Free Happy Ever After by Patricia Scanlan Page B

than having to make the journey out here. No one knows better than you that time is money.’
    ‘True,’ he agreed.
    ‘But then, on the other hand, I would most likely travel to meet clients of the calibre we’re looking at, in their own offices or homes, should they prefer,’ she suggested.
    ‘Of course, of course. Naturally, there’ll be a car to go with the position and a salary commensurate with your skills.’ He named a figure that made her eyes widen. It was twice what she was getting at Chez Moi .
    ‘It’s important that you make a good impression – you know, give an idea what the company is about, so you can choose a top-of-the-range car. We don’t want you driving around in a little Yaris,’ he chuckled, delighted with himself.
    The corner of Myles’s mouth lifted, and he smiled at Aimee. ‘Appearance is everything indeed,’ he murmured, and she laughed and began to relax as they got down to the nitty-gritties of how the company would be financed and what would be expected of her if she took on the challenge. It was the career opportunity of a lifetime, and she’d earned it. She should be dancing for joy.
    Now Aimee rubbed her hand across her washboard stomach, achieved through hours in the gym and constant vigilance over what she ate and drank. There was a baby in there, and that baby was going to muck up everything she had worked so hard to achieve. If she was going to get rid of it, she’d want to do it sooner rather than later. She had to make up her mind and stop dithering. What was the point in having a baby when she would only resent it? Surely it would feel the vibes of anger and resentment flowing into it in the womb. Why would it want to be born to a mother who just didn’t want it?
    Aimee felt tears well up. This should have been the happiest day of her life, and here she was feeling trapped, resentful and deeply troubled. And there was no one she could talk to about it. She’d let all her friends fall by the wayside in her rush up the career ladder. The only one who might have kept the news to herself was Gwen, and she hated Aimee’s guts now, after the incident on the day of the wedding. She’d accused Aimee of snubbing her and wouldn’t have anything more to do with her. That left Jill and Sally. What was she going to do? Just pick up the phone and say to them, ‘Hi, I’m up the duff, and I want to get rid of it, what advice can you give me?’ She could just imagine the jungle drums working overtime after that.
    ‘ Did you hear, Aimee’s knocked up and wants to do something about it . . . what do you think of that then? ’ Sally, who was pregnant herself and happy about it, would be shocked. Jill might understand. Jill was a successful careerwoman like Aimee. Of the trio, Jill was the one who was most like her in outlook. But no doubt Gwen had gone to her and Sally with her sob story, and Aimee wasn’t sure what sort of reception she’d get if she made contact. She made a face. She couldn’t bear to be the subject of girly gossip. That just left her mother and Barry.
    Aimee gazed over the panorama of Dublin Bay and Howth, oblivious to the white racing yachts scudding across the waves and the patchwork of purples and greens and ochres shadowing and lightening as the sun burst through the clouds on the landmass across the bay. She saw none of it as she stood there agonizing on the balcony. Her mother would be horrified to think she was even considering a termination. Juliet’s view was, you make your bed, you lie on it. She’d put her own life on hold to rear her children and be the kind of wife Ken wanted her to be. There wouldn’t be much sympathy for Aimee’s position there, Aimee reckoned. That left Barry. Her husband, the love of her life, the one who knew her inside out, her rock, allegedly. And how could she tell him she wanted to abort their child? She just couldn’t. She knew him well enough to know he would be against it. He’d actually always wanted