A Mother for His Twins

‘Good. Well, yes. You’re right. Those are definite pros.’

‘Plus, we could car-pool some days. Save on petrol as well as greenhouse emissions.’

Jennifer grinned. ‘You’re just saying that in the hope of getting another drive of Miss Chief.’

Jasper matched her smile. ‘Saw right through that ploy, didn’t you?’

‘Wasn’t difficult.’

He met her look and held it. ‘I’m so glad I could help out.’ His tone was sincere and warmth spread through her. ‘Really, I am. You’re right, Jen. What we need is to be friends and not be overtaken by the frightening natural attraction we seem to feel for each other.’

‘No…especially not when you put it that way.’ Her words had become an intimate whisper and she quickly cleared her throat.

‘I mean, I have the girls to consider. You have other demands on your time.’ He was looking at her lips again, watching how they parted, how the air escaped from between them. How would they taste? He desperately wanted to know but as though he realised where his thoughts were heading yet again, he cut them off. Jennifer needed friends. He could tell there was still much of her past she hadn’t dealt with and only time and good friendly support could get her through it. ‘I’m glad I could help out with the house. That’s one less thing you have to worry about.’

As he spoke, it was then Jennifer realised that he understood. He understood about Arturo and the connection she still felt with him. The past wasn’t easy to put to rest and knowing he’d walked the path she was finally willing to face, to finally let go of the past, not only gave her confidence to take the next step but also increased her opinion of him. ‘I’m glad you mentioned it to me. It really does seem as though it was meant to be. It has everything I need.’

‘And it has a window-seat.’

She smiled then sighed. ‘It does.’ Jennifer paused for a moment. ‘I like them, Jasper. They relax me. Strange how an inanimate object like a window-seat can relax someone in mind, body and spirit.’

Her eyes had taken on that far-off look again and Jasper didn’t say anything, waiting to see if she was willing to share her thoughts with him. He didn’t have to wait as long this time and he hoped it was because she was coming to trust him, to realise that he truly did understand what she was going through.

‘I bought a house years ago with bay windows,’ she said after a few minutes.

‘Where?’

‘Cherrybrook.’

‘That’s only a few suburbs over from here.’

‘I know.’

‘What happened?’

‘I sold the house before I could move in.’ Again Jasper remained quiet, waiting, giving her time to collect her thoughts. ‘When I say that I bought the house, well, that’s not strictly true. Arturo and I bought the house—together. We’d planned to move in after our honeymoon. We’d arranged to spend a good two weeks of our time off to set the house to rights, make it our own, set up my window-seat haven.’

As she spoke, she looked past him, as though she wasn’t really seeing him any more but was lost in her memories. He knew all too well how that felt. ‘What happened?’

‘The cancer was more aggressive than we’d realised. When he was diagnosed, he had immediate surgery to remove the tumour. Then he had an aggressive course of chemotherapy and after all of that he finally started to improve. The wedding plans went ahead. When he was diagnosed with secondaries, he refused to cancel the wedding. He wanted to get married. He wanted me to be his wife.’ She closed her eyes and shook her head. ‘I wanted to be his wife, more than anything. I loved him so much.’

Jasper desperately wanted to reach out and touch her but knew that if he did she might shatter into a million pieces. When you were sad like this, remembering and sharing your memories with someone new, sometimes the most simple act of kindness—a gentle touch on the hand, a reassuring hug—was enough to break the hard-to-maintain control Jennifer was now exhibiting.

‘He died. Two days before the wedding. We had people coming in to town from overseas as well as interstate but, instead of attending a wedding, they ended up going to a funeral.’

No wonder she was so emotionally scarred. ‘Jennifer.’ He came to sit beside her again, his tone filled with empathy. He knew what she felt. He knew the pain. He knew the hurt.

She finally raised her eyes to his, one single solitary tear sliding down her cheek. He wanted to brush it away, to gather her close, to let her know he completely understood her desolation, but he didn’t. ‘Which makes Miss Chief all the more important,’ he murmured. ‘It maintains your link with Arturo and that’s a good thing, Jen.’ Jasper also realised his own good fortune in that moment because his link to Elisha, his daily reminder of his previous life, was in the form of two beautiful girls whom he adored.