Home Truths (36 page)

‘Nothing scary.'

‘That's good.'

His arm around her waist gave her a squeeze before it moved away. In a flash, all the courtyard's fairy lights came on.

Dazzling.

Jennifer softly laughed at the transformation from a dull space to a twinkling, truly romantic setting. She twisted her head and kissed his jaw.

‘I'm guessing you like the result,' his deep voice rumbled behind a smile.

‘It's everything I imagined. It's all lovely.'

He dipped his head and found her lips for a light but luscious kiss. Jennifer closed her eyes and rested her forehead in his neck, when he murmured, ‘Do you know what's going on down there?'

‘Where?' she asked moving her face away from his warm skin.

‘Down there,' he said with a nod to the courtyard.

Jennifer held her breath. Surrounded by the magic of tiny lights, Sofie and Brock stood barely two feet apart facing each other, not moving, just staring. Sofie dropped her trowel; it clattered on the paving stones and Brock flinched. It seemed to wake him out of a trance, because he took a step forward, picked up the trowel, and offered it back to Sofie. When she didn't move, Brock's big hand went to her shoulder. He slowly let his hand move down her arm until he gathered her fingers in his, he gently took her wrist and carefully put the trowel back in her hand, curling her fingers around the handle for her. With a soft look over his shoulder, he moved away to plant another tub of flowers.

As if in a dream, Sofie looked down at her trowel, shuffled over to her garden bed and using a watering can, watered the newly planted flowers.

‘Christ,' Calum murmured.

‘Yeah,' Jennifer murmured back. ‘Dinner is going to be…interesting.'

* * *

The Grand Opening.

A rush of adrenalin woke Jennifer. She took a deep breath and lay still for a moment, enjoying the feel of Calum's chest rising and falling against her back. She twisted around to look at him. He opened one eye slowly.

‘What?' he asked, voice sleepy-warm and inviting.

‘I thought I heard something.' She listened, but all was quiet. ‘It must've been my imagination.'

‘Come here. I want to fool around with your imagination.'

‘Aw,' Jennifer giggled. ‘You wouldn't be able to keep up.'

‘I'll give it my best shot,' he chuckled, deep and husky.

She lifted his comforting arm from around her waist, leant across his chest and squinted through the dim light at the numbers on her bedside clock. ‘But I've only got…six hours.'

He tucked her in close. ‘I think we can squeeze something in,' he murmured, and nuzzled her ear.

She smiled, remembering the previous night when she'd found a dazzling diamond ring in her pumpkin soup. She flexed her fingers to make it sparkle. When she met his gaze, time became irrelevant.

* * *

‘Food? It's five-thirty, too late for lunch and too early for dinner,' Jennifer complained. ‘I'm so nervous I can't eat, and besides, Sofie pulled the ties on the back of this dress so hard, there's no room. And every time I breathe my boobs pop up like a couple of balloons.'

‘I know,' Calum gave her a devilish grin and kissed each soft, voluptuous mound, then he straightened and handed Jennifer a shot glass filled with cognac. ‘Have a swig of this.'

She eyed him, knocked it back, and coughed. ‘That'll do it.' Jennifer grabbed her gown, swung around and called for everyone's attention.

‘Okay, remember our plan, as soon as the Cadillac comes back around and we stop in front of the shop, you, Boris switch on the outside sign. Nikolay, you open the doors and Anna, you draw the drapes.' All nodded and Jennifer hoped they understood.

‘Everybody ready?' Calum asked. ‘I can't believe I'm driving four hot, Hollywood babes around the block. I'll be the envy of every bloke in town. Who're you all supposed to be anyway?'

‘I'm Marlene Dietrich.' Sofie sucked in her cheeks and cut a pose, dropped her voice and said, ‘I just
love
this silver sequined gown, darling.'

‘I'm Elizabeth Taylor, whoever she is, and this gown is…I don't know, but it's pink and I feel like a princess Barbie.' Claudia rapidly blinked. ‘Apparently Liz had lilac eyes and oodles of lashes, and they weren't fake like mine.'

‘Boris insisted he make me up as Marilyn Monroe. He told me to pout a lot.' Michelle puckered her lips. ‘How's that?'

‘Fantastic,' Calum said. ‘Don't do that anywhere near a bunch of young blokes.'

‘Yeah right,' she scoffed. ‘I'll be pouting every second. And bending over a lot, because this gown barely covers my —'

‘I really didn't want to know that, sis,' Calum cut in and turned a wicked smile on Jennifer. ‘I know who you are.'

‘Uh-huh, big boy. I'm Veronica Lake,' Jennifer purred and flipped her long, blonde wig back to reveal a cutaway, red satin gown and one bare shoulder. ‘You look mighty handsome in your liveried chauffeur outfit.'

‘Later, Veronica.' Calum took her hand and kissed it. ‘Okay, ladies, hop in please.'

This was it. Nerves fluttered in Jennifer's stomach as she slid into the front passenger seat of her uncle's yellow Cadillac Deville. With the top down they were open to view. She turned to the others in the back seat and assured them. ‘There's no need to be nervous, you all look gorgeous.'

‘I'm not nervous,' Claudia said. ‘This is what I do most days, lots of make-up and weird clothes. I've not been in a Cadillac before this though, it's
epic
.'

‘Michelle, you okay?' Jennifer asked. ‘You look a bit stunned.'

‘Oh, I'm stunned all right, but loving every minute.'

‘Sofe?' Jennifer twisted around to see her sister.

‘If I don't get a date out of this, I'm cutting up my lingerie and joining a nunnery. What are we waiting for?'

‘Bret's going to honk the horn when he's in the back lane,' Calum said.

As if on cue, a strangled honk sounded, and Calum backed the gleaming, chrome-laden Cadillac with whitewall tyres out of the garage. He drove up behind Bret, who was driving a borrowed Model T Ford.

‘It's Connie and Shirley,' Jennifer waved. ‘I didn't know they were going to be in the back of the Ford!'

‘Hey!' Sofie shouted. ‘You look gorgeous.'

Connie and Shirley turned as far as their old bodies would let them and waved back. Their wide-brimmed hats, held down by swathes of lilac organza, fit in with the vintage car look.

Calum drove slowly down the lane after Bret. Riding in the Cadillac was like floating on a massive air mattress on the ocean and they wallowed majestically around the corner into Grey Street.

Sofie turned up the volume on Jennifer's portable CD player as Liza Minnelli belted out her signature song,
Cabaret.

Heads turned, people laughed and some shouted, ‘Good on ya, luv!' And Sofie handed out more invitations to the opening.

Someone yelled out, ‘So which one of you is Veronica?'

Jennifer waved at the crowd; never could she have imagined anything as wild as this. The flyers posted around town had brought scores of people out to cheer them on. She sent a little prayer to Bob in the sunny, bright blue, autumn sky. She was living a dream, and the most important people in her life were living the dream with her.

Calum slowed near Centennial Park. Jennifer reached across and took his hand.

‘Quick, everybody. Smile,' Michelle said. ‘It's Frank, the local journo, and he's pointing his camera at us.'

‘Where is he?' Sofie asked, waving.

‘Right there on the traffic island with his telephoto lens sticking out half a mile.'

‘Ooh — ooh,
I'm going to be in the paper.' Sofie, smiling like a maniac, waved at the journo taking photos.

They passed the photographer, who followed them easily enough on foot: Sofie posed, and insisted he take a flyer.

They drove back towards the restaurant, the crowd followed and joined the people already waiting outside.

On cue, the drapes were drawn back, the doors were opened and the sign lit up.

Jennifer, Sofie, Claudia and Michelle, in all their finery, stood up in the Cadillac.

Calum climbed over the back of the driver's seat to reach Jennifer.

‘What're you doing?' she asked, laughing as he straddled the seats.

He gave her one of his quirky grins, then one hand curled around her waist, the other moved up to hold the back of her head, then he dipped her back for a long, hot Hollywood kiss in front of everyone. Jennifer raised her arm straight up. As rehearsed, everyone in the car struck a pose and pointed at the crimson neon sign that said,

VERONICA'S

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