Take a Chance (41 page)

A piece of folded up paper sitting on the chair caught her eye. She recognised it instantly.

My
list!

She had been wondering where it had got to.

Jem picked up the paper and carefully unfolded it. She immediately saw that it had been altered. Her uncrossed items now read:

Be the boss of a company

Live overseas

Marry Eben

Have Eben’s babies

Live happily ever after

She smiled at his audacity despite herself. By going to this extent to make his intentions clear he obviously meant what he had said. A warm feeling came over her. He would be back and have a good reason for his absence.

Her eyes narrowed.

And a very good reason why he hadn’t returned her calls.

Shortly afterwards the toast was presented to her without the serenade of a smoke detector. It was surprisingly anticlimactic.

She was halfway through the first slice when the phone rang.

“I’ll get it!” she announced and cut her guest off in the effort to reach it first.

“Of course my sister wouldn’t be seeing anyone else,” Jess assured Eben the following morning as she reached for the phone. “You’re going to feel rotten for thinking she’d have another man stay over, let alone two of them.”

She hit the speed dial number for Jem and held the phone to her ear.

“Hi Jem,” Jess said when her sister picked up. “I heard you have house guests.”

“How did I know? The accident made me psychic,” said Jess, then she paused. “Who
do you have visiting?”

Jess looked apologetically at Eben. His stomach clenched.
Cherie had helped him make big plans for today and now he dreaded hearing Jess tell him he’d overstepped himself.

“Really? He’s there with you in just a towel? Don’t worry about getting clothes on him. I can’t see. Put him on the phone!”

Jess squealed in delight. Obviously the mystery man had picked up and spoken. Eben’s heart plummeted. It seemed Jess was no longer on team Eben’s side.

“Oh Freddie! You and Ethan have made it just in time but you should have come here first. I hope you haven’t spoiled the surprise,” Jess said into the phone. She gave Eben a relieved nod then after a few pleasantries were exchanged she reminded Freddie of the time she expected them to show up then said her goodbyes.

Ethan was a new name to him but
Freddie? Eben had heard that name before. Was he an ex-boyfriend who was picking up where he had left off? He started mentally kicking himself for not knocking on her door last night despite feeling scruffily inferior to the well-dressed men who had reached her door first.

Jess pressed the end call button on the phone and threw it at Eben.

“Eben you pillock!” she exclaimed. “Her overnighters are Freddie, our brother, and Ethan who is an old friend of his from boarding school!”

She adjusted her position on the
couch just as someone knocked on the door.

“That’ll be the marquee people
. I hope they don’t kill the rest of my Daphne bush this time.”

Nothing got past that woman,
Eben thought as he headed for the front door. There wouldn’t be much time to have everything set up before Jem was due to arrive. He opened the door and smiled.

Beside the Hire Centre staff member at the door
were a couple of familiar faces. Reinforcements were here.

Jem grumpily crossed her arms over her chest from her position in the back seat
of her car. Despite Freddie insisting upon driving because he claimed he’d be faster, he seemed determined to take the scenic route to visit their sister. Ethan seemed oblivious as he kept trying to make small talk with her over his shoulder almost as if he was hoping to distract her.

She’d known Freddie all his life and Ethan for almost two decades. They were up to something and not letting her in on it.
Usually she’d be amused and make an effort to figure out what they were up to but their mucking around was cutting into time she could be spending with them as well as Jess, Jase and the kids before her flight. It was ticking her off.

Jem pulled her cell phone out of her shoulder bag to check the time and noticed she had missed a text message.

I’m back. Love you, Eben.

Jem scrolled the message back to see it had been sent in the early hours of the morning. Okay, she’d let him live for not phoning her directly.

Where have u been? s
he texted back.

A minute later her phone dinged and she eagerly read the message.

Long story. U and baby well?

Hmm. Okay she’d have to wait to find out the details. With her thumb she keyed back
Yes. You?

Fine but I miss
u. Will c u soon.

She had missed him too and all those messages she’d left on his phone proving it hadn’t seemed to put him off.
Hang on. She wasn’t going to be home so she texted back that she would be at Jess’s. Another ding.

I no.
U marry me now?

Jem studied the ring on her left hand. It looked perfect where it was and she loved it. The fact she had never removed it after he had placed it on her finger told her what she already knew in her heart. She was his.

She trusted him and it was time to take a chance.

That didn’t mean she wasn’t going to give him a bit of grief for not knowing his whereabouts the past five days
though. Jem thought quickly then sent him a text.

Will
u mow the lawns and take out the rubbish?

A responding ding had her eagerly reading his response.

As long as u keep me in beer
.

She smiled. He couldn’t fool her. She’d noticed he didn’t drink that much. Keeping a bottle or two of Speights in the fridge would be no hardship.

Then how can I resist? Yes.

Jem sent the text and
grinned at the two similar blonde men chatting to each other in the seats in front of hers. Her phone dinged again and she read his message.

I’
m glad I hav it in riting. Hav shown to witnesses. You’re mine and I’m all yours.

After Alan Jem thought she wouldn’t like someone feeling possessive over her but with Eben it was dif
ferent. His sentiment showed that it worked both ways. She basked in the feeling of being genuinely loved and the hope she had for their future however it worked out.

Jem looked up from the phone and noticed they were in Jess’s street and there were a lot of cars parked on either side of the road. She put that down to people going to watch their children play sports on the playing fields a block away. Before she could think of anything to respond to Eben’s last text Freddie stopped the car at the top of Jess and Jase’s driveway and yanked on the handbrake.

Jase had the front door open before they were even out of the car. Bemused by his enthusiasm she introduced him to Ethan as Freddie pulled a couple of garment bags hanging from the hand rest above the back window. After further greetings between Freddie and Jase they followed Jase through the house to the family room where Jess sat propped up on the couch with a blanket over her lap and a cardigan buttoned up to her chin. The right sleeve was pushed up past the cast on her arm which was covered in childish looking flowers and butterflies. It seemed that Daisy had found where she had hidden the felt tips.

The bandages Jem had last seen on her sister’s head had been replaced by a fluffy pale pink beanie that was pulled down to her ears.
Jess was uncharacteristically wearing makeup which had the benefit of covering the remains of her bruises. She still looked a little delicate but anyone looking at her wouldn’t realise how recently she had come close to dying. Jem thought she must have primped in preparation for Freddie’s visit so as not to overly worry him.

“Hi there.
Look what followed me in,” Jem said and indicated with a thumb over her shoulder to the men behind her. “That’s a beautiful hat. Is it new?” she added, giving Freddie and Ethan a few seconds to adjust to Jess’s appearance without her trademark long chocolate coloured hair.

“Yes. Aunty Beryl finished it for me yesterday,” Jess answered
absently, gently stroking the silky feeling beanie as she took in the sight of her younger brother and his friend.

Recovering, Freddie and Ethan exchanged
greetings and careful hugs with Jess who then exclaimed over the change in Freddie’s hair colour to his chagrin.

There was a knock at the front door and Jase excused himself to answer it. A few moments later he returned to the room with Cherie in tow, carrying a wide shallow box in her arms.

“Oh good, you’re here,” Cherie said to Jem before Jem could ask why Cherie was there. “If you could just follow me…”

Cherie walked towards the guest bedroom and after
Jem gave a questioning look to Jess who waved her off in return, she followed. The roman blind in the room was down and after setting the box on the bed and switching on the light Cherie closed the door.

“What’
s going on?” Jem asked in bewilderment.

“
Hasn’t Eben explained?” Cherie asked as she moved to the wardrobe.

“
Explained what? I haven’t seen him. Is he coming here too?”

Cherie muttered something under her breath and paused with one hand on the wardrobe door handle. Then she turned back to face Jem.

“Maybe this will explain everything.”

She pull
ed open the wardrobe door. Most garments had been pushed to one side leaving two gowns hung on padded hangers in the remaining space. One was pale pink, almost identical to the colour of Jess’s beanie and the other was the winter white wedding dress that Jem had tried on and liked the best in the bridal shop last week.

It took a few moments for the p
urpose of the dresses to sink in.

“Are you telling me I’m supposed to be getting married,
now
?” Jem asked incredulously.

“Yep.”

Jem said the first thing that popped into her head “I can’t get married. I have a plane to catch.”

“There’s plenty of time,” Cherie assured her.

“But I haven’t even filled in a marriage licence,” Jem protested.

“Didn’t need to.
Jess gave me your details and you signed it amongst other paperwork earlier in the week.”

Jem narrowed her eyes at her friend. “I trusted you. What else have I signed unknowingly?”

Cherie gave a noisy put-upon sigh. “Nothing, I swear. I haven’t had time to decide what you should leave me in your will.” She crossed the foot of the bed to stand in front of Jem. “Look, do you want to marry Eben or not?”

“I do.”

“Great! And you’ve got your lines down pat. Just remember that when you’re in front of everyone.”

“Everyone?”

Cherie pointed to the window. “Take a peek.”

Jem walked to the window and nudged the
roman blind from the window frame. Outside on Jase and Jess’s lawn sat a familiar marquee.

“Oh…
” Jem began, at a loss for words.

She let go of the blind and turned towards Cherie.
How on earth had Cherie managed to make time to take care of it all? Especially without her knowing. All the planning involved and…

Jem sank onto the end of the bed, completely overwhelmed by the lengths her friend had gone to on her behalf.
And Eben. Cherie wouldn’t have done all this without his involvement. Something sharp dug into her hip. She looked down to see the box Cherie had put on the bed. What was in it?

Jem lifted the lid and revealed three
trailing bouquets of daisies and pink roses.

“I know. I’m just awesome, right?”
Cherie said over her shoulder as she drew the wedding dress from the hanger.

“I pity anyone w
ho ever underestimates you,” Jem said, impressed by the lengths Cherie had gone to on her behalf. “What on earth can I do to repay you?”

“Name your baby after me, pretty one,” Cherie answered with a mock evil chuckle.

“No. Seriously. Setting this all up must have cost a fortune, especially on short notice.”

“Don’t worry. It’s all taken care of.”

“By whom?” Jem wondered aloud, thinking that only her mother would have enough money to splash out on this but doubted it as she wouldn’t throw a cent towards it unless the event revolved around what she wanted.

“Let’s just say that Eben is now marrying you for your money and will be working quite a lot of overtime for a while.”

“You’re kidding! He didn’t have to go to this expense. I would’ve been happy with a registry office.”

“
Well you have my permission to be ecstatic.” Cherie waved the dress in front of her. “Come on, people are waiting.”

Eben walked into the family room only to
be told by Jess that Jem had already been whisked away by Cherie. If being this nervous kept making him want to use the bathroom then he was going to have to see a doctor about it.

There was a general feeling of excitement
from everyone remaining and Eben felt the gaze of the two muscular blonde men across the room sizing him up. Needing to get it over with, Eben walked up to them.

“Hi Fred,
Ethan,” he offered.

Now what?

Neither of them
were helping along a conversation, although the one on the left had given a small nod at his greeting. He wasn’t even sure which was which. He fiddled with the cufflinks.

“Uh, I know there have been a series of misunderstandings between Jem and myself but we’
re going to sort them out now. As you know I intend to marry her and hope we have your blessing.”

Have I taken the right approach or is Freddie going to pop me like a zit?

The blonde man on the right smiled.

“You haft sisters?” he asked in an accent that sounded European but from which country Eben had no idea.

“I have three,” Eben answered.

Freddie
cocked his head.

“That ist gut. You haft idea of vat I do if you make Jemima unhappy, no?”

Before Eben could answer a pillow sailed between them and hit the man. It bounced off his abs and landed on the floor.

“Knock i
t off Freddie,” Jess warned. “Eben’s a good guy and you’re wasting time if you think you can scare him off.”

Okay. The one with the bluer eyes sounding a bit like Arnold Schwarzenegger is my future brother-in-law. Lucky I have my convalescing future-sister-in-law on my side to keep him in line
, Eben silently cheered.

The blonde man nodded and held out his hand. Eben took it and they shook hands.
He was grateful when Freddie didn’t try to crush his fingers.

“Welcome to the family,” Freddie said in a voice that was now accentless as far as Eben was concerned.
Ethan also shook his hand.

“Okay, now that introductions have been made, it’s time to get ready,” Jess commanded from the couch. “Jase, will
you show Freddie and Ethan where they can get changed?”

Eben waited in the family room while everyone else finished getting ready. Aunty Beryl took away Jess’s cardigan and blanket to reveal a dress identical to the one Cherie was putting on. He helped Jase transfer her from the couch to a wheelchair while Aunty Beryl brought Daisy
downstairs  who was carrying a large teddy bear and looking very cute in her full skirted pale pink flower girl’s dress.

Aunty Beryl patted Daisy on the shoulder. “You just wait with Mummy while I get my camera and see how Eben’s sisters are getting on with your brothers.”
To Eben she added “I may as well take Ethan with me and stay out with the guests now.”

She
grabbed an obliging Ethan and disappeared before Eben could respond. Just as Freddie was about to say something to him, the guest bedroom opened and Cherie appeared wearing a long sleeved, clingy, soft pink sheath. Anything Freddie had been going to say was forgotten. The dress clung to Cherie’s curves and judging by Freddie’s jaw dropping Eben wasn’t the only one who had noticed.

Freddie stepped in front of him and Eben was disconcerted to find he needed to stand on tip toe to look over his shoulder.