She watched him nod his head, and then told him that she had only recently bought it. ‘The only thing is I can’t manage to fathom out the seat-adjustment mechanism.’
She aimed the comment at the gathering in general, holding her breath until Stuart said offhandedly, ‘I could try and work it for you.’
‘Could you?’ She accepted his offer as casually as he had made it. ‘Okay, then.’
She didn’t even look as both of them darted out of the room, and she certainly didn’t turn round to see what they were doing when she heard the car door open, but she was standing in front of a mirror which gave her a pretty clear view of the interior of her precious car—and what was going on inside it.
‘That was pretty clever,’ Justine admired. ‘You seem to have the right touch.’
‘She ought to have. She’s a damned psychologist,’ Lyle muttered, giving his sister a look which seemed to say, ‘Now look what you’ve landed me with.’
‘The boys will be back shortly,’ Jessica interrupted calmly. ‘I can tell you now that I’m prepared to marry you with the provisos we’ve already discussed. The rest is up to you. I’ll leave it to you to get in touch with me if you feel you want to take this any further.’ She handed him one of her cards, and composed her face into an appreciative smile as both children trooped back in and Stuart loftily announced that it was quite simple to move the seat, and that he would show her how before she left.
CHAPTER THREE
BY WEDNESDAY of the following week Jessica had convinced herself that she was not going to hear from Lyle, and what was more she couldn’t understand why she should even want to. He was the most difficult, unappealing man she had ever come across, and marriage to him would be no sinecure. Which made it all the more startling when he did ring late on Thursday evening, that she should feel such a thrill of excitement at hearing his voice, less truculent than she remembered but still slightly abrasive, as he told her that having thought over everything he would like to go ahead with their marriage, provided she was still agreeable.
She was tempted to prevaricate and make him wait, but only that morning she had had another hysterical telephone call from Andrea and so instead she said calmly that she was.
‘Fine, that only leaves us to organise dates. As far as I’m concerned the sooner it’s done the better. School holidays start next week, and I’ll need you here to take charge of the kids.’
Stifling half-hysterical laughter, Jessica agreed calmly that she could see the necessity for haste.
‘I’ll make all the arrangements and then get in touch with you. Are there any dates you specifically want me to avoid?’
Having checked her diary and confirmed that there were not, Jessica thanked him politely for his call and said goodbye. It was like living in a dream, she reflected when she had done so; and hardly seemed at all real. It was impossible to believe that by this time next week she might actually be married. But that was what she had agreed to do, and she had her own arrangements to make. She would have to find a tenant for her flat; but that would not be a problem, she knew. And then there was her work…
By Sunday she had done everything there was to do. In the morning Lyle rang, his voice flat and emotionless as he told her that he had arranged the ceremony for two o’clock on Monday afternoon.
That meant she would have to tell Andrea today, Jessica reflected when she had replaced the receiver.
Not quite sure how well she would be able to carry off the role of bride-to-be in her sister’s presence, she took the cowardly way out and telephoned her.
The spate of questions that followed her bald announcement finally culminated in a stunned, ‘Married? You? I can hardly believe it, Jess. Why?’
She could have said, because you told me it was the only way you would accept that I’m not having an affair with your husband, but somehow she managed to restrain herself, and said instead, ‘Oh, for all the usual reasons.’
‘But you’ve not said a word…’
‘Well, there wasn’t much point. We’ve only just made up our minds.’
‘I suppose you met him when you were doing the research for your book,’ Andrea commented. ‘But really, you might have told me, I am your sister, your closest living relative since Mum and Dad divorced.’
‘I couldn’t say anything because I wasn’t sure how…how serious Lyle was. He has two children from his first marriage and…’
‘He was worried about them accepting you, I suppose. God, Jess, I can’t imagine you with a couple of stepsons. How old are they?’
Jessica obligingly told her, adding as casually as she could that since the school holidays were about to start she and Lyle had decided to get married as quickly and as quietly as they could.
‘When?’ Andrea demanded.
Taking a deep breath Jessica told her.
‘Tomorrow? Are you serious?’
By the time she had managed to convince her sister that she was serious, and that she was not out of her mind, Jessica was feeling limply exhausted. She was also beginning to wonder if she were not additionally slightly crazy. Surely there had to be an easier way to convince her sister that she wasn’t the remotest bit interested in her husband? But even as the thought formed, she had a mental picture of two solemn little faces watching her drive away, two pairs of hazel eyes regarding her departure with a stoicism and an indifference that she well remembered from her own childhood. They were so vulnerable, they needed her. What child wouldn’t with a father like theirs? Aggressive, domineering, totally incapable, or so it seemed, of understanding his children’s pain.
No doubt he had never really wanted them. She could still remember her own pain when she realised that her father loved his girlfriend more than he loved Andrea and herself.