by Miranda Lee
She cried all the way to the airport where she had to wait some time before she could get a flight out. Just before she boarded, she sent Ben an explanatory and deeply apologetic text message. She didn’t want him to worry about where she was, but she also didn’t want him to follow her. The plane she caught set down in San Francisco, where she changed planes for the long flight back to Sydney. When she checked her messages, there wasn’t one from Ben.
Jess didn’t sleep much on the plane—she was travelling economy—so by the time she reached Mascot she was very tired and seriously depressed. She caught the bus over to the long-distance car park where she’d left her four-wheel drive, then literally had to force herself to drive home. Fortunately, it wasn’t peak hour in Sydney, so it only took her a couple of hours. Even so, by the time she pulled into the driveway at home, she was totally wrecked.
Her mother must have heard a vehicle pull up outside; the front door was flung open just as Jess staggered up to it.
‘Jess!’ she exclaimed. ‘Good heavens. I didn’t expect it to be you. I was just having morning tea when I heard a car. What are you doing back so soon?’
‘Mum, I can’t talk now. I have to go to bed.’
‘Can you just give me a clue as to what’s happened?’ Ruth asked as she followed her weary daughter up the stairs.
Jess stopped at the top step. ‘If you must know, Ben told me he loved me and wanted to marry me.’
‘He did?’
‘I turned him down.’
‘You turned him down?’ Ruth repeated, somewhat stunned.
‘Mum, he’s too rich. I would have been miserable.’
‘It wouldn’t have been an easy life,’ her mother said, feeling terribly sorry for her obviously heartbroken daughter. But she was proud of her too. Jess had a very sensible head on her shoulders. There weren’t many girls who could turn down a man like Ben.
‘Mum, I have to go to bed,’ Jess said, tears threatening once more.
‘You do that, darling. I’ll go tell your father that you’re home.’
‘What?’ was Joe’s first reaction. ‘She turned him down, did you say?’
‘Yes,’ Ruth said with a sigh.
‘Ben won’t take that lying down,’ Joe said. ‘He’ll come after her.’
‘Do you think so, Joe?’
‘You mark my words. That man’s crazy about our Jess. He’ll be on our doorstep in less than a week.’
But he wasn’t.
A week went by. Then two weeks. Then three.
Still no contact from Ben, either by phone, email or in person.
Joe couldn’t believe it. Ruth wasn’t quite so surprised. Maybe it was a case of out of sight, out of mind. Men, she believed, fell out of love more quickly than women.
On the following Sunday, Ruth did suggest Jess ring him, but this was vehemently rejected.
‘No, Mum, there’s no point. He’s not going to give up his lifestyle for me and I’m not going to give up mine for him. That’s the bottom line. So he’s being sensible, not contacting me. It would only delay the inevitable. And make it even harder for me to move on.’
‘But you’re not moving on,’ Ruth pointed out, frustrated. ‘You’re not even sewing any more!’
‘Give me time, Mum. It’s not even been a month.’
It had been, in fact, three weeks, four days and five hours since she’d last seen Ben, Jess thought bleakly. And even longer since she’d slept in his arms. Which she had the night before the funeral. It had been quite wonderful to have Ben make love to her, face to face, then to fall asleep with her head on his chest and her arms around him. She would remember the way that had felt for ever.
That Sunday night, Jess dreamt a futile dream where she and Ben got married somewhere overlooking a beach. An Australian beach. Shelley Beach, she recognised after she woke. It was an upsetting dream because that was only what it would ever be. A stupid dream! God, was she ever going to get over that man? Maybe she should have said yes and been miserable in New York, for this was just as bad, living life without him. Maybe worse!
She 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 funny in parts. She’d managed to laugh once or twice. But the moment she exited the cinema her depression returned. What on earth was she going to do? Sit and have a coffee, she supposed wearily. No way was she going home yet. It was only just three.
She wandered slowly along the carpeted hallway which separated the numerous theatres, her blank eyes not registering the few people who passed her. Monday afternoon—especially on a warm spring day—was not rush hour at the movies. She did not bother to look at the advertisement posters on the walls like she usually did, not caring what blockbuster movies were about to hit the screens. Her mind was filled with nothing but one subject. She’d almost reached the food court just outside the cinema when someone called her name.
Her eyes cleared and there he was, standing right in front of her.
‘Oh, my God,’ was all she could say. ‘Ben.’
When he smiled at her, she almost burst into tears. But she caught herself in time.
‘What are you doing here?’ she said, her sharp tone a cover for her confusion. She wanted to believe that he’d come for her, but it seemed too good to be true. And yet here he was, looking as handsome as ever.
‘Your mother said you were at the movies. So I came and waited for you to come out.’
‘You rang my mother?’
‘I tried your mobile first, but it was turned off, so I rang Murphy’s Hire Car and your mum answered.’
‘Oh…’
‘Is that all you’ve got to say?’
‘Yes. No. What do you expect me to say? I’m in shock. I mean, you haven’t rung or texted me at all. I thought you were finished with me.’
‘It was you who finished with me, Jess.’
Her grimace carried true pain. ‘I did what I thought was right. For both of us. So why have you come, Ben? Please don’t ask me to go back to New York with you and marry you. That would just be cruel. I gave you my reasons for saying no and they haven’t changed.’
‘But you’re wrong there, Jess. Lots of things have changed.’
‘Not really. You’re probably richer than ever now.’ Hadn’t she read somewhere that billionaires earned thousands of dollars a day from their many and varied investments? Or was it thousands every minute?
‘What say we go have a coffee somewhere a little more private and I’ll explain further?’
‘There is nowhere here more private,’ Jess said, waving at the open-plan and rather busy food court. People might not be flocking to the movies on a Monday but, since October had tipped into November, Christmas shopping had begun.
‘I seem to recall there was a small coffee shop down that way on the right,’ Ben said. ‘Come on, let’s go there.’
Jess didn’t say a word as he led her away. She was still trying to work out what could possibly have changed.
The café he was referring to was half-empty with tables and booths to choose from. Ben steered her to the furthest booth where a sign on the back wall said you had to order at the counter.
‘Would you like something to eat with your coffee?’ he asked.
‘No thanks.’
‘Fine. What would you like? Flat white? Latte? A cappuccino?’
‘A flat white,’ she answered. ‘No sugar.’
‘Right.’
Jess tried not to ogle him as he got their coffee, but he looked utterly gorgeous in cream cargo shorts and a black polo shirt. His hair had grown a bit, she noted. It suited him longer. But then, he’d look good no matter what he wore or how long he grew his hair. Fate was very cruel to have her fall in love with a man with so many temptations.
As Jess waited for him to come back with the coffee, she tried to get her head around him suddenly showing up like this. Obviously he thought he could get her to change her mind. And maybe he was right. She’d been so miserable. And she’d missed him so much. Missed his love-making as well. Seeing him again reminded her of what an exciting lover he was. Exciting and dangerous and downright irresistible!
In the end, she looked down at where her hands were twisting nervously in her lap, not glancing up till he put her coffee in front of her, then sat down with his.
‘Thank you,’ she said politely, not really wanting coffee at all. Her stomach was in a mess. But she picked it up and had a small sip before putting it back down again. ‘Now, would you mind telling me what’s going on?’
He looked deep into her eyes. ‘What’s going on is that I still love you, Jess. And, yes, I still want to marry you.’
Oh, God, he was cruel.
‘I don’t doubt that, Ben, since you’re here,’ she replied. ‘But sometimes love isn’t enough.’
> He reached over and touched her on the hand. ‘You might change your mind on that when you hear what my love for you has achieved.’
It was hard for Jess to think straight when he was touching her. ‘What are you talking about?’
‘Well, first of all, I’ve come home to Australia to live.’
Her heart leapt. ‘You have?’
‘Yep. I knew you would never live with me in New York so I quit my job, then sold my majority interest in Dad’s company to his partners.’
Jess just stared at him.
‘After that, I used the money from the sale to set up a charity trust fund that gives financial assistance to people affected by natural disasters. We do seem to have a lot of them nowadays. Dad always gave lots of money to whatever disaster relief effort was going on, but he often worried if the money actually made it to where it was meant to go. I took this on board, so I’m the CEO of the fund. I decide when and where the money goes. The capital is safely invested so it should last for yonks. I don’t take a salary or expenses myself, but I had to employ a couple of professional charity workers to oversee the day-to-day transactions and they do get paid. Other than that, all the money earned by the trust will go where it should go.’
Jess could only shake her head at him. ‘You gave all your money away to charity?’
‘Not all of it. Just what I inherited from the sale of Dad’s company. Which, admittedly, was the majority of his estate. I still have his cash account—which was considerable—plus the money from the sale of his real-estate assets. When they’re finally sold, that is. This includes his furnished apartment in New York and another one in Paris. They should bring in about twenty to thirty million each. If you include all the artwork he invested in over the years, you can add several more million. Though, I might donate them to various museums around the world. Yeah, I think I’ll do that. The upshot is I’m still a multi-millionaire, Jess. Just not a billionaire. I knew you wouldn’t marry a billionaire, but there’s nothing attractive about poverty either.’
Jess’s shock was beginning to change to wonder. ‘You did all that for me?’
‘The strange thing is, Jess, even though I initially gave away most of my money to win you back, after I actually did it, it felt good. Very good. They say there’s more pleasure in giving than receiving and they’re darned right. Anyway, as you can imagine, all that organising takes some considerable time, even when you’re doing your own legal work. Which is why it took me this long to get here. I still might have to fly back occasionally, to attend to fund business, but Australia will be my permanent home from now on. It has to be, since I’m going to have an Australian wife. One whom I can’t bear to live without.’
