The Stranger in Our Bed. Samantha Lee Howe

weeks.

      ‘I’ll ring Mother. She’ll be so happy!’ Tom said.

      ‘Darling, can’t we wait a bit? Just to be sure,’ I said.

      ‘Don’t be silly! We don’t have to keep this a secret from Mother.’

      ***

      Isadora Carlisle arrived an hour later with a small pharmacy package, which she passed to me.

      ‘Tom called on his way to work. Let’s see if he’s right, shall we?’ Isadora said. ‘You need to hold it under the flow of your pee.’

      As usual she was treating me as though I didn’t have the intelligence to read instructions for myself.

      I went into the bathroom, closing the door behind me, then unpacked the pregnancy test and read the instructions.

      ‘I’m sure it’s way too early to tell,’ I said.

      ‘No. These days they can tell even if you’re just a few days along,’ Isadora said from the hallway. ‘So useful!’

      She was right, of course; the test said it could work up to six days before your period was even due.

      After peeing on the wand, I stared at the indicator. The test said one blue line meant ‘no’, two blue lines was ‘yes’.

      ‘Let me in,’ said Isadora.

      I opened the bathroom door and held out the test. ‘It says …’

      ‘Pregnant!’ Isadora grew very quiet and thoughtful. She didn’t throw her arms around me, or start to congratulate me, she merely smiled. A kind of satisfied expression. As though she was just getting the answer she had expected all along.

      ‘That’s very good then,’ she said.

      I half-smiled, but then my mood plummeted. Was I really ready for motherhood? The thought was terrifying.

      ‘I know what you’re thinking,’ Isadora said. ‘You see, Charlotte dear, you remind me a lot of myself at your age.’

      I sat down on the edge of the bed and stared back at her with the blankest expression I could muster. There was nothing similar about us at all. She was happy about the prospect of a future grandchild and I was a mixture of unexplainable emotions. Perhaps this self-doubt, the fear, the slight tingle of excitement was perfectly normal, I didn’t know, but they were also accompanied by a consuming loss of control. And something else at the back of my mind, a name I had told myself to forget: Ewan Daniels.

      ‘This will settle things permanently for you both,’ Isadora said.

      ‘What do you mean?’

      ‘It’s just … it’s a final commitment. Having a baby …’

      ‘Isadora, we are committed. We’re married.’

      ‘Oh, yes. I know. But you know what I mean … you’ll be a family now. Not just a couple. This is grown-up. This is, well, it’s the future CEO of Carlisle Corp you have in there. Isn’t it?’

      And then she peered at me intently as though she expected me to say otherwise. I was confused by this silent enquiry.

      ‘I hadn’t thought of it that way …’

      ‘Well, I’ll get on to finding you the best doctor and private midwife service. And of course the best hospital.’

      ‘That’s usually decided by your local GP,’ I said.

      ‘Not for people like us, dear. We have to have the best.’

      And then it really sank in. I was growing tired of not being listened to. The only trouble was, I couldn’t blame Isadora or Tom for any of it. I had caused this by not standing up for myself when it was too easy to just accept another person’s decision.

      Like the bedding I’d bought months ago that had caused such a row the night before. I couldn’t make any sense of Tom’s angry outburst. It was so over the top and out of character. Tom was usually so calm.

      I asked Isadora to leave me, explaining that I didn’t feel too well. She was sympathetic, but still took it upon herself to call Tom and confirm his suspicions. I couldn’t hear everything he said to her on her mobile phone, but I heard the pleasure and excitement in his voice.

      ‘We’re so happy,’ Isadora said before leaving. ‘Rest up, Charlotte dear. The morning sickness won’t last long. I’ll get you booked in with a private doctor as soon as possible.’

      ‘Thanks,’ I said.

      She let herself out and I went back to bed and lay, eyes open, staring at the ceiling. They would control every decision that needed to be made as they always had.

      ***

      By the afternoon, the initial sickness abated and I got up, dressed and went out. I was sick of being predictable. I thought I ought to at least start to put things into place that I wanted to happen. This child might be a Carlisle but it was also my child and I would have a say. I don’t know what came over me.

      I found a note on the kitchen notice board from Tom, reminding me to return the purple satin bedding that he’d disliked so much. At least that would give me something to do. I folded the bed linen neatly, squeezing them back into the original packaging. There was no need to search out the receipt, my account would show the purchase, and so I placed all of the items into a large canvas bag.

      I didn’t feel like travelling on the tube with all of these things just in case the sickness returned, so I took a cab to Harrods.

      ‘Morning Mrs Carlisle,’ the store doorman said. ‘Let me get someone to help you with that …’

      A few moments later two shop assistants arrived and took the bag from me.

      ‘I’m afraid I have to return this,’ I told the first assistant, a different girl to the one who had originally served me. ‘My husband … doesn’t like it.’

      She processed the refund without protest. I was a good customer in the store, and so was my mother-in-law. As I waited for the refund receipt, I felt the hairs prickle on the back of my neck. I turned around with a feeling of déjà vu. A tall man stood behind me, so close I could reach out and touch him. It was Ewan Daniels. A shiver of something like excitement ran along my spine, as if I had been waiting for him to appear.

      ‘Charlotte,’ he said, as though my presence there surprised him. ‘I thought I might never see you again …’

      That was the third time I’d met Ewan by accident; it appeared it was becoming a habit.

       Chapter Two

      We went for coffee in a local café.

      Ewan looked well, but I was sure I didn’t look very good at all. I hadn’t bothered with make-up or made the usual effort I made whenever I went shopping – just in case I bumped into one of the other wives, or Isadora’s friends.

      ‘I’ve often thought of you since our meal out,’ Ewan said.

      I smiled but didn’t admit that I had thought about him too. More often than I should have. He was not as handsome as Tom, but Ewan had a boyish charm that was attractive. There was something very unassuming and modest about the man. His colouring was the opposite of Tom’s; Ewan had sandy blond hair and blue eyes, and Tom was dark-haired with brown eyes. They couldn’t have been more different in looks and personality. But I found myself liking Ewan, far more than a married woman should like another man.

      For that reason, I still held a residual guilt about our previous meeting.

      ‘How are you doing?’ Ewan asked. ‘Was the rest of your trip successful?’

      Successful,