Read The Virgin Bride (The Australians) for Free Online Page B

he lowered his fork to the plate, and looked across the table into her big, luminous green eyes.
    Her asking such a question was telling, he thought, for it revealed she’d noticed his always wearing the ring in the first place. He reasoned that you wouldn’t notice such a thing—or its absence—if you hadn’t been watching a person fairly closely.
    The thought flattered his ego.
    He was also grateful that their conversation had finally become a little more personal. During the drive over to Bateman’s Bay, Emma had been quiet and tense. Jason had had the awful feeling she was regretting coming with him, regretting having anything to do with him at all. Sensing her mood, he hadn’t pressed her with any questions of his own, keeping the conversation light and inconsequential. He’d tried amusing her with an account of his relationship with Nancy so far, but, whilst she’d laughed at the right moments, he’d suspected her mind was elsewhere. Ratchitt, probably.
    Now he wasn’t so sure. Her eyes were focused on his face with a concentration which was total and exclusive. He almost preened under the triumphant and very male feelings her intense gaze evoked.
    â€˜I took it off,’ he said. ‘And left it off.’
    â€˜But why?’ she asked, perplexed. ‘It was a beautiful ring.’
    â€˜Adele gave it to me.’
    â€˜Oh,’ she murmured, and looked down at her largely untouched Mongolian lamb.
    â€˜She gave me this watch too,’ he added matter-of-factly. ‘And it’s going to be replaced in the morning as well.’
    Her eyes lifted, confusion in their depths. ‘You sound so calm about it.’
    â€˜I am calm about it. They have no meaning for me any more. I don’t want anything of hers around me,’ he finished with a betraying burst of emotion.
    Her smile was rueful. ‘You still love her.’
    â€˜Maybe. But I certainly won’t for ever. Time cures all wounds, Emma.’
    â€˜That’s a simplistic statement for a doctor to make, Jason. Time doesn’t always cure. Some wounds fester further. Some become ulcers. Some turn into gangrene, and ultimately kill.’
    There was a moment’s stark silence between them. Jason was horrified at the depth of her pain over that creep. God, how she must have loved him! Was he foolish in thinking she would ever get over him, that they could be happy together? Was his ego overriding reality?
    â€˜What are you going to do with them?’ she asked abruptly. ‘The ring and the watch.’
    â€˜I’ll post them to one of my brothers. Jerry, I think. He’ll love them.’
    â€˜One of your brothers,’ she repeated slowly, and shook her head. ‘I’d forgotten you would have a family somewhere. I’m used to being alone, you see. I forget other people have parents and brothers and sisters.’
    â€˜Actually, I don’t have any parents any more. My mother’s dead and my father’s God knows where. He ran out on Mum the year I was born. I don’t have any sisters, either, but I do have five older brothers. I had six till Jack was killed in a motorbike accident, which leaves James, Josh, Jake, Jude and Jerry, working from the eldest down. I’m the youngest. Mum liked boy’s names starting with J, as you can see.’
    She smiled at that. ‘And where are they, your brothers? What are they doing?’
    â€˜Scattered to the four corners of the earth. Since Mum died we don’t keep in touch much. Typical boys, I guess. But Jerry’s closest to me in age and I have a soft spot for him. He’s not too bright, works in a clothing factory in Sydney and doesn’t earn much. He’s not married and lives in a boarding house. I send him some money sometimes. And clothes and things.’ Actually he hadn’t sent Jerry anything for ages, not since his break-up with Adele. His mind had been elsewhere. He vowed