Page 74 of Slow Burn Summer

“Who are you?” she said, struggling to sit up.

The woman placed a hand on Liv’s shoulder. “Stay there a second for me, Liv, get your breath while I do a few checks.”

“You passed out,” Nish said, smoothing Liv’s hair back from her face.

“Have you any history of fainting?” the paramedic said, wrapping a blood-pressure cuff around Liv’s upper arm.

Liv shook her head. “Never.”

“And have you been generally well the last few days?” the other one asked, pegging an oxygen clip on Liv’s finger.

Liv nodded. “Normal, I think? A bit tired maybe. I haven’t really felt like eating.”

“She’s been busy with work,” Nish said. “And under a lot of other stress too.”

He didn’t look up at Kate, but he didn’t need to. She’d already absorbed the guilt, slow horror creeping through her bones. She’d leaned too hard on Liv for support without realizing that her ballsy big sister had a breaking point too.

The paramedics busied themselves with checks and quiet conflabs, and eventually said they needed to take Liv to the hospital for a once-over by a doctor to be on the safe side.

“I don’t need to do that,” Liv said, once they’d detached her from their monitors. “I feel fine now.” She got to her feet and then reached a hand out to steady herself on Nish, who shook his head.

“You’re going, and I’m coming with you,” he said. “No arguments.”

Liv looked at her uncharacteristically direct husband, and then nodded, probably because she saw the fear and love written all over his face.

Kate stepped forward and hugged her sister tightly. “God, you scared me,” she whispered. “Don’t ever do that again.” Letting go, she slipped her silver bangle from her wrist onto Liv’s, then looked at Nish. “Call me as soon as you know anything.”

She watched them board the ambulance and drive away, then closed the front door and pressed her back against it, tears streaming down her face.

41

“You’repregnant?”

Liv and Nish sat side by side on the sofa, clutching hands like a pair of naughty teenagers.

Kate sat in the armchair by the fireplace, almost as shell-shocked by their big news as they were.

“I’m forty-two,” Liv said. “How can I be having another baby?”

“I think we both know the answer to that,” Nish said.

“I blame thatBridgertondress,” Liv said, shooting him a pointed look. Confusion filled his eyes, followed swiftly by a knowing groan of recollection.

Liv scrubbed her hands over her pink cheeks. “What are the kids going to say? And your mother will be horrified.”

“Will you stop worrying about what everyone else is going to think and worry about yourself for once?” Nish said. “We’re having another baby, Liv.”

She fell silent and looked at Kate, who was doing her best to read the situation and keep up with the fast-flowing emotions in the room before she said anything. The moment to speak was now, judging by the way they were both staring at her.

“What a lucky, lucky little baby,” Kate said, a slow smilespreading over her face as she held Liv’s gaze. Liv swallowed, then nodded, her eyes filling with tears. Kate jumped from her chair and knelt by the sofa, somehow managing to pull both Liv and Nish into one big embrace. They sat huddled for a while, Liv crying, Kate and Nish both liable to join her at any moment. Liv’s sudden collapse that morning had filled them both with abject terror; to now be celebrating such life-affirming news was a whole heap of emotion to process in the space of a few hours.

“That bloody holiday is happening,” Nish said. “You’re not going to work tomorrow.” He looked at Kate for backup.

“Nish is right,” she said. “You need some proper rest, a break to get your heads around all of this together. Take the kids somewhere nice for a couple of weeks, I’ll watch the shop.”

“You think?” Liv said. “Are you sure?”

The fact that Liv wasn’t arguing was answer enough for Kate. Liv might be the big sister, but it was Kate’s turn to step up.

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