Falling in Love in New York Read Online Free PDF Page A

IVF route.
    “It just seems a bit perverse,” she’d explained to Abby during her last visit home a while back. “For most of my life I’ve been on the pill–essentially taking drugs to not get pregnant, so it seems wrong now to jump straight into taking different ones just because I want to. If it’s not meant to be, it’s not meant to be. Anyway,” she added with a supposedly indifferent shrug, although Abby suspected that it was anything but, “it’s partly my own fault for waiting this long.”
    She didn’t like to point out that the real reason Claire had waited so long to start a family was because she’d only met Zach a couple of years back, and before that hadn’t been in a serious relationship since moving to the States six years before.
    Abby had heard that the dating scene in New York was tough, and that they did things considerably different there, but given that Claire was open, friendly and stunningly pretty, she’d assumed her eldest sister would have no problems at all in finding a man, particularly when they’d always flocked around her back home in Dublin.
    And while Claire enjoyed her lifestyle and worked hard at her career in insurance, Abby knew that deep down all her eldest sister had ever wanted was to settle down and have a family. Pretty much like herself but patently un like Caroline, who’d never displayed any maternal urges at all, and seemed happy just spending her money and enjoying life.
    But to the family’s great delight, Claire had started seeing and eventually got engaged to a lovely guy called Zach Cross, although their mother had initially been more than a little concerned about the fact that he worked for the NYPD.
    “Be careful, they’re all alcoholics!” Teresa, (who was a huge fan of American crime novels) warned.
    But apparently, Zach worked in the traffic department, and they’d met when Claire tried to talk her way out of a parking ticket he was about to issue. They were a fantastic couple, who Abby thought would make absolutely brilliant parents.
    “Sadly no–nothing to report yet,” Teresa confirmed.
    “Well, maybe we should all go over and see her.” Caroline said, winking at Abby “Any excuse for a bit of New York shopping, what do you think?”
    Again, Abby felt tense and uncomfortable. For one thing, she was terrified of flying, and for another, since her exploits with that dress she was also terrified of shopping!
    “Sure, we’ll wait and see,” Teresa intervened quickly and by her tone, Abby knew that her mother had sensed she wasn’t particularly enamoured of this idea. She flashed her a grateful smile.
    Still, shopping and flying aside, it would actually be nice to catch up with her oldest sister, whom Abby hadn’t seen much of since she moved to America. Unlike the rest of the family, she’d never been out to New York to visit Claire, and she and Zach hadn’t been home for too many visits since they got married two years back. Claire had phoned often in the aftermath of her break-up with Kieran, and Abby had been meaning to call her many times over the last while, but had just never got round to it. She bit her lip, hoping that Claire wasn’t upset by the lack of contact on Abby’s part, especially when she’d always been so good to her.
    “I must give her call soon,” she said.
    “Do she’d love to hear from you,” Teresa smiled. “So how have you been yourself, love?” she asked then. “How’s work?”
    “Oh, very busy–you know yourself.” Abby shifted with discomfort at having the conversation directed as to how she was.
    “Yes, Caroline tells me you’ve been working late in the office a lot,” her mother ventured softly. “You shouldn’t do too much, pet–work isn’t everything, you know.”
    But it’s all I have now , Abby wanted to say but didn’t. None of them would understand that without work to concentrate on, she would have fallen apart a long time ago. “I know that Mum,” she said with a forced