by Iris Blobel
Jeri smiled. Of course. She gave her niece a little come with wave and headed towards the kitchen to switch on the kettle. Then she grabbed her phone out of her bag and flicked through the photos.
“With all the fandangle electronics nowadays, she wasn’t able to send you a pic herself?”
That stumped her niece a little. It was obvious, Jeri’d been right. She found a photo of the ring and handed over the phone.
“Oh wow. He did indeed chose well. Don’t you think so?”
Jeri prepared the cups and filled them with water as she said, “Yes, I wholeheartedly agree. Mia is very lucky to have Josh in her life.”
There was silence and when Jeri turned with the two cups, she noticed Olivia staring out of the window. She placed the cups on the table before patting her niece’s hand. “It’ll happen for you one day as well. Good things come to those who wait.”
Olivia moved her head to look at her with her head slightly tilted. “When you met Chris, was that like love at first sight?”
“Do I strike you as someone who believes in love at first sight?”
“You strike me as someone who’s hiding her emotions, too scared to get hurt again.”
Jeri stared at her. “I’m dating.”
Olivia took a sip of her tea before she replied quietly, “I know. And I’ve seen the profile—you’re looking for a safe harbour, not an exciting adventure.”
“Excuse me—”
“Mum agrees.”
“Excuse—”
“Jeri, you know it’s true. So tell me, was Chris love at first sight?”
Completely overwhelmed by not only the question, but also her niece’s insight of her feelings, Jeri found herself absolutely thrown. She had no idea that she’d been such an open book to her two good friends. Struggling with tears, she hoped for a customer to come in. Or any other distraction.
The phone didn’t ring.
The pipes were all fixed.
She didn’t have to go to the ladies.
She stood, walked to the bench, and pulled out a tissue to wipe her nose. “Yes,” she finally whispered. “Yes, Chris was my first love, and yes, it was love at first sight. And yes, I thought we’d live till death do us part.”
“What happened?”
Jeri shrugged. “Life happened. He met someone else.”
“Just like that?”
Shaking her head, she said, “No, not just like that, but close. But it wasn’t all his fault.”
“Will you tell me?”
Jeri’s gaze wandered out the window to the parking lot where only a few weeks ago this gorgeous carpenter had parked his car. “As promised, one day, I will, but not now.”
“Still going on blind dates?”
Jeri snorted. “I’m cured of blind dates.”
“What about Ely?”
She blinked a couple of times as his image appeared in her mind. What about him? Yes, he’d have been her perfect blind date, but so wrong for so many reasons. She turned and met her niece’s gaze. “Well, isn’t he a hunk? And I believe, so is his friend Scott.”
The red cheeks on Olivia’s face told her the whole story, and she stepped closer to sit next to her again. “Spill it, honey.”
Olivia checked the time and said, “I’d better—”
“Ah, that trick doesn’t work with me. You’ll be handcuffed to the table until I have details.”
“Love at first sight?”
Jeri grinned. “You two hit it off at the party?”
Olivia rubbed her eyes. “No. We talked. He’s really nice and I really…I mean really like him. But I haven’t heard from him since.” She looked up. “Am I supposed to make the first move?”
Jeri patted her hand. “Yes,” she said in almost a whisper. “Yes, do it. I still have his invoice to pay. Go and call him and ask him for a copy. Because, oops, I’ve lost the original.”
Olivia giggled. “I can’t do that.”
Jeri stood and took her cup to the sink. “Of course you can. In fact, I’m begging you to do it.” As she walked to the door, she added, “Use the office phone. I’d better go back to the front so I don’t get robbed while having a tea break.”
When Jeri checked the time twenty minutes later, she heard her niece coming to the front with a massive grin covering her face.
“I told you.”
Olivia hugged her. “Thank you. We’re going out on Friday night.”
“My pleasure, honey. So glad it worked.”
Olivia left, and Jeri kept busy with the daily routine at the gallery. It was a never-ending workload and surprisingly, she had a few customers that day.
She locked the front at five in the afternoon, and left half an hour later after doing some work in the office.
As she drove home, she heard the old eighties song “Listen to Your Heart” and sang along. Passing a pizzeria, she parked, and decided it was time for her to go back on the dinner promise she’d made.
Half an hour later, with two pizzas in her hand, she stood in front of Ely’s door, heart racing so fast and hard, she thought she was about to faint.
She'd rung the bell twice already.
Frustration and disappointment grew within her. Tears were about to well up in the back of her eyes when she finally heard footsteps inside. About to ring the bell again, the door opened, with Ely standing there covered with just a towel around his waist. There were still a few droplets of water sliding down his athletic body. The hair was still damp from what she assumed was his shower, and everything inside her screamed at her not to lose her coolness.
She stood straight, held up the two boxes of pizzas and said, "Well, you wouldn't believe me that I was simply postponing the dinner, so here I am. Don't you dare tell me you have other plans."
A grin appeared on his face as he first looked at her then the pizza boxes before meeting her gaze again. "To be frank, I'm too scared."
"Good. May I come in?"
He stepped back and opened the door for her to enter. "I’m picky, though, when it comes—”
Holding up her hand, she said, "I had a feeling you were."
Cocking a brow, he was about to say something, but she continued. "I checked with Olivia, who was more than happy to give Scott a call to find out. All sorted." She started to walk down the hall when she realised she had no idea where she was going. As she turned, she almost bumped into Ely. Trying hard not to blush at the sight of his near naked body, she closed her eyes for a moment, ignoring his chuckle.
“The kitchen is over there. How about I get dressed first and then I’ll check whether there’s anything to drink.”
She wanted to scream no, but nodded yes, too worried her voice would leave her.
Uncomfortably, she checked the cupboards for plates and glasses. Glad to find the cutlery straight away, she cut and served the pizza.
“Not much of a pizza-out-of-the-box person, are you?”
Jeri dropped the knife because of the fright he gave her.
Stepping closer, he observed, “Awfully jumpy, aren’t we?”
“We?”
The grin on his face spread from ear to ear. “You.”
She picked up the knife and stood straight. “Well,” she said and let out a long breath. “It’s been a while since I’ve invited myself to a man’s house. Yes, I do admit I’m a bit jumpy, or as I would call it, nervous.”
Standing right next to her, he whispered into her ear. “Nervous? What do you have in mind?”
His breath on her skin created goosebumps down her neck, with his lips just inches from hers. It was going to be a very long dinner.
* * *
When Ely had opened the door, he’d been again blown away by how good Jeri looked. She wore faded jeans and a light blue jumper, but his gaze had been drawn to her sexy high heels.
He wasn’t sure why Jeri was here, but he wouldn’t dare to question it. He loved her spontaneous visit. And the pizza. She obviously liked him in her own way, he just wasn’t sure how much.
Shaking his head at himself as he headed into his room to get dressed, he let out a little laugh at his pounding heart and moist palms. He had to get hold of his nervousness. True, he was anxious about spending some time alone with Jeri, but it wasn’t the first time he was alone with a woman. Quite the opposite.
Initially, when she’d rung the other day to cancel on him, he’d thought it’d been payback for his no-show at the blind date, but as much as she had a couple of very strong character traits, he didn’t believe she had a vicious bone in her beautiful body.
He looked around for his clothes.
It surprised him how much it all affected him, because out of all the women he’d been with, and there had been a few, he thought Jeri was the one with whom he could be himself. It was a bit like he’d known her so much longer than he had. Her candour had initially been confusing, but he’d soon found out that it was both rooted in honesty, yet a shield she hid behind.
The way she’d rung him on Saturday night, telling him about their encounter with the creepy gallery owner, it still gave him a shiver down his spine just at the thought of the whole scenario.
He shoved his legs into his pants and then paused. Considering the thought in his head. He loved a good flirt, and had done so a bit since leaving Tina, but since Jeri… He wanted more of her than just flirting.
But what was it? He wasn’t sure, yet, about the answer.
A couple of minutes later, he sat in the kitchen, studying her beautiful dark blue eyes, as they ate pizza. He had a beer, and she’d found some white wine in his collection she liked.
“Thanks,” he said.
“That’s okay,” she replied.
“No, thanks for coming by. I like having you here.”
He noticed her cheeks blushing and a smile tugged at his lips.
She wiped her mouth with a serviette, then said, “I’m not really sure why I am here.”
With a shrug, he replied, “You like me.”
Jeri rewarded him with one of her stunning smiles.
Crossing his arms over his chest, he rested his elbows on the table. His gaze never left her face. “Tell me why you called me from Melbourne.”
“You have a way of making a woman uncomfortable.”
He shook his head. “You have a way of avoiding the obvious.”
“And in your opinion, what is the obvious?”
“You like me.”
Jeri placed her knife and fork onto the table. Another thing he liked about her—the disregard to conventionality.
“Yes, I do,” she whispered. “At that moment, I felt like talking to you. Not one of my female friends, who might have had a hysterical fit.” Avoiding his eyes, she continued. “I liked how you listened and calmed me without much effort. But I still believe you’re wasting your time on me.”
“You’re telling me again to look for that special someone?”
With a smile on her face, she gave a simple nod.
“Not happening, now that I’ve met you.”
“Which brings me to the question, why did you agree to Olivia’s idea to meet someone you don’t know?” She took a sip of her drink. “I’ll be gentle, I won’t mention that you never showed up.”
He rolled his eyes, took a sip of his beer before he answered, “Have you ever spent more than an hour with Libby?” He chuckled. “I’m sure she could sell ice to the Eskimos. In the end I said yes to just shut her up.”
Jeri’s soft laugh did something to him which he hadn’t experienced for a long time. He looked at her, studied her face, the very fine lines around her eyes, the distinct laugh lines around her mouth, and the few small freckles that scattered across her nose. He liked the freckles and was surprised he hadn’t noticed them before. He tilted his head slightly to the side, realising she wasn’t wearing any makeup, or only a little.
With a shrug he added, “I never meant to hurt you. I agreed because she’d been hassling me. I honestly had the intentions to come.” Raking his hand through his hair, he said, “In all honesty, I don’t know why I snapped when I heard your age—”
“Which, by the way, we have established, isn’t really my age.”
He shook his head. “Nah. Whether it is or not isn’t the issue. I was arrogant, probably expecting a sexy little bimbo.”
Sitting straight. “I think we have established that I’m sexy as well, haven’t we?”
“Yes, we have,” he replied with a laugh. “Sexy indeed.” Ely reached across the table and took her hand into his. “I’m truly sorry.”
To his surprise, Jeri didn’t move her hand, but kept her gaze on him. “I’m not angry anymore, Ely. I’m well and truly past it.” She shrugged and with a sly grin said, “We made mistakes, you apologised, and we will always wonder what kind of wonderful night we could’ve had, but—”
“There’s always a but, right?”
She gave a slow nod. “I stand by what I’ve said. I’m not right for you.” Jeri moved her hand from underneath his and took another sip of her wine. “And, as we’re talking so frankly here, it reminds me to ask you what kind of favour did you owe Scott to fix my pipes on the drop of the hat?”
With a grin on his face, he leaned back in his chair. “I wouldn’t know where to start.” Clasping his hands behind his head, he said, “You know he’s a distant cousin, don’t you?”
Her beautiful brows shot up. “No, I didn’t.”
He nodded.
“That doesn’t explain the favour.”
“Oh, it does indeed.”
“Georgia is my cousin, and I could not say I owe her a favour just because of that.”
“Sweetheart, we’re talking men here. We do favours. Introduce a girl here, get you out of an icky situation there. A football ticket here for a casual meet of a girl there.”
A stunned look spread across her face and a brief silence passed before he quickly added sheepishly, “I was kidding. I don’t like asking for help in front of a woman only to get shot down. You owe me does the trick. The other person asks later what for or, with a bit of luck, they won’t remember.”
“You are sneaky. You are so—”
“Clever. I’d say clever.”
“Did Scott remember?”
“Unfortunately, he did,” he said with a sigh. “Have a guess how he made it onto the guest list to Olivia’s party.”
The stunned look disappeared from her face and was replaced by a warm smile.
“You’re such a man.”
He smiled. “I most certainly hope so.”
They finished their pizzas and their drinks, talking about their lives, the highs and the lows, their travels as well as their businesses. There were moments when he didn’t hear any of what she was saying, because he was enjoying the sound of her voice, and the way she made him feel.
Comfortable. Relaxed. And she made him laugh as well as enjoying her company.
Moreover, he was sure she was drawn to him as much as he was drawn to her. Her reasoning she wasn’t the right one for him annoyed him.
After a while her yawns were getting more frequent.
“I think it’s time for me to leave,” she whispered later that night and stood.
Ely did, too, came around the table, and stood next to her. Lifting her face, he kissed her, first lightly, then, wrapping his arms around her, he deepened the kiss. To his astonishment, she didn’t pull away.
She broke the kiss and stepped back. “I…I can’t.”
Ely raised a brow, cupping her face. “You mean I deserve someone else.” The words came across harsher than he had intended to, but there was no doubt in his mind about their attraction.
She bit her lips as she nodded. “I’d better go,” she whispered a moment later. Showing her to the door, he knew it was wrong, but he’d rather wait than push her.
“Jeri?”
Placing a finger on his lips, she said, “Trust me.”
And left.
He watched her sliding behind the wheel and driving off down
the street. Having had the best time in months, he felt a sudden sadness rushing through him. And loneliness. Possibly some confusion as well, considering that she’d come over with the pizza, talked with him liked they’d been best buddies for years, and then left. Closing the door, he went back into the kitchen, cleaning up the pizza boxes. Of course, he would’ve liked to kiss her more and longer. He would’ve even understood if she’d been the one who wanted to wait to have sex until a hundred percent sure. Yet, he wasn’t able to understand why she pushed him away despite their attraction. An obvious attraction.
Letting out a long sigh, he headed into his study to get the planner for the next day before heading to bed. Although he knew sleep wouldn’t come easy.
Chapter 9
After seeing Ely every couple of weeks for a few months, Jeri made the hard decision. It was time to cut all ties. She still believed it was better for him. He deserved more. Their time together had always been fun, but the guilt inside crept up each time, and now it was time to let go.
It was Saturday afternoon and Jeri was with Georgia in Launceston for the weekend. Georgia’s husband, Leo, had given her a weekend away in the northern town for a nice dinner out and two tickets to see a musical. Jeri assumed Leo had hoped for his wife to take him with, but she’d also had the impression he hadn’t been too upset when Georgia asked Jeri to come along. Apparently a musical wasn’t really Leo’s idea of spending a wonderful night out.
After enjoying a stroll along a hiking trail through the Cataract Gorge bush, they had a picnic on the lawn near the swimming pool. The gentle warmth of the sun spoilt them and the sound of the water rushing through the gorge relaxed them.
“How are you and Ely going?” Georgia asked after a while.
Everything inside Jeri tensed, and she stilled as her mouth went dry. “There’s no we.”
Her cousin laughed kindly. “Of course there is. You’re just in denial because you’re scared.”
“I’m not scared,” she huffed.
Georgia met her gaze. “Is it because you can’t have children?” she asked, barely audible.
Jeri’s breathing became erratic, and she let out a couple of long breaths to calm herself down. It wasn’t something she wanted to talk about, especially not while she was away for the weekend to relax.