CHAPTER NINE

      ANDY’S PARENTS WERE as lovely as their home. Jess had been half-expecting that they would be snobbish, since they were wealthy and owned a winery. But they were anything but. Whilst obviously well-educated and well-spoken, both of them were very down to earth and welcoming, insisting immediately upon introduction that she call them Glen and Heather.

      Afternoon tea had been set up in the main living room which had French doors leading out onto the veranda. Heather explained that it was a little too breezy today to have it out there, a wind having sprung up seemingly out of nowhere.

      Jess had just finished her cup of tea and was popping a second delicious mini muffin into her mouth when a nearby phone rang. Not the ring tone of a mobile. The unmistakable sound of a landline.

      ‘Do excuse me,’ Heather said, moving over to a long sofa table which rested against the wall and on which sat a phone, along with some very nice pieces of pottery.

      Jess tried not to listen but it was impossible once she heard Heather make a sound which was halfway between a gasp and a groan.

      ‘Oh, my dear, that’s most unfortunate,’ she said to whoever she was talking to. ‘So what are you going to do? Yes, yes, I’ll get Andy for you right away.’

      Andy’s attention must already have been grabbed because he jumped up immediately and rushed to take the phone from his mother. It didn’t take Einstein to realise he was talking to his fiancée and that something had gone wrong. Heather, thank God, quickly enlightened the rest of them.

      ‘Catherine’s matron of honour has been rushed to hospital with a threatened miscarriage. Anyway, she’s okay, but she has to stay in bed for at least a week and can’t be at the wedding tomorrow. She’s naturally very upset. Catherine is too. I suppose she’ll just have to move the other bridesmaid up to be opposite you, Ben. It means it will be a very small bridal party, but what else can she do?’

      Murphy’s Law had struck, was Jess’s immediate thought. And cruelly. She felt terribly sorry for them all, but especially the bride.

      ‘She could always put Jess in her place,’ Ben suddenly suggested.

      Jess threw him a horrified look. ‘Don’t be ridiculous, Ben. Andy’s fiancée doesn’t even know me.’

      ‘In that case, we’ll take you over to her place and she can meet you,’ he said in his usual taking over fashion. ‘She only lives next door. It’s not an ideal solution, Heather,’ he said, turning his attention to Andy’s mother, ‘but it is a solution.’

      ‘Well, yes, I…I suppose so,’ Heather said before Jess could object again. ‘It would also make Krissie feel better. She thinks she’s spoiled her best friend’s wedding. Not to mention the wedding photos. Catherine was only having the two bridesmaids and now she’s down to one.’

      ‘It’s a perfectly sensible solution,’ Glen said with typical male pragmatism. ‘Andy!’ he called out. ‘Ben here said Jess would be willing to take Krissie’s place, if it’s all right with Catherine.’

      Jess held her breath whilst Andy explained Ben’s suggestion to his bride.

      ‘She’s Ben’s new girlfriend,’ Andy went on when he was obviously asked for further explanation. ‘Her name is Jess. They only met recently. Over some business deal in Sydney. Anyway, Ben got his rental car totalled by some drunk and Jess offered to drive him out here… She’ll look great in the wedding photos.’

      Jess cringed, not sure now if she wanted the bride to say yay or nay. Still, it wasn’t as though she wouldn’t have been at the wedding anyway. And if it made everyone a bit happier… After all, weddings were supposed to be happy occasions.

      Andy turned to face Jess. ‘She says thanks heaps for the offer. Says you’ve really saved the day, but she would still have to see you asap. Something about whether the dress would fit you or not. It might need altering. Krissie was pregnant, after all.’

      ‘Fine,’ Ben said, standing up. ‘Tell Catherine we’ll be over straight away.’

      After Andy relayed Ben’s message, he shot his friend a droll look. ‘She says I’m not allowed to come. Something about my not being allowed to see any of the dresses before the big day.’ He rolled his eyes and placed his hand over the phone. ‘Women! Truly.’

      ‘No sweat, Andy. Tell Catherine we’re on our way.’ Taking Jess’s hand, Ben pulled her to her feet, made his excuses to an understanding Glen and Heather, then steered Jess from the room.

      ‘Make sure you’re back for tonight, Ben,’ Andy threw after them.

      ‘Will do,’ Ben threw back.

      Jess resisted resorting to belated objections on the way out. What was done was done.

      ‘Don’t be angry with me,’ Ben said as they climbed into their respective seats in the SUV.

      ‘I’m not,’ Jess said with a somewhat resigned sigh, then started the engine. ‘But it might be an idea if you didn’t always presume I would do whatever you wanted. A girl likes to be consulted first.’

      He seemed startled by her stand. Clearly, he was used to women kow-towing to him all the time.

      ‘Sorry,’ he said. ‘I was just trying to fix things for Andy.’

      ‘Yes, I know that. That’s why I’m not angry.’

      ‘Good. But I will try to be more thoughtful in future. Right, you just turn left when we hit the main road and it’s the next driveway along. Catherine’s parents own a horse stud. Racehorses.’

      ‘So they’re rich too?’

      ‘Not as rich as Andy’s folks. But, yes, they’re well off.’

      ‘Do you have any poor friends?’

      Ben hesitated before answering.

      ‘Not many,’ he said.

      ‘I thought not,’ she said drily. Rich people mixed with rich people. She was the odd one out here.

      ‘There’s the driveway,’ he said, pointing.

      This one was more impressive than Andy’s driveway, with a huge, black iron archway connecting the tall brick gateposts with the name ‘Winning Post Stud’ outlined in red. The road itself—which was concreted rather than tarred—was lined with white-painted wooden fences behind which grazed the most beautiful horses Jess had ever seen, some of them with foals at foot. She wasn’t a horse person herself but her father liked a flutter on the races and she always had a bet on the Melbourne Cup every year. Often won too, which piqued her dad considerably, since she knew next to nothing about form. Mostly she just picked names that she liked.

      The house itself was similar in style to Heather and Glen’s but genuinely old, made of stone rather than wood. It was also two-storeyed with iron lacework on the verandas and lots of chimneys.

      Jess parked outside the large shed behind the house.

      ‘Before we go in, exactly what did you tell Andy about me?’

      ‘I said you were a marketing consultant I’d met connected with Fab Fashions. But I did let him think we’d met a week or so back, not this morning.’

      His reminding her that they’d just met today startled Jess. It underlined just how far they’d come in