Home Truths (23 page)

‘Everyone's after Cal, just a sec,' she giggled. ‘I'll pass him the phone.'

Ears straining, Jennifer tried to work out what the girl was doing. It sounded horribly like the rustle of sheets and then it sounded as if the girl had heaved herself out of bed. Was that a toilet flushing, a shower going? Oh God, she'd
interrupted
them. Jennifer tried to stop the images forming in her mind of Calum and this girl having hot, sweaty sex among a tangle of arms, legs and sheets.

NO!
Just hang up — hang up now!

‘Hello. Calum here,' he said, voice husky. Yeah, definitely sleepy-husky. Doubt nudged her mind and Jennifer lost the power of speech.

‘Hello. Can't hear you, speak up.'

‘Um, hi.' She mentally kicked herself. ‘I didn't mean to interrupt anything or wake you.'
Oh great start, Jen.
She slapped a hand to her forehead.

Deadly silence, except for the pulse thumping in her ear, her breathing short and loud in all the emptiness that surrounded her.

Freaking out, she gripped the handset and waited.

Then his voice came through, rumbling softly, ‘You didn't. It's ten in the morning,' he murmured. Then something happened, thousands of miles away she could feel the atmosphere change, could feel his smile. ‘What did you think I was doing — lying around in bed, having a sleep in?' After a pause, he went on. ‘Not without you, Jen.
Never
without you.'

Shit! Oh-my-God! He pretty much just said he wanted me to sleep in with him. He did, I heard him.
Her heart hammered so hard it hurt, she sucked in a deep breath, filling her lungs, and hoped oxygen would soon make its way to her brain. ‘Oh…crikey,' came out in a whisper.

‘Yeah…' Calum murmured in a way that said he agreed.

‘Um…' God, what could she say to that?

‘Jen?' his deep voice rumbled. It went straight to her heart, sending a trail of heat from her chest to the tender spot between her thighs.

Then a young impatient voice yelled, ‘Gran wants to know do you want a coffee and a slice of pie before you go?'

She let herself fall face down into the hippo cushion. Thank God she hadn't asked him who that was. She heard Calum call back, and say, to his sister, ‘Sure.' Then his deep voice in her ear said, ‘You finally decided to return my calls.'

‘Um…I'm sorry, it was very rude of me, but…' Come on Jennifer be honest tell him. ‘I had stuff to sort out.' Damn and blast that was lame.

‘Stuff? Okay, doesn't matter, you called. It's good to hear your voice, Jen…' Calum trailed off.

Shit!
Why couldn't she open up to him, be herself?

‘It's good to hear yours as well…' She leant over her knees and held her forehead. Go too far now and it would only look as if she rang because she wanted him to oversee her refit in her uncle's shop. Not say anything and that would be too cruel. ‘Shit, I'm such a mess.' She just said that out loud, didn't she?

‘Why don't you come out with…' he said, starting to sound a little impatient. ‘Jen, take a deep breath and spit it. The whole lot. Don't leave anything out.'

She did her best to control her breathing and keep calm, but her words came out in a rush.

‘Okay, here goes. Calum, I'm coming back, I want to open a restaurant in my uncle's shop, and as you're already busy working on the rewiring, I was wondering do you know someone who can project manage it for me?'

There was a long pause. Jennifer wondered whether he was still there. Then she heard it, he'd covered the mouthpiece and growled,
Fuck!

He came back though his voice seemed strange, tight. He cleared his throat. ‘Why don't you let me take care of it?'

‘I thought, with the farm and electrical work you wouldn't have time.'

‘I'd be happy to manage for you. I know enough local tradesmen who will do a good job. Leave it with me. When do you plan on being back?'

‘Not sure, there's a lot I have to organise this end, but if we could communicate by email, I could send you kitchen plans, paint colours and furnishings. Would that be okay with you? Any problems with deliveries or the like, you can always ring Sofie.'

‘Sure. I can send photos, pass anything by you for approval. Don't see how it could be a problem. Got a pen?' They exchanged email addresses. ‘I look forward to working with you,' he said with feeling. Or was he trying to seduce her on the phone over coffee and pie?

‘Um…well, I'll wait to hear from you. Bye Calum. I can't wait to get back. I can't wait to see you, talk to you.'

Visibly shaken, Jennifer dropped the phone on its cradle and, hand over her heart, took a moment to slow down her breathing and bring it back to normal.
He'd sleep in, but only with me.
Well, she shouldn't have thought that, because it didn't help…at all. She paced her tiny living room and focused on what she had to do to make this change happen — and quickly, for herself, Sofie and Claudia, for their future. And Bret too, the little shit. And, with Calum's help, her restaurant was going be brilliant.

* * *

Halfway through Europe's pretty spring, Jennifer was finally able to get away from London. Nerves fluttered in her stomach as the taxi-driver took her from Tumble Creek airport to town. Lining the streets and dotted throughout the rolling hills, poplars, oaks and maples were aflame in autumn colours. Like beacons they stood out in stark relief among the blue-green eucalypts. Neat rows of grapevines were turning yellow and gold. All of it a beautiful sight that made her heart sing. The driver manoeuvred his cab down the lane to her late uncle's shop and stopped at the double roller door. Jennifer paid him, hopped out and turned her face to the sun.

‘Ah heaven,' she whispered.

‘Yeah, you poms could use a bit of sun.' The cabbie chuckled, pulled his cap down and strode to the boot of his cab. He haul her suitcases out and grunting, hefted them to the old pharmacy shop's back fence, dropping them by the gate. Then he slid back behind the wheel. ‘Be seein' ya,' he waved and took off. The taxi disappeared in a little cloud of dust and exhaust fumes.

Jennifer faced the gate that would lead to the beginning of her new life. Excitement and a good dose of: can I pull this off? caused havoc inside her. It's going to be great, she told herself. It's going to be great, she repeated, like a mantra, building a positive attitude. Without the need to park a car, Jennifer went straight for the back gate and, using her bum, shoved it open. Head down and arms straining, she hauled her luggage through into the yard, making sure she didn't go off track and plough into a garden bed, but soon noticed there were no garden beds left to speak of.

She looked up. ‘God almighty!' A rubbish skip bulging with broken wires, old pipes, horsehair plaster and empty bags sat to one side near the fence. The whole backyard was a trampled mess of broken, unrecognisable scrap littered everywhere. She'd have to get it cleared away before Sofie came to work her magic and create a garden.

Desperate to see how her restaurant plans had turned out, she grunted with the effort and heaved her suitcases all the way to the back door. A wheelbarrow would've been handy right now — or better still a muscleman. There was little hope of that. She'd timed her arrival so any tradesmen would have left for the day. She had mixed feelings about Calum: she wanted him to be there, yet she also wanted time to prepare herself for when they saw each other again.

She dragged her suitcases to the bottom of the stairs leading up to the living quarters. The interior was spotless, no grit, dirt or dust anywhere. No wires or pipes. The smell of fresh paint and fabrics made her smile.

She felt ecstatic to be able to call this amazing place hers, Sofie's and Claudia's.

There was no sign of any workers…no Calum, so she unleashed her happiness and let it explode.

Arms in the air, Jennifer did a happy dance and spun around, calling out, ‘Yesss!'

Chapter 13

She's here, mate. She's here
.

Calum gripped the railing at the top of the stairs; if he didn't, he'd race down, fling his arms around her, wrap her up tightly and hang on…for a long, long time.

From the moment Jennifer left, Calum had planned to fly to London. It took forever to arrange his passport, but the moment it arrive by registered mail, he'd bought tickets to London. Two days later, she'd called and he was the happiest man in the country. He'd worked like a maniac, sometimes long into the night, to get the restaurant finished. He wanted it as close to perfect as possible when Jennifer arrived so she'd have no excuse to run.

‘G'day, Twinkles,' Calum murmured from the top of the stairs. He couldn't have stopped the grin if he'd tried.

Jennifer screamed and swung around. She stood in a pool of late afternoon sunlight that flooded through from an upstairs window.

Man, she looked amazing. His body ached to hold her in his arms, smell her skin and bury his face in her insane hair. The things she did to him without even trying had to be illegal.

‘Shit!' Looking up at him, she slapped a hand over her heart. ‘You scared me.'

‘Wouldn't have mattered what I'd done, I would've scared you.' He paused, holding his breath. He had to relish this moment, had to let it sink in.

‘Hi,' Jennifer said. ‘I almost didn't recognise you without your overalls and covered in plaster dust. You scrub up well.'

Was she panting? He hadn't scared her that much. Nah, she was panting for him, or so he wanted to believe…had to believe, otherwise all this waiting was for nothing.

‘Blame Michelle,' he shrugged. He'd have to increase his sister's pocket-money.

Michelle had insisted he wear stonewashed jeans and a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up to just below the elbow. He'd asked her, ‘Why wear a shirt if you're going to do that?' But she'd mumbled something about strong forearms saying, ‘It's a woman's thing — just do it.' Then she'd kissed him on the cheek and said, ‘Go get her, tiger.' Calum didn't care what he wore as long as it worked. ‘Sounds like you approve,' he said, and kicked himself because he didn't sound confident, and normally he was.

‘Approve? No — I mean yes, you look very…Oh never mind. It's just that I wasn't expecting…'

‘You seem a little prickly?'
Fuck…easy tiger.

‘I am not! I thought I'd timed it exactly so that I wouldn't have to see…' She shook her head. ‘Oh crap, I sound ungrateful, and I'm not — truly. Sofie told me how hard you've worked. It can't have been easy for you via Skype and emails.'

‘Knowing it was for you made it the most satisfying job I've ever done.' Had he said the wrong thing? She looked stunned. Quickly he headed down the stairs, his sneakers squeaking on the wooden treads. He stopped one tread above her, and without thinking, brought his hand up to cup her face, his thumb sliding across her cheek. Her eyes rounded, he leant closer, studying the sparkle and deep emotions at play: nervous anticipation, and hope. She wanted him, and seeing it made him shake inside. He needed to get a grip, slow things down or he'd rush, and neither would have time to savour the moment, make it special. He softened his gaze, and with superhuman effort withdrew his hand; voice husky, he said, ‘I'll take those,' and grabbed her suitcases.

‘W-wait a sec, please show me what you've done…for me.'

‘Sure,' he said on a breath and hoped with every fibre in him that she liked the result. The cases thudded to the floor as he quickly dropped them. ‘Hold my hand and close your eyes.'

Her soft palm rested comfortably in his strong hand. Slowly, Jennifer closed her eyes. Without thinking, Calum brought her hand up to his chest and turned to face her; he yearned to kiss each soft eyelid.

‘We're not moving,' Jennifer murmured.

‘Sorry, you distracted me,' he said with a smile, and led her down the hall. ‘Okay, you can open them now.'

Jennifer gasped in awe. Calum grinned.

‘Oh-my-God — fireplaces. Never in my wildest dreams. You never mentioned fireplaces.'

‘We wanted to surprise you.'

Her hand slipped out of his as she made her way to look at them more closely. ‘Well, you certainly have. They're gorgeous.'

‘When we pulled the plaster off the columns on either side of the shop, there they were: two original, black marble fireplaces. Sofie chose the colours — they look okay?'

‘Colour changes when sent via email. But I knew there was nothing to worry about with Sofie choosing the palette. And I was right. The deep red looks stunning and the matching velvet drapes are perfect.'

‘We've made sure the shop and house upstairs has plenty of security. You'll never need it.' No, because he intended to be here, every night, with Jennifer for the rest of his life. His body itched to take her, make her his. ‘Because the drapes are so high up, you've got a remote control that slides them back and forth. There's an intercom from upstairs to the restaurant's kitchen. And a list of all the gadgetry and how they work in Bob's office.'

Taking her time, Jennifer scanned the room. ‘How did you get the mosaic floor to come up so beautifully?'

‘Sofie and I had a restorer look at the floor. The tiles are stone and his advice was to polish the grime off and reseal them. That way the floors would be good for another hundred years or more.'

‘It's magnificent.' She wiped at her wet cheeks. ‘You must have worked like a madman to get so much done.' She leaned in and kissed him on the cheek.

His hand went to her waist and he couldn't stop himself from flexing his fingers. When she stepped back, he almost followed.

She gazed at him, eyes large and greener than he'd ever seen them. ‘Thank you,' she whispered.

‘You're welcome,' his voice rumbled deep with emotion and there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it. ‘Go explore.'