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‘Yes, poor Jasper took it very hard when Elisha died. Ovarian cancer.’
‘Cancer in someone so young is never easy to deal with.’ Jennifer’s tone was quiet yet even she could hear the pain in her own voice. It didn’t seem like eight years since Arturo had died, also of cancer, but it was, and still Jennifer felt the pain of his loss every single day. Thankfully, though, she had a very high-powered job and it was work that had kept her going. Work and Sara’s continuing friendship, which meant the world to her.
‘Anyway…’ Jennifer shook her head and pasted on a bright smile. ‘The girls are lovely and Jasper should be really proud of himself.’
Sara agreed. ‘I think he is. He knows how lucky he is.’
‘Where does he work?’
Sara stared at her for a moment, then quickly said, ‘Oh, no. I didn’t turn the oven on.’ She brushed the flour from her hands and quickly turned the oven on low. ‘The twins are so distracting sometimes. Absolutely gorgeous but distracting.’ She returned her attention to cleaning up her kitchen. ‘Looking forward to starting your new job on Monday?’
Jennifer shrugged, a little curious as to why Sara hadn’t answered her question. What was it about Jasper that was so secret? Was he a spy? Was he in the armed forces? Perhaps that was the case and given that Jennifer’s own parents had been military personnel, moving around for most of her younger life, Sara hadn’t wanted to mention it in case it upset her. She pushed the thoughts away. It didn’t really matter and Sara was obviously waiting for an answer to her question. ‘Yes and no.’
‘That doesn’t sound too good.’
‘It’s just apprehension and nerves. New hospital. New staff. New department.’
‘Which you’re in charge of. I thought you would have been happy to go back to your old hospital.’
‘I am. Sort of. I just really want to do well as head of department. I’ve been working towards it for so long.’
‘You’ll settle in fast enough. Make some new friends. You’ll be fine.’
‘I don’t think so.’
‘Let me guess. The boss doesn’t make friends easily?’
‘I don’t make friends easily,’ Jennifer retorted. ‘Being the boss just gives me that extra edge where people leave me alone.’
Sara washed her hands then turned to look at her friend. ‘Is that what you really want? To come back to Parramatta and not make any new friends? To have everyone leave you alone like a princess locked in a tower?’
Jennifer shrugged and sighed. Was it? She’d told herself that this move back to Parramatta where she would start the job she’d been working towards for the past eight years was a fresh start. The problem was, she wasn’t quite sure how fresh starts worked.
CHAPTER ONE
JASPER EDWARDS quickly packed his briefcase with a huge pile of papers, glad the amount would be drastically decreased after today. It was almost six-thirty in the morning and he needed to be leaving soon. He’d been up for at least an hour because Lola had been sneezing and coughing during the night. With the weather being so cold, it wasn’t uncommon. The problem was that when one child got sick, the other usually followed suit. He made a mental note to watch Lilly for the first signs of the cold during the next few days.
‘Feeling better, buttercup?’ he asked as he brushed a hand over her blonde ringlets and kissed her cheek, glad her eyes didn’t look so glassy this morning. At her nod, he scooped her up. ‘Come on. Let’s go wake Grandma and Grandpa. Daddy’s got to be at the hospital early this morning.’
‘Why?’ Lola asked.
‘Because the new boss is starting today.’
‘Why?’ Lilly chimed in, holding out her hands for her father to pick her up as well.
‘Because she is.’ Jasper balanced them.
‘Why?’ Lola asked.
‘Because Daddy didn’t want the job.’
‘Why?’ It was Lilly’s turn again and Jasper couldn’t keep his lips from twitching at their tag-team act.
‘Because Daddy wants to spend more time with his gorgeous girls, that’s why.’
‘Why?’ both of them asked together.
‘Because Daddy loves you both.’ He tickled their tummies and was rewarded with giggles from both, followed by coughing from Lola. They wrapped their arms about his neck and held on as he carried them through the ground floor of his house.
‘Be the giant, Daddy. Be the giant.’ Lilly demanded.
‘Yeah. I love the giant,’ Lola agreed.
‘I love him, too,’ Lilly added.
Knowing it would speed things up to acquiesce rather than argue, Jasper hunched his shoulders a little, maintaining his firm hold on each child. ‘Grrroooowwwlll. I’m the great big giant from the land of Giganticor.’ Jasper’s voice was deeper than usual, making both girls giggle again, their arms tightening with excitement about his neck as he crashed his way noisily up the stairs. ‘I’m here to give yummy little girls a ride to the land of Grandparents. Are you both comfortable?’
