The Innimincka Affair
Page 22
Suddenly waiters swooped on their table, the Prosecco was whisked away along with the glasses.
"Scusi scusi." Murmured the head waiter. "For your enjoyment, compliments of the house."
A glittering silver ice bucket, beads of cold condensation on the outside containing a dark green bottle of Dom Perignon appeared on the table along with two lovely Champagne flutes. They were quickly and expertly filled.
With a murmured "Enjoy." He backed away and was gone.
Rebecca and Cooper looked at each other and they both smiled, Rebecca giggling a little. She toasted her glass toward Cooper.
"Cheers." She said. Thinking how Australian that sounded.
The waiter appeared with note pad ready to take their order. Suddenly Rebecca was starving. She realised it had been hours, days even since she had eaten. They both ordered and the waiter left. Cooper leaned forward.
"Now, where shall we set up home? Of course you keep your apartment. You will need that when working in London, but I've a mind that something in the country would be nice. What do you think?" He sat back for a moment. Waiting for Rebecca to take it all in. He was worried that he may have said too much in one sentence.
"In the country? Where in the country?" She had visions of some ancient farm house in the wilds of rural England. Cooper pulled a magazine page from his hip pocket.
"Well, I thought something like this. Big enough to keep me busy, and although seemingly in the country side here, far enough out to give us the space when we need it. It's pretty small in terms of acreage I'm sorry, but it should be comfortable enough."
He handed the torn out page to her. She nearly choked on her greens. The place was... it was. a country estate. In Suffolk it seemed. It was a country mansion. Someone's 'family pile' that was up for sale. Rebecca couldn't believe her eyes. Then she saw the price listed on the bottom of the page. She squealed and dropped the paper into her dinner, quickly retrieving it complete with food stains starting to seep through. It was listed in the high millions, and listed at some four hundred acres. 'Not big' he'd said. That was massive in English terms, and in the ancient county of Suffolk a rare thing. Cooper was laughing quietly.
"You like it?" He asked. "I hope so, because we already own it. We can move in any time we like." He hesitated a moment. "When we are married of course." He smiled and added “There will be chickens too.”
Rebecca was speechless. She was more than delighted, but speechless. Finally, it dawned on her. He hadn't mentioned his place in Australia.
"But what of your place - your home. Your Home. In Australia?" Rebecca had a sinking feeling in her heart. What would he say.
"All fixed up my love. You won't recognise the place now. But you needn't worry. We can go back on school term holidays. Christmas times. Whenever you like. The place will continue to be managed by, well, my manager and his team. I don't need to be there." He smiled rather shyly. "I'm very rich by the way. You should know that. I hope it doesn't change things."
Rebecca shook her head. This was a fairy tale. She felt like she was in a fairy tale. It couldn't be happening. She jumped to her feet.
"Excuse me a moment Cooper." She grabbed her purse and headed for the lady’s room. Neither of them noticed half the women around them head for the same destination. Cooper wasn't worried. Rebecca hadn't frowned, and he knew already that when she didn't like something he said, she frowned, just a little line appearing between her eyebrows. She was back soon enough from the rest room, and took her place.
"Cooper, what can I say. You have taken care of everything. Everything I've ever dreamed of. Our child will have - no. Our children will have the perfect father. They will never want for a thing." She sat back in her chair, the worries of the past few months falling away from her.
Cooper had one more surprise for her. Like a magician he pulled an envelope from his pocket and handed it to Rebecca. She looked inside. Two tickets to the Amalfi Coast, and a reservation for a wedding chapel on a startlingly blue lake shore.
"Oh, we can invite who ever you like. I've booked out the hotel nearby for our visit and for the duration of the wedding and reception. That is, if you want to. You may have other plans. We can - I don't mean to take over everything - make other plans. We can just go out there for our... wedding honeymoon." He stopped. Rebecca was looking at him steadily. 'Ok, he was used to being in control of his life. But the wedding?' She thought that might be something she wanted to be involved in the planning of. Cooper sat back. 'uh oh' he thought as the little frown line appeared between her eyebrows.
Rebecca smiled again and sat back. Now she knew what worried Cooper. She decided she was going to have fun getting to know him if it took the rest of her life. She picked up her fork and popped the baby mushroom into her mouth. Cooper sat there nonplussed. One minute frowning, the next minute eating as though nothing had happened. It seemed the wedding he had arranged was ok. Of course Cooper still had a lot to learn about Rebecca…
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