.

she hadn’t had her period since.

      And in the interim, she’d had sex with Rhys-the-unforgettable. Three times in the one night.

      Adrenaline fired in her belly, sending a shock wave through her body. She took a step backward, appalled by the thought that had snaked its way into her brain.

      “Told you I’d have one,” Gina said as she returned. “Hey. What’s wrong? You’re pale.”

      Charlie took another step backward and sank onto the edge of the tub.

      “What’s the failure rate for condoms?” Her voice sounded as though it was coming from a long way away. Cleveland, perhaps. Or maybe Moscow.

      “I don’t know. Not high. One or two percent, maybe?” Gina was still frowning, but suddenly her eyes rounded and her eyebrows headed for her hairline. “Oh, my God. Tell me you’re not thinking what I think you’re thinking.”

      Charlie looked at her friend, her mind busy doing the math and getting the same answer over and over.

      “I’ve missed two periods. I’ve been so busy getting everything sorted that I didn’t even notice. That’s why there are no tampons in the cupboard.”

      Gina swore and sank onto the bathtub beside her. There was a moment of profound silence as they both processed their own thoughts.

      “Okay. First things first—before we hit the panic button, we need to know what we’re panicking about.” Gina looked at her watch. “It’s only four-thirty. The pharmacy around the corner should still be open.”

      “Good idea,” Charlie said. She pushed herself to her feet. A wave of anxious dizziness hit her and she sat again.

      “I’ll go,” Gina said instantly. “You stay here. Don’t start freaking yet, okay? I’ll run all the way.”

      “Okay,” Charlie said meekly.

      Gina’s hand dropped onto her shoulder, warm and reassuring. “It could just be stress. Changing your life is a big deal.”

      Charlie nodded. Gina gave her a quick squeeze before she slipped past. Charlie stared at a cracked floor tile, her mind ricocheting from one thought to the next.

      If she was pregnant…

      But she couldn’t be. They’d used condoms. A new one each time…

      But condoms failed. That’s why they weren’t one hundred percent foolproof. Still, what were the odds of one of them failing and it being the exact right point in her cycle…?

      Big. Too big. Way too big. Huge. She couldn’t even calculate the probability it was so large. She probably had a better chance of winning the lottery.

      And yet she’d missed two periods.

      “Oh, God,” she said, bracing her elbows on her knees, her head dropping into her hands.

      She couldn’t be pregnant. She simply couldn’t. She’d just started her own business. She’d barely unpacked from the move. She was single, in a new city, essentially unemployed if anything went wrong with her business.

      She moaned, digging her fingers into her skull.

       Please let it be stress. Please let it be stress. Please let it be stress.

      The front door slammed and when she looked up Gina was standing before her, a bag in hand. “Okay. I have no idea how these things work, but I’m sure we can figure it out.”

      She handed over the bag and Charlie pulled out a slickly branded box. Her hands were shaking so much that she couldn’t pull the flap from the slot and Gina took it from her.

      “Whatever happens, we’ll work it out, okay, Charlie?”

      Charlie nodded, enormously grateful for her friend’s use of the plural even though she knew in her heart of hearts that if she really was pregnant, the responsibility would land squarely on her shoulders, no matter what she decided to do.

      “Okay. We have instructions,” Gina said as she pulled a folded sheet from the box.

      They pored over the instructions for a few minutes, then Gina handed Charlie a cellophane-wrapped stick.

      “Do your thing,” she said.

      Charlie managed a small smile, only letting it drop when her friend left the room. Her stomach knotted with dread, she pulled down her jeans and sat on the loo. For a moment she thought she was going to have to try later, but her body finally came to the party. She followed the instructions and then set the stick on the edge of the vanity while she flushed, pulled up her jeans and washed her hands.

      “Okay,” she called.

      Gina opened the door and passed Charlie her glass, now brimming with red wine. “For courage.”

      Charlie stared at it. “I don’t know if I should. If it’s positive…”

      She couldn’t quite bring herself to say the word pregnant yet. But if she was, then alcohol was on the no-go list. Especially in bucket-like quantities.

      “Shit. You’re right. Sorry.”

      Gina set down the glass on the vanity and they both sat on the edge of the tub.

      “I take it that means you wouldn’t consider a termination, then?” Gina asked.

      Charlie frowned. Her brain hadn’t gotten that far yet.

      Or maybe it had, since she’d been so quick to reject the wine.

      “If it seemed like the best thing to do, I would.”

      “But…?”

      “I don’t know. When I was younger, I wouldn’t have thought twice about it. There was no way I would have been able to cope then. But now… it might not be convenient. It might not be easy or wise or planned or anything. But I could do it now.” She spoke slowly, thinking out loud. “I think I could be an okay mum. And I’ve always imagined that one day I’d have kids.”

      Although the image of herself with a child had always been part of some nebulous future-vision of her life that incorporated a man she loved, the whole notion was so far off and distant in her mind that it was barely in focus.

      “I think you’d be a great mum. But it’s hard yards doing it all on your own.”

      “I know.” Charlie studied the back of her hands, mulling things over.

      “You don’t have to make any decisions right now,” Gina said. “Let’s take this one step at a time.”

      Charlie glanced at the white stick on the vanity. “Do you think it’s been five minutes yet?”

      Gina checked her watch. “Right on the knocker.”

      Charlie continued to stare at the stick without moving. She could feel her heart pounding inside her chest and her palms were suddenly sweaty. Funny that she’d felt almost exactly the same way when she’d been flirting with Rhys all those weeks ago, hoping he felt the same way she did.

      Not funny ha-ha, obviously. Funny weird.

      Funny scary.

      “Want me to…?” Gina offered.

      “I’ll do it.” Charlie roused herself and reached for the test. Her fingers closed around the thumb grip and she lifted it. For a moment the light hit the stick so directly that she couldn’t see anything. Then she blinked and she was staring at two pink lines.

      All the air left her lungs in a rush.

      She was pregnant.

      Oh, wow.

       She was pregnant.

      An elbow dug into her ribs.

      “Don’t forget to breathe, okay?” Gina said.

      Charlie