Jackson inhaled deeply. ‘Nothing like the smell of paint and white spirit to make you all dewy-eyed and nostalgic.’
I looked around the empty shop that had once sold wool and crafting goods and would soon be up and running as an official charitable enterprise. We were just weeks away from opening thedoors to the public and that was due – in no small part – to Mel’s tireless efforts in pushing the paperwork through.
‘It’s actually been good for me to have something to take my mind off everything else that’s going on,’ she’d said when I thanked her yet again for all her hard work.
Her eyes had clouded a little and it was easy to see that she was counting the days until they began their next round of IVF.
‘My lovely mother-in-law has gifted Steve and me the money for one more round,’ she’d told me hesitantly. ‘I know you offered to help, Ellie, and I turned you down, but accepting the money from Sylvia feels different. She wants grandchildren almost as much as we want to be parents. And she’d do absolutely anything for Steve.’
I hugged her and tried to ignore a fleeting sting of regret that I’d never known that kind of relationship with my own mother.
Of course, there were no guarantees that their third attempt at IVF would be successful, but the hope that had been missing from my friend’s eyes was back there again. I could cope with a lot of things in life, but seeing my eternally optimistic friend robbed of that emotion had been beyond cruel.
‘I’ll be back in about half an hour,’ promised Jackson, pressing a possibly paint-stained kiss onto my cheek and then Mel’s.
The shop seemed strangely empty once he was gone. Jackson had always had the kind of personality that filled every corner of a room and left you missing him almost instantly.
‘Let’s take a breather,’ I suggested, moving to a relatively clean section of the plastic sheeting in the far corner of Florrie’s.
Mel dropped down to the floor beside me, and we both surveyed the almost completed room.
‘You did it,’ she said with obvious admiration.
‘We did it,’ I corrected gently. Mel might not be one of the participating shop owners but she’d thrown herself wholeheartedlyinto the project with a gusto that suggested she welcomed every moment of thinking time it had consumed.
‘How are things?’ I asked now, tentatively stepping on ground where only an old friend dared to tread.
‘They’re okay,’ Mel replied, but there was a glimmer of something in her smile that tripped an instant alarm in my head.
‘Do you have some news?’
‘No. No. No,’ Mel said, shaking her head hard enough for a few curls to spring free from the crocodile clip.
‘That’s an awful lot of nos,’ I observed, my eyes trained on hers. There was an undeniable glint in them. Her lips parted, clamped shut, and then parted again.
‘Mel?’
She bit her lower lip. ‘I’m three days late.’
I swivelled towards her so hard I heard the tiny bones in my neck crick in protest.
‘You are?’
She nodded.
‘I mean, it’s really too early to test. And it’s probably nothing. My cycle is all over the place.’ She reached for my hand and squeezed it excitedly. ‘But how crazy would it be if after all those failed IVF attempts, we actually got pregnant the good old-fashioned way?’
‘It would be wonderful,’ I said, feeling the unexpected sting of tears.
‘I know the odds are stacked against it. That it would be nothing short of a miracle if I was.’
‘Firm believer in miracles over here.’
Mel’s eyes were overbright as she turned them to me. ‘Can you imagine Steve’s face if I told him we didn’t need to take up his mum’s offer after all.’
‘Steve doesn’t know you’re late?’
Mel shook her head. ‘I didn’t want to get his hopes up. I think he takes each negative test result even harder than I do. I thought this time it would be wonderful if I could – just maybe – surprise him with some great news.’