WEEKLY SOAP Riverside by Glenda Young

Ruby has the wrong end of the stick . . .

CHOCOLATE lumpy-bumpy cake?” Susan asked, looking at the piece of paper Ruby had handed her. “It’s for Mike. He told me that he’d never heard of it before, and I knew I had a recipe somewhere at home, so I’ve copied it for him.

“You know he’s started baking classes, right?” She didn’t wait for an answer before she carried on chatting.

“I hope you don’t mind me dropping the recipe in for you to pass on to him, but I thought I could kill two birds with one stone, and you did say I could pop round any time for a cuppa.” Ruby opened her arms wide.

“So here I am!” “Come in.” Susan smiled, holding the door to her flat open.

“Are you all right?” Ruby asked. “You look a bit flustered.”

Susan shook her head. “I’ve just been a bit busy this morning.”

Ruby followed her into the flat and Susan headed to the kitchen to put the kettle on.

“Make yourself at home, Ruby, and feel free to look around,” she said. “I’ll make us some tea.”

As Susan busied herself in the kitchen, Ruby glanced around the big, open living-room with its beautiful, wide view of the river flowing past.

She breathed in the smell of freesias from a vase on the mantelpiece. She guessed George had grown them at his allotment; his freesias always did him credit.

Then she headed into the hallway, wondering which door to push open first.

The first door she tried was the bathroom, done up in blue and white stripes with a seaside theme. A matching blind at the window complemented the look.

“Bathroom’s very stylish,” she said out loud, but Susan didn’t hear. Ruby’s words had been drowned out by the noise from the whistling kettle in the kitchen.

Just as she was about to leave the bathroom, something caught Ruby’s eye. She felt as if she were intruding, but it was impossible not to see it, and Susan had told her to look around.

She hadn’t been asked to keep out of the bathroom. And now there was no way to forget what she had just seen.

She now knew that Susan was pregnant. The kit in the bathroom confirmed it.

“Dad’s taken Mum on a surprise holiday. It was all a bit last-minute,” Susan was saying when Ruby walked into the kitchen.”

Ruby couldn’t help herself. She couldn’t keep quiet and her words blurted out.

“Does your mum know the news?”

“Yes!” Susan laughed. “She –”

But her words were halted when Ruby hugged her. The hug surprised Susan a little, but she didn’t complain. She knew how impetuous Ruby could be.

“I’m so happy for you,” Ruby gushed.

She felt hot tears prick behind her eyes and knew that if she wasn’t careful she would end up crying in front of Susan.

She pulled her handbag tight across her chest and waved farewell to Susan, before almost running out of the flat and bounding down the stairs to the exit.

Crikey, Susan thought. Mum’s only gone to Blackpool.

Alone in the flat, she sat down on the sofa and placed her left hand on her stomach. She breathed slowly, letting her earlier shock subside.

What with Ruby popping round like that, she hadn’t had time to let things sink in. She’d have to see the doctor, of course, to get it confirmed, and her mind began racing with everything she had to do.

She would tell Dave first, of course, and she decided to walk over to the deli to speak to him right away

But first, she decided, she’d sit a few moments longer with her hand on her stomach, getting over the shock.

Outside the apartment complex, Ruby took her phone out of her handbag and swiped it into life, while in the Tower Ballroom at Blackpool, George was buying drinks and bags of crisps while Mary sat at a small table at the side of the dance floor, watching the couples waltz by.

When her phone rang and she saw Ruby’s name, she answered it with a smile.

“Congratulations, Mary!” Ruby cried down the phone. “Have I won something?” “Susan’s told me,” Ruby said. “Mary, I’m so happy.”

“What do you mean, Ruby? What’s happened? What’s Susan told you?”

“About the baby. That you’re going to be a grandma!”

Mary’s mouth opened in shock but no words came out. She didn’t know what to say. She didn’t even know what to think.

How on earth could Ruby know this news when she and George didn’t?

In shock, Mary hung up on her friend. She swivelled round and caught sight of George at the bar.

“I need a brandy, George,” she told him. “In fact, get us one each.”

“Everything OK?” he asked, concerned.

Mary dialled Susan’s number on her phone.

“It will be,” she said. “Just as soon as I find out what’s going on back at home!” More next week.