This Could Change Everything(56)
There were glasses in the bathroom. As he filled one with cold water, Lucas called out, ‘What time are you and Kelly heading off?’ Kelly, Giselle’s friend and fellow nurse, was picking her up to go shopping in the Mall at Cribbs Causeway, on the outskirts of Bristol.
He returned from the bathroom with her water, and Giselle wrinkled her nose. ‘I might text her and cancel. Don’t think I fancy shopping today. How about you, what’re you doing?’
‘Meeting with the accountant, then over to the garage to get the car MOT’d. Jude’s in charge here until I get back around two.’ Lucas checked his watch. ‘In fact I need to get the paperwork together and leave soon.’
‘OK, you do that. I’m going to stay here and be lazy, maybe have another little doze.’ Giselle held her arms out to him. ‘See you later.’
Lucas bent to give her a kiss. ‘Bye then. Don’t let your coffee go cold.’
By the time he returned at one thirty, Giselle had gone, heading off to the hospital to begin her afternoon shift. She’d left the bed semi-made, which always amused him; at work it was all geometric hospital corners and immaculately smooth covers, but outside of work the duvet was flung across any old how. On the bedside table stood her empty coffee mug, the water glass and the plate strewn with crumbs.
She had also turned the heating up after he’d left, which meant the temperature in the room was stifling. Lucas crossed to the sash window and hauled it open to let in some much-needed cold air. That was the moment he glanced out and saw something on the roof of the property that backed onto the Red House.
He stopped dead in his tracks.
Really?
He looked again. OK, this was a mystery.
It made absolutely no sense at all.
Chapter 26
The next morning, Lucas was up early again. Giselle had stayed over, and he left her dozing in bed once more in order to supervise the day’s deliveries.
Once everything was sorted downstairs, he took her up a coffee. ‘Want me to make you a bacon sandwich?’
Giselle shook her head. ‘No thanks. Not hungry.’
Five minutes later he said, ‘Aren’t you going to drink that coffee?’
She thought about it. ‘You know, I don’t really fancy coffee just now. It tastes a bit weird.’
That was the moment Lucas knew for sure. He also realised that Giselle didn’t know.
‘You’re looking a bit pale,’ he said, although this wasn’t true. ‘Are you feeling OK?’
‘Oh, there’s a bit of a bug going around at work.’ Giselle pulled a face. ‘A couple of people were off sick yesterday. It’s OK, I’ll be fine.’
Lucas mentally braced himself; time felt as if it was slowing down. He could have asked her yesterday but had held off, keeping the question to himself until he was sure.
Now he said, ‘There was a splash of coffee on the side of the sink in the bathroom yesterday. Did you tip away the one I made for you before I left?’
Giselle laughed out loud. ‘Ha, caught out. Well done, Sherlock Holmes! But it’s that new kind you’ve started using. I told you, it tastes weird.’
It was the exact same coffee he’d always bought. And still she had absolutely no idea. Lucas said, ‘You didn’t eat your bacon sandwich either.’
This time she blushed. ‘How do you know that?’
He indicated the window. ‘I looked out and saw it on the roof over there.’
‘Oh, I’m sorry!’ Shamefaced and laughing again, Giselle said, ‘I just didn’t feel like eating it, but you’d gone to so much trouble and I couldn’t think how else to get rid of it. Except the plan was to throw it into the yard below. I couldn’t believe I managed to get it stuck on that stupid roof! I just prayed a bird would fly down and make off with the whole thing before you came back and spotted it.’
‘Hey, don’t worry, not a problem.’ Lucas smiled briefly, whilst inside his heart began to race. ‘I just wondered why you’d done it. Bacon sandwiches are your favourite.’
Giselle spread her hands. ‘I know, I couldn’t understand it either! But then I heard about the bug going around, so I realised it must be that.’
She was a fully qualified state registered nurse, yet it genuinely hadn’t occurred to her. Lucas sat down on the side of the bed and reached for her hand. ‘Look, I don’t want to scare you, but do you think there could be another reason?’
Giselle stared at him. Then she froze in disbelief, and this time he saw the colour physically drain from her already pale face. For a moment, as her hand went to her mouth, he thought she might actually be about to throw up.
‘Oh my God . . .’
‘Is your period late?’
‘I don’t know.’ And now she was flushing, her breathing fast and ragged. ‘I can’t tell. You know what my periods are like. Oh Lucas, do you think I could be . . . Oh my God.’
‘Right, calm down. Have a think. When was the last one?’
‘End of December? Um . . . Oh help, I can’t concentrate.’ She flapped her hands, panicking. ‘Or maybe a bit before that, before I went home for Christmas . . .’
He saw the fear in her eyes. ‘More than six weeks ago?’
‘But that’s not unusual for me!’ Giselle clutched his arm. ‘Oh now I really do feel sick . . . I can’t even think straight. This is awful . . . I can’t cope with this . . .’