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‘Ha, and don’t you forget it.’ After a few more cherished seconds, he untangled from her. ‘Now come on, in you get.’ He opened the driver’s door for her. ‘I want to see what you look like behind the wheel.’
‘Okay, here goes.’ Gliding onto the shiny seat, she wrapped her fingers around the slender steering wheel, recalling all the nights she and Morgan had held hands and kissed in the front seats while parked up at the drive-in cinema.
Roberto leant on the windowsill. ‘It suits you, Jessie.’
‘It does?’
‘Yes.’ Tapping the sill, he straightened. ‘Now be gone with you, so I can go and suffer in silence while Shanti and her mum make me pick what colour napkins we need.’
‘Ha, good luck with that.’
‘Thanks.’ His brows rose and he grinned. ‘Don’t you worry, she’ll have you suffering in silence soon enough.’
Jess tipped her head, grinning at her brother’s overly serious expression. ‘I think it’s fun, planning a wedding.’
‘You would, you’re a girl.’ He threw his hands up in the air in defeat.
‘Deep breaths, bro, you got this.’ She grinned as she revved the grumbling engine to life. ‘I’ll catch you tomorrow.’
‘You will, bye, sis.’
‘Toodle-oo.’ Waving goodbye, she carefully made her way down the short driveway.
Her warm smile slipped as soon as she turned onto the highway and she found herself having to juggle between changing gears while being at the helm of a classic car. On high alert, she turned the stereo down so she could think straight. The last thing she wanted was to put a scratch on the paintwork, or worse, so she kept her keen focus on the road. Drawing in a breath, she counted to five, then released it. Then repeated. Several times. Minutes later, she drove through town, and in two shakes of a lamb’s tail was out the other side and heading towards Morgan’s place.
Her safe haven.
Her home.
For now.
If only things had been different, and it had been hers forever.
You really need to stop thinking like this, Jess!
So, instead, she tried to think about her night ahead with Shanti and Annie. If someone asked her, right now, to choose between a drop-dead gorgeous man like Morgan Savage, and spending a night on the couch with a tub of ice-cream and a line-up of chick flicks with her nearest and dearest gal pals, she would choose the latter.
Three hours and forty-five minutes later, she was cosied up beside Shanti on the couch, doing just that when the front door swung open. Coming off back-to-back shifts at the hospital, Annie traipsed into the cottage, dropped her bag with a weary sigh, and after pecking Jess and Shanti on the cheek, gratefully accepted a towel and headed straight for the shower. Wanting to take care of her big sister, Jess busied herself making a hot chocolate that was thick enough to stand a spoon up in, then she added lashings of Baileys Irish Cream, Annie’s favourite.
‘Something’s smelling mighty nice in here.’ As she padded into the kitchen, Shanti’s effervescent energy filled the room.
Stirring the pot of ragu she had meant to make the previous night, before she and Annie decided on Chinese takeaway instead, Jess glanced over her shoulder. ‘I hope it tastes as yummy as it smells.’
‘I bet it tastes even better than that.’ Springing on her tippy toes, Shanti plonked herself onto the kitchen bench. ‘Thank goodness all the flood repairs are almost sorted now, so I can turn my full attention back to the wedding.’ She reached for the suncatcher dangling in front of the window above the sink, her engagement ring catching the last of the daylight pouring through.
‘My goodness, woman.’ Jess pretended to shield her eyes. ‘Stop waving that thing around, or you’re going to blind someone.’
Staring at the rock on her finger, Shanti smiled from the heart. ‘He’s a keeper, your brother, that’s for sure.’
‘Uh-huh, he sure is.’ Taking Shanti’s hand, Jess took a long, admiring look at the detail of the princess cut diamond. ‘I tried to tell you back in the day that he liked you, didn’t I?’
‘Yes, I know you did.’ Shanti’s smile was a little coy. ‘I kind of knew he had a crush on me, I just wasn’t ready to admit it then.’ Her soft gaze filled with perception. ‘Kind of like you and Morgan nowadays, wouldn’t you agree, Miss Sabatini?’
‘No, I would not.’ Jess dropped Shanti’s hand like a hot cake and spun away so her best friend couldn’t see the truth in her statement. ‘Morgan and I just have a connection from way back, that’s all.’
Shanti prodded Jess’s hip with her big toe. ‘Here, grab hold of this.’
Jess smirked in her direction. ‘What do I want to grab your foot for?’
