Page 18 of A New Arrival at Cwtch Cove

‘Hey… It’s OK. You can do this.’

‘The test says three plus weeks. So if I missed two periods I could be about, what… nine or ten weeks?’

‘I should imagine that a doctor could tell you more. You’ll probably need a scan to determine exactly how far along you are.’

Alice rubbed at her face and pushed her hood back. The wind whipped at her hair and she looked out at sea, then laughed wildly.

‘I have a sudden longing to run into the water and swim away.’

‘I can understand that,’ he said.

‘But I can’t, can I? I’m an adult and running away from problems doesn’t help at all. And now, if I’m going to be a mum then I have to get my head together, to plan and to put things in place. I’ve thought that I might like to be a mum one day but that day seemed years in the future. Years and years away. But then it’s not like I’m a teenager. I’m almost thirty and many women have children when they’re younger than I am now. Oh god… And I have to tell Tarquin he’s going to be a dad.’

Fresh tears bloomed in her eyes then ran down her cheeks and Henry wished he could take her pain and fear away.

‘Not yet, you don’t. Tarquin is blissfully unaware right now so you need to take some time to think about what you want to do. You do have choices.’

‘Yes,’ she said. ‘Choices. But I don’t know if I could do that. I mean I could but… I don’t know if I want to. I need to think. You’re right. Think and sleep on it and then see how I feel.’

You have your mum and… well… I’m also here if you need me.’

‘Why are you being so kind to me, Henry?’

‘I see you as a friend, Alice. I care about your mum and I… have grown to care about you since you came to the village. I’d like to help if I can. Life can be tough but having people who care around makes it easier to cope.’

‘Thank you.’

‘Look, it’s cold out here and you look exhausted. I think you need something to warm you up so come to the bakery with me and I’ll make you a hot drink.’

She nodded mutely so he placed the test back in her bag and zipped it up then stood and held out a hand. Alice took it and stood up but didn’t let go of him. And that was fine. He was happy to support her for as long as she needed him to because he hadn’t been lying. He did care about Trudy and also about Alice and he felt strangely protective of them both, like they’d become a surrogate family for him. But while Trudy was kind of like a surrogate mum, Alice wasn’t a sisterly figure. His feelings for her were different, a mixture of attraction and friendship, of respect and desire. He wanted to help her and to support her and so he’d start by taking her to the bakery and getting her warmed up. Hopefully then she’d be able to think about what she wanted to do because she had a lot to work through.

They walked away from the beach, hand in hand, and Henry felt his heart opening up a fraction as if it was keen to let this lovely woman in.

Chapter15

Alice

Henry led the way through the bakery to the kitchen then the staffroom. He pulled out a chair and gestured at it for Alice to sit down. She sank onto the chair gratefully, exhaustion clawing at her edges. In truth, she didn’t think she’d ever felt so drained or exhausted before. She could slide off the chair, crawl under the table and curl up into a ball and sleep for a year.

She yawned loudly and made herself jump so she covered her mouth quickly with a hand. ‘Sorry! Excuse me.’

‘Don’t worry about it.’ Henry shook his head. ‘Right, you sit there and relax and I’m going to make you something to raise your blood sugar.’

‘Thanks.’ Alice smiled and Henry went back through to the kitchen. She heard him moving some pots and pans around then the sound of a whisk beating in a saucepan.

She steepled her hands on the table in front of her and rested her chin on them. Her head felt heavy, too heavy to support with her neck and she had to fight the urge to close her eyes. She really did have some decisions to make and people to speak to. First, she’d speak to her mum but then she’d also need to speak to Tarquin. After all, it was his baby too. But then there was no point letting him know until she’d been to the GP and had it all confirmed. Imagine if it was a false alarm and she told poor Tarquin then had to tell him she’d been mistaken. It would be a big, fat mess then. And she could be mistaken, couldn’t she? Her period could come at any moment…

The strange thing was, that apart from the exhaustion, she didn’t know how to feel. She hadn’t planned this pregnancy but now that it was (possibly) happening, she had to deal with it. The thought that there could be a tiny being growing inside her was incredibly strange. How big would it be right now? The size of a pea, a bean or bigger? Would it be aware of what was going on around it? Would it be wondering if she cared about it? Would it be aware of anything at all?

Henry returned to the kitchen and placed a mug in front of her. ‘Hot chocolate,’ he said. ‘With cream and marshmallows. Just what you need.’

‘Thank you so much.’ She looked into his blue eyes and realised that this man had showed her nothing but kindness since she’d arrived in the village. He was a good person and her mum liked him. Who knew, if this hadn’t happened then perhaps something could have developed between them. She found him attractive and she liked him as a person, so romance could have been the next step. If he liked her that way too, of course. But now, her whole life would change, her reason for being would alter and she would be responsible for another human being.What a terrifying thought.And yet… Something deep inside her whispered that it could be a positive thing, that she could do this and that she had plenty of love to give to a child of her own.

‘You’re welcome. Drink up and you should, hopefully, feel a bit better.’

She took a sip and nodded. ‘This is so good.’ The hot chocolate was rich and comforting, the marshmallows sweet and slippery on her tongue and the cream frothy and light. She didn’t think she’d ever drunk anything so heavenly before.

‘I’m glad you like it,’ Henry said.

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