‘Daisy, what is it? What happened? What’s wrong?’ She could barely hear Juno’s frantic questions over the gulping cries ripping her apart.
Juno held on, patting her shoulders, whispering calming words until the sobs subsided, the wrenching pain tightening into a ball of misery. Daisy drew back, scrubbed an impatient hand across her cheeks. ‘God, I’m sorry.’
Jacie stared at her over Juno’s shoulder, wide-eyed with concern. ‘Blimey, Daze. What’s the matter? I’ve never seen you cry like that. Never.’
Juno gripped her upper arms, stood back, her eyes hard. ‘He did this, didn’t he?’
Daisy hiccoughed, the crying jag not quite done with. ‘I fell in love with him, Ju.’ A final tear slipped over her lid. She brushed it away. ‘What a plonker, eh?’
‘Oh, Daze,’ Juno said, and hauled Daisy back into her arms for another hard hug. Then she pushed her back, fixed her eyes on Daisy. ‘Did you tell him how you feel?’
‘Yes, I did. And he doesn’t feel the same way,’ Daisy said, the admission, spoken out loud, making the depression suffocate her. ‘So that’s the end of it.’ She walked round the stall and accepted Jacie’s quick hug.
‘Are you sure?’ Jacie questioned, ever the optimist.
‘Positive,’ she murmured, her voice cracking on the finality of it all.
Jacie looked ready to question her some more, but Daisy was saved by a customer eager to buy a shawl.
Juno drew her to one side. ‘He’s not worthy of you,’ she said. ‘I thought he was a total scumbag the moment I laid eyes on him. And this confirms it.’
But he wasn’t a scumbag, Daisy thought. He was a good man, not the right man maybe, but still a good man. Daisy pressed her fingers to Juno’s lips. ‘It’s okay, Juno. I’ll get over him.’ She sighed. ‘Eventually. We just weren’t right for each other. I knew that from the start and I was a fool to think anything else. Anyway.’ Daisy paused, blew out a breath. ‘He’s selling his house, moving on, so at least I won’t have to be constantly reminded of my stupidity.’
Why didn’t the thought make her feel any better, though?
In fact…She slapped a hand over her mouth as the nausea rose up to gag her.
‘Quick, Juno, hand me a bag,’ she cried, her voice muffled. ‘I’m going to be sick.’
Juno thrust one of the stall’s recycled plastic shopping bags into her hand and Daisy lost the contents of her stomach.
‘Daze, are you okay?’ Juno rubbed her back and took the bag out of her hands. ‘Here, I’ll go dump this.’
Daisy groaned. She was never ill. The events of the last hour had been fairly shattering, but, honestly, wasn’t it about time she started pulling herself together?
‘Gosh, Daisy, how do you feel?’ Jacie remarked from beside her.
Daisy put her hand to her stomach. ‘Not great, actually.’ How could she still feel nauseous? She’d thrown up everything she’d eaten in the last twelve hours. ‘I guess it’s the emotional overload.’
‘Either that or you’re pregnant.’
Daisy’s head shot up. ‘That’s not even funny, Jace. Not to mention a physical impossibility.’ She sighed; at least she hadn’t been stupid enough to sleep with Connor without protection.
‘Are you on your period, then?’ Jacie’s eyes dropped to her chest. ‘Because your boobs look enormous.’
Daisy glanced down. Her cleavage was looking rather more spectacular than usual, even accounting for her push-up bra. ‘It’s nothing. I’m due any day now, that’s all.’
Wait a minute. When was her last period? In all the excitement of the last few weeks she’d forgotten about it. But…‘What’s the date?’ she asked.
‘The twenty-fifth,’ Juno said carefully, having returned from her trip to the bin.
Daisy’s blood rushed out of her head and slammed straight into her heart. She couldn’t breathe. She wasn’t pregnant. She couldn’t be; her period was just a couple of weeks late, that was all. Even though it had never, ever been late before. She looked up into Juno’s concerned face. ‘I can’t be pregnant. It’s simply not possible. Connor always used a condom, every time.’
Juno frowned. ‘You do know they’re only about ninety-nine per cent reliable, right? They’re not a hundred per cent.’
‘I know that, but…’ Daisy stopped. But what? ‘We never had one break or anything like that.’ She couldn’t possibly have got pregnant.
‘They don’t necessarily have to break.’ Juno sank down in the chair next to her. Her brow furrowed into ominous rows.