again and he’d brushed her off. She realised that his reaction was a combination of fear and bravado, and understood that he was anxious. Who wouldn’t be? But he wasn’t uninterested so that was why...
‘I’m in Lambert’s Bay, about to meet his cousin,’ Jess said. She’d found the slip of paper her mum had given Luke, dialled the number of the cottage and spoken to Luke’s cousin. Luke’s aunt had died a couple of years ago, she’d explained, but she’d grown up with the tragic tale of Katelyn and would be happy to share the story with Jess—especially if she was living with Luke. Well, it wasn’t a lie...she was living with Luke. She just hadn’t felt the need to tell her that it was a temporary arrangement.
‘Does he know?’
‘No.’
‘Do you think that’s wise?’
‘It’s my gift to him, Clem. Knowledge about his past, his mother.’
It was her way to show him how much she loved him, that she would love to make a family with him, to invite him to share hers. Like her brothers, she wanted to love and be loved, to create her own family within a bigger one.
‘I want a man who loves me like Nick loves you—like Dad still loves my mum.’
‘Oh, sweetie, I hear you. But I’m not sure if this is the right way to go about it,’ Clem said. ‘Changing the subject—how did the family advert turn out?’
‘Sbu and I did the final edit on it this afternoon. It’s wonderful—funny, warm and very accessible. Everything I wanted it to be. I just need to show it to Luke and get his approval to flight the ad and we’re done, business-wise.’
‘Meaning that you should be heading home?’
Jess felt her stomach sink. She didn’t want to leave him—didn’t want to go back to her empty life in Sandton. She wanted to stay at St Sylve... She had thought this through: if Luke asked her to stay she’d open another branch of Jess Sherwood Concepts in Cape Town, leaving Ally to run the Sandton branch.
She could have a remote office at St Sylve...what was the point of wonderful technology like video conferencing and e-mail if one didn’t use it?
She’d miss her family, but being with Luke was non-negotiable.
‘I don’t know how I am going to leave him, Clem. If he doesn’t ask me to stay it’s going to break my heart...’
Jess looked up as the door to the coffee shop chimed and a tall woman her own age walked through the door. The first of Luke’s family...she couldn’t wait to meet the rest.
‘I’ve got to go, Clemmie. Love you.’
‘Love you too. Call me if you need me.’
* * *
Good news, good news—she couldn’t wait to tell Luke. As she’d suspected, he had the very wrong end of the stick.
Jess flexed her hands on the wheel and eased up on the accelerator. As eager as she was to get home, she couldn’t risk speeding along these windy roads, slick with incessant rain. The skies had opened up just as she’d left Lambert’s Bay and the rain had followed her all the way to Paarl, and it obviously had no intention of stopping any time soon.
Jess drove her SUV through St Sylve’s imposing gates and noticed that a dark green Mercedes Benz was parked outside Luke’s front door. She wrinkled her nose. Luke had said that he’d be in meetings most of the day, and she hoped that his appointments hadn’t run over and that he’d be finished at a reasonable time.
She had plans for him this evening...
Jess grabbed the envelope and CD that lay on the passenger seat, tucked them into the folds of the newspaper she’d bought earlier and, deciding that her bag and files could wait, ducked out of the car and sprinted as best she could in her high-heeled boots. The door opened as she grabbed the handle and she stumbled into Luke’s hard chest.
‘Jess!’
Jess dropped the newspaper and on a laugh flung her arms around his neck and planted her mouth on his. ‘Oh, it’s so good to see you. I’ve missed you so much.’
He grinned down at her. ‘I saw you this morning, but that is nice to hear.’
Jess laughed into his bemused face, then caught a movement on the stairs. Her blood turned to ice as she saw Kelly drifting down the stairs, barefoot and wearing only Luke’s favourite rugby jersey—her favourite rugby jersey. Jess dropped her hands and stepped back. Kelly’s hair was tangled and her make-up was smudged. It