Little Beginnings Page 3

  Scott turned and met her gaze, a smile tugging at his lips. “Nice meeting you, too. So you think there’s a broken pipe?”

  She was about to strangle him and desperately hoped for Ely’s job to be a quick one so he’d return before she’d commit a crime. She let out a long breath and then said as calmly as possible, “I run a gallery and these are my exhibits. At the moment the damage is a flooded floor and possibly some damage to the furniture. I’m not sure, I’ve been busy mopping.” Jeri studied him for a reaction, but when none came she continued. “So there's obviously a broken pipe somewhere and I assume Ely thought you to be the best person to fix it.”

  Although it was on the tip of her tongue to add that she doubted it, she thought she’d better keep that thought to herself.

  He nodded. “I'll get you dry and fixed in no time.” And then he left. Hopefully in search for the leaking offender.

  Jeri stared at the ceiling hoping for some divine intervention when she heard Olivia and Georgia’s voices. "Thank you," she murmured.

  “I’m over here,” she shouted, and her cousin and niece stood in the door within seconds, dressed in track pants and old T-shirts, buckets and cleaning utensils in their hands. Without delay, the women started on the cleanup. There didn’t seem any damage to furniture or the exhibits, but they started moving things into a different room anyway.

  “So, honey,” Jeri said to Olivia as they carried a small table to the front of the hallway. “Tell me a little bit about your neighbour Ely. He does indeed look like sex on legs.”

  “He’s such a great friend. He…” And then she stopped, and not only talking but walking as well, staring at Jeri. Her lovely young cheeks turned red, her eyes wide open.

  “Busted, young lady.”

  Still eyes wide open, Olivia stood there staring like she’d seen a ghost. Jeri saw her swallow that big lump in her throat, and a smile tugged at her lips.

  “How do you know Ely?” Olivia asked quietly.

  “Well, my carpenter this morning is called Ely. When you told me about Ely, your neighbour, I sort of put two and two together.”

  Olivia, still staring, was silent.

  Jeri let go of the table and stepped to her niece. Letting out a long sigh, she leaned against the table. “Life has a way to intervene with best intentions.”

  “Does he know? You know, that you know.”

  Jeri nodded.

  “Ouch.”

  “Indeed.”

  “Did he tell you why he was a no-show?”

  Jeri stood straight, fluffed up her hair, gave her boobs a little squeeze, and said, “Apparently this girl’s too old for him.”

  Olivia burst into laughter and only stopped when Jeri raised one of her eyebrows questioningly.

  “You serious?”

  “I doubt he’d be lying, because if that’s a lie, he’s pretty lousy at that. So I suppose, yes, I’m serious.”

  “Holy smokes. Nah, there’s gotta be something else. How would he know your age anyway?”

  “That’d be my fault,” Georgia whispered as she came closer.

  They both turned to look at Olivia’s mum.

  “Your fault?” her niece asked.

  Her mum lifted a shoulder in a shrug. “I saw him at the grocery shop and…” She let out a long sigh. “I vented about your idea to hook up Jeri on a blind date with one of your friends.”

  “That doesn’t explain—”

  Georgia turned to her cousin. “I said something along the line that you’re near forty.” Her voice nearly broke.

  “Near forty?” Jeri said through gritted teeth. “I’ve just made it to thirty-eight and you’re telling people I’m nearly forty?”

  “I am sorry.”

  “Forty?”

  “In all fairness, it’s still no reason for Ely to not show up. He could’ve said something to Olivia. Or called the restaurant. Or—”

  “She’s got a point,” Oliva agreed.

  Jeri took a long, deep breath. “But forty?”

  “I won’t do it again.”

  “I sure hope so!”

  “How about we concentrate on getting your gallery all dry again and you can behead me after the exhibition.”

  With a fake glare towards Georgia, she replied, “Sounds like a plan.” Yet deep inside, she knew that within the next five minutes she would probably have forgotten about it already. Well, probably not forgotten, but she would’ve moved on. Georgia was not only her cousin, but also a great friend, and Jeri believed her cousin that there had been no malicious intentions behind her slip of the tongue.

  It was well and truly after lunch when Scott showed his face again.

  “All fixed,” he declared with a grin.

  He gave her a rundown of what the problem had been, but Jeri only heard ‘replaced it with a new pipe…old building…quick check of the other pipes’. All the while her head spun out of control worrying about the cost of it all.

  Her mouth was so dry, she was only able to nod, waiting for him to tell her a dollar figure.

  But the figure never came and next thing she knew he said, "Nice meeting you," and was about to leave.

  “Wait!” she almost shouted.

  He stopped and looked at her expectantly.

  “Could you at least give me an estimate how much it’ll cost me?”

  Another one of his dazzling smiles. “Apparently Ely owes you.” He winked. “So today was all on him.”

  Olivia came closer and whispered to Jeri, “I told ya Ely’s not that bad.”

  But Jeri shot her niece a glare and, after composing herself again, she said to Scott, “I can’t accept that.”

  Scott chuckled. “You need to take that up with Ely.” Then he lifted his hand in a slight wave and left.

  “Who is that guy?” she asked Olivia.

  Her niece shrugged. “Never seen him before.”

  Jeri cursed before she explained. “I was talking about Ely.”

  Olivia’s brows went up a notch when she understood. “Ooh. He’s my neighbour.”

  “I know that, but how well do you know him?”

  Her niece shrugged again. “He fixed my kitchen.”

  “And he did a marvellous job,” Georgia piped in.

  Jeri couldn’t believe it. It was like experiencing a parallel world. She took in a long, deep breath and decided to worry about it all later.

  She stood straight and said, “Dinner’s on me. Let’s see whether Charlie is serving salmon today.”

  Chapter 3

  Ely wasn’t able to concentrate, and it took him longer than expected to fix the couple of slats on the bed. All he could think of was this feisty woman who had been so determined in every little thing she did. It bugged him even more now that he had dismissed her for too old and hadn’t shown up to the blind date. What an idiot he’d been. Judging someone by their age. Not to mention that he hadn’t even known her exact age.

  It’d been a while since he’d been with a woman. Tina to be exact. They’d been together for over four years when he’d asked her to marry him.

  Instead of a yes, she’d said, “Oh darling, marriage is so not my thing. Why change something that is working perfectly well?”

  It’d taken him a few days to think through it, but in the end he’d decided it hadn’t been working perfectly well for him at all.

  He’d moved out the next day.

  There’d been a few women since, but none of them had held his interest like Jeri.

  He thought about it, but couldn’t come up with what had really bothered him. Was he really such a jerk to judge someone by her age?

  Well, the truth was, he already had.

  He could kick his own behind for his stupidity. Jeri looked great. She owned a business, so she wasn’t only clever, but determined as well.

  So what bothered him so much?

  He just couldn’t figure it out. Whatever it was, it was tucked away in the back of his mind, seemingly inaccessible.

  To take his mi
nd off the issue, he got out his phone, plugged in the earphones, and played some music to distract him for the next half an hour to get the bed fixed and done. As he pushed the buttons, he discovered he’d missed a call from Scott. He pushed the redial button.

  “What’s up, mate?”

  “Pipe’s fixed, but there’s heaps more that needs to be done. You owe me tickets to the next football game.”

  “Crap,” Ely murmured.

  “Who is the pretty lady? What did you do to owe her?”

  Ely didn’t want to go there. The whole idea of the blind date seemed now so ridiculous, but if he told his friends about it, they’d have a field day at the idea of being set up with someone and then they’d stone him for not showing up.

  “Never mind. She’s Olivia’s friend.”

  “The pretty one from next door?”

  “Yup.”

  “Listen mate, you introduce me to your neighbour and I make sure I’ll give your pretty friend a decent quote for the repairs.”

  “Who says she’ll get the repairs done, let alone by you?”

  Scott laughed. “You owe me.” And hung up.

  Ely wasn’t sure whether to laugh or curse. He checked his watch and finished his job.

  It was about five o’clock when Ely drove by Jeri’s gallery. He went to the back again and knocked at the door.

  Nothing.

  He knocked again, this time a little harder.

  Nothing.

  Turning around, he took in that there was still a car in the small driveway and as he was about to head over someone opened the door.

  “Well, if it isn’t my carpenter with the magic wand,” Jeri cooed.

  Not able to hold back, he smiled, enjoying the sight of her. It wasn't so surprising she looked tired, though, with shadows under her eyes. No wonder, he thought, she must have worn herself out entirely, mopping, cleaning the flooded room, and possibly rescuing her exhibits.

  He was about to ask how things were going when she said very bluntly, “I’m not sure I want you in this building.”

  His dark brows shot up. “Beg yours?”

  “You heard me. You and your sexy body are not allowed any farther than this door.”

  Ely drew in his lips, trying his hardest not to laugh out loud. Did she say sexy body? He wasn’t sure what to think. If she’d tried to offend him, she failed, because, well, of course he took that as a compliment. Trying to hide his smile, he rubbed his hand over his face before asking, “Care to explain?”

  “Do I have to spell it out? Really?”

  He was obviously missing something. Definitely, she had the right to be angry that he stood her up, but he thought he’d redeemed himself since then.

  He nodded. “Yes, please.”

  She stared at him like he was the Easter bunny in person. “Really?”

  Leaning against the door jamb with his hand, he replied, “Yes, really. I have a feeling you just made that up for some odd reason and don’t know yourself.”

  The stare turned into a glare. “You’re jinxed.”

  Bursting into laughter, he didn’t notice her stepping back and slamming the door shut.

  With his finger in it.

  Instant pain rushed through him, and he cursed some few unnecessary words. He couldn’t believe she did that. He couldn’t believe she thought he was jinxed. Shaking his hand in hope to relieve the pain, he banged against the door with the other.

  “Go away, jinx-man.”

  He pushed down the door handle and thank goodness, she hadn’t locked it.

  “Got some ice for my fingers?”

  She turned, probably not understanding what he was talking about.

  Ely held up his injured hand and explained, “You could’ve given me some warning before squashing my fingers in the door.”

  The colour drained from her face as she finally understood the situation. “Shoot,” she whispered.

  “Ice?” he asked again, more amused than he should’ve been, considering that he wouldn’t be able to work in full capacity over the next few days.

  Jeri turned and walked towards the kitchen, hesitated for a moment and looked over her shoulder. “Well, what are you waiting for? A personal invitation?”

  That was actually what he’d been waiting for. After all, only a few minutes earlier she’d made it clear she didn’t want him in her building. Shaking his head, he followed her into the kitchen where she already had a bag of frozen peas ready to cover his finger with.

  “You keep peas here?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.

  Lifting her shoulder in a shrug, she said, “I wouldn’t complain if I were you. It’s obviously coming in handy.”

  He chuckled dryly.

  Jeri pointed to a chair. “Sit.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Tea?”

  He met her gaze. “Frankly, I’m too scared.”

  Finally, he got to see her smile again, and somehow he was glad it’d been him who put it onto her face. The smile had delighted him already earlier in the day.

  “Stay where you are and we should be safe.” Then she filled the kettle, switched it on, and prepared the cups.

  “Apparently I owe you for Scott’s plumping services,” Jeri said suddenly as she prepared the cups.

  He shook his head in disbelief. How stubborn could one woman be? Plenty stubborn, by the looks of things.

  “That’s on me. Consider it as an apology for not turning up.”

  She shot around, again fury flickering in her eyes. “I am well and truly able to cope with being stood up. What I cannot cope with is your pity or inappropriate apology. Get over it and move on.”

  Momentarily speechless and too stunned, he said, “Pardon me?”

  She filled the cups, asked again, “Milk?”

  “Yes, please.”

  Jeri placed his cup in front of him, lifted the iced peas to have a look at the fingers.

  “Will you be all right?”

  “I’ll survive.”

  “Macho.”

  He laughed and then grabbed her by the wrist. “Jeri. Could you lower that wall for one small minute and please let me apologise for what happened?”

  She pulled gently, but he didn’t let go of her. “Please?”

  Biting her lip, she whispered, “I can’t.”

  Sighing, he pulled gently on her arm. “Sit.”

  “I—”

  “Sit,” he demanded, and she did.

  “You can’t let the wall down, or you can’t accept the apology?”

  “I should’ve never agreed to this blind date. When Olivia mentioned sex on legs—”

  Ely held up his hand, not hiding the big grin on his face. “She said what?”

  “Oh for Pete’s sake, get over yourself.”

  “Dinner?”

  “No.”

  “My place.”

  “Still no.”

  Ely pinched the bridge of his nose and released a sigh. “So you’d go on a blind date with me, but you won’t let me invite you for dinner?”

  Avoiding his gaze, she said, “I just told you I shouldn’t have agreed to a date in the first place. And anyhow, the issue of the age difference is clearly one not to be discarded.”

  “Yeah, I know. No need to rub it in, I was an idiot. I’m surprised, though, you didn’t expect someone younger. As in younger than me.”

  “I did. The whole caboodle was just one messy set up. Olivia said go and I jumped. I wasn’t happy, but in the end, I didn’t want to hurt her feelings. After all, she’s my niece, and I kind of looked forward to a fun night out with a young friend of hers. Playing cougar, you know.” She chuckled. “If I had known the blind date was you, I’d probably would’ve said no as well. See—” she looked away and sighed before meeting his gaze again. “By all means, I am not old. But…I am at an age where I want to be selfish, have a man who is charming, spoils me, takes me out for dinner, travels with me—”

  “I get the gist Jeri.”

  She let o
ut a soft laugh. “You, on the other hand, strike me as a man who’s still looking for that special someone.”

  He raised his brow.

  “The woman you can start a family with.”

  “I ask you out for a date and you think family?”

  “No, I’m thinking don’t waste your time on me.”

  Frustration grew within him and he was afraid to lose her without ever having had her. “Why can’t I make that decision for myself? What if you’re wrong? What if I hate the idea of a family?”

  “Do you?”

  “Do what?”

  “Don’t you like children?”

  He hesitated, thoughts of his little nephew and the way he was all excited when Ely’d promised him to take him to the football game in Launceston. Letting out a long sigh, he admitted, “Yes, I’d like to have children on my own one day.”

  Ely stood, his heart a little bruised. Taking the peas off his fingers, he handed it to her. “Pipes are on me. I might be an idiot, but I do have some pride.”

  Then he left.

  * * *

  Jeri stared after Ely, not noticing the cold peas in her hand until she nearly dropped them. Tears ran down her cheeks, but she didn’t bother wiping them. Sure that her inability to have children had contributed to the breakdown of her marriage and for her ex-husband to find a younger woman, she’d promised herself to never feel that inadequate again. It simply wasn’t worth the heartache or the possibility of another rejection. Jeri would rather be alone, or find someone through her blind dates who wasn’t interested in a relationship with the works.

  She thought of Chris, her ex-husband. They stayed in contact, talking twice or three times a year. He had three children nowadays and was a very proud and happy dad. As much as she was happy for him, the ache in her heart was almost too much to bear for her sometimes, and occasionally she wondered whether Chris felt the same way. They’d tried to have children for a few years. Each time she became pregnant, the pregnancy resulted in another miscarriage. With each lost child, Jeri had suffered and distanced herself more from everyone else.

  And even though she hadn’t been happy the last few years, she’d been content. But never had a man piqued her interest so much like Ely since her marriage had ended. Never had a man caused her body to react the way Ely seemed to with such ease. He looked through her barrier with ease, knew how to handle her, knew how to take her. Seemingly perfect in every way, Ely was exactly what Jeri didn’t need in her life. Another man blaming her for her inability to conceive.