presume Dad’s in the shed working on that blue Cadillac?’
‘Yes, the seats finally came yesterday. He’s been working on them all day.’
‘I think I should take Ben out to meet Dad before the others get here, don’t you?’
‘Oh, but I just put the kettle on for a cup of tea. Ben says he likes tea more than coffee. Same as me.’
‘We won’t be long, Mum,’ she said, then gave Ben a look which brooked no protest.
He slid off the stool and followed her back down the hallway and out of the front door.
‘You are bossy and controlling,’ he said as she marched in the direction of the shed with him in her wake.
‘And you’re a serial charmer,’ she snapped.
He laughed. ‘Better than being a serial killer.’
‘I suggest you curtail that silver tongue of yours with my sisters-in-law. The Murphy men are known to be extremely jealous.’
‘What about the Murphy women?’ he threw at her.
‘Them too. So watch yourself.’
‘I like your being jealous.’
‘Of course you do. It suits your male ego, which is insufferably large.’
‘So will something else be if you keep that up. I get turned on by feisty women.’
She gave up at that point, throwing her hands up in the air in defeat.
She was glad that her father chose that moment to walk out of the shed, wiping his hands on a towel as he did so.
‘I thought I heard someone,’ he said, coming forward. ‘You must be Ben,’ he said, and held out his hand.
Ben shook it, thinking that this was where Jess got her striking looks. Joe Murphy was one handsome fellow, with thick black hair sprinkled liberally with grey and the deepest, darkest brown eyes, which at that moment were surveying him with considerable thoughtfulness.
‘So, how did your weekend go?’ he asked Ben, not Jess. ‘The wedding go off okay in the end?’
‘It was close to perfect,’ Ben said. ‘Jess here was marvellous, the way she stepped in. You heard about what happened, did you?’
‘Oh yes, Ruth told me all about it. Look, I just have to finish a job here and I’ll be over to clean up and get the barbecue ready. You ever cook on a barbecue, Ben?’
‘Lots of times,’ he said. ‘I was brought up here in Australia.’
‘No kidding; I didn’t know that. So that’s how your best friend turned out to be Australian.’
‘Yep,’ Ben said, sounding more Ocker by the minute. ‘We went to school together in Sydney.’
‘Fancy that.’
‘So, what’s this job you’re doing, Mr Murphy? Can I help?’
‘I doubt it. I’m just putting some new seats into an old Cadillac convertible I bought. The kids like to hire cars like that for their graduation night.’
‘My dad collected vintage cars at one stage. Which model Cadillac is it?’
Jess could not believe it when they went off together, talking cars. Spluttering, she whirled and stormed back to the house, only just managing to have her exasperation under control by the time she reached the kitchen.
‘Where’s Ben?’ her mother asked straight away.
‘Helping Dad with the Cadillac, would you believe? I’ll have tea, though, if you’re making it.’
‘Can you get it yourself, dear? I really need to go spruce myself up a bit. I can’t wear this old thing when we have a guest like Ben.’
‘He’s just a man, Mum, not some movie star.’
‘Well, he looks like a movie star. I know you said he was handsome, Jess, but he’s beyond handsome, with that smile and those eyes. I’ve never met a man quite like him. I dare say you haven’t either. He makes Colin look very ordinary. And I thought he was good-looking.’
When Jess sighed, her mother gave her a sharp look.
‘Did something happen with Ben over the weekend that I should know about?’
Jess kept a straight face with difficulty. ‘Like what?’
‘You know what, girlie.’
‘I think, Mum, that my sex life is my private business, don’t you?’
Her mother looked at her for a long moment before smiling an understanding smile. ‘Of course it is. You’re a grown woman. But let me just say that I don’t blame you, love. If I were thirty years younger I would have done exactly the same thing.’
Jess stared after her mother as she walked off. She’d been expecting the third degree, or disapproval, or something! She certainly hadn’t expected her mother’s reaction to Ben to be so blindly approving. Couldn’t she see that her daughter’s leaping into bed with such a man was fraught with danger to her happiness? She should have been warning her off him, not saying she would have done exactly the same thing!
Jess sighed. The man was a devil all right. With way too much sex appeal. And way too much charm. Even her father liked him. No doubt her whole family would fall under his spell in no time flat.
Still, if they did, she would at least be able to relax a bit and enjoy the barbecue instead of being on tenterhooks all the time. This last weekend might have been exciting but it hadn’t exactly been relaxing!
BEN WAS HELPING Joe with the barbecue when Jess joined them, a huge black-and-white cat in her arms.
‘You haven’t been plying Ben with too much beer, have you, Dad?’ Jess said in a teasing but loving voice which Ben could never imagine using with his own father. Or his mother, for that matter. He’d thought he had a good relationship with both his parents but seeing Jess interacting with her parents was a real eye-opener.
So was her interaction with the rest of her family. She was so warm with them, caring and considerate, asking after their well-being when they arrived with real interest, not just giving lip-service. He could see how much they loved her back as well. The children had flocked around her, vying for her attention. Even the damned cat loved her, yet he’d been warned by Joe not to touch Lazarus, as he was known to scratch. When he’d commented on the cat’s name, he’d been told that Lazarus had been stillborn but Jess had resurrected him with the kiss of life.
Ben didn’t doubt it. She was a girl of many talents, and a wealth of stubbornness. He still could not believe she’d refused to come to New York with him. But he had no intention of giving up on that score.
‘The boys want Ben to go play cricket with them and the kids,’ Jess said. ‘I’ll take over for him here,’ she offered before dropping the cat gently onto the paved pergola which stretched across the back of the Murphy house.
‘Can you play cricket?’ Joe asked as Jess took the fork Ben had been using to turn the steak and sausages. ‘I gather it’s not a popular sport in America.’
Ben grinned. Could he play cricket or what? He’d been captain of his school’s A-grade cricket team. But best not mention that. That would be bragging.
‘Don’t forget, Joe,’ he replied, still smiling. ‘I went to an Australian school. A boy’s boarding school, where sport was compulsory. We played footie in winter and cricket in summer.’
‘Right. Off you go, then. Just don’t go hitting the ball into that thick bush over there. Can’t count the number