LITMIR.BIZ

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had to work in the office that day. Unfortunately, it turned out not to be a busy day for Murphy’s Hire Car with hardly any phone calls or bookings coming in. She had way too much time to twiddle her thumbs, drink endless cups of coffee and think depressing thoughts. By the time twelve o’clock came, Jess had had enough. She stood up from her desk, deciding that she needed distraction or she’d go stark, raving mad. She would go to the movies, find herself a silly comedy. Or an action flick. Putting on the answering machine, she made her way from the office over to the house where she found her mother in the kitchen, packing away the food shopping.

      ‘Mum, I think I’ll go to the movies this afternoon. Do you mind?’

      ‘Not at all. I’ll look after the office.’

      ‘Thanks, Mum.’

      Ruth Murphy watched her daughter walk off slowly, thinking to herself that it would take Jess a long time to get over Ben. A small, selfish part of Ruth was glad that nothing had come of their relationship. She could not bear to think of her only daughter going off and living in America. At the same time, she could not bear to see her so unhappy.

      Sighing, she finished putting away the shopping, made herself a sandwich and coffee, then toddled over to the office. After checking the answering machine—there’d been no calls—she ate her lunch, then picked up the book she kept there for reading when the office was slow. But she’d only finished a few pages when the phone rang.

      ‘Murphy’s Hire Car,’ she said brightly.

      ‘Hello, Ruth.’

      Ruth sat up straight once she detected the American accent.

      ‘Is Jess there?’

      ‘No,’ she said, feeling both anxious and defensive at the same time. ‘Jess isn’t here at the moment. Are you calling from New York?’

      ‘No, Ruth. I’m parked just down the road from your place.’

      Oh, dear Lord, he had come after her, like Joe had said.

      ‘I tried Jess’s phone several times but it’s turned off.’

      ‘She’s at the movies.’

      ‘At the movies?’ He sounded puzzled, as though he couldn’t imagine why she would be at the movies at this time of day.

      ‘She needed to get out of the house, Ben. She’s been very down since she came back from New York.’

      ‘Did she tell you what happened?’

      ‘Yes, she did. We’re a very close family. There are no secrets between us.’

      ‘I love your daughter, Ruth. And I mean to marry her.’

      Ruth was taken aback by the fierce determination behind his words.

      ‘In that case, what took you so long to come after her?’ she couldn’t help throwing at him.

      ‘I needed time to change my life so that she would accept my proposal.’

      ‘What do you mean? How have you changed your life?’

      ‘I would rather discuss that with Jess, if you don’t mind. Though, there is something I’d like to ask her father first, if he’s here.’

      ‘Well, yes, he is. He’s working on one of the cars.’

      ‘I’ll be there shortly.’

      When Ben hung up, Ruth just sat there in a total panic. Clearly, Ben meant to ask Joe for Jess’s hand in marriage. What else could it be? She should have warned Ben that he might not get so civil a reception from Joe. He was mad as a hatter with Ben. Alternatively, she could race down to the shed and warn Joe that Ben had come to win Jess over.

      But she’d dithered too long, Ruth realised when she saw a white sedan speed past the office on its way to the shed.

      Joe heard a car pull up outside, but he was underneath one of the limousines when the driver walked in, so all he saw was a clean pair of trainers and some bare legs under cream shorts.

      ‘Are you there, Joe?’ Ben called out.

      Joe’s temper had already flared by the time he slid out from under the limo and stood up to face his visitor. ‘You took your bloody time, didn’t you?’ he snarled. ‘My girl’s been in a right state over you.’

      ‘I’m sorry about that, Joe. To be honest, I was in a right state myself when she turned me down. Took me a day or two to see sense after she left, but then I got to thinking more rationally and I realised she was right. We wouldn’t have been happy living in New York. But it took some time to fix things so that we would be happy.’

      ‘What kind of things?’

      ‘I would prefer to discuss that with Jess first. Let me just say that I think she’ll accept my proposal after I tell her what I’ve done. But I guess there’s no harm in you knowing that I’ve come home to Australia to live. Permanently.’

      Joe was both stunned and relieved. ‘That’s good news, Ben. Really good news. Ruth will be especially thrilled. So you’re going to ask my girl to marry you again, is that it?’

      ‘That’s the plan. But I want to do it right, Joe, so I’m asking you first for your daughter’s hand in marriage. I know that your approval would mean a lot to her.’

      Joe could not have been more pleased. Or more proud.

      ‘You have my full approval, Ben. But I sure hope you haven’t bought the ring yet.’

      Ben’s heart plummeted at this statement. ‘You think she might still say no?’

      ‘Hell, no. But she’ll want to pick the thing herself, if I know my Jess. That’s one strong-minded girl.’

      ‘Tell me about it.’ Ben laughed. ‘Now, I’d better get going.’

      ‘Good luck,’ Joe shouted as Ben made his way back to the car. ‘You’re going to need it!’ he chuckled to himself.

       CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

      NAUSEA SWIRLED IN Ben’s stomach as he headed for Westfield’s and the movie theatre. A lack of confidence was not something he was familiar with. Admittedly, his ego had been brutally crushed by Jess’s refusal to marry him back in New York. He had, in fact, lost a day or two indulging his sorry self in a serious drinking binge, which was most unlike him. But once he’d sobered up, and realised a future without Jess was unthinkable, he’d attacked all the changes necessary to his lifestyle in a very positive state of mind. Not once had he entertained the thought that he would not succeed in winning Jess over.

      But now, suddenly, he wasn’t so sure.

      Maybe, during these last few weeks of silence, Jess had decided that she didn’t love him after all. Maybe it was a case of out of sight, out of mind, rather than absence making the heart grow fonder. Her being ‘in a right state’, as her father had described, could have been her realising that it wasn’t love she’d been suffering from but lust. Maybe she even regretted letting him do the things he’d done to her. Though, damn it, he was sure she’d enjoyed everything at the time. She wasn’t like Amber, just doing what he wanted in the bedroom with an eye on his money. Hell, Jess was nothing like Amber at all. He really had to stop thinking all these negative thoughts. Negativity never achieved anything!

      By the time Ben pulled into the large car park, he’d regained some of his confidence and composure. Once parked, he quickly checked Jess’s mobile; it was still turned off. Climbing out from behind the steering wheel, he locked the car, then hurried into the shopping centre, heading through the food court and stopping at a spot where Jess would have to pass by as she exited the cinema complex.

      * * *

      Jess stood up as soon as the credits started coming up. The movie had been quite

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