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‘Oh, my god, congratulations!’ Estelle leant over the table and grabbed them both into a hug. ‘I’m so happy for you! When are you due?’
‘It’s very early days. So we aren’t getting our hopes up.’
‘And we’re not telling anyone,’ Jack added.
‘You know I won’t say a word,’ Estelle said, sitting back down. ‘How are you feeling?’
‘The same,’ Eveline replied. ‘I can’t quite believe it’s actually happened.’
A lump filled Estelle’s throat. This was her friend’s dream come true—a handsome, doting husband and a baby on the way. She took another bite of her sandwich and tried to chew, but her jaw clenched tight with pain as she tried to hold back her own emotion.
Giving up the attempt, she pulled a tissue from her pocket and rubbed the tears away. ‘Ucking ell!’ She swallowed her mouthful of food. ‘You know I don’t do tears.’
Eveline took her hand and Jack reached across the table to squeeze her shoulder.
‘Circle of trust, Stelle. We’ll never let on that our baby’s godmother cried when she found out Eveline was pregnant.’
‘Godmother? Me?’
Eveline beamed as she nodded. ‘If you’ll accept?’
Don’t cry, don’t cry, don’t fucking cry!
Her lower lip was trembling as she took a breath. ‘I’d be honoured,’ she whispered.
Eveline’s face lit up as if her answer had not been a foregone conclusion. ‘Thank you so much!’
Estelle blinked rapidly, but her facial muscles were not powerful enough to hold back the flood of tears.
‘For fuck’s sake!’ she cried.
Jack’s smile was as big as his wife’s. ‘We love you, Stelle.’
‘Shut up, Newton! I can’t cope.’
Eveline laughed. ‘You’ve got the biggest heart, Estelle. If anyone can handle love, it’s you.’
‘Bollocks,’ she mumbled, then blew her nose. ‘I’m going to have to pretend I’ve got hay fever this morning, so Hunter-Savage doesn’t see through my armour.’
‘You could let him see this side of you?’ Eveline suggested.
Estelle shook her head. ‘When hell freezes over.’ She glanced at Jack. ‘You need to take me to work now before I start skipping down the high street, singing about rainbows and kittens.’
Eveline giggled. ‘That’s quite an image.’
‘Yeah, and one that will live in your imagination only.’ She picked up her sandwich and stood. ‘Come on, Daddy Newton, let’s go.’
‘What time should I pick you up later?’ Jack asked as he drove Estelle down country lanes towards Shoscombe Manor.
‘Four-ish? Alan is going to ring me when they’ve finished working on the Defender, so I’ll let you know. As long as I get her before the garage shuts at five, it’ll be okay.’
‘Cool.’
‘Thanks for doing this. I didn’t want to ask Henry in case he caused a scene with James.’
‘Any time, Stelle.’ Jack indicated and turned left. ‘Henry’s not calmed down then?’
Estelle huffed. ‘No. It’s like he’s been saving all the anger up since he was thirteen and now can’t stop it coming out. He’s exercising even more at the moment, as if he’s preparing for some kind of twatty CEO cage fight.’
