Page 88 of Forbidden Dark Vows

She laughs, and she sounds so much like Harry that I can’t help smiling. “Damn! I thought I’d gotten away with it unnoticed.” She pauses. “Call it sibling intuition, but I had a feeling that you were important to my brother. How did you meet?”

I tell her about the skating rink—it feels like years ago now—the party, and the car crash. “I had to know that he was alright too.”

“And you ignored the weather warnings.”

I wrinkle my nose. “I guess I wasn’t going to let a bit of snow stand in the path of true love.”

We talk about Edinburgh and Gretna Green and Harry’s proposal, and I flash the diamond ring at her. “I can’t believe I’ve only known him for a few weeks. It feels like he’s always been in my life.”

“I’m glad. He’s a good boy.”

“Spoken like a true big sis.”

She laughs again, but I can’t hear it through the pain. I see the way her eyes widen, and then she’s on her knees on the floor beside the couch, and squeezing my hand, and I can hear her telling me to breathe. “That’s it, Ruby, deep breath in through your nose. Good girl.” I cling to her voice and her hand while my stomach feels like it’s going to explode.

Finally, the pain ebbs, and she tells me to hold tight while she fetches a glass of water from the kitchen. I sip it slowly, hand trembling, tracking the chill as it goes down.

“How are you feeling?” Her eyes roam my face, noting the sweat on my forehead even though I’m shivering.

“Better.”

Her expression doesn’t alter. She knows I’m lying, she’s a nurse.

“What’s wrong with me?” My voice, laced with tears, sounds puny.

“I’ve seen your test results, Ruby. Looking out for you was the least I could do for my brother after leaving him behind,” she explains.

When she doesn’t elaborate, I ask, “Am I pregnant?”

“No.” She reaches for my hand and nestles it between her own warm palms. “Your symptoms were a little like food poisoning. Can you remember eating something that might have triggered it?”

I rummage around inside my memories of the past couple of days, the meal that got scrapped, the hot dogs Harry and I picked up on our way back to his hotel. I can’t even recall what I’ve eaten since then.

“Hot dogs. But we both ate them, and Harry didn’t get sick.”

Melanie shakes her head. “Not that. Have you drunk water that might’ve been contaminated? Or eaten rice or shellfish that wasn’t washed properly?” When I say no, she continues, “What about pesticides? Have you come into contact with weedkillersor been inside a building that had been sprayed with some kind of insecticide?”

I shake my head, confused. “What are you saying?”

“I don’t want you to panic, Ruby, but your test results came back showing traces of a compound linked to arsenic.”

30

HARRY

I’ve only beenasleep for an hour when the telephone in my hotel room wakes me up with an early-morning alarm call. I thank the receptionist and replace the handset, lying back on the pillow and groaning out loud. My head is fuzzy with tiredness, but I want to get to the hospital before any other visitors arrive.

Before Celia arrives.

My tired brain refused to switch off after my conversation with my father. Him and Celia Jackson. Ruby’s mom and my dad. No matter which way I look at it, I can’t quite slot the final pieces of the puzzle into place. Where does this even leave me and Ruby?

I want to speak to her alone before her mom arrives. I’m unsure how much I’m going to tell her, but my dad will have told Celia about our conversation, and I don’t want her to manipulate Ruby further, especially while she’s unwell and vulnerable.

I take a hot shower, grab some pancakes on my way to the hospital, and stop off at reception when I arrive to check that Ruby hasn’t been moved to a different ward.

“Ms. Jackson left a message for you, sir.” The woman hands me a sealed envelope.

I move away from the desk, open the envelope, and read the brief note contained inside.

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