in sick that morning. Clare determined to go straight to Jenny’s house to see how she was.

She stopped at the small village shop and purchased some tins of soup, ginger ale and ginger biscuits, then walked quickly to Jenny’s house. When she got there, she realised she still had Goliath with her and took him back to her mum’s first.

Outside Jenny’s, she admired the stone façade with the climbing ivy, the roses around the door – currently bare but presumably beautiful in the summer months – and regret filled her. This was the house her friend had raised her children in, the home she’d made with her childhood sweetheart, a place Clare would have liked to visit more often over the years.

She peered up at the bedrooms, wondering if Jenny might be sleeping, but the curtains in the two front rooms were open, so she could well be downstairs. She knocked quietly on the front door, the reusable shopping bag swinging on her arm, the cans clinking together. She’d bought three different types of soup, not able to recall what Jenny’s favourite was and knowing that morning sickness made even your favourite foods smell funny anyway, so it was better to have a variety for Jenny to choose from. Ginger biscuits and ginger ale had been helpful when she’d experienced morning sickness herself so she hoped they would help ease Jenny’s as well, and soup was always soothing.

Presumably, hopefully, Jenny’s girls would be at college at this time on a Friday and Martin would be at work. That would give Clare and Jenny a chance to talk freely. Clare wasn’t sure that Jenny hadn’t told her family about the pregnancy yet. She hadn’t liked to ask again and Jenny hadn’t volunteered the information.

A noise inside, like a door closing, made her step closer to the front door. She could see movement behind the stained-glass pattern that was like a rainbow at the top third of the door. When the sunlight caught it, Jenny probably had a rainbow across her hallway. Colour and light, two beautiful things to provide comfort and lift spirits.

There was a click, then the door opened slowly, and Jenny peered out. Her blonde hair hung lankly around her face and her skin was a horrid shade of grey.

‘Clare?’ Jenny said, frowning. ‘Was I expecting you?’

‘No, lovely, but I went to see you at work and they said you’d called in sick. I brought you some bits and bobs.’ She held up the bag. ‘Just some soup and biscuits to help with nausea.’

Jenny stepped back and opened the door and Clare followed her inside. The hallway smelt of cooking, and as she followed Jenny, she got a waft of unwashed hair. It wasn’t like Jenny to slack on personal care, so her friend must be feeling seriously rough.

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