Jet let herself be drawn into the easy banter. She listened over lunch as Dan shared his opinions on wine and running a vineyard in the Hunter Valley. She even offered suggestions about the growing events side of the business, as if the role was real to her instead of a pretend cover for a life she’d been forced to take on.
By dessert, the combination of good food and wine had relaxed Jet to a point she hadn’t experienced in recent days. It was the good company, too. Dan was an easy companion, but it was more than that. She identified with the spark she saw in him, the light that would come into his eyes when he discussed his plans for the vineyard and the new range of wines he was working on. She understood it. The desire to build something, to create something new, that entrepreneurial urge that existed in him, because it existed in her too.
She missed her business. Her staff, the office, the thrill of securing a new event, and as egotistical as it sounded, the fact that it was her name associated with a successful event. She had built and achieved a reputation in Sydney, and now she was here, laughing with a stranger about his business. Not hers.
‘What did I say?’ Dan asked.
‘Nothing.’
The look Dan gave her almost made her laugh. The man was not scared of tackling the truth head on. Andrew had been the opposite. He’d skirt around things, strategise, and make the next move like he was engaged in a game he wasn’t prepared to lose.
Jet sighed. Perhaps a bit of honesty couldn’t hurt? ‘If you must know, I miss my business.’
Dan put his glass of wine down and leaned forward. ‘What happened to it when you left?’
‘I have a really good team of staff. I appointed one of them as director before I left.’ It wasn’t entirely a lie. Jayde was her second-in-charge and would run Temple Events expertly until she could return.
‘So you still own it?’
‘Yes.’
Dan nodded, like that was something he understood. ‘Being an employee isn’t all bad. You can have a break from the financials and the pressures of running a business for a while.’
‘I actually quite enjoy that side of things,’ Jet admitted.
‘Then maybe you’ll start another business.’
Jet found herself smiling. She’d been doing a lot of that during the last hour or so. ‘Surely that’s not something I should be discussing with my employer?’
‘I’m not your employer. Dad is. You’re in a period of transition, anyone can see that.’
‘You say that like you don’t think I’ll stick around.’ She had no idea why she said it. Rhodes Wines was temporary, so what game was she playing? Was she trying to trick Dan into thinking she was sincere? If so, she hated herself for the duplicity.
‘Will you?’
‘I ...’ Jet glanced out the window, determined to be as honest as possible with this genuine man. ‘I’d like to own another business one day.’
Dan nodded and looked satisfied. ‘There you go. Nothing to be ashamed of. In the meantime, make the most of working with us and we’ll take advantage of someone with your experience while we can get it.’
‘You’re not upset?’
‘Upset? Why?’
Jet reached for her glass, but didn’t raise it to her lips. ‘I’ve basically told you Rhodes Wines isn’t where I want to be.’
‘Long-term. Medium to short-term is fine by me, and for my dad obviously. I’d rather you were honest from the start, than leading us to believe you were something you’re not.’
Jet tasted the remnants of the main course and rich red wine they’d shared, and swallowed it back down. ‘I’m sorry.’ And she was, because Dan didn’t know just how much truth his words held.
‘You have nothing to be sorry for. You’ve left behind a business and a relationship, you’re in a new country and you’re figuring out what to do next. You’re not using us, Jet. Using us would be giving us the impression Rhodes Wines is somewhere you’d want to be for life and then turning your back on us.’
Jet frowned. There was a bitterness to his last words she didn’t quite understand, and why would he use the term ‘for life’ when talking about a job? Most employees moved on eventually. Had someone treated them badly in the past or perhaps they’d had a business partner of some sort who didn’t work out?
Whatever it was, Jet didn’t get the chance to ask because Liz returned to their table to collect their dessert plates. They complimented her on the meal and the wine—although Dan pretended it pained him to do so.
Liz laughed but when her gaze fell on Jet again, it turned thoughtful. ‘I think I know who you remind me of now.’
‘Oh?’ The sudden fear constricting her chest made it difficult to get that one word out.
‘Yeah,’ Liz said. ‘I’m struggling to remember her name, but you know that stunning woman who’s married to Neil Temple’s son? What’s his name?’
Jet shook her head back and forth, pretending not to know what she was talking about, panic rising in her throat.
‘Andrew Temple? The media guy?’ Dan interjected, not taking his eyes from Jet.
Liz pointed at Dan. ‘Yes! That’s him. His wife. What’s her name? She’s gorgeous. Just like Jet, but you hardly ever see photos of her. God knows why. If I looked that pretty, I’d be swanning around Sydney showing off for the cameras.’
The sound of the glass smashing on the marble floor brought a hush over the restaurant. Jet jumped from her chair, the angry squeal it made as she pushed it backwards piercing the silence.
‘I’m so sorry,’ Jet said, feeling dizzy as the blood fought to catch up with her head. ‘I’m so clumsy. I must have had too much to drink.’
Liz rushed toward her. ‘Forget about that. Your trousers have red wine all over them.’
Jet glanced down at her pants and felt a sudden, irrational stab of delight at her ruined clothing.
Liz waved her hand at Jet, not waiting for her to respond. ‘Go on. Go to the bathroom and clean yourself up. We’ll take care of this.’
Jet shot Liz a grateful smile and rushed to the bathroom, not looking back.
Chapter Ten
Jet was quiet on the drive back to the estate and Dan gave her the space she obviously needed. When they pulled up, Jet excused herself so she could change into fresh clothes and Dan didn’t say anything as he watched her go.
The gravel crunched underneath his feet as he made his way to the entrance to the barn. Once inside, he didn’t stop to think and walked straight to his father’s office.
Marty looked up as he entered. ‘How was lunch?’
‘Great,’ Dan said casually, then added, ‘until Liz, the restaurant manager, claimed she recognised Jet and Jet threw a glass of wine all over herself and the floor.’
Marty sat back in his seat. ‘I don’t understand.’
Dan sat in the chair opposite his father and crossed his arms. ‘Apparently Jet looks a lot like Andrew Temple’s wife. I haven’t had a chance to Google her and I don’t know her name or what she looks like, but Liz seemed convinced.’
Marty blinked, then released a sigh. ‘The woman you’re talking about is Juliet Temple. And yes, I suppose she does look a lot like Jet.’
‘So they’re two different people?’ Dan asked, the accusation tasting sour on his tongue. He couldn’t believe he was even asking, but he needed to put his mind at ease.
Marty frowned slightly. ‘We’ve employed Jet Appleton, not Juliet Temple.’
Dan uncrossed his arms, relieved but still confused. ‘You should have seen the way Jet reacted today. She was a mess.’
‘Jet could be a mess for other reasons,’ Marty pointed out.
‘But not because she’s Juliet Temple?’
Marty straightened in his seat and gave Dan a firm look. ‘I employed Jet Appleton.’
Dan immediately felt guilty for second guessing his father and rose from his chair. ‘I know you’ve never lied to me before, Dad. It’s just really strange, that’s all. What about Mum? What does she think abou
t Jet?’
‘She likes Jet and agrees that she’s a good events manager for Rhodes Wines.’
Dan took a step back, feeling off balance. Had he got it wrong? Was Jet’s reaction today in the restaurant coincidental? Was she upset about something else and he’d misread the situation completely?
‘And what do you think about Jet?’ Dan persisted, trying to make sense of it all.
‘I hired her. I’d say that gives you a good idea of my opinion.’
‘But what about her personally? Doesn’t she seem a bit fragile to you?’
Marty sighed again. ‘As I said when she first arrived, go easy on her. I don’t grill potential employees on their personal lives, but from what I can tell, she’s a damn fine events planner who needs some extra space right now. Give her that, and I’m sure she’ll do just fine.’
Dan nodded and turned to go, but paused in the doorway. ‘Maybe it’s just that she acts like she’s two different people, you know? One minute she’s got this great sense of humour and is intelligent and good at her job, and the next she’s like this whole other person. Withdrawn and jumpy. It’s really strange.’
‘Give her some space and time,’ Marty advised.
‘I don't know if she’s going to work out,’ Dan said honestly.
‘She may not. Let’s just see how it goes. She was too good on paper to pass up.’
‘What about her references?’
‘Glowing.’
Dan nodded again. ‘Alright, Dad. I trust you.’
***
Marty watched his son leave. When Dan was gone, Marty pushed away from his desk and turned to look out the window so he could survey the estate. Over the last twenty years, he and Cynthia had grown the vineyard and built it into a well-recognised Australian brand. Now it was gaining recognition internationally, too.
He’d given up everything to come here. He’d had a successful career in the police force and achieved the rank of detective superintendent. He was working on cases that interested him, making arrests and, as clichéd as it sounded, making a difference.
Then he’d been shot.
It was stupid that it had changed everything, but it had. You didn’t go through the ranks of the police force thinking you were indestructible. There was too much senseless violence and tragedy for that. Until that point, the thirst for the work had outweighed the risks though, at least in his mind.
But having his young wife and son standing by his bedside, pale faced and stricken, something in him had shifted. Cynthia had just suffered her fourth miscarriage after having Dan. He’d thought she was coping, or he’d fooled himself into thinking she was coping, using the demands of the job as an escape from his problems at home.
At that point he’d understood the situation with perfect clarity: he was at risk of losing his wife and son, just as they were at risk of losing him.
So a month later he’d given it up. It hadn’t been easy, but he loved his wife and son more. It took him several years before the yearning to be on a case abated. By then, his wife was the woman he remembered marrying, enthusiastic and full of life, splitting her time between looking after Dan and the business. And for the first time, he was the father he never knew he could be.
Looking back now, he deeply regretted those first ten years of Dan’s life. While he’d been making a difference in society, he’d neglected the young man he’d had at home. It was to Cynthia’s credit that Dan became the well-adjusted teenager he matured into, and nothing to do with him.
Things had changed since then though. Father and son now had a strong bond and while Marty had never pushed Dan into the winery business, it satisfied him greatly that’s where Dan’s heart had led him.
Dan now trusted him intrinsically, so what was he doing lying to him about Jet? Juliet. It was only a matter of time until Dan googled Juliet and saw the resemblance, but at this stage, Marty would continue to talk around the truth.
It took him back to that time when he would deliberately hide details of his working life from his wife, or had been unable to discuss them due to the requirements of the job.
Now he had a choice, or at least he thought he had until Gordon had called him. They didn’t keep in contact a great deal, only spoke a few times a year, saw each other even less. To others it was a seemingly distant connection. Two men who had served on the force together at one time over twenty years ago. To the two men involved it was a connection that ran taut between them, unbreakable through the years because of the debt one man owed the other for saving his life.
His last lie to Cynthia had been regarding that debt. Gordon had saved his life that night. A quick thinking manoeuvre that had knocked the gunman’s shot off centre and landed the bullet in his shoulder instead of his chest. His wife believed his injury to be unlucky. He knew it to be the luckiest moment of his life.
So now when Gordon called him up and asked a favour, Marty didn’t hesitate. Not if it meant lying to his wife, his son or to himself. Jet’s life was at stake. Not even she knew the full extent of it and Gordon was being very careful in the details he was sharing. Meanwhile, Marty was older and rusty around the edges, but his instinct to protect was still strong.
Time hadn’t changed his ability to recognise a victim, and Jet was clearly one. Traumatised, changeable, uncertain—she was all of those things, and a lot more. Marty had taught himself early in the job to look past the trauma to see a victim’s strengths. It gave him something to fight for, and instead of pitying them, he would champion them.
Much as he was doing for Jet now. To him, she was Jet Appleton. A competent, intelligent young woman who had a bright future ahead of her. For a time he could offer her a safe haven, until she had gathered the strength she needed.
His lies were also to protect his family. If Dan or Cynthia knew, it would make them vulnerable and it was better if he was the only point of weakness. Eventually he would share the truth with them. For now, however, it was his job to protect.
With that in mind, he turned away from the window and picked up the phone to call the Commissioner.
Chapter Eleven
‘I don’t know why I agreed to this,’ he said, even though he did know.
Edie’s carefully outlined dark eyes met Andrew’s, then returned to the row of flashing lights.
‘Relax, Andrew,’ she said through an overdone smile that wouldn’t look overdone on the pages of the gossip magazines.
‘I thought we were supposed to hate each other,’ he said through his own smile. It felt forced. He was used to the constant attention but smiling for the cameras felt like an effort at the moment. For someone like Edie, whose acting prowess transformed her into whoever she needed to be in the blink of an eye, it came naturally.
‘Hate’s a strong word, handsome. Consider it my way of keeping an eye on you.’ Edie raised a palm and waved to the crowd forming beyond the cameras, her diamond encrusted Givenchy gown sparkling like it was winking at them.
Edie wasn’t afraid to be noticed and usually wore an array of bright colours, but tonight she’d chosen a fitted black gown. Andrew liked it. The effect was sophisticated and elegant, qualities he associated with his ex-wife rather than her best friend. He wasn’t sure if it was for his benefit or in solidarity to Juliet.
‘On second thoughts, don’t smile,’ Edie instructed. ‘It doesn’t suit you.’
Andrew felt himself start to grimace but caught himself.
‘That’s a bit better, even if you do look constipated.’
Andrew’s eyes widened and he abruptly turned them both away from the cameras, directing them to walk inside.
Edie squirmed in the tight grip he had around her waist. ‘Jesus, Andrew. Relax. Hasn’t anyone ever made fun of you before?’
He reflected on that as they made their way inside to the ballroom. Juliet’s teasing had never been quite so obvious. She had a great sense of humour but a way of poking fun at Andrew that was dangerously passive at times. He found he didn’t mind the contrast
of Edie’s direct sarcasm.
They greeted lots of familiar faces as they walked hand in hand. He hated attending these celebrity events. Tonight it was the Logies, an annual awards ceremony celebrating Australian television. He couldn’t exactly get out of it though, with the Temple name so firmly entrenched in the Australian media industry, and Edie knew it, which was why she’d rung to suggest they attend together.
His first instinct had been to decline. Andrew didn’t take kindly to being pursued and, far be it for him to develop morals at this late stage, it felt disloyal to Juliet. But after twenty-four hours he’d reconsidered. It had been a long time since Andrew had been seen in public with a woman, and being seen with Edie had its advantages. Despite not particularly liking her, she was well-known and beautiful, with a career that was going places. He very much doubted Juliet would care, and a perverse part of him wanted him to see if she did—wherever she was. It was that sort of childishness on his part that had resulted in their divorce in the first place, but he couldn’t help himself. Andrew would do almost anything to get a rise out of Juliet.
They were the first to their table, much to Edie’s exasperation. He knew she would have preferred to be mingling with the other guests but he didn’t have the stomach for it right now. Once they were seated, he pulled out his phone and checked it.
‘Still nothing?’ Edie’s voice softened in sympathy.
‘No. And you definitely haven’t heard from her?’ He already knew what the answer would be, but couldn’t help asking, anyway.
‘Nothing. You’d be the first to know if I do.’
‘Good.’
Edie rested a hand on his arm. Tonight the suit felt too hot and prickly, and he couldn’t wait to take it off. For a split second he imagined Edie slipping her petite hand underneath his suit jacket and trailing her fingers down his chest, but he shook the thought away. He’d be stupid to go there. It was one thing to attend an event with Edie, another thing entirely to sleep with her, and Juliet already hated him enough. As intriguing as Edie was, she wasn’t his type. The actress in her made her too emotional and flighty. He was just tense and in need of a release.
Don't Let Me Forget Page 7
