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The doors closed when he pressed the button for the third floor. “I’m really glad you’re here,” he said.
“Are you?” Beth asked, looking sadly at Ellie, whose head was flopped onto Trystan’s shoulder.
“Of course.”
“You were in a weird mood all week. That’s why I came … so we could speak in person.” She breathed deeply as a wave of nausea swept over her. “I should just have called.”
The lift doors pinged. “I really am happy you’re here,” Trystan said, leading the way to his door and handing over the bags so he could fish the key from his pocket. “I’m just sorry you had such a nightmare trip.”
They switched to practicalities as Trystan led them into the bathroom to get cleaned up. He brought them towels and a couple of his T-shirts for them to wear, then left them and went to put their clothes in the wash.
Beth ushered a reluctant Ellie into the shower cubicle with her. After washing Ellie’s hair, Beth put shampoo on her own but hadn’t managed to rinse it out before Ellie started to cry. Opening the shower cubicle, she grabbed a towel to wrap around Ellie, telling her to sit on the floor while she finished in the shower.
“Do you need any help?” Trystan called before inching the door open.
“Maybe,” Beth admitted.
He scooped Ellie up in her towel. “Let’s dry your hair and get you tucked up in bed.”
“Thank you,” Beth said as he took her out of the bathroom.
Five minutes later, Beth wandered into Trystan’s bedroom dressed in her underwear and one of his T-shirts. Ellie was similarly dressed on his bed with a bucket and a couple of towels beside her. Her eyes were drooping as Trystan gently stroked her hair. Once she’d nodded off, Trystan and Beth crept out and into the kitchen.
“I’m so sorry,” Beth said, the noise of the washing machine churning behind her.
“It’s fine.” He wrapped his arms around her and she relaxed into his chest. “Are you okay? You’re pale too.”
“The sight and smell of all that vomit made me feel queasy,” she said, her stomach rolling again at the thought of it. She inhaled steadily. “Jenny seems nice, by the way. I still have her cardigan.”
“I’ll get it back to her.” He paused for a second, looking down at her. “I can post it.”
Beth pulled back. “Do you think I’m a crazy jealous person … And I turned up here because I knew you were meeting up with your ex this weekend and I didn’t like it?”
“No.” His eyes were sympathetic as he gazed at her. “I didn’t think that.”
“I was very jealous,” she admitted with a frown. “I didn’t like the thought of you meeting up with her. But I mostly wanted to see you because Ellie told me that she’d asked you if you were her dad … and I think the question freaked you out.”
“I was a bit freaked out,” he said tentatively.
“You barely spoke to me all week.”
“I know. I was just trying to get my thoughts in order.” He tilted his head to one side. “Are you sure you feel okay?”
Taking a step back from him, she put a hand over her mouth as another wave of nausea swept up from her stomach. She dashed around Trystan and made it into the bathroom in time to lose the contents of her stomach.
CHAPTERTHIRTY-FOUR
The afternoon and evening were an unmitigated disaster. When Ellie woke up and threw up all over Trystan’s bed, Beth had little choice but to leave him to clean her up and change the bedding. Her stomach was agony and she didn’t dare venture away from the toilet for the next couple of hours. At some point in the early evening she thought she was over the worst of it and crawled into bed beside Ellie, only to end up dashing back to the bathroom several more times.
Trystan kept checking on her and asking if she needed anything, but all she really needed was for him to stay out of the way so he didn’t hear her puking her guts up. She supposed it would have been difficult to miss it given the size of his flat. Eventually he made himself a bed on the couch and told her to wake him if she needed anything or if Ellie woke up again.
In the early hours, Beth nodded off and slept fitfully until Ellie woke her up at first light.
“My tummy feels better,” she declared, her chirpy tone only making Beth feel wearier.
“That’s good,” she managed to whisper without opening her eyes.
“Can we still go to the shop where Trystan got my nail stickers from?” Ellie asked eagerly.
