Читать книгу The Australian Affairs Collection - Margaret Way - Страница 33

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

NAUSEA SWIRLED IN Ben’s stomach as he headed for Westfield’s and the movie theatre. A lack of confidence was not something he was familiar with. Admittedly, his ego had been brutally crushed by Jess’s refusal to marry him back in New York. He had, in fact, lost a day or two indulging his sorry self in a serious drinking binge, which was most unlike him. But once he’d sobered up, and realised a future without Jess was unthinkable, he’d attacked all the changes necessary to his lifestyle in a very positive state of mind. Not once had he entertained the thought that he would not succeed in winning Jess over.

But now, suddenly, he wasn’t so sure.

Maybe, during these last few weeks of silence, Jess had decided that she didn’t love him after all. Maybe it was a case of out of sight, out of mind, rather than absence making the heart grow fonder. Her being ‘in a right state’, as her father had described, could have been her realising that it wasn’t love she’d been suffering from but lust. Maybe she even regretted letting him do the things he’d done to her. Though, damn it, he was sure she’d enjoyed everything at the time. She wasn’t like Amber, just doing what he wanted in the bedroom with an eye on his money. Hell, Jess was nothing like Amber at all. He really had to stop thinking all these negative thoughts. Negativity never achieved anything!

By the time Ben pulled into the large car park, he’d regained some of his confidence and composure. Once parked, he quickly checked Jess’s mobile; it was still turned off. Climbing out from behind the steering wheel, he locked the car, then hurried into the shopping centre, heading through the food court and stopping at a spot where Jess would have to pass by as she exited the cinema complex.

* * *

Jess stood up as soon as the credits started coming up. The movie had been quite funny in parts. She’d managed to laugh once or twice. But the moment she exited the cinema her depression returned. What on earth was she going to do? Sit and have a coffee, she supposed wearily. No way was she going home yet. It was only just three.

She wandered slowly along the carpeted hallway which separated the numerous theatres, her blank eyes not registering the few people who passed her. Monday afternoon—especially on a warm spring day—was not rush hour at the movies. She did not bother to look at the advertisement posters on the walls like she usually did, not caring what blockbuster movies were about to hit the screens. Her mind was filled with nothing but one subject. She’d almost reached the food court just outside the cinema when someone called her name.

Her eyes cleared and there he was, standing right in front of her.

‘Oh, my God,’ was all she could say. ‘Ben.’

When he smiled at her, she almost burst into tears. But she caught herself in time.

‘What are you doing here?’ she said, her sharp tone a cover for her confusion. She wanted to believe that he’d come for her, but it seemed too good to be true. And yet here he was, looking as handsome as ever.

‘Your mother said you were at the movies. So I came and waited for you to come out.’

‘You rang my mother?’

‘I tried your mobile first, but it was turned off, so I rang Murphy’s Hire Car and your mum answered.’

‘Oh…’

‘Is that all you’ve got to say?’

‘Yes. No. What do you expect me to say? I’m in shock. I mean, you haven’t rung or texted me at all. I thought you were finished with me.’

‘It was you who finished with me, Jess.’

Her grimace carried true pain. ‘I did what I thought was right. For both of us. So why have you come, Ben? Please don’t ask me to go back to New York with you and marry you. That would just be cruel. I gave you my reasons for saying no and they haven’t changed.’

‘But you’re wrong there, Jess. Lots of things have changed.’

‘Not really. You’re probably richer than ever now.’ Hadn’t she read somewhere that billionaires earned thousands of dollars a day from their many and varied investments? Or was it thousands every minute?

‘What say we go have a coffee somewhere a little more private and I’ll explain further?’

‘There is nowhere here more private,’ Jess said, waving at the open-plan and rather busy food court. People might not be flocking to the movies on a Monday but, since October had tipped into November, Christmas shopping had begun.

‘I seem to recall there was a small coffee shop down that way on the right,’ Ben said. ‘Come on, let’s go there.’

Jess didn’t say a word as he led her away. She was still trying to work out what could possibly have changed.

The café he was referring to was half-empty with tables and booths to choose from. Ben steered her to the furthest booth where a sign on the back wall said you had to order at the counter.

‘Would you like something to eat with your coffee?’ he asked.

‘No thanks.’

‘Fine. What would you like? Flat white? Latte? A cappuccino?’

‘A flat white,’ she answered. ‘No sugar.’

‘Right.’

Jess tried not to ogle him as he got their coffee, but he looked utterly gorgeous in cream cargo shorts and a black polo shirt. His hair had grown a bit, she noted. It suited him longer. But then, he’d look good no matter what he wore or how long he grew his hair. Fate was very cruel to have her fall in love with a man with so many temptations.

As Jess waited for him to come back with the coffee, she tried to get her head around him suddenly showing up like this. Obviously he thought he could get her to change her mind. And maybe he was right. She’d been so miserable. And she’d missed him so much. Missed his love-making as well. Seeing him again reminded her of what an exciting lover he was. Exciting and dangerous and downright irresistible!

In the end, she looked down at where her hands were twisting nervously in her lap, not glancing up till he put her coffee in front of her, then sat down with his.

‘Thank you,’ she said politely, not really wanting coffee at all. Her stomach was in a mess. But she picked it up and had a small sip before putting it back down again. ‘Now, would you mind telling me what’s going on?’

He looked deep into her eyes. ‘What’s going on is that I still love you, Jess. And, yes, I still want to marry you.’

Oh, God, he was cruel.

‘I don’t doubt that, Ben, since you’re here,’ she replied. ‘But sometimes love isn’t enough.’

He reached over and touched her on the hand. ‘You might change your mind on that when you hear what my love for you has achieved.’

It was hard for Jess to think straight when he was touching her. ‘What are you talking about?’

‘Well, first of all, I’ve come home to Australia to live.’

Her heart leapt. ‘You have?’

‘Yep. I knew you would never live with me in New York so I quit my job, then sold my majority interest in Dad’s company to his partners.’

Jess just stared at him.

‘After that, I used the money from the sale to set up a charity trust fund that gives financial assistance to people affected by natural disasters. We do seem to have a lot of them nowadays. Dad always gave lots of money to whatever disaster relief effort was going on, but he often worried if the money actually made it to where it was meant to go. I took this on board, so I’m the CEO of the fund. I decide when and where the money goes. The capital is safely invested so it should last for yonks. I don’t take a salary or expenses myself, but I had to employ a couple of professional charity workers to oversee the day-to-day transactions and they do get paid. Other than that, all the money earned by the trust will go where it should go.’

Jess could only shake her head at him. ‘You gave all your money away to charity?’

‘Not all of it. Just what I inherited from the sale of Dad’s company. Which, admittedly, was the majority of his estate. I still have his cash account—which was considerable—plus the money from the sale of his real-estate assets. When they’re finally sold, that is. This includes his furnished apartment in New York and another one in Paris. They should bring in about twenty to thirty million each. If you include all the artwork he invested in over the years, you can add several more million. Though, I might donate them to various museums around the world. Yeah, I think I’ll do that. The upshot is I’m still a multi-millionaire, Jess. Just not a billionaire. I knew you wouldn’t marry a billionaire, but there’s nothing attractive about poverty either.’

Jess’s shock was beginning to change to wonder. ‘You did all that for me?’

‘The strange thing is, Jess, even though I initially gave away most of my money to win you back, after I actually did it, it felt good. Very good. They say there’s more pleasure in giving than receiving and they’re darned right. Anyway, as you can imagine, all that organising takes some considerable time, even when you’re doing your own legal work. Which is why it took me this long to get here. I still might have to fly back occasionally, to attend to fund business, but Australia will be my permanent home from now on. It has to be, since I’m going to have an Australian wife. One whom I can’t bear to live without.’

‘Oh, Ben,’ she said, the tears coming now. ‘I can hardly believe it.’

Ben was struggling now to retain his own composure. ‘Then your answer is yes this time?’

‘Yes,’ she choked out as she dashed away her tears. ‘Of course it’s yes.’

‘Thank God,’ he said, slumping back against the seat. ‘I was worried you might still say no. And so was my mother.’

Jess blinked in surprise. ‘You told your mother about us?’

‘But of course. She’s been at me to get married and have children for years. She’ll be over the moon when I tell her.’

‘You want children as well?’ Jess said, still in a state of shock.

‘Hell, yes. As many as you want. And if I know you, Jess, that will be more than one or two.’

‘Yes, I’d like a big family,’ she confessed. ‘So when did you tell your mother about us?’

‘Last night. I stayed at her apartment in Bondi. I flew in late, you see, too late to come up here. Though in the end, I stayed up even later, telling Mum everything. Then, would you believe it, I slept in. Didn’t make it up to the coast till after lunch. Like I already told you, when you didn’t answer your phone I rang Murphy’s Hire Car and your mum answered.’

Jess was still a bit dumbstruck by everything Ben had done for her. ‘I hope Mum was nice to you.’

‘Very nice. So was your dad, after I asked him for your hand in marriage.’

‘You actually asked Dad for my hand in marriage?’

‘I wanted to do everything right, Jess. I didn’t want anything to go wrong this time.’

‘Oh, Ben, you make me feel awful.’

He frowned. ‘Why awful?’

‘Because you’ve done everything for me and I’ve done nothing for you.’

Done nothing? Ben looked at this wonderful girl whom he loved and he thought of all the things she’d done. Firstly and most importantly, she’d loved him back, not for his money but for himself—Ben the man, not the heir to billions. She’d also made him see what was important in life. Not fame and fortune but family and community. Not a high-flying social life but a simpler life, full of fun and friends and children. Oh yes, he couldn’t wait to have children with Jess. What a lucky man he’d been the day he’d rung Murphy’s Hire Car and met her.

But Ben knew if he said all that she’d be embarrassed. So he just smiled and said, ‘Happiness is not nothing, Jess. You make me happy, my darling.’

‘Oh,’ she said, and looked like she was going to cry again.

‘No more tears, Jess. You can cry on our wedding day, if you like, but not today. Today is for rejoicing. Now, drink up your coffee and we’ll go buy you an engagement ring. There must be a decent jewellery store here somewhere.’

Half an hour later, the third finger of Jess’s left hand was sporting a diamond solitaire engagement ring set in white gold, not as large and expensive as one Ben would have chosen.

‘It’s not how much it costs, Ben,’ she’d told him firmly when she’d made her choice. ‘But the sentiment behind it. Besides, I wouldn’t like to make my very nice sisters-in law envious. They don’t have engagement rings with diamonds the size of Ayer’s Rock.’

Ben lifted his eyes to the ceiling. ‘Fine. But don’t go thinking I intend to buy a house with any constraints on it. I aim to have everything you and I want in it.’

‘Fair enough,’ Jess said, thinking to herself that that was fine by her. She wasn’t a jewellery person but she’d always wanted a truly great house.

‘Okay,’ Ben said. ‘Now that the ring business is all sorted out, take me along to that Fab Fashions store you used to work in.’

‘But why?’ she asked, puzzled. ‘You don’t own it any more.’

‘Ah, but you’re wrong there. When I sold Dad’s company, that’s the one asset I arranged to keep—the Fab Fashions chain. Dad’s partners were only too happy to let me have it for nothing. They all consider it a right lemon, but I reckon that with your advice we could make a go of it. So what do you think, Jess? Can you help me out here?’

Jess’s heart swelled with happiness. What an incredibly thoughtful man Ben was! And very clever. He knew exactly the way to her heart. And she told him so.

He grinned. ‘Andy always said that no one should get between me and the goal post.’

She smiled. It wasn’t every day that a girl liked being called a goal post.

‘Does Andy know about your dad dying?’ she asked on a more serious note.

‘Not yet. They’re still on their honeymoon. But they get back next week. Perhaps we could drive up and visit them one weekend soon, now that we’re engaged. Stay in that nice little cottage for a night or two before they knock it down. Andy’s planning on building a family home on that site in the New Year. Till then, they’re living in the main house.’

Jess’s heartbeat had quickened at the mention of the cottage, which immediately evoked the most wickedly exciting memories.

‘That would be nice,’ she said rather blandly. Wow, what an understatement! She could hardly wait.

He gave her a narrow-eyed look. Then he laughed. ‘You don’t fool me, Jess Murphy. You liked those fun and games as much as I did.’

‘Yes,’ she admitted. ‘But I think they should be kept for special occasions, not an every-day event. I like the way you made love to me that night in New York, Ben. I thought you liked it too.’

‘I did. Very much so. Okay, we’ll keep the fun and games for special occasions, and weekends in nicely private cottages. Now, take me to Fab Fashions.’

* * *

Helen was surprised when Jess walked in on the arm of the most handsome man she’d ever seen. He reminded her of a young Brad Pitt.

‘Hello, Helen,’ Jess said, looking oddly sheepish. ‘This is Benjamin De Silva, the American businessman who took over Fab Fashions.’

‘Please call me Ben,’ the American said and extended his hand. ‘Jess has been telling me about the difficulties you’ve encountered since my order came through for you to make a profit before Christmas or be closed.’

Helen shook his hand whilst wondering what on earth was going on here.

‘I just wanted to personally deliver a new order to you. There will be no closing down, and come the New Year there will be huge changes to Fab Fashions. A new name and brand-new stock, plus an extensive advertising campaign to go with it. Till then, I’d like you to put all of your current stock on sale at fifty-percent off. Get rid of it all. Oh, and one more thing—Jess has just agreed to become my wife.’

Jess was still smiling when Ben steered her out of the shopping centre ten minutes later.

‘Did you see the look on Helen’s face when you said we were engaged?’ she said.

‘She did seem a little shocked.’

‘Shocked? She couldn’t speak for a full minute and that’s not like Helen at all.’

‘Well, she soon made up for it. What do you think of her idea of stocking more accessories for the clothes?’

‘It’s a good one. Ladies love accessories. We already had a few bits of jewellery, but that could be increased, and I think some scarves, handbags and even shoes could do well.’

‘We’ll have to invite her to the wedding,’ Ben said. ‘She’s nice.’

‘She is. And so is her husband.’

‘Then we’ll invite them both.’

Jess’s heart swelled with pride at the man by her side. He’d changed in so many ways. Still a ‘take charge’ kind of man, but she liked that about him. Still charming too. But there was more sincerity behind his charm. More depth of feeling.

‘So, where have you parked your car?’ she asked once they were out on the pavement. ‘You do have a car this time, don’t you?’

‘Yes, I rented one till I knew whether I was going to actually buy a car or a plot in Wamberal Cemetery in anticipation of my throwing myself off a cliff after you turned me down again.’

Jess sucked in sharply. ‘You wouldn’t have done that, would you, Ben?’

‘Nah. I would have gone back to New York, become a movie producer and made millions.’

‘You’re not going to become a movie producer here, are you?’ Jess said, horrified at the thought.

‘Are you kidding me? I’m going to buy myself a place on the beach, have half a dozen kids and take up golf.’

‘You’re not going to work?’

‘Well, I do have Fab Fashions to sort out. I also might go into business with your dad, doing up vintage cars. I was very impressed with what he’s done with that Cadillac. I could be the money man and he could do the actual work.’

‘Sounds good to me, provided you’ve got enough money left to support me and all those children.’

‘I have more than enough. Now, whilst we’re making serious plans here, when can we actually get married? I’d like to do it asap.’

‘Ben De Silva, I’m going to have a proper wedding. And I aim to plan it all myself. That takes time.’

‘How much time? It only takes a month to get a licence.’

‘It’ll be Christmas in just over a month, which is a big celebration in our family. No way can our wedding be organised before then.’

‘What about January? Or February?’

‘I don’t like January or February for weddings either. It’s way too hot. How about March?’

‘I can live with March,’ Ben said. ‘Just.’

‘March it is, then,’ Jess said happily. ‘Now, let’s go and tell Mum and Dad the good news.’