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‘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!
CHAPTER TWENTY
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.’
