The Lost Ticket by Freya Sampson

Author:Freya Sampson [Sampson, Freya]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2022-08-30T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER

25

Brunch was excruciating. Pauline spent the whole time talking at Libby about the pregnancy: how she should sign up for antenatal yoga classes to keep in shape, how she should register with a hospital in Surrey because they were better than London ones, how delighted Simon’s parents would be when they found out. Libby tried to change the subject several times, but her mother barely paused for breath, and in the end, Libby gave up. Besides, she was much more concerned about her sister. Rebecca didn’t say a word and her food sat untouched, the scrambled egg congealing as she drank glass after glass of champagne. And Libby couldn’t forget the look of hurt on her sister’s face earlier, the pain at their mother’s words. She needed time alone with Rebecca, the chance to talk to her in private. Finally, after what seemed like hours, their mother stood up.

“Right, I should be getting home,” she said, gathering up her bags. “Libby, I imagine I’ll be seeing a lot more of you soon, once you’ve moved back in with Simon.”

Libby opened her mouth, but Pauline hadn’t finished.

“Make sure you tell him today, because I’m bound to bump into his mother in Waitrose this week, and I want to be able to celebrate the good news with her. All right?” She gave Libby’s shoulder a too-hard squeeze and then breezed out.

Libby waited until she heard the front door slam, then turned to her sister.

“Bex, I’m so sorry you had to find out like that. I wanted to tell you privately but it’s all been so—”

“I’ve got work to do.”

Rebecca stood up and swayed, knocking over her empty champagne glass. Libby jumped up to steady her, but her sister shook her hand away as if it were contaminated, then rushed out of the room.

Libby sank back down at the table. She knew how desperate Rebecca and Tom were for a second child, and how devastating her sister was finding their struggles to conceive again. Libby’s accidental pregnancy must have been a punch in the guts for her, and their mother had made it all one hundred times worse.

With a sigh, Libby picked up her phone. At this very moment, her mum would be calling her dad, telling him the news. Pretty soon she’d start telling her friends, and in no time at all the news would get back to Simon’s family. Libby couldn’t put the call off any longer. She went upstairs, tiptoed past her sister’s closed bedroom door on the way to her room, then sat down on the bed and dialed Simon’s number.

He answered on the second ring. “Libby? Everything okay?”

“Why are you whispering?”

“I’m afraid this isn’t a great time. I’m in the middle of something.”

“Okay, I’ll be quick. But there’s something important I need to tell you.”

“Hold on, then.”

Libby heard the sound of a door opening, followed by a strange, muffled noise. When Simon spoke again, he sounded as if he was in a padded cell. “Okay, what is it?”

“Where are you?”

“In the downstairs toilet.

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