The rational part of her hoped she’d only fainted, but what if she’d hit her head on a table corner or had a heart attack? Ever worse scenarios clamoured for her attention as she dialled her mother’s number. Jesse would hate her for getting Dot involved but she didn’t know who else to call. She certainly wasn’t going to ring Steve. Dot called half an hour later to say that Jesse was okay. Thank God. ‘I’d like to know what brought this on,’ she said to Louisa. ‘Jesse says she didn’t eat much breakfast—’ ‘So, there’s a simple explanation,’ Louisa reassured her. ‘Can I talk to her?’ Dot huffed before handing the phone over to Jesse. ‘I’m sorry,’ Louisa started, knowing how much she’d hurt her sister. ‘We’ll talk about this later,’ Jesse replied, her voice barely audible. ‘Are you okay?’ Dumb question. How could Jesse be okay given what she’d just found out?
