by Simone Jaine
Martha finished the apple juice in her glass and set it on the bench.
“This evening has been an eye-opener in more regards than one,” she said as Mark came back into the room. “You have all obviously put a lot of work into this evening.”
“It was a team effort,” Mark told her. “We wanted the best result we could get for Sachs Wall.”
Behind him Cherie rolled her eyes.
“Well for your efforts I hope everyone has plans to rest tomorrow and we’ll see you all on Monday,” Martha said.
“My sister is still in hospital so I’ll still need to be here until my brother-in-law returns,” Jem reminded her.
Martha patted Jem’s hand.
“Of course. I don’t expect to see you back until you are ready. In fact I’m very impressed that you made the time to assist getting all this done with the extra commitments you’ve have on your plate.”
“I had help,” Jem said as she walked Martha to the door.
Not wanting to miss an opportunity to ingratiate himself, Mark followed.
“How is your sister doing?” Martha asked as she shrugged on her coat.
“She’s still in a lot of pain but is improving. The doctors plan to move her from ICU to a ward in a day or two if she keeps doing well.”
“I bet she can recover easier knowing that her children are being well taken care of,” Martha said.
“I hope so,” said Jem.
“Can I bring your car to the door so you don’t have to be in the cold any longer than necessary?” Mark asked.
“That’s thoughtful of you,” said Martha. “Now, where are my keys?”
They looked on the sideboard near the door where Sam and Crash had laid out the few remaining key rings. Cherie had earlier given them a big tip for their help and they had left shortly after seeing off the last of the clients.
Martha’s distinctive BMW key ring was missing.
“Oh, silly me!” she said. “I forgot. My car’s getting serviced and a few things had to be sorted out so I got a courtesy car from the garage.”
Martha handed a key ring with a blue tag on it to Mark.
“I’m afraid I’ve forgotten what it looks like but if you walk down the road and press the button, the car should beep at you.”
Mark took the key ring, pocketed his own one, smiled and set off down the driveway. Cherie and Eben, the only people left, came to the door to watch.
“I’m going to go too but I have to see this first,” Cherie said as she picked the last key ring off the table.
They watched as Mark raised his hand and pressed the key ring button as he passed cars on the way down the hill. As he came to his car he pressed the button again and the car parked in front of his flashed its headlights and beeped.
His movements were jerky as he opened the door and got in. The car was revved before he did a u-turn and came up the driveway towards the house.
“Whose car is parked behind Mark’s?” Jem wondered aloud.
“I think it belongs to Sam’s parents,” said Eben from behind her as he placed his hands on her shoulders.
“Funny they should park it on the street,” mused Jem.
Beside her Cherie laughed. “He looks mad.”
They waited while Mark turned the car at the top of the driveway so that Martha could drive straight off.
“Thank you all again for your hard work,” Martha said again as she walked over to the car as Mark climbed out of the driver’s seat.
“Sorry about that. Tonight’s drinks must have made me forgetful,” she said as she slipped behind the steering wheel.
But she only drank sparkling apple juice all night, thought Jem.
Martha waved and drove off, leaving Mark standing scowling at them from the other side of the driveway.
“You sabotaged me!” Mark barked at them, his breath a foggy cloud in the cold night air.
“What do you mean? I tried to stop you eating the cat vomit,” Jem yelled back, oblivious to her voice carrying in the night.
Mark threw her a look of pure venom then stalked back down the driveway towards his car while Cherie erupted into laughter beside her.
“He can’t do anything to either of you, can he?” Eben asked as they waved goodbye to a giggling Cherie and closed the front door once she had started her car.
“He can be obnoxious at work but that’s about it,” Jem said as she turned under Eben’s hands and gave him a hug.
“Thanks for everything,” she said.
“So you didn’t mind the thing I arranged for Mark’s car?” Eben asked.
Jem was silent for a moment.
“I’ve had too much to drink tonight and I can’t think clearly. What did you do?”
“While you were all busy after the presentation I visited next door then had Crash and Sam help me rearrange the cars so Mark couldn’t go anywhere.”
“But you couldn’t know that Martha would hang around until the end of the night,” Jem said.
“After I spoke with her I did,” said Eben.
“What did you say to have her agree to that?”
“I told her how I wasn’t happy that Mark had dumped the whole event on you and Cherie and made sure he was unavailable to help out with the preparation. Then I bet her that he would try to leave as soon as the guests did to get out of cleaning up but if I was wrong I’d do her a favour.”
“What did she say to that?”
“She was intrigued,” Eben said as he led Jem to their bedroom and pushed her down onto the end of the bed.
Jem flopped back on the bed with a smile on her face. Eben shed his jacket and swept his hands up her thighs intending to remove her pantyhose. Instead he met bare skin.
“What have we here?” he murmured, changing the subject to one of more interest to him.
“Lace top stay ups,” Jem said.
“I have to see these,” Eben told her and pulled her arms free of her shrug instead.
“Do you want to put the shoes back on?” he asked her, thinking of the sight of her long legs in the heels.
“No,” said Jem. “I’d just have to take them off again.”
“True,” said Eben as he pulled her to a sitting position to better facilitate removing her dress.
He tugged the hem upwards and Jem cooperated by lifting up so he could tug the dress past her waist. She then raised her arms so that Eben could draw the dress over her head. He flung the dress over one shoulder, leaving Jem sitting on the bed wearing her black lacy bra and matching bikini cut brief.
“Very nice,” he said and drew his mouth down to a lace topped thigh.
“Eben, come here,” Jem said.
Eben allowed his face to be brought up as far as her underwear.
“I’m happy where I am,” he murmured against the black lace.
Jem felt his warm breath through her underwear and trembled in anticipation.
“I’m happy where you are too,” she said back to him “but you have too many clothes on.”
She pushed against his shoulders then sat up and removed his cuff links while he undid his belt. Then she stood and undid the buttons on his shirt.
Eben pushed her back on the bed and quickly stripped off the rest of his clothes while Jem pulled back the bed cover and slid between the sheets. He slid in behind her and hugged her to him.
“Now where were we?” he asked.
“Can’t remember,” Jem said playfully as she traced the whorl of his ear with her fingertip.
“This might require an undercover investigation,” said Eben as he lifted the covers and admired her black lacy bra and briefs again. Then he frowned. “You have too many clothes on but don’t worry, I can help with that.”
He burrowed under the covers head first.
“Eben! You’ll suffocate!” Jem exclaimed even as she felt her underwear being drawn down her legs.
“But I’ll die a happy man,” came his muffled response.
Not long afterward Jem thought she was t
he one who had died. Eben’s head poked up above the covers moments later.
“Oh no!” Eben mock exclaimed when he saw her closed eyes and smiling face. “I’ve killed another one.”
He ignored the punch on his arm she gave him.
“Lucky for you I know how to give the kiss of life,” he said as he stretched out over her, all his interesting bits aligning with hers.
This ought to be good, Jem thought.
Eben made sure it more than was.
The next morning Jem awoke to the sound of Jeremy and Daisy fighting outside the bedroom door. She drowsily looked at the clock and saw that it was only a few minutes past seven. It was the first morning since she had been here that she didn’t have to be up for anything.
Why can’t they get up this early without help on a school day?
She looked over at Eben and saw that he was still sound asleep.
Poor baby. I really wore him out.
She smiled, recalling exactly how she had managed that.
In the other room Daisy shrieked and Eben stirred beside her. Reluctantly Jem pushed herself out of bed and slipped her dressing gown on. Catching sight of herself in the mirror she finger brushed her new fringe to cover the patchy blue eyelids showing through the makeup she hadn’t quite got around to removing last night. Leaving the room she quietly closed the bedroom door behind her.
“What’s going on?” she demanded in a low voice.
“Jeremy won’t let me have a turn on the computer,” Daisy complained.
“Have either of you had breakfast or brushed your teeth?” Jem asked.
Jeremy nodded.
“Show me your teeth,” said Jem.
“Uh, I forgot,” said Jeremy. “I’ll do it now.”
“I can’t make breakfast by myself,” Daisy complained.
Jem made Daisy’s breakfast and set up a bowl and spoon on the breakfast bar for when Aidan got up. She considered pouring out cereal and setting aside a small jug of milk to pour over it but could see too many things going wrong.
She set the oven timer for half an hour and when Jeremy returned told them that when it went off it was Daisy’s turn on the computer. She asked them to be quiet because they’d had a late night and wanted to sleep in.
Back in the bedroom Jem hovered at the foot of the bed deciding whether she should just get up because Aidan would soon be awake or whether she could risk lying in a little longer. The sound of someone thumping down the stairs decided for her. She grudgingly headed for the shower.
A few minutes later she was startled when she heard the shower door open behind her and large hands wrapped around her waist.
“I woke up and you were missing,” Eben murmured into her ear.
Jem turned to face him.
“Jeremy and Daisy were fighting so I had to get up to sort them out. I didn’t want them to wake you up.”
“They didn’t. Aidan took care of that.”
Jem grimaced.
“I thought I had enough time to shower before he wanted breakfast. Sorry you were woken up.”
Eben slicked soap over his hands and ran them over Jem’s breasts.
“I’m not sorry,” he said.
“Is the door locked?” asked Jem, feeling a little breathless with the attention she was receiving.
“Oh yeah,” said Eben.
Jem bit her lip in indecision. She did not want them to be interrupted by children wanting things.
“Can we make it a quick one?” she asked.
“Sweetheart I already started without you. You just need to keep up,” Eben murmured and drew her closer for a kiss.
The hardness pressed against her belly confirmed his words.
“I’ll do my best,” Jem murmured back between kisses.
A while later they were seated at the breakfast bar, Jem sipping her hot chocolate, Eben with a mug of coffee in one hand and filling in a Sudoku puzzle with the other.
Jem sat watching his capable fingers use the pen to fill in the squares.
No uncertainty there, Jem thought. When he wants to do something he goes for it. She took a sip of her drink and smiled. That attitude also applies to him with me.
Then she thought of his reputation as the rolling Stone and not staying beyond the conquest.
That subdued her smile.
I won’t care when he moves on, she told herself. It won’t work out anyway. I may be going to Hong Kong and what would he do there? It’s not known for its surfing.
But is that the only way he spends his time?
He’d ducked out a few times during the week and apart from playing spider solitaire she had no idea what he did while she wasn’t around. In fact, despite knowing him for eight years she didn’t really know him at all.
A few questions could help solve that.
“How did you meet Jason?” Jem asked, expecting to hear that they knew each other from school or uni.
“He used to go out with one of my sisters before he met Jess.”
Eben didn’t look up from his puzzle as he answered.
Jem frowned. Jason was about her age and Eben said he had three older sisters.
“Which sister?”
“Uh, Ivy,” Eben answered as he completed a square.
“Is she the one just older than you?” Jem asked.
“No she’s the middle one. Liana is the oldest and Georgina is before me,” Eben said, then smiled. “They thought George was going to be a boy.”
“So how old are you?” Jem asked.
Eben didn’t look as though he wanted to answer.
Why didn’t he want to tell her?
Chapter 19
Jem was about to tell him to forget it when Eben spoke.
“I’m old enough to vote and drink in a pub,” Eben answered as he filled in the final number and finished the puzzle.
His vague answer made her determined to find out even if it meant searching his wallet for his driver’s licence.
“How old are you?” Jem repeated.
He put down the pen and looked at her.
“Don’t worry, I’m legal,” Eben told her. “I’ve even been shaving for several weeks now.”
“Why aren’t you going to tell me how old you are?” Jem asked.
“It’s just a number and doesn’t mean anything,” Eben replied and focussed on aligning his pen with the edge of the puzzle page.
“If it doesn’t mean anything then tell me,” Jem insisted.
Eben mumbled something.
“Pardon? I didn’t quite hear that,” said Jem.
“I’m twenty-six,” Eben mumbled a little louder.
“I’m older than you,” Jem said dumbly.
“I know,” Eben said.
“Really older than you,” Jem expounded. “You were still in primary school while I was at high school. When you were finishing intermediate school I was starting University. I’m a cradle snatcher.”
She thought about their age difference a little longer.
“Oh no! I’m a cougar at thirty-two,” Jem wailed and brought her hands up to cover her face.
Eben grabbed her hands.
“Look at me,” he commanded.
Jem reluctantly opened her eyes. He looked somewhat crossed between amused and annoyed.
“Our age difference is not an issue to me and it shouldn’t matter to you either. Sure, when you were at high school it would have been a big deal but we are both adults so it doesn’t matter now. Since you like numbers then you know that statistically women live longer than men so it works out in the end.”
He brought her hands to his mouth and kissed her fingertips.
“Besides having a younger man is a good thing. We have more stamina,” Eben informed her.
“You get to be the boss because you’re the oldest too,” Daisy piped up as she climbed onto the spare bar stool beside them. She looked at Eben. “What’s stamna?”
Jem withdrew her fingers from Eben’s hands, curious as to how he would answer.
/> “Stamina is energy. Younger people have more energy,” Eben said.
“Does Daddy have more stamna than you?” Daisy asked interestedly.
Eben caught Jem’s amused smile as she waited expectantly for his answer.
“You’d have to get Mummy and Aunty Jem to compare notes to decide the answer to that one,” he said deadpan.
“Oh. Okay. Can we visit Mummy now?” Daisy asked.
Jem glanced at the clock. By the time they got to the hospital visiting hours would have begun. Eben caught her nod.
“Sure. What’s say after that we visit the zoo?” he asked.
There was a loud squeal of agreement from Daisy.
“Hurry up and get ready to go out,” she yelled at Jeremy and Aidan. “We’re going to visit Mummy then we’re going to the zoo!”
By unspoken agreement Eben helped the children get ready while Jem threw leftovers from the party together for a picnic lunch at the zoo.
There was a minor hiccough when they discovered that they couldn’t fit three booster seats in the back of Jem’s hatchback. Eben’s Bluebird had more room so they decided to transfer everything across. He quickly gathered takeaway wrappers and coffee cups from the car floor and stuffed them into a plastic bag found under one of the seats. Eben looked sheepishly at Jem’s amazed expression when she saw the supermarket sized bag full of rubbish in his hand.
“Cleaning the car never found its way to the top of my “to do” list,” he said, feeling mildly defensive.
Jem sauntered over to him and whispered cheekily into his ear “I did.”
Eben grinned.
“That’s because you’re a special case,” he murmured back and kissed her cheek as she turned back to the car seats.
Following her, he found he needed to carry the rubbish bag in front of him while the children were in sight.
When he returned to the garage Jem asked him for air freshener.
“What do you want that for?” he asked.
“Your car stinks like puke,” Jeremy told him.
Eben raised his eyebrows in disbelief.
“The back seat smells like milky coffee which has been around long after its use by date,” Jem explained politely.